Bucknell University Athletics
Cross Country Primed for Patriot League Championships
11/1/2013 4:06:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
Championship Website
LEWISBURG, Pa. – All ten Patriot League schools will converge on Lafayette's Metzgar Athletics Complex on Saturday morning for the 2013 cross country championships, and both Bucknell squads are primed to contend for individual and team titles in a highly competitive, but wide open, field.
Racing will begin at 11 a.m. with the men's 8K, and the women's 6K will follow at 12 p.m. The top finisher in each race will be named the individual champion, while the highest-finishing freshman will take home the Rookie of the Year award. This year's All-Patriot League team will also be determined by the race results and announced at the conclusion of the competition.
Bucknell owns eight Patriot League titles on the women's side, more than any other school, with the team's last win coming in 2009. The Bison have finished in the runner-up position for the past two seasons, and will look to outrun defending champion Navy, as well as several other schools vying for the top spot, on Saturday.
“This year's championship may have the most parity ever,” said head coach Kevin Donner, “as there are at least five teams that will be going in with intentions to win. Navy is the defending champion and has a few returning All-League runners, Lehigh beat all of the Patriot League schools at the Paul Short Invitational last month, American won the recent Leopard Invitational with a strong freshmen class and Boston has some very good runners who competed well at New England's. We have had a solid year, but have not had all seven of our top runners perform well on the same day yet. That is our goal this weekend and, if it happens, we should be right in the thick of things.”
The Bison return two of their All-Patriot League runners from last year, as sophomore Deanna Godby and junior Katie Jessee each earned Second Team accolades at the 2012 championships. Godby finished 10th at the league meet with a time of 23:14.9, while Jessee grabbed the 13th spot when she crossed the finish line at 23:28.0.
This season has featured strong performances at each race from the Bison women, with the team most recently taking second place at the Leopard Invitational two weeks ago. Junior Kylie Pearse has finished as Bucknell's top runner on three different occasions, while junior Montana DiPietrantonio and freshman Catherine Scott have also helped lead the way for a strong group of Bison runners.
The Bucknell men have finished fifth in each of the last two Patriot League Championships, and will look to improve on those performances in the newly expanded field. Juniors Michael McGowan and Andrew Garcia-Garrison earned points for Bucknell in 2012, with McGowan crossing the finish line in 26:42.1 to take 35th and Garcia-Garrison running a time of 26:54.1 to finish 37th.
“Due to some untimely injuries our men have not performed to the level that we expected in the early part of the season,” said Donner, ”but the guys have shown tremendous perseverance while working hard all season, and things seem to be coming back together as we approach the upcoming championship meets. As on the women's side, there does not seem to be a favorite right now with Army, Navy, American and defending champion Lehigh all pretty evenly matched. Boston is a dark horse, and having a strong runner like Peters up front will help them a lot. We will try to run our own race and mix it up with the top teams, and then we will see where we are after the smoke clears.”
McGowan has led the Bison throughout the early parts of the season, finishing as the squad's top runner in four different competitions and earning a Patriot League Male Runner of the Week nod, while Garcia-Garrison has been right on his heels. Sophomore Harrison Brakewood has also turned in some strong races, while freshman Luke Giugliano is rapidly developing into a contender.
After squaring off with the rest of the Patriot League this weekend, the Bison will return to Lewisburg to prepare for the upcoming NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships. The competition, which will be held at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., is slated for Friday, Nov. 16.
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Players Mentioned
