Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Monmouth Season Opener
Women's Track and Field Wins Five Events at Monmouth Season Opener
3/28/2015 9:43:00 PM | Women's Track and Field
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Bucknell women's track and field won five events on its way to a second-place finish at the Monmouth Season Opener on Saturday. The Bison finished with 78 ½ points, coming up just short of ending the 14-year unbeaten streak at home held by the Hawks, who tallied 81 ½ points. Seven teams competed at the meet.
Kate VanNess, Christine Bendzinski, Efe Agege, Sophia Nnadi and Elyse Pettaway all won events for Bucknell, which was competing as a team for the first time since the Patriot League Indoor Championships. The Bison added four runner-up finishes.
“It was a nice rust buster for us, and I felt that our athletes showed great character handling the cold and windy elements,” said Bucknell head coach Kevin Donner. “We were not too concerned with times or distances, but were more concerned with placing high and beating people. The times and distances will come as the season progresses.”
VanNess led a dominant effort by Bucknell in the 5,000-meter run as the Bison took the top four spots in the 35-runner field. VanNess won the race by 12 seconds, crossing the line in 17:40.54. She was followed by Elizabeth Sheprow, Meghan Carroll and Justin Schnell.
Agege and Bendzinski picked up right where they left off from the indoor season, which saw them establish themselves as two of the top freshmen in the Patriot League. Agege was the champion in the triple jump, besting a field of 16 with a leap of 38-0 ¾, while Bendzinski topped a field of 17 runners in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:18.47. Bendzinski won the race by nearly four seconds. Alison Lockwood was also in the field and took third.
Nnadi easily won the 25-competitor shot put with a toss of 44-0 ¾. Pettaway's title came in a large field in the 200-meter dash. She finished in 26.21 seconds to take the top spot against 69 other competitors. Kafilat Oladiran was third in 26.46.
The Bison had one athlete crack the program's top-10 list. Rebecca Skovira took third in the javelin with a throw of 130-7. That distance tied her for 10th in the Bucknell record book. She was followed in the standings by teammates by Megan Sangimino and Dayna Simone in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Jen Silvestri had two top-five finishes on the day, both in hurdles events. She was fourth in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:05.33 and took fifth in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.72.
Similar to the 5,000m, Bucknell had a great showing in the 1,500m and the 400m. In the 1,500, the Bison took six of the top 10 spots, led by Deanna Godby in third and Sarah Chandler in fifth. They took five of the top 10 spots in the 400, paced by Reagan Cerney in second and Jess Bridle in fourth.
Other finishes of note for Bucknell included a third-place result by Grace Loh (800), fourth-places by Andrea Bourgal (800), Yanelis Mestre (pole vault), Kim Lapszynski (long jump) and Sophia Nnadi (discus), and fifth-places by Kyle Stewart (100) and Lauren Hudson (high jump). The Bison added runner-up finishes in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
Bucknell will have numerous athletes compete at Susquehanna's Jim Taylor Invitational on Sunday. The event was originally scheduled for Saturday but was postponed due to the weather.
Scott Shines for Bison at Raleigh Relays
RALEIGH, N.C. – Kate Scott ran the second-fastest 10,000-meter run in program history on Friday night at the Raleigh Relays. The sophomore took 19th out of 44 runners at the highly competitive event with a time of 35:32.54.
Judy Perry holds Bucknell's current record (35:05.14), which was set in 1987. Scott's time was the fastest by a Bison runner since 2000.
“Kate ran a huge negative split to run an incredible time for her first ever 10k,” Donner said. “She has a great future ahead of her.”
Players Mentioned
