Update from Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach Kevin Donner -- September 2023

Dear Spiked Shoe Alumni, Parents and Friends:

I hope everyone had a great summer. The Bucknell campus is alive again as we are about to begin our third week of classes. The cross country teams open up at Colgate this weekend and the track and field teams are starting their preseason conditioning program next week. I have included our cross country schedule below, and we hope to see many of you at a meet or two.

We are very excited to share that Andrew Powell '12 will be inducted into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame on Sunday, Sept. 10. Andrew still holds our school records in the decathlon and heptathlon and helped us win Patriot League Track and Field titles in 2010, 2011, and 2012. He is the former Patriot League record holder in the decathlon and was also a great high jumper. He was a rare dual-sport athlete as he was also an all-league soccer player for the Bison. Congrats to Andrew!

We will have two formal alumni receptions this year with the first one on the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 12 for all alums in the Denver, Colorado area. We have not picked a site yet, but by the next newsletter, we should have a site and timeline. Once again, my coaching staff and I will be attending the USTFCCCA coaching convention in Denver that week and will piggyback an alumni reception while there. Last year we had 19 alums attend and we are expecting a few more this year. All details will be out soon and we will personally email all our Colorado alumni. I know there are a few alums who are living in the East who saw the pictures from last year and expressed interest in flying out to Denver to see some old teammates.

We are looking forward to hosting the Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday-Saturday, May 3-4 at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium and the new West Fields Throws area. We are very excited and optimistic that our track and field teams will be much improved from last year and your support at the meet would be outstanding. We plan to host an alumni tailgate for all former TFXC athletes and their families. It will be in a large tent outside the stadium in which we will have food and drinks at designated times throughout the weekend -- including a post-meet party after the meet concludes on Saturday. We hope many of you make the trip to cheer on the Bison, meet up with old teammates, and also meet other alumni from different eras. You may want to reserve your hotel rooms early with nine other men’s and women’s Patriot League schools staying in town along with parents and spectators from all 10 schools.

We are very excited about our cross country and track and field schedule this year as we have scheduled some great meets. As usual, there are some meets where we will be with some of the best teams and athletes in the country and there will be other meets for our developmental athletes to compete in and gain experience. Providing competitive opportunities for everyone on our team has always been the Bucknell motto, however, the cost of travel, hotels, food, and entry fees are higher than ever, and staying within our budget is always an obstacle. We had a good year in fundraising for the Spiked Shoe Club last year, however, we need to raise over $300,000 to exceed a school record this coming year so that we can continue to provide competitive opportunities for all of our student-athletes and all of their levels, as well as providing top-level equipment, shoes, and apparel.

I thank everyone for your past support and we welcome our new alumni from the Class of 2023 as the Spiked Shoe Club continues to grow.

Hope to see you at a meet or reception this year.

Sincerely,

Kevin Donner
Head Track and Field/Cross Country Coach

Remaining Cross Country Schedule

Saturday, Sept. 16 -- Robert Morris Colonial Invitational, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Saturday, Oct. 1 -- Paul Short Invitational, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa.

Friday, Oct. 13 -- IC4A-ECAC Championships, Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, N.Y.

Saturday, Oct. 28 -- Patriot League Championships, Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y.

Friday, Nov. 10 -- NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa.

Kevin Donner
Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach
Bucknell University
kdonner@bucknell.edu

Past Newsletters:

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