Men's Track and Field Names 2021 Team Awards

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

5/21/2021 4:50:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell University men's track and field team recently announced its 2021 award winners.

Thomas McLean Award (National-Caliber Recognition): Connor McMenamin
McMenamin enjoyed a tremendous senior season in which the Souderton, Pa. native earned a gold medal in the 3000m steeplechase (8:55.40) after finishing runner-up the previous two seasons. McMenamin went on to earn All-East honors two weeks later in placing fifth at the IC4A Championships, and was named to the Academic All-League squad as well as earning Bucknell Athletics' Pedrick Award earlier this week.

Most Valuable Track: Alex Dessoye
Dessoye capped off an impressive career with his highest-ever individual showing in the 400 at the Patriot League Championships (2^nd, 47.60). Dessoye has been a part of two Patriot League Champion 4x400 relays, and his time at the Patriot League Championships in the 400 ranks fifth on Bucknell's all-time list. Dessoye also earned Patriot League Rookie of the Meet honors in 2018.

Most Valuable Field: Anthony Zamarra
Zamarra, who earned Rookie of the Year honors last season, continued to impress in his first outdoor season for Bucknell. Zamarra's mark of 52-10.5 in the shot put ranks seventh on Bucknell's all-time list, and also threw a personal best at the Bucknell quad in the discus (136-5). Zamarra finished fourth at the Patriot League Championships in the shot put (51-5.75).

Most Improved: Brian Kennedy
Kennedy enjoyed a solid junior season, running a personal-best time of 55.95 at the Bucknell Quad on April 11. Kennedy continued that strong run of form by placing seventh in the 400H (56.36) in his first Patriot League Championships. Kennedy also competed at the IC4A Championships last week, running legs on both the 4x100 and the 4x400 relay.

Rookie of the Year: Robert Feeney
Feeney scored at the Patriot League Outdoor Championships in the hammer (7^th, 175-7), and threw a personal best at the Carol & John Covert Classic on April 24 (178-1). The latter mark for Feeney is just shy of a Bucknell top ten spot, and the first year placed in the top four in all but one meet this season.

Dana Carr Award for Athletics and Academic Excellence: Jordan Montero
Montero, a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection two years ago, scored at the Patriot League Meet in his third straight appearance at the end of April (8th, 196-3) and also earned his first All-East honor two weeks later in placing eighth overall (193-9). Montero began the season with three straight victories in the javelin, and his personal best of 205-1 is just shy of a spot on Bucknell's all-time list.

Coaches Award: James Kelly, Ian Lawrence, Evan Minor, Brendan Bodisch
Kelly improved vastly in his senior season, which culminated in a personal-best throw of 188-5 at the Patriot League Championships in which he finished tenth overall. Kelly nearly earned All-East honors at his first IC4A meet, finishing ninth behind Montero (188-1). Lawrence finished fourth in the triple jump with a personal-best leap of 45-1.5 at the Patriot League Championships, and also scored in the high jump (8^th, 6-0.75). Minor competed at the Patriot League Outdoor Championships for the first time, and responded by running a personal-best time of 14:48.23 in the 5k, while nearly scoring in the 10k (30:58.23). Minor shattered his previous personal-best in the 10k earlier this year at the Virginia Challenge (30:06.77), and was an All-League pick in Cross Country. Bodisch finished his career by placing fourth at the Patriot League Championships in the 400H (53.74), which ranks ninth all-time at Bucknell. Bodisch also ran legs on the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, and scored in the long jump (7^th, 22-3).