Bucknell University Athletics
Joseph Headlines Bucknell Men's Track & Field Contingent at NCAA East Preliminaries
5/20/2013 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
May 20, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell men's track and field's Leonard Joseph will begin his quest for a second consecutive National Championships appearance this week and he will be joined by Kevin Keller, Christian Lupica and Luke Webster as the Bison head to the NCAA East Preliminaries in Greensboro, N.C., May 23-25. Joseph, who was named Honorable Mention All-America last year, will return to regional competition in the hammer throw, while Keller (long jump), Lupica (110m hurdles) and Webster (discus) will be making their first-ever appearances at the meet, hosted by North Carolina A&T.
BUCKNELL SCHEDULE (subject to change)
Thursday, May 23
10 a.m. - Discus (Luke Webster)
1 p.m. - Long Jump (Kevin Keller)
Friday, May 24
5:30 p.m. - 110m Hurdles - First Round (Christian Lupica)
Saturday, May 25
10 a.m. - Hammer Throw (Leonard Joseph)
7:20 p.m. - 110m Hurdles - Quarterfinals
The top 12 in each event will advance to the National Championships in Eugene, Ore., June 5-8. Those from the Greensboro regional will be joined in Oregon by qualifiers from the West Regional, also being held this week in Austin, Texas.
Joseph was among the lucky dozen a year ago but just barely. Heading into his sixth and final attempt in the hammer in 2012, Joseph improved two places with a career-best-tying throw of 206-3. That put him in 12th and sent him to Des Moines, Iowa, where he eventually placed 17th and was named an Honorable Mention All-American.
Joseph was the only Bison man to qualify for the NCAA regional preliminary meet last spring. With four qualifiers this year, Bucknell has sent at least one athlete to the regional in each of the last eight seasons. Joseph is now a three-time qualifier, having also placed 37th in the hammer as a sophomore in 2011.
The 2013 spring has been a good one for Joseph. The senior took over the school record, throwing 209-11 for the win at the Bison Outdoor Classic. Joseph has won the hammer in five of his six meets this spring. The only non-victory came in the championship flight of the Penn Relays where he placed third. Among Joseph's gold medals this spring were the Patriot League title, which was his third consecutive, and the IC4A Championship title. His win at the IC4As was the first-ever by a Bison in a field event.
Joseph enters Saturday's competition ranked 10th in the East. Of the nine throwers ahead of him, five competed at the regional last year and a freshman, Virginia Tech's Tomas Kruzliak, leads the field with a top throw of 232-5.
None of Bucknell's other three qualifiers has ever appeared at an East Preliminary Championship. Webster and Lupica will also be making a bit of program history when they becomes Bucknell's first-ever competitors in their respective events.
Webster will be the first to get in on the action when he competes in the discus on Thursday morning. The senior, who enters this week's meet ranked 38th regionally, is looking to cap off his best season. Since breaking the school record in his first meet of the year, he has placed second in five of his seven meets and earned a silver medal at the Patriot League Championships. His best throw of the year is a distance of 172-3 and came at the Bucknell Team Challenge. He equaled that throw at the league meet.
Webster will likely need the best throw of his career to advance to the National Championships. At the 2012 regional prelim, the 12th and final qualifying berth went to Yale's Michael Levine with a throw of 176-11.
Like his throwing teammates, Lupica also added a school record to his resume in 2013. The sophomore set the top mark in the 110 hurdles at 13.96 seconds when he won the Bucknell Team Challenge on April 20. In three event finals this year, Lupica has not placed lower than second. He did advance to the final at the Patriot League Championships with a time of 14.31 but was forced to withdraw due to an injury suffered in another event. He did not compete at the IC4A meet a week later.
In addition to being the first Bison to compete at the East Prelims in the 110 hurdles, Lupica is also the first Bison runner in any event to make a regional appearance since 2010. Andrew Huebner (steeplechase) and Robert Arent (400 hurdles) both hit the track that season.
Lupica is ranked 22nd in the East heading into the week. He'll have his work cut out for him if he wants to punch his ticket for Eugene as the last qualifier out of the East last season was Pittsburgh's Josh Thompson with a time of 13.87 seconds.
Keller joins some rare company with his qualification as the first and only Bucknell long jumper to make a trip to the regional meet since Noel Powell in 2003 and 2004. Keller could hardly have asked for a better season to get to this point. Two weeks ago the sophomore completed the Patriot League long jump sweep, collecting the event title both indoors and out. His spring gold medal came with a throw of 23-4 ½. He improved on that distance one week later, placing third at the IC4A Championships with a personal-best 24-3 ½. It was his first career mark at better than 24 feet and ranks him third all-time at Bucknell.
Keller has never placed lower than third in the long jump this season. In addition to his win at the league meet, he was also the victor at the Bucknell Team Challenge and placed second at the season-opening UMBC Big Dawg Invitational.
Keller enters this week's competition ranked 37th regionally. One year ago, the 12th qualifying spot in the East went to Kyron Blaise from LSU with a jump of 24-10.
Although the squad's numbers are greatly reduced this week, Bucknell has plenty of team accomplishments to be proud of. The Bison followed up their fourth consecutive Patriot League Championships title with a 12th-place finish at the IC4A Championships, giving them their highest ranking in the latest Mid-Atlantic Regional Poll by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Bucknell was selected third for a third straight week, trailing only Princeton and Penn State.
