Bucknell University Athletics
Track & Field Resumes Competition Saturday with Bucknell Mini Meet
1/4/2013 7:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Jan. 4, 2013
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LEWISBURG, Pa. – After more than a month layoff, Bison track and field will be back in action on Saturday when it hosts the Bucknell Mini Meet at Gerhard Fieldhouse. Featuring competition from Mount St. Mary's, Gwyned Mercy, Hagerstown Community College and Bloomsburg, the second home meet of the season is slated to begin with field events at 11 a.m. and races on the track at 12:30 p.m. The Bison men and women combined for victories in 23 events at the meet a year ago. Live results for this year's competition will be available at BucknellBison.com.
“We are coming off a three-week layoff from the holiday break, so we will use this meet more as a rust buster to see where we are at,” said head coach Kevin Donner. “We have two weeks of training camp before classes start where we can get in some quality work and use this meet to set us up for the Gulden Invitational on Jan. 19, which is a scored meet.
“I am confident that all of our athletes did some training over the break, but traditionally our technical events take a couple weeks of training and a meet or two to get the rhythm back.”
SPRINTS/HURDLES
- Few Bison made a bigger splash in their 2012-13 debut than Christian Lupica. When the team began their season in December at the Bison Opener, Lupica walked away with the win in the 300 meters with the second-fastest time in school history (35.19). His 60-meter hurdle performance may have given him a third-place finish at the meet, but his time of 8.05 seconds was good enough for the Bucknell record. Thanks to his success, Lupica was named the Patriot League Track Athlete of the Week on Dec. 3.
- Lupica is the fourth Bison to hold the 60 hurdles record since 2007 after he overtook former teammate Robert Arent's mark of 8.07 in December. All but two of the times on the program's top-10 list are from before 2010. Kevin MacLeod is now fourth with his time of 8.29 seconds set in 2007. Before him was current assistant coach Richard Alexander. Alexander now ranks seventh with his time of 8.42 from the 2003 campaign.
- Three men set new program top 10 marks in the 300 meters at the Bison Opener. In addition to Lupica, who is now No. 2, Kevin Tapper moved into sixth (35.75) and Anthony Menza is tied for ninth (36.05).
- Jennifer Zymet broke a decade-old 300-meter record at the Bison Opener. The junior claimed the victory in 40.65 seconds. That was 1.59 seconds faster than her closest competitor and made her the first Bison in program history to run a sub-41. The previous Bucknell record was held by Tameka Hinton (41.54), set in 1992.
- The Bison swept the men's and women's 60 and 200 meters at last year's Bucknell Mini Meet. Sasha Hornock won both events on the women's side, while Justin Hicks was a double winner on the men's. The Bison will also be defending titles in the women's 60 hurdles (Taylor Funk) and 300 meters (Kim Nagotko) as well as the men's 60 hurdles (Arent and Lupica tied). Chelsea Lodato and Dennis Logan also won the 500 meters a year ago.
MID-DISTANCE/DISTANCE
- Bucknell could not have asked for much more at the longer distances at the Bison Opener. John Dugan, John Westwood, Hana Casalnova and Morgan Roche all claimed wins. Dugan's came in the 5,000 meters, while Westwood and Casalnova combined to sweep the mile. Roche took the title in the 800 meters.
- Roche's 800-meter win was the first of her career. The sophomore came closest in the outdoor 800 at Bloomsburg's Maroon & Gold Invitational last summer, placing second. Indoors, she twice finished fifth in the event.
- The distance races at the Bison Opener also showed off Bucknell's pack running. The Bison took three of the top four spots in the men's 5000 meters thanks to Dugan's win and Andrew Garcia-Garrison and Harrison Breakwood placing second and fourth, respectively. Casalnova won the mile, while Emily Waksmunski was second and Kylie Pearse was fourth.
- The Bison will be defending their Bucknell Mini Meet titles in the 1000 (Beth Braunegg) and 3000 meters (Kady Weisner) on the women's side as well as the 1000 (Chris Sacks) and mile (Michael McGowan) on the men's. Only Braunegg and McGowan return from that group in 2013.
THROWS
- It is not often that only on Bison makes the top of the winner's podium in the throws, but that was the case at the Bison Opener. Leonard Joseph took the title in the weight throw with a mark of 61 feet, 8 ½ inches. That was just over one foot off his personal best but more than three feet better than his mark at the 2011 Bison Opener. Joseph's performance at the December meet earned him the title of Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week.
- Joseph hit 61 feet in the weight throw just twice last year – the Patriot League Championships (63-0) and the IC4A Championships (61-9 ¼).
- Although Joseph was the only one to earn gold at the Bison Opener, Bucknell still showed off its depth. The Bison placed five among the top seven in the men's shot put. Leading the group was Brian Monahan, who was third overall with a distance of 51-0. The personal best moved him into ninth on the program record list. With Luke Webster taking fourth in the meet with his own personal record of 50-0 ¾, there are now four current Bison who have thrown better than 50 feet in their careers. Monahan and Webster join Quinten Marcott, whose personal best of 53-1 ¾ ranks him third in program history, and Stephen Koullias, who ranks sixth all-time with a mark of 51-4 ¼.
- The Orange & Blue swept the shot put at the 2012 Bucknell Mini Meet, but those two Bison winners – Sarah Bella and Tom Barr – have both graduated. Joseph will be defending his weight throw title.
JUMPS
- Ray Holmes was the lone winner in the jumps at the Bison Opener, clearing a personal-best 48-2 ¾ in the triple jump. Not only did that give the junior the win, but it also moved him up to third on the Bucknell top-10 list. With his improvement of more than one foot over his previous career best, Holmes is the fourth Bison to surpass the 48-foot plateau.
- Holmes' triple jump win a month ago was his first victory in the event indoors since last year's Bucknell Mini Meet.
- Alyssa Cardillo and Autumn Schellenberger both took second in the long jump and pole vault, respectively, at the Bison Opener. Cardillo's finish came courtesy of a jump of 17-9 ½, while Schellenberger cleared 10-10.
- The pole vault and high jump titles both went to Bison at last year's Bucknell Mini Meet. Emily Ando, Ian Ferguson and Daniel Markwalter were the top finishers in the pole vault, while Gabrielle Eckles-Shehadi, Laura Lutzker and Andrew Powell all claimed spots at the top of the podium in the high jump.
LOOKING AHEAD
Another multi-week break will end when Bucknell hosts the Gulden Invitational at Gerhard Fieldhouse on Jan. 19.
