Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Bucknell Winter Classic
Track & Field Ends Regular Season on High Note at Bucknell Winter Classic
2/9/2013 7:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Feb. 9, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bison track and field grabbed 10 event wins and added nine new marks to the program top-10 lists at the Bucknell Winter Classic on Saturday. The meet at Gerhard Fieldhouse was the final tune-up for the Orange and Blue ahead of next week's Patriot League Championships.
On the list of winners were five men and four women. Leonard Joseph and Abby Monaghan both successfully defended their weight throw titles, while Nathaniel Witter was a second-time winner in the pole vault. Bucknell's gold medalists at the unscored meet also included three freshmen on the women's side in Chrissy Haney, Sophia Nnadi and Jess Bridle.
"We got exactly what we were looking for at today's meet," said head coach Kevin Donner. "It helped us solidify our Patriot League lineup and we got an opportunity to rest a lot of people as well. Writing a 32-person lineup will be very tough. However, the tougher the decision-making we have, the better the team."
Monaghan won her second straight weight throw title at the Bucknell Winter Classic with a mark of 51-3. It was the first time in three meets the senior had gotten back over 50 feet. Joseph also returned to the 60-foot club with his win at 63-8 ¼. No other thrower on the men's side finished at better than 58 feet.
Also repeating a win from a year ago was Witter. The junior cleared 15-3 in the pole vault for his victory. Emily Ando tied for first in the women's pole vault, clearing 11-3 ¾.
In other field events, Kevin Keller won the long jump with the best mark of his career. The distance of 23-2 ¼ is also the eighth-best in program history. Alex Prieto rounded out the jumps dominance with a triple jump mark of 47-5 ¾ for the win and the seventh-best mark at Bucknell.
The women's shot put title went to Nnadi, who cleared the 40-foot barrier for the first time in her career. The rookie went from being unranked at Bucknell to the No. 6 spot with a mark of 43-10 and her first-ever collegiate victory.
The sprints were kind to Bucknell as well in both the men's and women's races. On the men's side, Patryk Najbar won the 60 meters and tied for third in the 200, setting personal records in both. Najbar ran a career best 7.05 in the 60-meter prelims, then improved that to 7.00 in the finals, tying for fifth in program annals. His 22.36 in the 200 meters tied him for third in the race with teammate Jacob Eaton Hall. Both are tied for ninth-best all-time at Bucknell.
Eaton Hall also took second in the 60 (7.02), while Kamal Riley was fifth (7.16). Griffin Robertson took a runner-up position in the 500 (1:07.39).
On the women's side, Bridle took gold in the 200 meters with a time of 26.06 and Haney did the same in the 500, clocking in at 1:18.74. Kim Nagotko continued to get faster in the 60 meters, running 7.80 seconds in the prelims for her personal record. She ultimately placed third in 7.88.
When Bucknell returns to the track it will be to defend its Patriot League titles. Both the men and the women won the team trophies on their home turf a year ago. The Bison women topped second-place Navy by 20 points last winter, while the men snuck out with an 8.75-point win over the Midshipmen. The 2013 championships will play out Feb. 15-17 at West Point, N.Y.
