Women's Track and Field Sets Several Personal-Bests on Day One of ECAC Championships

Saturday, March 7

Boston, Mass.

Bucknell University

IC4A/ECAC

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Women's Track and Field Sets Several Personal-Bests on Day One of ECAC Championships

3/7/2020 10:21:00 PM | Women's Track and Field

BOSTON- The Bucknell University women's track and field team had a strong first day at the ECAC Championships, posting several program top-ten times in the process.

Bucknell (11.25) is currently eighth in the team standings. Towson (33) leads the way, followed by Connecticut (26.75), Albany (23), Northeastern (23), and New Hampshire (21) to round out the top five.

Results

"It has been a very nice meet on the women's side so far," said Head Coach Kevin Donner. "We had four people earn All-East in five different events, while four made our all-time top-ten list. Butz did a great job doing both the high jump and the pole vault at the same time, and scoring in both. Forrestal making 1.65m on her first attempt assured some team points, and Macones had a big jump on her sixth attempt to move into a scoring position. Ramos had a huge breakthrough race, and is now ranked as one of our all-time best in the 5k. Although she didn't make the final, Tara Lyons is now ranked very high on our 800 list. Forker advanced in the 1000 with a personal-best, and Salisbury continues to look good in the 60. I believe she has a shot to win and set the school record. Fischer also ran a great 500, which puts her in our top ten, and Castellano was right behind her. The future looks great for our long sprints. If things go well, we have a chance to be a top-ten team here."

Kaitlin Salisbury, who earned a Patriot League gold medal in the 60 last weekend and is the defending champion in the event at the ECAC Championships, advanced to Sunday's finals after taking seventh in the prelims (7.67), before improving upon that mark in the semifinals (7.58) to qualify in the sixth spot.

Ashlyn Ramos continued her strong sophomore year both in cross country and during the indoor season, taking sixth in the 5000 (17:02.96). The time ranks as the fifth-fastest time in the Bucknell record books just behind the mark set by teammate Lauren Gronbeck (17:01.16) in 2017.

Freshman Valerie Fischer (12th, 1:15.48) ran the ninth-fastest time in Bucknell history in the preliminary round of the 500, just missing out on a qualifying spot by less than half a second. Fellow freshman Jessie Castellano (14^th, 1:15.84) was close behind in running a personal-best time by just under a second.

Tara Lyons ran a strong race in the 800 in a tough field (18^th, 2:12.81). Lyons improved upon her previous personal-best of 2:13.61 that ranked ninth on Bucknell's all-time list, and moved up all the way to the sixth spot in the Bucknell record books with her mark on Saturday.

In the 1000, Karly Forker posted the sixth-best time in qualifying (2:53.04) to move on to Sunday's final. The time is a personal-best for the sophomore, and she remains eighth on Bucknell's all-time list.

Lexy Forrestal (5^th) and Alexandra Butz (T-7^th) each picked up points for the Bison in the high jump after both cleared 5-5. Forrestal was the Patriot League Champion outdoors, while Butz finished runner-up at the Indoor Championships last weekend. Butz was named to the Academic All-Patriot League squad earlier this week, and also placed sixth in the pole vault on Saturday (11-11.75), which ties her personal-best set last week at the Patriot League Championships.

Gianna Macones rounded out a solid day for the Bison by scoring in the long jump (8^th, 18-8.5), which is just short of her personal-best of 19-0 that ranks fourth in the Bucknell record books.

The Bison will wrap up the ECAC Championships on Sunday.