Bucknell University
Bucknell Mini Meet
Bison Dominant at Bucknell Mini Meet
1/7/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Jan. 7, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bison track and field squads claimed 22 of a possible 30 wins as they dominated at the Bucknell Mini Meet at Gerhard Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon, showing that the long layoff was nothing to be concerned about. The Bucknell women made a particularly strong statement, falling just one victory shy of sweeping the running events. The men's team also set seven new program top-10 marks on its home track.
"I was very happy with the results of both the men's and the women's teams," said head coach Kevin Donner. "Considering the long layoff, our athletes looked like they were in shape and chipped off a good portion of the rust. We will take next weekend off and then things will start to get serious by the end of the month."
Among the dominant winners on the women's side was Sasha Hornock (Dover, Pa./Dover) who took gold in both the 60 and the 200 meters. Her time of 7.92 second in the 60-meter dash made her the only runner to break 8.0 seconds. The 200 was a bit closer as teammates Taylor Funk (Mt. Pleasant, Pa./Mt. Pleasant) and Emma Rice (West Roxbury, Mass./Boston Latin School) were second (27.18) and third (27.70), respectively. Funk later claimed a win in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing in 9.09 seconds.
With a nearly identical performance on the men's side was Justin Hicks (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill School), who was the victor in the 60 meters (7.01) and the 200 (22.40). Hicks' closest competitor at 200 meters was teammate Christian Lupica (Newtown, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep). Before finishing second (22.47) in the 200, Lupica tied Robert Arent (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) for first in the 60-meter hurdles. Both Bison finished in 8.31 seconds. The performance moved Lupica up to fourth all-time in program history.
The sweeps continued in the women's 500 meters and 1,000 meters. The Bison finished first through third in the 500, led by Chelsea Lodato (Matawan, N.J./Old Bridge) in 1:21.06. Erin Horleman (Beach Haven, N.J./Southern Regional) and Morgan Roche (West Hartford, Conn./Hall) were just behind in second and third, respectively.
The 1000 meters saw Beth Braunegg (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock Twp.) take the win in 3:02.33. Second through sixth place also went the way of the Bison.
The mile, which was the only running event the women did not win, was one of the men's team's strong points. Michael McGowan took first with a time of 4:24.85. Fellow underclassmen John Dugan (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) was second and Tyler Erhard (Millerstown, Pa./East Juniata) was third. Brian Charland (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) wrapped up the sweep as the junior was fourth.
The Bison could not have asked for much more success in the field events. Tom Barr (Ambler, Pa./La Salle College HS) won the shot put for the second consecutive meet. His mark of 53 feet, 9 inches was a career best and ranks second all-time at Bucknell. The performance moves him to less than four inches off the school record. Quinten Marcott (Wayland, Mich./Wayland) was second in the event, and at 52-2 ¾, made him and Barr the only two throwers at better than 50 feet. Barr was also second in the weight throw (56-6 ¾), topped by Leonard Joseph (Whitesboro, N.Y./Clinton). Joseph finished with a mark of 59-7 for the win, improving him to third all-time at Bucknell.
Other field event wins on the men's side included Andrew Powell (Charlton, Mass./St. John's) in the high jump (6-4 ¼), Ian Ferguson (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) and Daniel Markwalter (Vienna, Va./Thomas Jefferson S&T) in the pole vault (14-7 ¼) and Ray Holmes (Campbell, N.Y./Campbell-Savona Central) in the triple jump. Holmes' 46-8 ¾ was the ninth-best in program history.
On the women's side, Emily Ando (Weston, Conn./Weston) won the pole vault, clearing 10-8. Sarah Bella (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham) took first in the shot put with a mark of 44-4. Laura Lutzker (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) and Gabrielle Eckles-Shehadi (Skaneateles, N.Y./Skaneateles) tied for first in the high jump, each clearing 5-3 ¼.
Bucknell will attempt to build on this early season success when they return to action Jan. 27-28. The Bison will split their time between the Penn State National Invitational and the Bison Open & Multi.
