Men's 4x100 Relay Qualifies for Eastern Finals at Penn Relays

Friday, April 26

Philadelphia, PA

10 a.m.

Bucknell University

Penn Relays

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Men's 4x100 Relay Qualifies for Eastern Finals at Penn Relays

4/26/2019 10:12:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

PHILADELPHIA—The men's 4x100 team qualified for the Eastern Finals for the second year in a row, and the men's DMR posted a solid effort in the Championship section as Bucknell's men's track and field team wrapped up the second day at the Penn Relays.

"It was great to see our 4 x 100 relay advance to the eastern finals for the 2nd year in a row," said Head Coach Kevin Donner. Times were slow across the board because of the weather, but we were closer to our season best than most of the teams."

"The DMR was a solid but not a great race for us. It was great being in the COA section and we beat a few teams. Scott struggled in the last part of the leadoff 1200 leg, Billy ran a super leg in the 400 to get us back involved in the race and Rob kept us in it with a solid 800. Stupak had the 3rd fastest 1600 split and the leaders really slowed it down only to have a huge kick. Overall it was a great experience and this will set us up for future years."

The 4x100 team of Ryquan Harris, Jeff Brown, Steve Rizio, and Billy Melchionni qualified for tomorrow's Eastern Finals with a time of 42.21 to finish in 27^th in a field of 59 teams. The Bison finished third in their heat, and will now look toward the East Finals at 1:25 p.m. on Saturday.   Houston won the event for the second-straight year with a time of 39.79, followed by Clemson, Troy, Coppin State, and Monmouth.

In the distance medley relay, the Bison placed 10^th in the Championship division of the event (9:54.10). The team of Scott Gulizio, Billy Melchionni, Alex Dessoye, and Jake Stupak finished in front of Penn State and Duke in the event, while narrowly being edged by Saint Joseph's for ninth (9:54.05). The time is the fifth-fastest in school history.

The rest of the Bison contingent will now look to the Bloomsburg Invite on Saturday for the final tune-up before the Patriot League Championships on May 3-4 at Holy Cross.