Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Tolli Named Patriot League Women's Indoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2/28/2012 7:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Feb. 28, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Caroline Tolli (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) was named the Patriot League Indoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and three more Bison were named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team, it was announced on Tuesday. Joining Tolli on the academic squad were Sarah Bella (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham), Sasha Hornock (Dover, Pa./Dover) and Emily Waksmunski (Carrolltown, Pa./Bishop Carroll).
The Academic All-Patriot League Team was added for all sports last season to honor additional student-athletes who excel both on and off the track. The women's track & field team has 10 student-athletes. Student-athletes must have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA and play an integral part in the team's success. Award winners are determined by a vote of the league's sports information directors who cannot vote for their own athletes.
Tolli is Bucknell's eighth Women's Indoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year and its first since Melanie Buczko in 2006. The current Bison has a cumulative GPA of 4.0 while majoring in education and Spanish. In 2011 she was named to the Capital One Academic All-District First Team and the Academic All-Patriot League Team for indoor track, and in the fall she received her first academic all-league citation for cross country. A four-time member of the Bucknell Dean's List, Tolli is also a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society.
At the Patriot League Championships earlier this month, Tolli claimed her first career individual title when she won the 1,000 meters. She also placed third with both the 4x800 and distance medley relays, and fifth in the mile. That success helped Bucknell to its 14th Patriot League team title in program history.
Tolli was also named to the Academic All-Patriot League team as were Bella, Hornock and Waksmunski. With four selections, Bucknell was one of only two schools with more than one honoree. Lehigh also placed two athletes on the team.
Bella's selection was the second of her indoor track career. A four-time member of the Bucknell Dean's List and two-time selection to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, the senior biology major has also participated in the Geisinger January Plan Program shadowing doctors from various specialties and volunteered with the Saint Barnabas Medical Center. She has earned a 3.57 GPA during her career.
In competition, Bella defended her shot put title at the Patriot League Championships with a career-best 47-0 ¾. She also set a personal record in the weight throw, taking third place with a mark of 54-11 ¼. She now ranks second all-time at Bucknell in the shot put and fifth in the weight throw.
Also a biology major, Hornock made the academic squad with a 3.50 GPA. Having been named to the Dean's List and Patriot League Academic Honor Roll several times, Hornock has built on to her academic experience by serving as a teaching assistant for an organismal biology glass. She is also a volunteer in the emergency room at Memorial Hospital in York, Pa.
Hornock's athletic success reached a high point at the league meet where she anchored the 4x400 relay to a win. She was also second in the 60 meters where she tied the school record of 7.75 seconds in the prelims, and placed fifth in the long jump. Although she did not place in the 200 meters, Hornock clocked a career-best 25.84 seconds in the race, ranking her 10th in program history.
Waksmunski is one of two sophomores to make the league's academic team. A civil engineering major with a 3.89 GPA, she has already been named to three Dean's Lists and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and Society of Women Engineers.
On the track, the middle distance runner was third with the 4x800 relay at the Patriot League Championships, running the sixth-fastest time in program history (9:01.92). Individually, she also placed fifth in the 800.
Bucknell will have one last meet during the winter campaign. The Bison will travel to Boston, Mass., March 3-4 for the ECAC Championships.
Women's Indoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Caroline Tolli, Bucknell, Jr., 4.00 GPA, Education, Spanish
Women's Indoor Track & Field Academic All-Patriot League Team
Julia Sullivan, American, So., 3.84 GPA, Environmental Studies
Christie Johnson, Army, Sr., 3.376 GPA, Environmental Engineering
Sarah Bella, Bucknell, Sr., 3.57 GPA, Biology
Sasha Hornock, Bucknell, Jr., 3.50 GPA, Biology
Caroline Tolli, Bucknell, Jr., 4.00 GPA, Education, Spanish
Emily Waksmunski, Bucknell, So., 3.89 GPA, Civil Engineering
Erin Linnehan, Holy Cross, Sr., 3.45 GPA, Political Science
Katherine Pierce, Lehigh, Sr., 3.57 GPA, IDEAS
Lauren Pietrosh, Lehigh, Jr., 3.88 GPA, Marketing
Brigid Byrne, Navy, Jr., 3.89 GPA, English
