Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Track & Field's Tolli, Arent, Donaldson Voted Academic All-District
5/31/2012 8:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 31, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell track and field collected three more honors as Caroline Tolli (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport), Robert Arent (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) and Jordan Donaldson (Saxton, Pa./Tussey Mountain) were all named to the Capital One Academic All-District II First Team, the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA) announced on Thursday. All three Bison were also members of the Academic All-Patriot League Team earlier this spring, while Tolli was voted the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year both indoors and outdoors as well. They will now advance to the national ballot for Academic All-America honors.
Bucknell has now placed at least one athlete on both the men's and women's Academic All-District First Team in each of the last seven years. Tolli is the first Bison woman to earn back-to-back honors since Melanie Buczko in 2006-07. Buczko went on to earn Academic All-America accolades in 2007.
An education and Spanish double major with a perfect 4.0 GPA, Tolli became the fourth Bison to be named the Patriot League Women's Outdoor Track & Field Scholar Athlete of the Year earlier this month. She is also just Bucknell's second female to earn scholar-athlete honors during both the indoor and outdoor season during the same academic year, joining Julie Sweitzer in 1999.
Tolli's selection to the Academic All-District First Team is the second of her career. The junior has also been named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and Bucknell Dean's List several times during her time in the Orange and Blue and is a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society at Bucknell.
On the track, Tolli collected her most recent Patriot League title by helping the 4x800 relay to gold with a record-setting time of 8 minutes, 44.94 seconds at the league championships this spring. The quartet now holds both the Bucknell and Patriot League records in the event. Individually, Tolli also placed fifth in the 1,500 meters at the outdoor Patriot League Championships. Indoors, she won the Patriot League title in the 1,000 meters and placed fifth in the mile with a personal-best time of 4:58.62, which also ranks among the top 10 in program history. She was also a member of the third-place distance medley and 4x800 relays at the indoor league meet.
On the men's side, Arent and Donaldson both capped off their careers with their first-ever selection to the Academic All-District Team. Arent posted a 3.45 GPA as a chemistry major. In 2012, the recent graduate was voted to the Academic All-Patriot League Team during both the indoor and outdoor track seasons. A multi-term member of the Bucknell Dean's list and the league's Academic Honor Roll, he has also participated in the Bucknell Institute for Leadership in Technology and Management, a program that focuses on globalization, ethics, communication and bridging the disciplines of engineering and management.
Shortly before finishing his track career, Arent received the Christy Mathewson Award at the 51st Annual Bucknell Athletics Senior Recognition Banquet, presented to the outstanding senior athlete. He then went on to win both the 400-meter and 110-meter hurdles and place second in the 400 meters at the Patriot League Outdoor Championships. It was the third conference title in the 400-meter hurdles for Arent, who was named the Patriot League Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet at both the 2010 and 2011 spring meet. His six career outdoor conference gold medals is tied for the most in program history.
Indoors this season, Arent successfully defended his title in the 400 meters at the Patriot League Championships while also placing second in the 60-meter hurdles, fourth in the 4x400 and eighth in the 200 meters.
Arent finished his career at Bucknell with school records in the 110 hurdles (14.31) and 400 hurdles (51.59) and ranking in the top 10 in program history in the 400 and 4x400.
A three-time selection to the Academic All-Patriot League Team, Donaldson has a 3.77 GPA as an accounting major. The recent graduate posted a perfect 4.0 GPA during the fall semester in 2011, helping him to secure a fifth selection to the Bucknell Dean's List. Donaldson is also involved in the Alpha Lambda Delta Academic Fraternity and Bucknell Accounting Club.
On the track, Donaldson is a two-time Patriot League champion in the outdoor 800 meters with his latest title coming earlier this month. His gold medal at league meet came with a career-best 1:50.52, which ranks fourth in program history. He also helped the 4x800 relay to a third-place finish at the league meet and set a school record in the event at 7:30.63. Donaldson now has seven outdoor top-10 marks, which currently stands as the third-most in program history. The native of Saxton, Pa., capped off his spring campaign at the IC4A Championships, where he placed third in the 800 meters and earned All-East honors.
This winter, Donaldson placed second in the 800 meters at the Patriot League Indoor Track & Field Championships. He was also second as the anchor leg of the 4x800 relay, fourth with the 4x400 and fifth in the 400 meters.
Bucknell men's track and field won the Patriot League titles both indoors and outdoors. The Bison's championship in the spring was their third consecutive, while the win indoors was their first since 1993. It was also the team's first indoor-outdoor conference sweep since 1991. The Bucknell women's squad won the Patriot League Indoor Track & Field Championships as well, and later placed second at the outdoor meet.
Bucknell has one meet remaining on its schedule. Leonard Joseph (Whitesboro, N.Y./Clinton) will compete in the hammer throw at the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, June 6-9.
In order to be eligible for Academic All-America recognition, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore, maintain a minimum 3.30 cumulative GPA and be a starter or key reserve on his/her team. Bucknell has had 121 national Academic All-Americans since 1970, the fifth-highest total among all Division I institutions.
