Cross Country to Compete at Leopard Invitational on Saturday

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell men's and women's cross country teams will make the short trip to Easton, Pa. on Saturday to compete in the 2013 Leopard Invitational, hosted by Lafayette on the school's cross country course at Metzgar Athletic Complex. The race is set to begin at 10 a.m. and will pit the Bison against several conference foes in a preview for the upcoming Patriot League Championships.

“The Lafayette Invitational gives us an opportunity to run the Patriot League Championship course before competing for the conference title in two weeks,” said head coach Kevin Donner. “Although we do know the majority of our line-up for Patriots, there will be a few runners trying to earn one of the last few roster spots. Our top runners will run the race with the intention of solidifying our mid-pack runners as we look to prepare the whole team for end-of-season competition.”

The Bison have been focused on training for the past two weeks, as their last competition was the Paul Short Run on Oct. 5. The teams battled through grueling conditions and against some of the country's best runners in Bethlehem, with the women's team finishing 29^th and the men's squad taking 42^nd.

Junior Kylie Pearse has been Bucknell's top female runner in the last two competitions, and she placed 110^th out of 406 runners with a time of 21:55 at the Paul Short Run. Juniors Montana DiPietrantonio, Katie Jessee and Zoe Gaston also ran well, finishing just behind Pearse, while sophomore Deanna Godby was solid under the tough conditions, crossing the line as the fifth Bison scorer.

On the men's side junior Andrew Garcia-Garrison was the first Bucknell finisher, crossing the line in a time of 25:33 to take 123^rd out of 397 runners. Sophomore Andrew Kuchta, junior Dylan Cowell and senior David Strauss all finished within a span of two seconds, while sophomore Harrison Brakewood also scored for the Bison.

After this weekend's competition, the cross country teams will focus on their championship preparations for two weeks before heading back to Easton on Saturday, Nov. 2 for the 2013 Patriot League Championships.