Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Track & Field Travels to Youngstown State National Invite
1/31/2013 7:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Jan. 31, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell track and field will make the rare bus trip when it travels to Youngstown, Ohio, for the Youngstown State National Invitational Feb. 1-2. The Bison will return to the Watson and Tressel Training Site, the site of 15 Bucknell wins and a school record a year ago, in one of their final weekends of preparation for the league championships that less than two weeks on the horizon.
"We are very excited to travel west to Youngstown, Ohio," said head coach Kevin Donner. "We will get an opportunity to compete against some schools that we usually never see and the facility is fantastic. The oversized track allows for faster times for the races with a turn, and it is easier on the legs for recovery.
"Traditionally, the first weekend in February has been a very successful weekend for our program as we start to fine tune for the Patriot League Championships in two weeks," Donner continued. "It is a scored meet. However, we do not plan on chasing points for the sake of winning the meet. It is more important to put ourselves in position to go after team success in two weeks, but our athletes do seem to rise when they know points for the team are involved."
Bucknell captured 15 gold medals between the men's and women's teams last year. Recent graduate Robert Arent was the only two-time winner on the men's side (400, 4x400) and the women had two. Sasha Hornock won the 60 meters while Jennifer Zymet was the victor in the 500 before teaming with Kim Nagotko and Hana Casalnova in the first-place 4x400. Although placing second in the 1,000 meters, Casalnova took the school record in the event, setting it briefly at 2:52.96. She went on to break her own mark a few weeks later at the ECAC Championships (2:52.33).
SPRINTS/HURDLES
- Zymet has put herself in a strong position to defend her 500 title from last year's Youngstown State Invite. The junior is coming off a career-best performance in the 400 meters where she finished in 57.35 at last week's Penn State National Invitational.
- Zymet's time newest 400-meter time is the fifth-fastest in program history. Now in the middle of her third season with the Orange & Blue, Zymet has her name on the Bucknell Top-10 Lists nine times - sprint medley relay (5th), 200 (3rd), 300 (1st), 400 (5th), 500 (6th) and distance medley relay (3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th and 10th). Casalnova also holds nine top1- marks, tying them for the most among current Bison.
- Nagotko has a pair of top-10 times of her own last weekend when she pulled double-duty at the Bison Open & Multi and Penn State National Invite. The sophomore kicked things off with a 200-meter performance of 25.59 at the home meet, setting the fastest time in the preliminary heats and improving her own No. 4-ranked mark. She remained in fourth the next day at Penn State but lowered her all-time best to 25.27, more than sixth-tenths faster than her time set at the Gulden Relay one week earlier.
- Nagotko has set a top-10 time in either the 60 or 200 meters in four of five meets this year.
- Grant Reynolds collected his second win of the year in the 60-meter hurdles with his performance at the Bison Open & Multi. The freshman teamed up with his elder teammate Jason Brown to establish firm control of the event for Bucknell. Brown clocked the prelims' top time of 8.52, setting a season best for the senior. Reynolds topped him in the final for the gold medal with his own career record of 8.37, which ranks sixth in program annals.
- Kevin Tapper continued his 2013 tear. The sophomore, who had never won an event entering the season, has three victories in as many meets. The latest came at Penn State where he led the field in the invitational heat of the 500 meters with the seventh-fastest time in Bucknell history. Tapper also won the 200 at the Bucknell Mini Meet and the 400 at the Gulden Invitational.
MID-DISTANCE/DISTANCE
- Bucknell did quite well for itself in the 3,000 meters last weekend. Brian Charland was the top Bucknellian in the event, placing second overall and first among collegiate racers, at the Bison Open & Multi. D.J. Krystek was ninth and Caroline Tolli and Katie Jessee were third and fifth, respectively, at the Penn State National Invitational.
- Both Tolli and Jessee ran some of the fastest 3,000-meter times in program history last weekend. Tolli's 9:56.58 was eighth, while Jessee's 9:59.67 was 10th. Tolli also earned her third consecutive ECAC-qualifying mark with the performance. The senior has competed at three different distances (mile, 1000 and 3000) in three meets and met the championships' standards each time.
- Beth Braunegg captured her first career Patriot League Runner of the Week honor on Monday after winning the unseeded heat of the 1,000 at the Penn State Invite. Her time of 2:53.03 was a career best, ranking second in program annals. Running on Ashenfelter Track seems to agree with Braunegg. As a sophomore last season, Braunegg was fourth in the invitational heat of the 1,000 meters with a then-school-record 2:53.73.
- Braunegg's school record in the 1,000 last year lasted just one week for Casalnova stole it at the Youngstown State Invitational. Casalnova continues to ink her name in the record books this year having run the 10th-fastest time at Bucknell in the mile at Penn State last weekend (4:59.53). Four current Bison are on the top-10 list in the mile now, more than in any other individual running event. Casalnova joins Maddie Dulac, Tolli and Braunegg on the list.
- Leah Goeke claimed a victory in the 1,000 at the Bison Open & Multi. It was the senior's first career indoor title and her first win in any season since taking gold in the steeplechase at the 2011 Patriot League Outdoor Championships as a sophomore.
- Bucknell shined in the relays at both the Bison Open & Multi and Penn State. The men's 4x400 squads at both meets recorded IC4A-qualifying times as did the men's distance medley relay at Penn State. The women's DMR ran the program's fourth-fastest time at Penn State. Casalnova, Zymet, Braunegg and Tolli clocked in at 11:50.29.
THROWS
- No thrower at Bucknell or the rest of the Patriot League has been as dominant this year as Leonard Joseph in the weight throw. Joseph was named the Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week on Monday for the fourth time this winter. That raised his career total to eight, setting a league record for most weekly field honors.
- Earning Joseph the weekly recognition was a pair of standout performances last weekend in which he recorded career-best throws on back-to-back days. Last Friday, the senior threw 63-6 ¾ at the Bison Open & Multi, breaking his best by 6 ¾ inches and keeping him in the fourth in the program record books. The very next day at the Penn State National Invitational, Joseph erupted for a throw of 65-0 ¾. That was his first career mark over 64 feet. He now ranks second all-time at Bucknell, just 9 ¾ inches shy of the school record.
- Bucknell's throwers finished in packs at the Bison Open & Multi, continuing its trend that started at the Bison Opener in December. In the weight throw, the Bison placed four among the top eight, while in the shot put they held four of the top six spots. Also in the shot put earlier this year, Bucknell placed five throwers among the top eight finishers at the Bison Opener, Bucknell Mini Meet and Gulden Invitational. Even at the loaded Penn State National Invite, the Bison placed all three of their throwers in the top 10 in the shot put.
- Kathryn Wahls was the bright spot on the women's side last weekend, throwing a career best 50-9 ¼ in the weight throw at Penn State. It was the senior's first-ever mark at better than 50 feet.
JUMPS
- Last weekend was all about the triple jump and pole vault. Ray Holmes and Alex Prieto both rewrote the record book in the triple jump at the Penn State National Invite. Holmes' 48-4 ½ is third in program history, while Prieto moved up to seventh with a distance of 47-3 ¾. In the pole vault, Emily Ando was second at the Bison Open & Multi and first at Penn State.
- Holmes now has four consecutive IC4A-qualifying marks this winter in the triple jump.
- With her performances at both meets, Ando has now placed second or higher at all three of her meets this winter. Excluding the ECAC Championships last season where she failed to clear opening height, Ando has not placed lower than third in the pole vault since the 2012 Open & Multi.
- Autumn Schellenberger saw a nice day-to-day improvement in the pole vault last weekend. The junior cleared 10-4 to tie for 12th at the Bison Open & Multi then improved to 11-1 ¾ to tie for fifth the next day at Penn State. It was Schellenberger's first career meet at better than 11 feet.
- Three of four Bucknell men's pole vaulters set or tied their season best at the Bison Open & Multi. Scott Weismiller and Nathaniel Witter both cleared 15-3, while Ian Ferguson ended with a height of 14-9.
LOOKING AHEAD
Bucknell has just one more meet leading up to the Patriot League Championships. The Bison will host the Bucknell Winter Classic on Feb. 9 at Gerhard Fieldhouse. It will be the final tune-up before the league meet at West Point on Feb. 15-17.
