Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Tolli Repeats as PL Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year
5/11/2012 8:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 11, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell women's track and field continued to dominate in the awards on Friday as Caroline Tolli (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) was named the Patriot League Outdoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year and four more Bison were named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team. Tolli, who was also named the conference's top student-athlete during the indoor season, carries a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade-point average while majoring in education and Spanish.
Joining Tolli on the league's academic team were Sarah Bella (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham), Hana Casalnova (Grove City, Pa./Grove City), 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 typically has 10 student-athletes, although 12 were recognized this spring due to ties in voting. 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.
The fourth Women's Outdoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year in program history, Tolli is also just Bucknell's second female to earn scholar-athlete honors both indoors and outdoors during the same academic year since Julie Sweitzer in 1999.
Prior to this season, Tolli was named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-District First Team and the Academic All-Patriot League Team for indoor track. 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 and the 2012 Academic All-Patriot League Team as well.
On the track, Tolli was a member of the 4x800 relay that won the Patriot League title last weekend. With a time of 8:44.94, the relay also broke Bucknell and Patriot League records in the process. Individually Tolli placed fifth in the 1,500 meters.
Also on the record-breaking 4x800 were Waksmunski and Casalnova, the only two sophomores to be named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team. A civil engineering major with a 3.89 GPA, Waksmunski has already been named to the all-academic team during the indoor season, three Dean's Lists and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and Society of Women Engineers.
In addition to the 4x800 relay, Waksmunski placed 13th in the 800 and 1,500 meters at the Patriot League Championships.
Casalnova earned her first career nod to the all-academic team with a 3.56 GPA as a biomedical engineering major. She is also a multi-term member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and Bucknell Dean's List.
Athletically, Casalnova added a third-place showing at the Patriot League Championships in the 800 meters with a career-best time of 2:09.90. The mark ranks third all-time at Bucknell. She was also sixth as a member of the 4x400 relay.
Bella's selection is the third of her career but the first during the outdoor season. 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.
At the Patriot League Championships, Bella won the second shot put title of her career with a season-best throw of 44-11 ½. The conference win was her first outdoors since she swept the shot and discus as a freshman on her way to Patriot League Rookie of the Meet honors. This spring, she placed ninth in the discus at the league meet as well.
Also a biology major, Hornock made the academic squad this spring with a 3.50 GPA. Having been named to the Dean's List and Patriot League Academic Honor Roll several times as well as the Academic All-Patriot League Team last winter, 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.
On the track, Hornock scored in four events at the Patriot League Championships. In addition to third-place finishes in the 100 meters and the long jump where her distance of 18-4 ¼ tied her for ninth in Bucknell history, she was also fifth in the 200 and fourth as a member of the 4x100. The relay set a school record at the league meet, clocking in at 47.45 seconds.
Bucknell claimed five of the 12 spots on the academic team, more than any other school. Lehigh, which had three selections, was the only other school with more than one selection.
The Bison will be back in action this weekend at the ECAC Championships. The meet gets underway today and continues through Sunday.
Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Caroline Tolli, Bucknell, Jr., 4.00 GPA, Education, Spanish
Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Academic All-Patriot League Team
Sarah Bella, Bucknell, Sr., 3.57 GPA, Biology
Hana Casalnova, Bucknell, So., 3.56 GPA, Biomedical Engineering
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
Elise DeRoo, Colgate, Sr., 3.97 GPA, Molecular Biology
Katelyn Hartnett, Holy Cross, 3.44 GPA, Accounting
Erika Stasakova, Lafayette, Sr., 3.78 GPA, International Affairs and Spanish
Katherine Pierce, Lehigh, Sr., 3.57 GPA, IDEAS Architecture
Brittany Pietrosh, Lehigh, Jr., 3.91 GPA, Marketing
Lauren Pietrosh, Lehigh, Jr., 3.88 GPA, Marketing
Brigid Byrne, Navy, Jr., 3.89 GPA, English
* Due to ties in voting, there are 12 student-athletes on the Academic All-League Team
