Bucknell Tune-Up Scheduled for Friday Afternoon at Gerhard Fieldhouse

2/13/2014 6:26:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

By: TBD

LEWISBURG, Pa. - With only one week left before the Patriot League Championships, the Bucknell track and field team will seek to turn in some fast performances when it hosts the Bucknell Tune-Up at Gerhard Fieldhouse on Friday evening. The Bison, who won 10 events and added nine new marks to the program's top 10 lists at last year's meet, will be joined by Bloomsburg, Shippensburg and Patriot League foe Lehigh at the evening competition. Field events are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., and action on the track will commence at 6 p.m. Live results will be available.

The Bison will be competing against the clock and the tape measure to improve their marks on Friday, as the team has several goals in mind for the event. "Each of our student-athletes has a different mission in this event,” noted head coach Kevin Donner. “Some people will be resting this weekend, while others will just be using it as a final tune-up before the Patriot League meet. We will also have a number of people who are still trying to make the conference lineup or improve on their league ranking, as well as people competing in their last indoor meet of the season.”

The Patriot League Championships roster consists of 32 individuals that will come together to try and win the team title. Last year the women's squad accomplished just that, taking first place with a score of 162 points, well ahead of second-place Navy, which finished with 110 points. Five Bison were named to the All-Patriot League first team, including senior Jennifer Zymet and sophomore Sophia Nnadi, both of whom will be competing again this year. Bucknell also earned second team All-Patriot League honors in six events, including the 4x800 meter relay and the distance medley relay. The women's squad will be tuning its skills at Friday's meet in hopes of winning a third straight indoor Patriot League title next weekend.

On the men's side, this weekend is about prepping the team to come back from a disappointing second-place finish last season. The men scored 182 points at last year's championships, but failed to surpass Navy, which finished with 204.5 points. The Bison men have been hard at work all year with the goal of taking back the Patriot League indoor track and field title, and squad is definitely prepared. Bucknell returns six first team All-Patriot League honorees to this year's squad, including senior Ray Holmes, junior Kevin Keller, sophomore John Westwood, Ryan Johnson, senior Chris Oesterlin and junior Andrew Garcia-Garrison, as well as six men who earned a spot on the All-League second team.

Donner is confident that his student-athletes will be able to produce impressive marks again this weekend, further preparing them to host the league meet at Gerhard Fieldhouse from Feb. 21 to 23. "Our team seems to be improving each and every week,” he added, “and this weekend should be no different.”