Update from Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach Kevin Donner -- December 2024

Dear Spiked Shoe Alumni, Family, and Friends:

Our student-athletes are finishing their final exams as the first semester comes to a close and the holiday break is almost upon us. I hope everyone has a healthy and safe holiday season, and we look forward to a great 2025!

We had an up-and-down cross-country season. At the Patriot League Championships in Easton, Pennsylvania, our women finished 4th among the 10 schools, and our men were 6th. Each team had been picked to finish fourth in the league’s preseason polls. Unfortunately, our men’s team was hit with some health issues the night before and the morning of the championship which affected our team’s performance in the race.

Junior Caryn Rippey and sophomore Kailey Granger finished 10th and 12th, respectively, and earned All-Patriot League Second Team honors for the women, while freshman Ethan Pratt Perez earned All-Patriot League Second Team honors for his 14th-place showing for the men.

Both teams rebounded with solid 11th-place finishes among the 30 teams at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals 13 days later at Penn State. I was very proud to see a healthy men’s team rebound and run a much better race.

We opened the Indoor Track and Field season with the traditional Bison Opener here at home on December 6-7. It was a very good season opener for us against 10 teams, and our men came away with five wins and the women notched seven wins. We set new school records in both the men’s and women’s shot put, and had four men and five women break into our all-time top-10 list.

All-Time Top-10 New Additions from December 7 Bison Opener:

Men Event Meet Place Dist/Time   Ranking on Top-10 List
Wade Shomper Shot Put 3rd place 56-8.5 School record
Brian Scott 60-M High Hurdles 1st place 8.03 #2 all time
CJ Simbiri Triple Jump 1st place 48-2.75 #7 all time
Garrett Backus 60-meters 4th place 6.94 #10 all time

Women Event Meet Place Dist/Time   Ranking on Top-10 List
Justley Sharp Shot Put 1st place 50-8.25     School record
Madison Fowler 20 LB WT 1st place 57-4.75 #3 all time
Noelani Sadler 60 Hurdles 2nd place 8.81 #4 all time
Alex Lea 300-meters 1st place     40.88 #5 all time
Allison Cooke 300-meters 2nd place 40.95 #6 all time

We will be taking about a three-week holiday break before returning for winter training camp on Saturday, January 11. Our next competition is slated for Saturday, January 18 when we travel to State College for the Penn State Challenge. Classes do not start until January 21, so it's nice to have a 10-day period where we can focus on just track and field. As usual, training camp will include some great guest speakers, some team bonding activities, and of course some old-fashioned hard work.

Please block Saturday-Sunday, April 12-13 on your calendar and consider making a trip to Lewisburg for an alumni reception throughout the Bison Outdoor Classic. The reception will take place in our new Pascucci Team Center which offers a great view of the track and the videoboard in Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. We will have food and drinks throughout the day and night on Saturday, as well as the afternoon on Sunday. It should be a very good time and the meet itself is one of the largest and most competitive meets on the East Coast.

Here is our Indoor Track and Field Schedule and we would love to see you at a meet or two.

Sat., Jan. 18 Penn State Challenge at Penn State
Sat., Jan. 25 Gulden Invitational Home
Fri-Sat., Jan 31-Feb 1 Penn State National Open at Penn State
Fri-Sat., Jan 31-Feb 1 Bison Open and Multi Home
Sat., Feb 8 UPenn Classic at Penn
Fri-Sat., Feb 14-15 Liberty Invitational at Liberty University
Fri., Feb 21 Bucknell Tune-up Home
Sat-Sun, Feb 28-Mar. 1 Patriot League Championships at Navy

I’d be remiss not to thank those who have already made a gift to the Spiked Shoe program this year. If you have not done so, and wish to support the team before the end of the calendar year, you can do so HERE.

I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.

Sincerely,
Kevin Donner

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

Past Newsletters:

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