Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Track & Field's Joseph, Liggett, Trees Collect Patriot League Honors
4/30/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
April 30, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - For the third consecutive week, Bucknell men's track and field's Leonard Joseph (Whitesboro, N.Y./Clinton) was named the Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week on Monday. The award followed a fifth-place showing in the hammer throw at last weekend's Penn Relays. Joseph was joined in honors by Emily Liggett (Grosse Point, Mich./Lawrenceville School (N.J.)) as the league's Runner of the Week and Laddie Trees (Washington, D.C./Deerfield Academy (Mass.)) as the Rookie of the Week.
Joseph recorded a mark of 199 feet, 2 inches in the championship division of the hammer throw at the Penn Relays. One of the best throws of his career, it also gave him his fourth IC4A-qualifying distance in as many meets this spring.
It is the third time this season that Joseph has been named the Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week, and all three have come in consecutive voting periods. The three honors for the spring ties the league's single-season record, also held by Army's Jeff Weaver (2004) and Navy's Darryl Hunter (2008) and Mark Van Orden (2009). Joseph and Van Orden also now share the league record for most consecutive field honors in a single season.
Joseph was not the only Bison to put up strong performances at the Penn Relays. Trees was 12th in the college division of the javelin in Philadelphia with a throw of 192-7. His outing earned him the second Patriot League Rookie of the Week citation of the season as he was also recognized on April 2.
Liggett collected the first honor of her outdoor career with a personal-best time in the 3,000 meters. The senior crossed the line in 9 minutes, 45.55 seconds, giving her an 11th-place finish at the meet. The time ranks third in program history and qualifies her for the ECAC Championships next month.
Liggett has now set a program top-10 time in a different event in each of her last three meets. Before her standout performance last Friday, she also moved into third all-time in the 5,000 at the Bison Outdoor Classic and eighth in the 1,500 at the Bucknell Team Challenge.
Bucknell will return to the track for the Patriot League Championships later this week with competition in Worcester, Mass., running May 4-5. Both the Bison men's and women's squads will be looking to extend their winning streak as the women have won each of the last three outdoor titles and the men have each of the last two.
