Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Track & Field Wraps Up Indoor Season at IC4A/ECAC Championships
2/27/2013 7:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Feb. 27, 2013
- Revised
LEWISBURG, Pa. - It has been an eventful few weeks for Bucknell track and field, but the Bison are hardly finished with their indoor campaign. Bucknell will head to Boston, Mass., for the ECAC and IC4A Championships this weekend, set for March 1-3. A total of 40 athletes and six relays have qualified in more than 25 events at the championship meet.
The Bucknell women's squad captured its 15th Patriot League indoor title and the men finished second the last time the Bison were on the track. The two teams combined for 10 gold medals and 13 more Second Team All-Patriot League citations at West Point. The honors continued to come in on Tuesday as six Bison were named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team. Leonard Joseph and Luke Webster were recognized on the men's side, while Caroline Tolli, Jennifer Zymet, Emily Waksmunski and Olivia Massey gave Bucknell a league-best four selections on the women's.
At last year's IC4A Championships, the Bison tied for 12th out of 26 scoring teams. Six Bison claimed All-East honors in six different events for the men's team, the most in a single year since Bucknell began competing at the meet in 1977. The Bison have had five IC4A champions in program history. Jerry Katz won the mile walk from 1978-90, Matthew Forys finished first in the 3,000 meters in 2007 and Tom Barr won the weight throw in 2012.
The Bucknell women will be looking for their first All-East accolade at the ECAC Championships since the distance medley relay finished seventh in 2011. The Bison have won two individual ECAC titles and both came in the field events. Melanie Buczko won the pole vault in 2005 and Marjorie Grap was the weigh throw victor in 2007.
SPRINTS/HURDLES
- Zymet and the 4x400 made up the sprinting contingency at last year's ECACs. Zymet competed in the 200, running 25.22 in the prelims. That time still stands as her career best and ranks No. 4 in the program history books.
- This year will mark Zymet's third career trip to the ECAC Championships. In addition to her appearance in last year's 200, she was also a member of the DMR that placed seventh in 2011. That relay, which also included Beth Braunegg, Erin Horleman and Emily Liggett, ran a time of 11:51.47. That ranked third in program history at the time but has since dropped to fifth.
- That DMR was the last group of Bison to be named All-East on the women's side. It was also the first non-field event to earn the honor since Christa Sawko (third, 800m) and Erin Cranmer-Hart (fourth, mile) in 2007.
- The male sprinters were busy at the 2012 IC4A Championships with Robert Arent, Justin Hicks, Jacob Eaton Hall, Christian Lupica, Kamal Riley and the 4x400 all in action. Arent and Lupica came out of that group as the most decorated Bison. Arent was an All-East honoree after placing fourth in the 400 with a school-record 47.46. Lupica was also named All-East, taking seventh in the 60-meter hurdles.
- Eaton Hall and Hicks are two of five Bison this year who will be making at least their third IC4A appearance. Eaton Hall, who qualified this year in both the 60 and 200, competed in the 500 last winter and the 4x400 relay as both a freshman and sophomore. His most successful run came in the relay in 2011 where he teamed up with Jordan Donaldson, John Picardo and Arent for one of the best finishes in school history. Their time of 3:15.79 still ranks second at Bucknell.
- Hicks has competed in the 600, 200 and 4x400 during his IC4A career. As a member of the relay in 2010, the then-freshman helped the team to a time of 3:16.82, currently ranking fourth on the program ledger.
- IC4A Qualifiers: Jacob Eaton Hall (60m, 200m), Justin Hicks (60m, 200m), Kevin Keller (400m) Christian Lupica (60m, 200m), Patryk Najbar (200m), Kevin Tapper (200m, 400m, 500m), 4x400
- ECAC Qualifiers: Kim Nagotko (200m), Jennifer Zymet (200m, 500m), 4x400
MID-DISTANCE/DISTANCE
- Four women qualified in the middle and long distances and many of them did so in multiple events. Tolli registered qualifying standards in four events - 800, 1,000, mile and 3,000 - while Hana Casalnova did so in three - 800, 1,000 and mile. Katie Jessee was also a qualifier in both the 3,000 and 5,000.
- Braunegg, who was a qualifier in the 1,000 meters, and Tolli are both slated to make their third ECAC appearance this weekend. Along with Zymet, that is the most career appearances on the women's side.
- Tolli may be sad to see February come to a close. The senior, who was one of the four Bucknell women named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team earlier this week, won the mile and took second in the 1,000 and 4x800 at the Patriot League Championships. She also collected her second Bison Athlete of the Week award in February.
- If he competes this weekend, Dustin Horning will be the only Bison on the current roster to race at the IC4A Championships all four years of his career. The senior, who qualified in 2013 in the 1,000 meters, has also raced in the IC4A mile and DMR. His best race at the championships came in the distance medley prelims in 2011 where he led off the relay for a time of 9:56.63, ranking fourth in program history.
- Four Bison have qualified in the 1,000 this year, but none of them is Alex Jagelsky. Jagelsky was sixth in the event in 2012, earning All-East honors. This year, potential competitors include Tyler Erhard, Brian Charland and Chris Oesterlin as well as Horning.
- Four freshman qualified in the middle distances and five more veterans could make their first appearance. The rookies include Anthony Menza and Ryan Johnson in the 500 and John Westwood and Zach Moon in the 800. Charland, Oesterlin, Andrew Garcia-Garrison, John Dugan and Robert Yamnicky are also looking for their first chance to compete at the IC4As.
- IC4A Qualifiers: John Dugan (5,000m) Tyler Erhard (1,000m), Andrew Garcia-Garrison (mile), Dustin Horning (1,000m), Ryan Johnson (500m), Anthony Menza (500m), Zach Moon (800m), Chris Oesterlin (1,000m), John Westwood (800m), Robert Yamnicky (5,000m), 4x800, DMR
- ECAC Qualifiers: Beth Braunegg (1,000m), Hana Casalnova (800m, 1,000m, mile), Katie Jessee (3,000m, 5,000m), Caroline Tolli (800m, 1,000m, mile, 3,000m), 4x800, DMR
JUMPS/POLE VAULT
- Bucknell got some huge performances from its jumpers at the Patriot League Championships. The Bison swept the long jump thanks to Kevin Keller and Massey as well as the triple jump with wins from Ray Holmes and Alexandra Romanelli. All four are scheduled to compete this weekend.
- It's not every year that the women's horizontal jumpers make it to Boston. Romanelli will be the first triple jumper to compete for Bucknell since Casey Krause in 2010, while Massey will be the first Bison in the long jump since Tolu Fayanjuola in 2004.
- Nathaniel Witter, Autumn Schellenberger and Emily Ando each have one ECAC-IC4A Championship under their belt in the pole vault. They will be joined by first timers Scott Weismiller and Yanelis Mestre. All five of them rank among the top in program history. The men are tied with each other for third with career-best heights of 15-9, while the women are all tied for fifth at 11-9 ¾.
- IC4A Qualifiers: Jason Brown (high), Ray Holmes (triple), Kevin Keller (long), Alex Prieto (triple), Scott Weismiller (pole vault), Nathaniel Witter (pole vault)
- ECAC Qualifiers: Emily Ando (pole vault), Olivia Massey (long), Yanelis Mestre (pole vault), Alexandra Romanelli (triple), Autumn Schellenberger (pole vault)
THROWS
- Few events at the IC4As will have more Bison than the shot put. Webster, Quinten Marcott, Jack Fellows and Stephen Koullias all earned qualifying marks at least once this winter.
- This weekend will be Webster's first IC4A appearance in any event. That's not a huge surprise considering the improvements the senior has made in the last year. After entering the season with only one career throw at better than 50 feet, Webster now has a Patriot League title and the school record (55-8 ¼) in the event.
- Webster is not the only Bison thrower improving by leaps and bounds this year. Jack Fellows has career bests in the shot put and weight throw this year and is the only Bison competing in both events this weekend. The sophomore was third in the weight throw (59-11) and sixth in the shot (51-7) at the Patriot League Championships, cracking the program top 10 for the first time in his career in both.
- Joseph will make his third career IC4A appearance in the weight throw. The senior improved from one year to the next, placing 11th (56-11 ¼) as a sophomore in 2011 to earning an All-East citation with a fourth-place finish (61-9 ½) last year as a junior.
- Joseph needs less than 10 inches to take over the school record in the weight throw. The senior currently ranks second with a personal-best 65-0 ¾. Tyler Hoffman is first in program history with a mark of 65-10 ½.
- Sophia Nnadi will compete in the shot put thanks to an automatic qualifying bid from her Patriot League title. She is the only freshman on the women's side to qualify individually.
- Nnadi put up some of the best finale marks of the season with her recent shot put performances. After not cracking 40 feet in the first four meets of her career, she finished at better than 43 feet in each of her final two competitions. The rookie now ranks sixth all-time at Bucknell with a career-best 43-11 ¾, which came at the Patriot League Championships.
- IC4A Qualifiers: Jack Fellows (shot put, weight throw), Leonard Joseph (weight throw), Stephen Koullias (shot put), Quinten Marcott (shot put), Luke Webster (shot put)
- ECAC Qualifiers: Abby Monaghan (weight throw), Sophia Nnadi (shot put)
LOOKING AHEAD
The ECAC and IC4A Championships mark the end of Bucknell's indoor season. The Bison will next begin to prep for the outdoor campaign, which begins March 30 at the UMBC Invitational. Bucknell's first home meet at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium is the Bison Outdoor Classic in mid-April.
