Track and Field Heads to Ohio for Two Invitationals

2/7/2014 10:14:00 AM | Men's Track and Field

By: TBD

LEWISBURG, Pa. – With another successful weekend of competition under its belt, the Bucknell track and field team will head out west on Friday to compete in two more meets, continuing along the road to the Patriot League Championships. Bucknell is set to compete in both the Youngstown State National Invitational and the Akron Invitational on Friday and Saturday and with the conference showdown, which will be hosted by Bucknell at Gerhard Fieldhouse, just two weeks away, this is a vital weekend of competition for the Bison.

“The tracks are 300 meters which helps the times on the running events with a curve,” said head coach Kevin Donner about the benefits of this weekend's competitions. “We usually get nice performances at these meets and it sets us up well for the league. Going west to Ohio provides great preparation for our team as we usually see a different type of competition then we see out here. There are more public universities that offer scholarships, and the level of competition is high.”

Following up his big performances at the Penn State National Invitational, junior Christian Lupica takes to the track again this weekend with the hopes of even faster outings. Lupica shattered his own school record in the 60m hurdles, and his time of 7.88 ranks him 20th in the nation in the event. He also competed in the 200m event at Penn State, finishing in 21.66 and finishing fourth. In Ohio, Lupica will compete in the 60m hurdles again, and looks to drop his time further and continue to rewrite the record books. He will also combine with senior Jacob Eaton Hall, junior Kevin Tapper and sophomore Anthony Menza to compete in the 4x400 relay. The squad is the defending school record holder in the event, and will be running together for the first time in the 2013-14 indoor season.

Junior Jack Fellows also had an impressive showing last weekend, putting up big performances at both Penn State and at the Bison Open. While competing in Happy Valley on Friday, Fellows finished sixth in the weight throw with a big IC4A qualifying throw of 59-05.00. On Saturday, Fellows came back to Lewisburg and again out threw the competition. He placed second in the shot put with a heave of 50-10.25 and won the weight throw with a personal best of 60-01.25, placing fifth on the program's all-time top ten performers list. Fellows will be trying to top his marks in both events this weekend at the Akron Invitational.

On the women's side, freshman Catherine Scott was named Patriot League Track and Field Rookie of the Week on Monday for her outstanding performance in the 5,000 meter race at Penn State last weekend. Scott will look to continue her dominance in the distance events this weekend when she runs the 3,000 meter race at the Akron Invitational.

Scott will not be alone at Akron however, as sophomore Jenn Silvestri will also be competing in the 500 meter race, the 60m hurdles, and the 4x400 relay on the oversized 300m track. Silvestri moved herself into fourth place on the program's top ten all-time performers list last weekend, turning in a personal best time of 9.05 in the 60 meter hurdles at the Bison Open on Friday. Silvestri then went on to compete at the Penn State National Invitational in the 400 meter dash on Saturday, turning in a blazing time of 58.38. Silvestri will line up with senior Jennifer Zymet, junior Kim Nagotko and sophomore Jess Bridle for the 4x400 meter relay at Akron, marking the first time this season that the defending school record holders will hand off to one another. They enter the weekend expecting to run a fast time and get a high seed time for the Patriot League Championships.

Several other noteworthy performances from last weekend have set the Bison up for another strong showing in Ohio. Highlights on the women's side included sophomore Megan Kirk's top ten high jump of 5-04.50, freshman Carly Reiner's 60m dash time that placed her eighth on the top ten list, senior Emily Ando's ECAC qualifying jump in the pole vault and sophomore Sophia Nnadi's huge throw of 48-07.25 in the shot put at Penn State. On the men's side senior Ray Holmes (triple jump), sophomore John Westwood (1000m) and junior Alex Jagelsky (1000) all qualified for IC4As in their respective events. Westwood and Jagelsky both ran themselves onto the top ten lists in the 1000m. All of these Bison will be at it again at Youngstown and Akron, looking to drop their times and improve their distances in preparation for the upcoming conference championships.

With only two weeks left until the Patriot League Championships, this weekend will be one to watch. The athletes are primed and ready to go, and heading out to Ohio is sure to improve times and marks. The competition at both Akron and Youngstown State gets started at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon and will continue all day on Saturday. Live stats are available for both meets, and the Akron Invitational will be live-streamed by the MAC Sports Network. Follow the Bison through the links available on both track and field schedule pages.