Track and Field Set for Busy Opening Weekend

3/26/2015 11:40:00 AM | Men's Track and Field

By: TBD

LEWISBURG, Pa. – A busy week awaits the Bucknell track and field teams as they open the outdoor season. The majority of the Bison squad will compete at the 20^th Annual Monmouth Season Opener, but a small group will compete at Susquehanna's Jim Taylor Invitational. Additionally, two women's runners, Montana DiPietrantonio and Kate Scott, will run at the Raleigh Relays.

Bucknell will see tough competition at Monmouth, led by the host team. The Bison will have a challenging task as they try to best a Hawks' men's team that hasn't lost a home meet since 1996 and a women's team that is unbeaten at home since 2001. The Bison hammer throwers will compete on Friday night, while the rest of the squad will compete on Saturday.

The Monmouth Opener is a new event on the Bison schedule. They opened last season's outdoor slate with a dominant showing at the UMBC Big Dawg Invitational, where the men and women combined to win 12 of the 27 events that were contested before competition was halted due to lightning.

“After a three to five week layoff and spring break, I look at this weekend as a rust buster to get a gauge on where we are at,” said Bucknell head coach Kevin Donner. “We are looking at this meet as a setup for next week's Colonial Relays at William and Mary. It will be exciting to see how some of the events that are not contested during the indoor season compete, such as the discus, javelin, hammer, steeplechase and 400 hurdles.”

The Bucknell women won seven events in last year's season opener, including three by returning members of the team. Jen Silvestri was the champion in the 400-meter hurdles, while throwers Abigail Brundage and Sophia Nnadi took first in the shot put and hammer throw, respectively.

On the men's side, the Bison were winners in five events, four of which came by returning athletes. Jacob Ashkettle crossed the line first in the 400m, John Westwood won the 800m, and Grant Reynolds topped the field in the 400m hurdles to pace the runners. Jack Fellows led the effort for the field athletes with a win in the discus.

For the majority of the athletes, this will be the first competition for Bucknell since the Patriot League Indoor Championships on Feb. 20-22. The Bison women won the conference title, while the men finished as the runner-up. The conference recently released its outdoor preseason poll, which tabbed the Bison women first and the men second.