Men's Track and Field Fourth After Day One of Patriot League Championships

Saturday, February 29

Bethlehem, Pa.

Bucknell University

Patriot League Championships

Men's Track and Field Fourth After Day One of Patriot League Championships

2/29/2020 7:43:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

Jeff Brown Breaks School Record, Ties PLC Record in 60 Prelims

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Jeff Brown broke his own school record in the 60 for the third time this season (6.75), and tied the Patriot League Championship record set by Ben Sims in 2016 in the preliminary round on Saturday afternoon.

The mark highlights a strong day one for the Bucknell men's track and field team, which currently sits fourth in the standings after one day of action. Navy (72) leads the standings, while Army (63), Lehigh (19), and Bucknell (15) round out the top four. Boston University (12), Holy Cross (6), Colgate (5), and Lafayette (2) round out the competing teams on day one.

Results

Nicholas Marino had a strong day in the pole vault, coming up just shy of claiming his first-ever Patriot League Gold in the event. The junior tied his personal-best (16-8.75) set at the Gulden Invite earlier this year, but was edged by Lehigh's Joseph Kelly after Kelly cleared 5.0 meters in fewer attempts. Kelly is the brother of Bucknell senior pole-vaulter David Kelly, who finished ninth (15-3). The runner-up finish for Marino is his highest-ever finish at the Patriot League Championships either indoors or outdoors.

"It was a good day that was close to being a great day," said Head Coach Kevin Donner. "McMenamin ran a nice race in the 5k, and we advanced people to the finals in everything. Brown tied the league record in the 60, and advanced in the 200 along with Moore-Green. Moore-Green and Rizio are in the final for the 400, and R. Dessoye is also in the 800 final. I'm very pleased with Chase and McGill in the mile, and Marino almost won the pole vault, hitting 16-8. Falcioni gave us some valuable points in the weight throw, and Memoli has room in the final of the 60 hurdles to get some big points. Navy is incredible, and Army is doing well, but third is within reach, and our guys are excited for day two."

C.J. Falcioni picked up three points in the weight throw (6^th, 58-11.25). Hayden Lindsey (11^th, 52-6) and Ninh Lam (12^th, 52-4.50) also competed.

Connor McMenamin picked up a lone point for the Bison in the 5000 (14:42.30) in finishing eighth overall while also recording a personal-best.

Bucknell qualified two for tomorrow's 400 finals in Steve Rizio (3^rd, 49.58) and Stefone Moore-Green (5^th, 49.90). Brendan Bodisch (9^th, 50.19) just missed out on moving onto the finals set for an 11:38 a.m. start on Sunday.   Moore-Green and Brown both also qualified for Sunday's final in the 200. Moore-Green clocked the fourth-fastest time in the prelims (22.09), while Brown claimed the final spot for Sunday in finishing eighth (22.35).

In the 800, Robert Dessoye moved on to Sunday's finals after finishing in the seventh spot (1:56.60). Jack Memoli (6^th, 8.50) also moved on in the 60 hurdles.

Bucknell's 4x800 squad of Dylan LoPresti, Thomas Matsumura, Nick Pacelli, and Sean Conway recorded a sixth-place finish (7:57.63) in adding three points for the Bison, finishing just behind Boston University (7:57.08) in fifth.

Micah Sims (9^th, 22-0.25) just narrowly missed scoring in the long jump while posting a season-best mark.

Bucknell picked up two top-five finishers in the prelims in the mile in Brendan McGill (4^th, 4:20.07) and Owen Chase (5^th, 4:20.09). Both qualified for tomorrow's final that begins at 11 a.m.

The Patriot League Indoor Championships will resume at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning on the Patriot League Network.