Men's Cross Country Lands Three on All-Patriot League Teams, Finishes Fourth at Patriot League Championship

Friday, March 5

Bethlehem, Pa.

2 p.m.

Bucknell University

Patriot League Championships

Photo by: Rick Smith

Men's Cross Country Lands Three on All-Patriot League Teams, Finishes Fourth at Patriot League Championship

3/5/2021 7:11:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Connor McMenamin earned First Team All-Patriot League accolades in finishing fifth to lead a trio of first time all-conference runners for the Bison on Friday afternoon at the 2021 Patriot League Spring Cross Country Championships.

Results

The Bison finished fourth as a team with 86 points, improving one spot from a fifth-place finish from a year ago. Army captured its fourth-straight Patriot League Championship, finishing eight points ahead of Boston University (49). Lafayette (73), Bucknell (86) Lehigh (109), American (167), Holy Cross (201), Colgate (222), and Loyola (Md.) (236) rounded out the field.

"Like the women, we were not happy with our fourth-place finish," said Head Coach Kevin Donner. "If you would have told me our third runner was 13th and All-League, I would have been very happy, and assumed we would have been in the top three. We needed our depth to come through a bit more, however the lack of racing and intensity this winter may have affected our guys more than we thought it would. Our guys are fit, but they just aren't sharp. Connor and Evan are two seniors who have worked their tails off since last March, and have improved greatly compared to other years. Sam finishing 13th was huge. I have always known he has talent, but he has been battling some injuries. The last four months have been uninterrupted training, and now he is seeing the benefit. Once again, I see this as our first outdoor meet, not our last cross country meet."

McMenamin finished 15 spots higher than his highest-ever finish of 20th as a first year in 2017. The senior from Souderton, Pennsylvania earns his first-ever All-Conference honor in cross country, and has also earned two All-Conference selections in the steeplechase. McMenamin is the second-straight First Team All-Patriot League honoree for the Bison after Drew Dorflinger finished second at the 2019 edition of the Patriot League Championships. McMenamin (22:02.2) worked his way up four spots after sitting tenth after the first mile, crossing the line just over a second before sixth-place Ryan Branch from Lafayette.

Senior Evan Minor also posted a strong performance on Friday. Minor easily improved on his best-ever finish of 41st in 2019 in finishing 11th (22:22.7) to earn Second Team All-Patriot League honors. Joining Minor with Second Team accolades was sophomore Samuel Whittaker (13th, 22:25.6). Whittaker also made massive strides from his first season in the Orange and Blue, improving by 64 spots from his 77th-place finish at the Patriot League Championships in 2019.

Team captain Owen Chase posted a solid finish in his first Patriot League Championships (26th, 22:59.7), while first year Brendan Mellitt (32nd, 23:22.4) rounded out Bucknell's scoring runners on the day.

Matt Cervon (34th), Brendan O'Toole (38th), and Greg Eisenhower (43rd) also competed for the Bison on Friday.

Bucknell will now turn its attention to the outdoor season.