Women's Track and Field Set To Host Bucknell Team Challenge on Saturday For Senior Day

4/20/2018 10:20:00 AM | Women's Track and Field

By: TBD

Setting the Scene:

What: Bucknell Team Challenge

When: Saturday, April 21

Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.

Live Results: BucknellBison.com

MEET INFO

About the Bison/Last Time Out

Bucknell is set to host its final meet of the year in the Bucknell Team Challenge on Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Approximately 25 minutes after the conclusion of the meet, Bucknell will honor its seniors for their dedication and contributions to the program. Seventeen members of the women's track and field team will be recognized, and these include Christine Bendzinski, Chloe Brown, Jenna Calandro, Sara Christian, Emma Cousins, Alexa DiGregorio, Emma Harris, Lauren Hudson, Jamie Kenney, Carli Lucke, Kafilat Oladiran, Emily Ryan, Katie Sabatino, Lindsay Schafer, Brennan Sharkey, Alison Varano and Delaney Worth. This is one of the most successful senior classes in program history; one that has won nine of the 11 Patriot League Championships they've competed in, including the 2017 "Triple Crown" as cross country, indoor, and outdoor champions in the same academic year. They've also won the cross country and indoor titles so far this year and are vying to win their second triple crown over a three-year span.
The Bison return to action after performing well at the Bison Outdoor Classic. Bucknell broke a school record and two stadium records while winning two events.
Christine Bendzinski shattered the school record by over three seconds in the 1,500 with a time 4:16.54, breaking her own previous mark of 4:19.99 that was set in 2016. The Hebron, Connecticut, native also broke the Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium record set by Rachel Pocratsky in 2016. Bendzinski currently has the seventh-fastest time in the nation.
For Bendzinski, it is the second outdoor school record she has broken this year; the other came a few weeks ago at the Raleigh Relays when she broke teammate Colleen Buckley's year-old 5,000m record with a time of 16:17.66. Bendzinski has put herself in position to qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Meet in both the 5,000 and 1,500-meters.
Freshman Maura Fiamoncini continued her hot streak in the javelin. The Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania, native won for a third consecutive week with a toss of 178-2, shattering the stadium record of 163-1, set by Penn State's Laura Loht in 2014. Bucknell had four competitors finish in the top 13 in the javelin, as Taylor Oxley (10th, 137-6), Hanna Beer (11th, 134-5), and Kasey Getkin (13th, 130-8) followed Fiamoncini. Freshman Danielle Line finished 13th in the discus after setting a career best with a toss of 132-6.
In the 4x400 relay, the Bison closed out the meet with a second-place finish. The foursome of Rebecca Rooney, Emily Ryan, Gianna Mincone and Tiara Tardy earned the best finish of the day for Bucknell by crossing the line second with a time of 4:01.26, behind only Duquesne's 3:56.85.
One of the individual highlights for Bucknell came in the 800-meter run, where the freshman Tardy placed fourth out of 128 runners with a time of 2:13.08. She crossed the finish line behind only NAIA national champion Anna Shields (2:07.76) of Point Park, who currently has the 45th fastest time in the nation, Lehigh's Brooke Schaeffer (2:11.98), and Cornell's Christina Welzer (2:13:08). Mincone set a personal best and finished 15th by clocking in at 2:15.74.
In the 100-meter high hurdles, senior Kafilat Oladiran was impressive. Oladiran crossed the line in sixth place with a time of 14.75, just a fraction slower than the 14.45 she ran at last weekend's Virginia Quad. Janiel Slowly (13th, 15.68) and Cayleigh Glew (28th, 16.74) rounded out a solid high hurdles contingent. Bucknell's top finisher in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles was Alison Varano, who took 9th in 1:05.24. Katie Sabatino was 13th in 1:06.32.
In the 5,000-meter invitational, Colleen Buckley finished 11th out of 69 runners with an ECAC-Qualifying time of 16:59.46, which is her season-best.
Bucknell also got some major contributions from their 4x100 relay team, which included Oladiran, Carli Lucke, Taylor Kennedy, and Kaitlin Salisbury. The group placed fourth in 48.47. In the open 100 meters, Salisbury (7th, 12.49) and Lucke (9th, 12.60) both earned top-10 finishes. Placing in the top 20 were Oladiran (15th, 12.674) and Kennedy (16th, 12.677), who were separated by just .003 seconds. Lucke was the team's top finisher in the 200-meter dash, placing 16th in 26.46. Emily Ryan was two spots back with a time of 26.49.
In the 400-meter run, Jennifer Dietrich, Natalie Waterhouse, Rebecca Rooney, and Shaylyn Fahey all performed well. Dietrich, who was competing in her third career outdoor meet, excelled under the bright lights by placing fourth in a field of 49 runners with a time of 59.72. Waterhouse (11th, 58.88), Rooney (14th, 59.27), and Fahey (26th, 1:00.65) rounded out the event.
Madeleine Hunt, Dietrich, Sabatino and Waterhouse finished sixth in the 4x800 relay in a time 9:41.85.
Over in the throws, Molly Montalvo finished in the top-10 in the hammer throw for a third-consecutive week. The Greenville, Pennsylvania, native finished in seventh place with a toss of 166-2. Delia Sipe (40-11) and Ella Schultz (40-3 ¼) earned top-20 finishes -- 17th and 20th -- in the shot put.
The Bison found success in the jumps, where Kaitlin Salisbury went 38-0 ¾ feet in the triple jump to place fourth in a field of 34 athletes. Alexa DiGregorio placed 25th (34-9). Lauren Hudson took 15th out of 31 competitors in the high jump, clearing 5-3 ¾. Lexy Forrestal (5-1 ¾), Sydney Contrino (5-1 ¾), and Alexandra Butz (4-11 ¾) rounded out the Bison high-jump contingent.

Quoting Head Coach Kevin Donner

On this week's meet: "The Team Challenge is a much smaller meet, however each event will have some very good competition, and scored meets are always more fun for our team. Being two weeks out from the league meet, we are also starting to piece together our 35-person lineup, so it's an important meet for many team members. We will hold out a few athletes to preserve them for the postseason championships, however we will still try to win the meet."

On the Class of 2018: "We have a group of senior women who have been a part of nine championships of the 11 they have competed in, and they have set a great standard for our young athletes. Competing at home for the last time is a huge honor for them and the coaches."

Last Year at Bucknell Team Challenge

Christine Bendzinski broke an 11-year-old program record set by Christa Sawko (2:08.98) in 2006, with a time of 2:08.76 in the 800 meters. She finished nearly four seconds in front of the second-place runner and at the time ranked as one of the 150 best athletes in the country.
Bucknell ran away from the competition, finishing first with 224.5 points, while Saint Francis (Pa.) was second with 110 points, followed by Mount St. Mary's (100.5), Binghamton (99.5), and Duquesne (86). A total of eight teams scored points in the meet.
Kaitlin Salisbury, who at the time was a freshman, also earned herself a spot on Bucknell's top-10 list with a second-place finish and a time of 24.93 in the 200-meter dash.

Up Next

The Bison will compete one last weekend before the Patriot League Outdoor Championships. Bucknell will send a group of athletes to compete at the Penn Relays (Apr. 26-28), while another contingent will compete at Bloomsburg (Apr. 28).