Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Bucknell Team Challenge
Bison Men's Track & Field Defends Bucknell Team Challenge Title
4/20/2013 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
April 20, 2013
| BUY PHOTOS
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Christian Lupica and Luke Webster broke their own school records and the Bison men won their fifth consecutive team title at a cold and windy Bucknell Team Challenge at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The Bison topped second-place Penn State by more than 100 points with the help of 10 individual victories.
Bucknell led the eight-team field with 290 points. Penn State followed as the only other squad with more than 100 points, totaling 111. Duquesne was third with 81.
Lupica was a two-time winner, sweeping the hurdles. His best performance came in the 110-meter high hurdles, which he won with a time of 13.96 seconds. The sophomore broke his own record of 14.25 set earlier this spring, making him the first runner in program history to run a sub-14 in the event. Lupica went on to win the 400 hurdles in 55.11 seconds.
Also winning twice was Justin Hicks in the 100 and 200 meters. Like Lupica, Hicks also registered one of the fastest times in program history in his shorter race. Hicks' 10.59 in the 100 was a career best and moved him from seventh on the Bucknell record list to second. Hicks later won the 200 in 21.49 seconds.
In total, eight program top-10 marks fell at the Bucknell Team Challenge. Six of those were in the field events. Webster threw 172-3 in the discus to take second in the meet but break his own school record by two inches. Brian Monahan finished fifth in the event with a throw of 157-5, which gives him sole possession of No. 9 on the record list. Monahan debuted on the top 10 last week.
The jumps also went in Bucknell's favor as Kevin Keller and Ray Holmes won the long jump and triple jump, respectively, and Scott Weismiller was the top finisher in the pole vault. Keller posted a mark of 23-10 ¼ in the long jump, tying him for fifth all-time at Bucknell. The sophomore was not ranked among the top 10 in the event entering the meet.
Holmes won the triple jump in 48-6, but it was Alex Prieto who put up the best distance of his career. Prieto was third overall with a mark of 47-7 ¾, moving him from 10th in program history to fifth. He was also third in the long jump (22-3 ½).
Weismiller won the pole vault, giving the event title to a Bison for the second consecutive year. This time Weismiller cleared a career-best 15-3, tying him for sixth in program history. Last year's winner Nathaniel Witter tied for second (14-9).
"I thought both of our teams competed very tough in the cold and windy conditions," said head coach Kevin Donner after the meet. "The wind really affected the field events and the races that were 400 meters and up quite a bit, but most of our athletes handled the adversity very well and will be prepared if we get similar weather in the championship meets. The short sprints and hurdlers had favorable winds that were legal and our athletes really took advantage and ran some outstanding races against great competition. It was great to see more school records."
Among some of Bucknell's other top performances as Leonard Joseph in the hammer throw. The senior won his fourth event title in as many meets, finishing with a mark of 208-1. On the track, Ryan Johnson (1:54.59) and Dennis Logan (1:55.15) went 1-2 in the 800 and the 4x800 took gold in 8:11.62.
The Bison had a dominant showing in the 400 meters, taking second through fifth place. Anthony Menza led the group in 49.67 seconds. The shot put had similar results with Quinten Marcott taking second with his career-best of 52-6 ¾, which ranks fifth all-time at Bucknell, and Jack Fellows, Webster and Stephen Koullias placing third through fifth, respectively.
Robert Yamnicky was second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Andrew Garcia-Garrison was also a runner-up, placing second in the 1,500 meters. Pat Mulrooney took second in the javelin as well.
Bucknell is just two weeks out from its championship schedule. The Bison will compete at the Penn Relays and Bloomsburg Maroon & Gold Invitational next weekend before traveling to Bethlehem, Pa., for the Patriot League Championships May 3-4.
