Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Track & Field Set for More Titles at Patriot League Championships
5/2/2013 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
May 2, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The last several months have been spent gearing up for this weekend and Bucknell track and field will finally get the shot it has been waiting for when it competes at the Patriot League Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Bethlehem, Pa., May 3-4. The Bison men's squad, led by two-time hammer throw champion Leonard Joseph, will be looking for its fourth consecutive spring title. The women, which return four event winners from a year ago including all four members of the record-setting 4x800 relay, will be eyeing their 13th team trophy in program history.
Bucknell was picked second in both the men's and women's Patriot League preseason polls. The men finished with 90 points and seven first-place votes, just a slim margin behind Navy's 92 total points and nine-first place votes.
“Our men have been getting better and better each week since late March and we expect to have a great league meet,” said head coach Kevin Donner ahead of the trip to Lehigh. “Navy has an outstanding team and will be good in every event. They have a few events that are very powerful and will be a tough team to beat. Army is much improved since indoor and looks to be a dark horse. This may go down as one of the best and closest Patriot League meets of all time.”
Army (76 points) and Lehigh (62) were voted third and fourth, respectively, in the men's preseason poll.
In the women's poll, Navy also led the field with 95 points and 11 first-place votes. The Midshipmen were trailed by Bucknell's 89 points and five-first place votes. Lehigh (72) and Army (63) rounded out the top half.
“Our women's team seems to be peaking at the right time and is very hungry for this meet,” Donner continued. “The competition will be outstanding with Navy and Lehigh returning a lot of points from last year and both will be very tough. I have been impressed with Army's outdoor season and they look like a contender. Attrition takes its toll during the outdoor season and it is affecting us as well as the other teams. It will be a very competitive meet.”
SPRINTS/HURDLES
- The sprinter could hardly have asked for more recognition over the last week. Anthony Menza was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Monday for his performance in the 400 meters at the Bloomsburg Maroon & Gold Invitational last weekend. It was Justin Hicks and Sasha Hornock who brought in the major accolades, however. Both were honored with the Bradley N. Tufts Award, presented “in recognition of exceptional athletic achievement and contributions to Bucknell athletics” at Tuesday's 52nd Annual Senior Recognition Dinner.
- Menza finished third at Bloomsburg with a career-best 49.30 seconds. Also highlighting a successful run at Bloomsburg was Patryk Najar, who won both the 100 (11.02 seconds) and the 200 (22.23), making him one of a handful multiple winners.
- Bucknell also competed at the Penn Relays last weekend. Among those highlights were two of the fastest 4x100 relays in program history. The quartet of Jacob Eaton Hall, Hicks, Kamal Riley and Christian Lupica finished 18th in the prelims with a time of 41.28 that gave them the No. 2 mark in program history. They stayed at No. 2 in the record books with their finals time but improved to 41.03.
- With last weekend's run in Philadelphia, Hicks is now a member of four of the five fastest 4x100 relays in program history.
- The women's 4x200 continued to break records at the Penn Relays. Jennifer Zymet, Chrissy Haney, Hornock and Kim Nagotko ran 1:39.34 in the prelims, breaking the school record by two full seconds. It was the second time that the Bison had broken the 4x200 record this year.
- Zymet, Hornock and Nagotko are all members of each of the three fastest 4x200 relays in program annals. Zymet and Hornock are also members of the four fastest 4x100s at Bucknell.
- Allison Daley won the 400-meter hurdles at Bloomsburg. It was her second career win in the event, the first coming one year earlier at the 2012 Maroon & Gold Invitational. Daley's time of 1:04.57 last Saturday was a season best.
MID-DISTANCE/DISTANCE
- The middle distances were also recognized at Tuesday's Senior Recognition Dinner. Caroline Tolli pulled off a rare feat when she received both the Alvin F. Jackson, Jr. Memorial Scholar-Athlete Award, presented “for outstanding academic and athletic achievement and future promise as Bucknell alumni,” and the Christy Mathewson Award, “presented to the outstanding senior athletes.” Just the fourth Bison in the 52-year history of the awards program to earn both honors, Tolli carries a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade-point average as an education and Spanish major and Latin American studies minor. She was also the 2012 Patriot League Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year during both the indoor and outdoor seasons. Tolli holds two school records, has been named All-Patriot League in cross country, indoor and outdoor track nine times and has four individual conference titles.
- The honors were the second and third of the week for Tolli. The senior was also named the Patriot League Runner of the Week on Monday after logging the fourth-fastest 3,000-meter time in program history at the Penn Relays last weekend. Tolli finished 12th overall in 9:45.41. It was her first career outdoor 3,000-meter race.
- Tolli is one of the four members of last year's Patriot League-winning 4x800 relay. Along with Emily Waksmunksi, Beth Braunegg and Hana Casalnova, the Bison set Bucknell and Patriot League records with a time of 8:44.94.
- Waksmunski was one of many Bison to win an individual event last weekend at the Maroon & Gold Invitational. The junior was the victor in the 1,500 meters with a season-best 4:38.40. She also helped the 4x400 relay to a win with Erin Horleman, Morgan Roche and Valerie Sans.
- Like Waksmunski, Chris Oesterlin collected two wins at Bloomsburg last weekend. The junior on the men's squad earned gold in the 800 meters and ran the second leg of the winning 4x400 with Griffin Robertson, Dennis Logan and Cameron McConnell.
- Oesterlin's win in the 800 was the third of the season in the event for the Bison. Ryan Johnson has the other two, finishing at the top of the podium at the UMBC Invitational and Bucknell Team Challenge.
- D.J. Krystek has competed twice in the 5,000 meters this year and each time he has placed among the top two. On Saturday, he was second only to teammate Peter Murray. His win this season came at UMBC with a season-best 15:02.06.
- Murray's win in the 5K last weekend was the first of his career. It was also the first time the freshman had finished in under 15:00 as he crossed the line in 14:57.94.
- John Dugan and Leah Goeke have established themselves as two of Bucknell's leading steeplechase runners. Both scored in the event at the 2012 Patriot League Championships, while Goeke was the 2011 champion. This season, Goeke has run the third-fastest time in program history, finishing in 10:55.07 at the Bison Outdoor Classic. Dugan finished eighth at the Penn Relays in his most recent steeplechase race, clocking in at 9:15.98.
THROWS
- In a season full of success, Bucknell throwers got two more awards on Tuesday when Joseph received the Bison Club Award and Tayler Siegrist, who is also a defender with Bucknell field hockey, got the Bryan-Humphreys Award at the Senior Recognition Dinner. The Bison Club Award is presented “to the senior athletes who best exemplify the winning spirit of Bucknell Athletics.” The Bryan-Humphreys Award goes to the student-athlete “who has exhibited exceptional versatility within his/her sport, displaying outstanding achievement and the selfless determination to help the team succeed by contributing in a number of ways.”
- In his last meet, Joseph placed third in the championship division of the hammer throw at the Penn Relays last weekend. The senior threw 199-9, falling just short of his own school record set earlier this spring. Joseph will be attempting a third consecutive hammer throw title this weekend at the Patriot League Championships. A successful bid will make him the third thrower in league history to win three hammer titles joining Army's Gerald Ingalls (1994-96) and Matt Schmitt (2003-05).
- Jack Fellows did not compete at the 2012 championships, but the sophomore has been making a good case to be included in this year's lineup. Fellows won the discus with a career-best 152-0 at the Bloomsburg Maroon & Gold Invite. He has also placed 10th or higher in 12 of his 14 events this year including the shot put, discus and hammer.
- Brian Monahan has registered a program top-10 mark in each of his last three meets. Most recently, he debuted in the record books in the shot put at Bloomsburg with his win at 52-1. He now ranks eighth. The sophomore is also ninth all-time in the discus with a throw of 157-5 at the Bucknell Team Challenge.
- Stephen Koullias had one of the team's busier weekends recently, competing at both the Penn Relays and Maroon & Gold Invitational. The senior was eighth in Philadelphia with a season-best throw of 51-9 ¼. The next day he took third in the shot and the hammer. Koullias is now less than one foot off his personal record in the shot put (52-7 ¼), which he set at last year's Patriot League Championships where he placed second and earned his first career All-League citation.
- On the women's side, Tara Lee posted the best marks of her career in the shot put and discus. Her throw of 40-6 in the shot was her first career at better than 40 feet, giving her second place at the Maroon & Gold Invite. The freshman also threw 126-3 in the discus, topping her previous personal best of 107-3 from just one week earlier.
- The Bucknell women collected a few more wins in the throws at Bloomsburg thanks to Sophia Nnadi in the shot put and Abby Monaghan in the discus. Nnadi, who was also 22nd in the shot at the Penn Relays a day earlier, threw one inch shy of her personal record for the win at Bloomsburg (43-1 ½). She was also third in the discus with a career-best 137-1 and fifth in the hammer. Monaghan won her third discus title of the year at Bloomsburg, finishing with a mark of 147-0.
- Siegrist also won the Bloomsburg javelin. Her throw of 136-7 was her best in over a year, since throwing 141-8 at the 2012 Bison Outdoor Classic.
JUMPS/POLE VAULT
- Not to be left out, Bucknell's jumps were represented at the Senior Recognition Dinner earlier this week as Alexandra Romanelli receive the Ronald J. “Pete” Pedrick Award, presented “in recognition of demonstrated improvement and special contributions to Bucknell athletics over a four-year period.”
- Bucknell women swept the jumps at the Maroon & Gold Invitational thanks to Emily Ando (pole vault), Alyssa Cardillo (long jump), Laura Lutzker (high jump) and Jessica Matsinger (triple jump). It was Ando's second victory of the season, Lutzker's second of her career and the first of both Cardillo's and Matsinger's careers.
- Ando cleared 12-2 ½ at Bloomsburg, giving her a career best and the No. 3 ranking all-time at Bucknell. Her previous personal record of 12-1 ½ came at the 2012 Patriot League Championships where she brought home gold.
- Nathaniel Witter joined Ando as a pole vault winner at Bloomsburg last weekend. The junior cleared a career best as well, hitting 15-7 and moving into fifth all-time on the men's record list. Also collecting victories on the men's side were Ray Holmes in the long jump and Alex Prieto in the triple jump.
- Holmes' win was his fourth of the season but his first in the long jump. Bucknell's only other win in the long jump this spring came from Kevin Keller as he logged a career-best 23-10 ¼ at the Bucknell Team Challenge. Prieto's triple jump win was the fourth for the Bison this spring in the event but the first by someone other than Holmes.
LOOKING BACK AT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- When Bucknell heads to Lehigh this weekend, the men will be looking for a fourth consecutive title. Only two teams in the history of the league have won consecutive team trophies on the men's side. Bucknell joins Army in that distinction as the Black Knights won 16 straight titles from 1992-2007.
- The Bucknell women will be competing for their 13th title in program history having already collected more trophies than any other team in the conference. The Bison finished second to Navy last spring. Their last win was in 2011, capping off a run of three straight championships.
- In 2012, the men won the team title with 167 points, followed by Navy (153), Army (149) and Lehigh (98) to make up the top half of the standings. The Mids won the women's trophy with 156.5 points. Bucknell was second with 133.5, while Lehigh (118) and Army (83) were third and fourth.
- Bucknell has 11 Bison from returning this spring with individual titles at some point in their careers. Three are on the men's side, including Joseph, Hicks and Webster. Eight are on the women's, including Ando, Waksmunski, Braunegg, Casalnova, Tolli, Goeke, Hornock and Zymet.
- Zymet and Joseph are both looking for a third consecutive league title in their respective events. A junior, Zymet is undefeated in the outdoor 400 meters at the league meet. Her top time this season came at the Colonial Relays, where she placed fourth in 55.97 seconds. Joseph has won each of the last two hammer throw titles. He has three wins in four meets and has already set the school record this year.
- Lupica placed second in the 110-meter hurdles in 2012, trailing only teammate and then-senior Robert Arent. Lupica ran what was then a career best, clocking in at 14.45. He has since improved that personal best and taken over Arent's school record. The current sophomore ran a 13.96 his last time out, making him the first Bison in program history to clock in under 14 seconds.
- A total of four school records fell at the 2012 Patriot League Championships. Recent graduate Andrew Powell won the decathlon with 6,667 points. That was also good for a new Patriot League standard. The women's 4x100 relay clocked in with the program's fastest at 47.45 seconds. Both the men's and women's 4x800 relays set records as well, posting times of 7:30.94 for the men and 8:44.94 for the women.
- The Bucknell men claimed five individual titles last spring. Only Joseph returns from that group. Arent swept the hurdles races, leaving the door open for a new victor since his graduation.
- The Bucknell women won six individual events at the 2012 championships. Zymet (400m), Ando (pole vault) and the 4x800 relay return intact, but gone are Taylor Funk (400 hurdles), Kat Folger (javelin) and Sarah Bella (shot put).
LOOKING AHEAD
Bucknell's season does not end with the league meet. A select group of Bison will also compete at the ECAC/IC4A Championships in Princeton, N.J., May 10-12.
