Bucknell University Athletics
Track and Field Hosts Loaded Field for Bison Classic on Saturday and Sunday
4/10/2015 11:10:00 PM | Women's Track and Field
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell track and field program will hold its largest event of the season when it hosts athletes from 78 teams for the Bison Outdoor Classic on Saturday and Sunday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Some top-notch schools from NCAA Division I, II, and III, Canada, and track/running clubs will be represented at the event.
The first of two days of competition gets underway with the javelin at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, and wraps up with the men's 10,000-meter run under the lights at 10:10 p.m. Sunday opens with pole vault at 10:30 a.m. and concludes with the men's 4x400 relay at 5:25 p.m.
The meet features some of the top teams in their respective regions. On the men's side, Cornell and Buffalo are the top ranked teams in the Northeast Region, which will also be represented by top-15 teams in Army and Binghamton. Pitt, Monmouth, Penn State and Bucknell are all ranked in the Mid-Atlantic Region, while Central Michigan is listed in the top 15 in the Great Lakes Region.
The field will be loaded on the women's side, as Penn State is the top team out of the Mid-Atlantic Region and Cornell leads the way in the Northeast. Other regionally-ranked teams include Central Michigan, Pittsburgh, Monmouth, Duquesne, Buffalo, Army and Binghamton.
There are numerous highly-anticipated individual events set for the weekend, especially on the men's side. One of those events, the 1,500-meter run, will feature Bucknell senior Andrew Garcia-Garrison as he makes his first appearance of the outdoor season. He broke the school record in the mile with a time of 4:00.51 this indoor season, and will be joined in the event by a pair of Penn State runners who were well under four minutes in the mile this past winter.
Bucknell will be represented by senior Laddie Trees in the javelin and senior Christian Lupica in the 110-meter hurdles. Trees is one of four throwers in the field to eclipse 230 feet this season, while Lupica is one of two runners to finish in under 14 seconds in the hurdles.
Penn State's Laura Loht, who competed in the Olympic Trials in the javelin, highlights the women's competition. Bucknell's Dayna Simone was sixth in the javelin last season.
Other individuals to place in the top eight for the Bucknell women last season included Sophia Nnadi (discus, hammer), Jen Silvestri (400m hurdles), Kim Nagotko (100m) and Leigh Ann Labate (3,000m).
Kevin Tapper led the Bison men last season by winning the long jump. Other current members of the Bison to place in the top eight were Garcia-Garrison (5,000m), Trees (javelin), Jack Fellows (discus, shot put), Brian Monahan (discus, shot put, hammer), Tapper (400m), Lupica (110m hurdles) and Grant Reynolds (110m hurdles).
Players Mentioned
