Men's Track and Field Hosts Bucknell Team Challenge on Saturday For Senior Day

4/20/2018 10:05:00 AM | Men'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

The Bison are set to host their final home meet of the season at the Bucknell Team Challenge on Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Approximately 25 minutes after the conclusion of the meet, Bucknell will honor their seniors for their dedication and contributions to the track and field program. Bucknell will recognize its six-man senior class: Kyle Adams, Will Bordash, David Frering, Nicholas Lombardo, Peter Onusconich, and Maxwell Prizant.
Bucknell returns to action following a successful outing at the Bison Outdoor Classic last weekend.
On day one of the Bison Outdoor Classic, Nicholas Lombardo demonstrated why he's one of the best high jumpers in the Patriot League, clearing 6-9 ½ to place sixth in field of 26 competitors and qualify for the IC4A Championships. Lombardo currently has the second-best high jump in the Patriot League, trailing only Jeff Giannettino of Army West Point (1st, 6-10 ¼). Steve Bolger matched his career best in the high jump (22nd, 6-3 ¼).
Headlining a terrific second day for the Bucknell sprint contingent at the Bison Outdoor Classic, junior Billy Melchionni won the 200-meter dash (21.75) and also anchored the team's first-place 4x400-meter relay (3:17.40).
The sprinters carried the day for the Bison on day two. Melchionni (21.75) and Jeffrey Brown (21.98) placed second in a field of 39 competitors in the 200, and Alex Dessoye (7th, 22.46) and Steve Rizio (14th, 22.94) also ran very well.
Only about an hour later, in the final track event of the meet, the 4x400 relay squad of Rizio, Alex Dessoye, Robert Dessoye, and Melchionni earned a first-place finish with a time of 3:17.40. The team beat Duquesne by just over a second to take the top spot.
In the 400-meter run earlier in the day, Melchionni and Alex Dessoye finished second and third, just .30 seconds apart. Melchionni placed second with a time of 48.69, while Dessoye was third after clocking in at 48.99. Seton Hill's Dontay Jacobs won the event with a time of 48.25. Rizio (14th, 50.24) and Robert Dessoye (50.57) finished 14th and 17th for the Bison.
Brown added to his runner-up finish in the 200 with a third-place effort in the 100-meter dash. Brown covered the 100 meters in 10.74, just .01 off his career-best, which makes him the 10th-best performer in school history in that event.
The hurdlers performed well in the adverse conditions. Ethan Dunne was the top-finisher in the 110-meter high hurdles, placing ninth with a time of 15.68. Matthew Barton finished 19th in 16.14, and he was also the team's top finisher in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, taking 16th in 56.47. Peter Onusconich was one place back in 17th in 56.51.
In the distance events, freshman Riley Gardner posted the top finish for the Bison with a sixth-place effort (9:00.59) in the 3,000 meters. Brian Babyak earned a top-10 finish in the 10K, finishing eighth with a time of 34:19.97. Scott Gulizio's 18th-place finish was Bucknell's best in the 800 meters (1:54.61).
In the field events, pole vaulters Nicholas Marino and Matthew Fay had strong meets. Marino, a freshman who continues to impress week after week, finished second, clearing 16-2 ¾. He trailed only Army's Lee Bares (16-11), the reigning Patriot League indoor champion who placed 15th at last season's NCAA East Regional. Fay finished fifth at a height of 15-3, and David Kelly rounded out the vaulters contingent with a 14th-place standing after clearing 14-9.
Freshman Brendan Bodisch (11th, 21-6 3/4), Steve Bolger (17th, 21-0 ½) and Micah Sims (18th, 20-10 ½) turned in solid marks in the long jump.
Moving over to the throws, C.J. Falcioni was the top Bison in the hammer and shot put. He placed sixth in the hammer with a heave of 170-9 and 24th in the shot put with a mark of 44-9 ½.

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: "Although we only have six senior men, this group is very close, and they have been great leaders and role models for our very young men's team. We have a great future ahead of us, and these seniors are the reason why."

Last Year at Bucknell Team Challenge

The Bison finished in first place among eight teams.
Matthew Fay, who at the time was only a sophomore, broke a 17-year old school record in the pole vault, clearing 16-9 ¼. Dave Pomfret (16-3) held the record since 2000, before Fay shattered it by over six feet, and at the time, Fay ranked as 70th-best vaulter in the country. He also went on to qualify for the NCAA Division 1 East Preliminary Round for the first time in his collegiate career. A few weeks later, in the preliminary round of the NCAA meet, he would re-break the record, clearing 16-10 ¾ and finish in 21st-place

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).