Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Bison Opener
Men's Track & Field Wins Four Events, Qualifies Three for IC4As at Bison Opener
12/6/2014 6:30:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell men's track and field team won four individual events and had three athletes qualify for the IC4A Indoor Championships on Saturday at the Bison Opener in Gerhard Fieldhouse.
Seniors Jack Fellows and Kevin Tapper, junior Grant Reynolds, and sophomore Jacob Ashkettle all posted victories for the Bison in the season-opening event.
"Overall, it wasn't a bad opener," Bucknell head coach Kevin Donner said. "We need to develop some depth and we need to get some key guys healthy if we want to contend for a league title. We will be patient and we look forward to January."
Fellows' title came in one of the more crowded fields on the day as he topped 27 other throwers in the weight throw with an IC4A-qualifying toss of 59-0 3/4. Senior Brian Monahan was second and also qualified for IC4As with a distance of 56-0 1/2. He added a third-place finish in the shot put. Junior Olu Shoyoye was third in the weight throw to give the Bison the top three spots.
Reynolds was the Bison's third IC4A qualifier on the day as he won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.17 seconds. He remains in fourth on the program's all-time list, but turned in a slight improvement on his previous personal-best time of 8.18.
Tapper, who already owns the program's third-best time in the 300-meter dash, crossed the line in 35.08 seconds to win the event Saturday. Reynolds took third out of 14 runners to give him two top-three finishes on the day.
Ashkettle won the 500-meter run in a field of 10 runners, posting a time of 1:06.24. His teammate, junior Griffin Robertson, wasn't far behind, taking third in 1:07.65.
Senior Ben Burgess was the leader after four events of the heptathlon on Friday and finished second after the completion of the final three events on Saturday. He moved into fifth on the program's all-time list with 4,498 points. Christopher D'Aliso also etched his name in the Bucknell record books, scoring 4,216 points, good enough for 10th all-time.
Rounding out Bucknell's top-three placers were freshman Nicholas Lombardo and Tapper, who were second and third in the long jump.
The Bison will have a month off before their next competition, when they make the short trip for the Penn State Relays on Saturday, Jan. 10.
Players Mentioned
