Bucknell University Athletics
Track & Field Hosts Bucknell Mini Meet Saturday to Restart Indoor Season
1/6/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Jan. 6, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - After more than a month off, Bison track and field returns to action with the Bucknell Mini Meet on Saturday at Gerhard Fieldhouse. The home contest, which includes opponents from Mount St. Mary's, Susquehanna, Hagerstown and McDaniel, is set to kick off at 11 a.m. with the field events. An abbreviated track schedule will begin at 12:30 p.m.
The Bucknell Mini Meet will feature nine running events as opposed to the usual dozen that are usually contested on the Gerhard Fieldhouse track. The meet will not be scored but, if the past is any indication, it still promises to be full of action. The last time the Bison were on their home track, seven program top-10 marks fell and more than just a few gold medals went Bucknell's way.
Bucknell's last time out was the Bison Opener on Dec. 3. Since that meet, Dave Brown (Westborough, Mass./Westborough), Tom Barr (Ambler, Pa./La Salle College HS), Christian Lupica (Newtown, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep) and Jessica Matsinger (Frazer, Pa./Great Valley) became Patriot League award winners. The league also announced its preseason poll where the women were voted second behind defending champion Navy, and the men were third behind Army and Navy.
Brown was named the league's Runner of the Week on Dec. 5 after winning the 5,000 meters at the Bison Opener. Barr was the Field Athlete of the Week thanks to a pair of wins in the shot put and the weight throw. The duo has now qualified for the IC4A Championships in the three events, while Barr's 59-6 ¼ in the weight throw was a personal best and ranks third all-time at Bucknell. Lupica and Matsinger were voted the Rookies of the Week. Lupica, who was fifth in the 60-meter hurdles, ran a time of 8.36 seconds in the prelims for the fifth-fastest mark in program history. Matsinger was second overall and first among Bison in the triple jump, clearing 36-7 ½ to claim the award.
Among other Bison to ink their names in the Bucknell record books at the Bison Opener were Robert Arent (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) in the 300, Daniel Markwalter (Vienna, Va./Thomas Jefferson S&T) and Nathaniel Witter (Mercersburg, Pa./James Buchanan) in the pole vault, Leonard Joseph (Whitesboro, N.Y./Clinton) in the weight throw, and Jennifer Zymet (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) and Taylor Funk (Mt. Pleasant, Pa./Mt. Pleasant) in the 300. The wealth of new marks is nothing new. Sixty top-10 marks since 2009 currently grace the men's list, while 43 stand on the women's record list.
Joseph's 58-3 ¼ in the weight throw at the Bison Opener also earned him a trip to IC4As in March, as did Justin Hicks' (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill School) 6.95-second time in the 60 meters.
The Bison Opener was the first of Bucknell's six home meets this winter, a schedule that includes the Patriot League Championships Feb. 17-19. Of Bucknell's four opponents on Saturday, Susquehanna and McDaniel have already made the trip to Lewisburg once this winter. Neither squad claimed a win at the Bison Opener, while Bucknell earned nine victories - seven for the men and two for the women.
After the Bucknell Mini Meet, two of the next three meets for the Bison will play out at Gerhard Fieldhouse. First up is the Gulden Invitational on Jan. 21, while the Bison Open & Multi is slated for Jan. 27-28. The Penn State National Invitational is also on tap for the final weekend in January.
