Bucknell University Athletics
Track & Field's Barr Takes Fourth PL Field Athlete of the Week Honor, Braunegg Named Bison Athlete of the Week
1/30/2012 7:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Jan. 30, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The accolades continued to pour in for Bucknell track and field's Tom Barr (Ambler, Pa./La Salle College HS) as the senior was named the Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week for the fourth time this season on Monday. Barr was joined in honors by Beth Braunegg (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock Twp.), the Susquehanna Valley Limousine Bison Athlete of the Week who set a school record in the 1,000 meters on Saturday.
With his latest recognition, Barr has tied the Patriot League single-season record for most Field Athlete of the Week honors. He equals former Bison Tyler Hoffman, who also earned four in 2006-07. Barr was also honored on Dec. 5, Jan. 9 and Jan. 23 of this year.
Barr won the shot put for the fourth consecutive meet on Saturday when he threw 53 feet, 10 ¼ inches at the Bison Open & Multi. The mark was a career best and ranks second all-time at Bucknell. He is now less than three inches shy of the school record (54-0 ½).
After taking gold in the shot put, Barr then made the trip to the Penn State National Invitational later that day where he placed third in the weight throw. He recorded a second personal best in University Park, Pa., with a mark of 63-9 ½. With his first career finish at better than 60 feet, Barr moved him up to third place in program annals. His distances in both the shot put and the weight throw earned him yet another set of qualifying marks for the IC4A Championships in March.
Braunegg posted one of the strongest showings by a Bison at a single meet when she broke the school record in the invitational heat of the 1,000 meters at Penn State. The sophomore clocked in at 2 minutes, 53.73 seconds, bettering the previous record held by Christa Sawko by .17 seconds. Sawko's record had stood since 2006.
Braunegg also led off for the Bison in the invitational heat of the distance medley relay at the Penn State National Invite. The team, which included Jennifer Zymet, Hana Casalnova and Emily Liggett, placed sixth with a time of 11:41.76. It is the third-fastest in program history and qualifies them for the ECAC Championships. Earlier in her career, Braunegg also became a member of the fourth-ranked distance medley relay and is sixth at Bucknell in the mile.
The Bison Athlete of the Week honor is the first of Braunegg's career. She is also the first this season from the women's track team to claim the award. The men's team's Christian Lupica was named the Bison Athlete of the Week in the last voting period.
Bucknell will be back in action this weekend both at the Crusader Classic (Feb. 3) and the Youngstown State Invitational (Feb. 3-4).
