Samantha Cole Wins Pentathlon on First Day of Bison Opener

LEWISBURG, Pa.- Samantha Cole started the 2024-25 season for the Bucknell Bison women's track & field with a smashing success by rallying in the final event of the pentathlon to win the overall competition while setting several personal records.

Results

"I'm incredibly happy wih how the multi competed today," said multi coach and Bucknell legend Kaitlin Salisbury. "We had quite a few PRs across the board. Spirits were high and we turned that energy into great performances. Coach Sharp has been an incredible mentor to not only myself but the kids too. We can't wait to rip up the track tomorrow and continue the momentum through the rest of the year. We set a tone today that we don't intend on losing."

Cole enters the campaign with the opportunity to become the Bison's number one multi-event athlete after record holder Abby Eisold's graduation and the sophomore stepped into the breach to deliver the momentum inducing win.

She finished second in the 60-meter hurdles to open the pentathlon but slipped to fourth overall after placing sixth in the high jump. She remained fourth after slotting sixth again this time in the shot put.

Her second wind arrived in the long jump where she finished first leaping 17-5.25 for 645 points. However, the boost was only good enough to place her third overall and she remained 190 points behind Shippensburg's Nicola Pugge - the reigning third place PSAC pentathlon finisher.

That all changed in the final event: the 800-meter run. Cole was lightning during the four lap race. She started fast and only continued to build her lead eventually finishing five seconds ahead of the second place finisher with a time of 2:33.54 collecting 649 points. Pugge finished eighth earning 419 points. Cole's final total was 3083 to Pugge's 3043.

Cole set personal records in the pentathlon, the shot put, the long jump, and the 60-meter hurdles. The sophomore finished fourth at the 2023 Bison Opener. She also clinched her first ever victories in the pentathlon's individual events.

"My goals going into tonight was to improve upon my performance from last year," said Cole. "I'm grateful that I was able to do just that in addition to pulling off the win. It meant a lot to have so much support from my coaches and teammates - especially where it counted most in the 800-meter run. I'm looking forward to building upon what I did tonight. There is a lot more room for growth and that makes me excited to compete again in January."

Freshman Megan Cain represented well in her collegiate debut finishing seventh overall with 2650 points just 56 away from tying for fifth. Her best finishes were fifth in the long and high jumps.

"I am very pleased with our athletes's performances tonight," said volunteer assistant coach Jim Sharp. "They had a very productive fall session and Coach Salisbury and I saw the results of the hard work by this group. Sam Cole was outstanding this evening achieving multi personal bests on her way to winning."

Friday also marked the coaching debut of Salisbury who previously competed for the Bison from 2016-2020 and set multiple schools records, won Patriot League titles, and won Bucknell's Christy Mathewson Award.

The Orange & Blue women resume action tomorrow at the second day of the Bison Opener.

Samantha Cole Wins Pentathlon on First Day of Bison Opener

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Players Mentioned

Megan Cain

Samantha Cole

Abby Eisold