Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Track & Field Ready to Host Patriot League Championships
2/16/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Feb. 16, 2012
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Patriot League Championship Central
LEWISBURG, Pa. -Three months after the season started in Gerhard Fieldhouse, Bucknell men's track and field will attempt to continue its successful run on its home track when it hosts the Patriot League Championships Feb. 17-19. The Bison have placed among the top three in every championship meet since 2007, and they're hoping that this winter will see a return to the top of the team standings for the first time since 1993.
The heptathlon begins on Friday at 12 p.m. Action resumes at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. on Sunday. Live results will be available at BucknellBison.com.
"We are very excited to be hosting the Patriot League Indoor Championships," said head coach Kevin Donner. "The intimacy of Gerhard Fieldhouse will provide a lot of electricity in the air, and the meet will be very competitive. Navy seems to be a slight favorite on paper with us and Army as dark horses. It is a long weekend and traditionally the rankings do not always match up with the results event by event. We are going to try to have a well-balanced attack in all 20 events."
Bucknell's last Patriot League team title came in 1993 and capped off a run of three straight. Despite the 18-year drought, the Bison have come close on several occasions. None were as tightly contested as 2010 where Bucknell fell just six points shy of first-place Army in one of the closest finishes in league history. Bucknell, Navy and Army have traditionally been the forces to deal with. All three teams have claimed all 21 titles in league history with the Black Knights leading the way with 14.
The 2011 Championships went to Navy, which totaled 171 points. Army was second with 165 and Bucknell finished with 151. Lehigh was a distant fourth with just 46.5 points. The Bison earned five event victories. Among those winners back for another turn in 2012 are Robert Arent (New Providence, N.J./New Providence), who took gold in the 400 meters, and Tom Barr (Ambler, Pa./La Salle College HS) in the shot put.
THROWS
- Barr was crowned the shot put champion at the 2011 Patriot League Championships and he didn't slow down much when indoor season resumed. The senior is a six-time league Field Athlete of the Week, which sets a new single-season record. He also had four field honors in a row, which ties the league record. The 2012 campaign also saw Barr set the school record in the shot put (54-11 ¼), and win the shot put five times and the weight throw three times.
- After emerging as Bucknell's top weight thrower last winter, Leonard Joseph (Whitesboro, N.Y./Clinton) received some competition from Barr in 2012. Joseph put up some impressive performances of his own, however, including three weight wins. The latest victory came in his last meet, the Bucknell Winter Classic, where he also threw a career-best 60-11 ½.
- Other throwers to note this weekend should be Quinten Marcott (Wayland, Mich./Wayland) and Stephen Koullias (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing). Marcott claimed four silver medals this winter in the shot put, each time placing behind Barr. Koullias could play spoiler for some teams after posting a personal record n the shot (51-4 ¼) at Youngstown State that gave him the sixth-best mark in program history.
- At the Patriot League Championships ...
o Bucknell has won four shot put titles, including Barr (2011), Timothy Medlock (2009), Erik Steiler (1996) and Paul Austin (1991).
o Bucknell has won five weight throw titles, including Tyler Hoffman (2006, 2007), Ryan Stairs (2001), Darryl Volpicelli (1998) and Austin (1991).
o Austin is the only Patriot League thrower to win both the shot put and the weight throw at the same championship meet having done so in 1991.
JUMPS
- Ray Holmes and Alex Prieto are a pair of triple jumpers to pay attention to this weekend. Both have earned career-best marks in the event at an identical 47-0 ¾. Holmes has just one triple jump win this season but has never placed worse than fourth. Prieto earned his first win at the Youngstown State Invite.
- Jason Brown (Plainville, Mass./Bishop Feehan) has grown into Bucknell's top high jumper this season with the graduation of Drew Fitzgerald. Brown has a pair of gold medals in the event this winter, including one in his most recent meet at Youngstown State where he cleared 6-6 ¼.
- At the Patriot League Championships ...
o Bucknell has won five long jump titles, including Noel Powell (2002, 2003), Bryan Schiding (1999, 2000) and Karim Abdul-Matin (1995).
o Bucknell has won five triple jump titles, including Kyle Anthony (2007, 2009, 2010), James Hollins (2001) and Bryan Schiding (2000).
o Bucknell has won four high jump titles, including Fitzgerald (2009), Nicholas Hruch (2008), Matt Murdock (1999) and Joe Plante (1993).
o In 21 years of Patriot League Championships, only 11 different people have won the triple jump. Four jumpers, including Bucknell's Anthony, have won it three times.
POLE VAULT
- Daniel Markwalter (Vienna, Va./Thomas Jefferson S&T), Scott Weismiller (Mahwah, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) and Nathaniel Witter (Mercersburg, Pa./James Buchanan) create one of Bucknell's strongest pole vaulting trios in recent years. All three have a career-best 15-3, although only Witter and Markwalter have cleared that height this year.
- Markwalter has proved to be one of Bucknell's most consistent vaulters. The junior opened the season with three straight wins and earned his fourth victory last week at the Bucknell Winter Classic. He has cleared 15-3 on four occasions this season.
- At the Patriot League Championships ...
o Bucknell has won eight pole vault titles, including David Mante (2007, 2008), Dave Pomfret (1998, 1999, 2000), Brett Karcher (1993), Joseph LaBarge (1992) and Jeff Schild (1991).
o Bucknell's eight pole vault titles lead the league.
HEPTATHLON
- After recording a career-best 4,967 points to win the heptathlon at the 2011 Patriot League Championships, Andrew Powell (Charlton, Mass./St. John's) did not get another chance at the event until the Bison Open & Multi in January. The layoff did not slow him down. The senior set the Bucknell record with 5,049 points on his home track.
- At the Patriot League Championships ...
o Bucknell has won two heptathlon titles, including Powell (2011) and Ryan White (2010).
o Only three multi-event athletes have ever broken 5,000 points at the league meet, including athletes from Army, Navy and Lehigh in 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively.
SPRINTS
- The two-time defending champion at 400 meters, Arent has competed in the event three times this winter. His most successful outing came in his last race where he won at Youngstown State with a season-best 48.39. He was less than one second shy of his personal record (47.83), which ranks second in program history.
- Christian Lupica (Newtown, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep) wasted little time making his mark at Bucknell. The freshman is a three-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week and has set or reset at least one program top-10 mark in five of his six meets this season. His top 60-meter time of the year came last week at the Winter Classic, where he ran a then-personal best 7.05 in the prelims before topping it again for 6.99 in the finals.
- Justin Hicks (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill School) looks to get back in the mix at the Patriot League Championships. After being named the Rookie of the Meet in 2010, he missed the league meet as a sophomore while recovering from injury. Now a junior, Hick ran some of the fastest times of his career at the recent Youngstown State Invite with a 6.93 in the 60-meter prelims and 22.08 in the 200 meters.
- At the Patriot League Championships ...
o Bucknell has never won a 60-meter title.
o Bucknell has two titles in the 200 meters, including Kerry Boyle (2007) and David Gabriel (2001).
o Bucknell has won five titles at 400 meters, including Arent (2010, 2011), Boyle (2007, 2008) and Steve Williamson (1998). Boyle set the Patriot League record in the 400 during the 2007 meet at 48.36 seconds.
MID-DISTANCE
- Jordan Donaldson (Saxton, Pa./Tussey Mountain) took third place in the 500 meters at last year's league meet. During the 2012 season, the senior has gone undefeated in the event. He has not placed worse than second in any individual event, which includes races at 400, 500, 800 and 1,000 meters, this winter.
- At the Patriot League Championships ...
o Bucknell has won two titles at 500 meters, including Mike Ditzel (1998) and Rick Van Emburgh (1995).
o Bucknell has won three 800-meter titles, including Brian Torres (1997, 1998) and Norbert Berenyi (1991).
o Bucknell has won two titles in the 1,000 meters, including Chris Sacks (2011) and Ron Hess (1999).
o Bucknell has won four titles in the mile, including Hess (1998, 1999, 2000) and Berenyi (1991). Hess is the Patriot League's only three-time winner in the mile.
DISTANCE
- Bucknell's veteran distance runner Dave Brown (Westborough, Mass./Westborough) has seen his success at both the 3,000 and 5,000 distances. He began his season with a career-best 14:36.62 in the 5K, qualifying him for the IC4A Championships. More recently, his 8:30.67 in the 3,000 earned him the win at Youngstown State.
- In the Patriot League Championships ...
o Bucknell has won five titles in the 3,000 meters, including Matthew Forys (2007), Greg Costello (2001, 2002), Stephen Clarke (1994) and Matt Deardorff (1991).
o Bucknell has won seven titles in the 5,000 meters, including Forys (2007), Scott Sehon (1999), Dave Granger (1997), Chris Priestaf (1995), Mike Bronson (1993), Bob Kelly (1992) and Jason Cahilly (1991). The Bison's seven championships in the 5K is the most in the league.
HURDLES
- Arent set the school record in the 60-meter hurdles (8.07) at last year's championship meet, but he finished second in the race to Army's Domonick Sylve. A two-time champion, Sylve has since graduated, opening the door for Arent to make his move.
- Lupica has two hurdles wins this winter, actually giving him one more than Arent. The rookie's most impressive performance came at Youngstown State where his time of 8.18 earned him second place in the meet and third place on the Bucknell top-10 list. It also put him just .11 seconds off Arent's school record.
- Bucknell has never won a Patriot League hurdle title at either 55 or 60 meters.
