Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Joseph Eyes Repeat Success at NCAA Track & Field Championship
6/4/2013 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
June 4, 2013
Meet Information:
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell men's track's Leonard Joseph will make a second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championship this week, competing in the hammer throw in Eugene, Ore., at 4:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. The senior earned his berth with an eighth-place finish at the NCAA East Preliminaries two weeks ago. Joseph enters competition seeded 19th in the 24-person field.
The NCAA Championship at Historic Hayward Field runs June 5-8 with the top throwers in the country vying for All-America honors.
CATCHING THE ACTION
Track fans have plenty of opportunities to catch the action at this week's NCAA Championships, even if they can't make it to Track Town, USA.
• Live results will be available at NCAA.com and flashresults.com.
• Live video streaming can be found online beginning Thursday afternoon on ESPN3.com. Action will also be available on WatchESPN Thursday through Saturday.
• ESPNU will televise the meet beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday.
GETTING THERE
Joseph's 2013 campaign has been one full of record-breaking and noteworthy performances. The senior became the first Bison in more than 30 years to qualify for the national championships in back-to-back years when he placed eighth in the hammer throw at the NCAA East Preliminaries in Greensboro, N.C., at the end of May. That distinction joins a resume that also includes Bucknell's record (209-11) and first-ever IC4A hammer throw title.
On May 25, Joseph threw 206-8 on his final attempt at the NCAA East Prelims. That moved him up into eighth and comfortably in the top 12 necessary to advance to the national finals. The finish placed him two spots ahead of his seeding entering the regional meet.
THE SPRING SO FAR
• Joseph took home his third consecutive Patriot League title in the hammer throw. He is the third thrower in conference history to win gold in the event at three different championships.
• In addition to his hammer throw title at the Patriot League Championships, Joseph also placed fourth in the discus with a career-best 168-1, which ranks third in program history. His performance on that early May weekend earned him the title of Patriot League Field Athlete of the Meet.
• One week after winning his third league title, Joseph became the first Bison in program history to become the IC4A hammer throw champion. He has earned All-East honors in the hammer throw at the IC4A Championships in each of the last three seasons.
• Competing on his home track at the Bison Outdoor Classic in April, Joseph became the Bucknell record holder in the hammer throw. He won the event with a heave of 209-11.
• Joseph has won the hammer in five of his seven meets this spring. The two exceptions are the Penn Relays, at which he placed third in the championship flight, and the NCAA East Preliminaries.
FLASHBACK
Joseph made his first career NCAA Championship appearance last spring when the national meet was held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Then a junior, Joseph finished 17th, throwing 202-1 and earning an Honorable Mention All-America citation. He was the second Bison in as many years to earn All-America recognition, following in the footsteps of javelin thrower Ted Heitzman who placed sixth in 2011.
WINNER, WINNER
Joseph is no stranger to gold medals in his career and this season is certainly no exception. He has 10 career wins in the hammer throw with five of them coming this season. A converted discus specialist as a freshman, Joseph earned his first career win in the hammer as a sophomore in 2011. He totaled three victories that spring and added two more in 2012 as a junior.
AND THE AWARD GOES TO ...
• Despite such a successful year, Joseph was named the Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week just once (April 15) during the outdoor season thanks to his school record at the Bison Outdoor Classic. He did win the award four times in the winter, however, giving him the career record for Field Athlete of the Week honors.
• Joseph was named the Bison Athlete of the Week twice this spring, once on April 15 and again on May 13.
• Joseph was named to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District Team for the first time in his career last week. A psychology major who graduated just a few weeks ago, Joseph has a 3.49 grade-point average. He now moves on to the national ballot for Academic All-America.
• On April 30, Joseph received the Bison Club Award, presented “to the senior athletes who best exemplify the winning spirit of the University's athletic program” at the University's annual Senior Athletic Awards Banquet.
RECORD BREAKER
Joseph became the school record holder in the hammer throw at the Bison Outdoor Classic, setting the new standard at 209-11. That performance toppled Jim Heizman's record of 209-3, which had stood since 1996. That same season 17 years ago, Heizman finished 13th in the hammer at the NCAA Championship. Joseph and Heizman are Bucknell's only two NCAA qualifiers in the hammer.
GETTING REPETITIVE
By qualifying for the national championships this spring, Joseph became the first Bison to advance to the NCAA final in consecutive years since Rick Sayre in 1980-81. Sayre qualified in the steeplechase both seasons. Joseph is also just the sixth in program history to qualify multiple seasons, joining Sayre, Lee Edmonds (1978-79), George Buckheit (1977-79), Bob Bickel (1978-79) and Thomas McLean (1975-77), all of whom are members of the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame.
CONNECT FOUR
Thanks in part to Joseph's individual success at the Patriot League Championships, the Bucknell men won their fourth consecutive outdoor team title. Before its current streak, the Bison's last team trophy had come at the 1991 Patriot League meet. Army is the only other team in conference history to win consecutive titles.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
• Eight of the 24 NCAA Championship qualifiers in the hammer throw also competed at the 2012 championship meet and four of those will be making their third nationals appearance having also competed in 2011. Joseph is one of those repeat qualifiers. He is joined by Florida's Jeremy Postin (8th in 2011, 2nd in 2012), Minnesota's Micah Hegerle (12th in 2011, 7th in 2012), UCLA's Alec Faldermeyer (5th in 2011, 3rd in 2012) and Denis Mahmic (14th in 2011, foul in 2012). Nick Miller of Oklahoma State was 13th in 2012, while Minnesota's Quentin Mege was fifth and Indiana State's Brandon Pounds was sixth.
• Five of the eight scorers from the 2012 NCAA Championship return this spring - Postin (2), Faldermeyer (3), Mege (5), Pounds (6) and Hegerle (7).
• For the second year in a row, Joseph is the only competing hammer thrower from a Pennsylvania school. Only the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota and Virginia have more than one with two apiece. Virginia Tech, Florida and Minnesota each have two throwers scheduled to compete on Thursday, making them the most well-represented schools.
• Thursday's hammer throw competitors are a veteran group. Twelve of the 24 qualifiers are seniors, while five are juniors. There are also three sophomores, including Miller who enters competition with the best qualifying throw of 234-11, and four freshmen.
BUCKNELL AT THE NCAAS
• Joseph became the 12th different Bison to qualify for the NCAA Championship last spring. He is also the third to qualify in a field event and the third since 2000.
• The only Bison other than Joseph to qualify for the NCAA Championship in a field event are Jim Heizman in the hammer throw (1996) and Ted Heitzman in the javelin (2011).
• Thomas McLean is Bucknell track & field's only national champion. McLean claimed the 800 meter title in 1976.
• Bucknell has had five top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships. MacLean was third (1975), first (1976) and fourth (1977) in the 800 meters; Buckheit was sixth in the 10,000 (1979) and Heitzman was sixth in the javelin (2011).
MORE ON JOSEPH
Earlier this spring, Bucknell Athletic Communications student Thomas Walter featured Joseph for BucknellBison.com. The complete story on Joseph's non-traditional route to Bucknell and the hammer throw can be found at /ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32100&ATCLID=209030218.
