Men’s Track and Field Takes Third at PL Championships

Saturday, May 4

Worcester, Mass.

10 a.m.

Bucknell University

Patriot League Championships

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Men’s Track and Field Takes Third at PL Championships

5/4/2019 10:26:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

4x400 Runs Second-Fastest Time in School History

WORCESTER, Mass. – Billy Melchionni rounded out his final Patriot League Championships with a personal-best in the 400 while helping anchor the Bison 4x400 squad to the second-fastest time in school history on Saturday afternoon as Bucknell finished third overall (94) behind champion Navy (289) and runner-up Army (255).   Boston University (80), Lafayette (45), Holy Cross (41), Lehigh (36), Colgate (10), and American (6), rounded out the field.

Results

"I must start by commending Navy and Army," said Head Coach Kevin Donner. "I have never seen them better in my 18 years in the league. We have a very good team and Boston has a very good team and we were not near them. With that, our men scrapped and clawed for every single point and we had some of our all-time best performances. 7:28 and 3:11 in the 4 x 800 and 4 x 400 respectively would win most years and this year we were 3rd in both behind the two academies. Seemed like every event was like that. We have a lot of guys going to IC4A and even NCAA and we are excited about the post season."

Melchionni posted his best-ever time in the 400 (47.15), to finish in third, surpassing his previous mark of 47.30 that remains the second-fastest mark in school history behind Thomas McLean's school-record time of 46.84 that has stood since 1976. In the 200, Melchionni placed fourth (21.82) to add five points for the Bison.

In the 4x400 (Steve Rizio, Alex Dessoye, Robert Dessoye), Melchionni nearly took second as the anchor after grabbing the baton several lengths behind in third before a late charge from Army's Tyrell Maddox helped the Black Knights take second at the very end. Navy broke its own meet record in taking the win (3:08.90).   The time of 3:11.76 for the Bison ranks second in program history, and is the fastest time run by a Bison relay squad since 2014.

Melchionni also helped the 4x100 squad of Ryquan Harris, Jeff Brown, and Rizio to a fourth-place showing (41.52). The time ranks tenth in program history, and is now the third different top-ten 4x100 squad that Melchionni has anchored to a top-ten program time in his career.

Each of the relays for Bucknell set a top-ten program time at the Outdoor Championships after the 4x800 squad broke the school record on Friday.

Connor McMenamin posted a strong time in the 3000 steeplechase that kicked off day two, (9:04.51) to take second place behind Navy's Kevin Murray. McMenamin's time was just over two seconds shy of breaking into the top-ten list at Bucknell, which hasn't had a new entry into the steeplechase ranks since 2014.

Jake Stupak was third in the 1500 after anchoring the record-breaking 4x800 squad on Friday, (3:48.48), which is his highest ever individual finish at the Patriot League Championships after finishing 12^th in the 10,000 in 2017.

In the triple jump, Reggie Harris (48-4) placed third overall.   Ethan Dunne (6060) posted the sixth-highest score in Bucknell history in the decathlon in placing seventh.

Drew Dorflinger posted a solid time in the 5,000, taking fifth (14:27.65), his highest-ever finish in the 5000 at the Outdoor Championships.

Also in the 400, Alex Dessoye scored with a personal-best (7^th, 48.62) after taking first in the second heat and moving back into the top ten in the 400 in a tie for tenth with his brother Robert. Rizio (49.16) narrowly missed scoring in the event as well.

R. Dessoye scored in the 800 (5^th, 1:51.43), a personal-best and the eighth-fastest time in Bucknell history.   Scott Gulizio also scored in the event (7^th, 1:51.87), while Sean Conway just narrowly missed grabbing a point (9^th, 1:52.94).

Zach Ruiz posted a solid day in the discus (6^th, 163-1) to move into the ninth spot on Bucknell's all-time list. School-record holder Will Briggs also scored in the event (7^th, 160-5).

Bobby Gablein added a point for the Bison after taking eighth in the 100 (10.91).

Steven Bolger and Ian Lawrence each cleared 6-1.5 to take eighth and ninth, respectively, in the high jump.

The team will now turn its attention to the Army Twilight meet on Thursday, May 9.