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Bucknell Track and Field Gears Up for Patriot League Championships
May 3, 2007 LEWISBURG, Pa. - On Friday, May 4, in Bethlehem, Pa., on the campus of Lehigh, the Bucknell men's and women's track and field squads will compete in the 2007 Patriot League Track and Field Championships. The Bison women, who are coming off their fourth straight indoor title, will now try for their fourth consecutive outdoor championship, while the men eye their first league title since 1991. The meet will begin at 1 p.m. with the men's decathlon 100-meter dash and the women's javelin. On the women's side, Bucknell will be led by seniors Melanie Buczko (Butler, Pa./Butler), Marjorie Grap (Van Etten, N.J./Spencer-Van Etten), Christa Sawko (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville Area), Catherine Trentacoste (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City), Nina Reinhardt (Northport, N.Y./Northport) along with freshman Amy Mantush (Drums, Pa./Hazleton). Buczko, who is a two-time outdoor league champion in the pole vault, qualified for the NCAA East Regional and ECAC Championships with a height of 12 feet, 7 ½ inches (3.08m) at the Bucknell Team Challenge. Grap will look to add on to her four career outdoor titles. She previously won gold medals in the discus (2), hammer, and shot put. So far this season, Grap has qualified for the NCAA East Regional and the ECAC Championships in the hammer throw with a distance of 179-3 (54.64m) and is also an ECAC qualifier in the discus with a mark of 149-5 (45.54m). Sawko, who is the back-to-back champion in the 800, eyes her third title this weekend. Her season best time of 2 minutes 9.35 seconds in the 800 is an NCAA East Regional and ECAC Championship qualifying mark. Sawko is also ECAC qualifier in the 1,500 with a time of 4:32.85. Trentacoste, who is the current 400 champion, will look to defend her crown this weekend. She has qualified ECAC Championships in the 100 and 400 hurdles with times of 14.36 and 1:02.48, respectively. Reinhardt qualified for the ECAC Championships in the heptathlon back in March with 4,581 points, which won her the event at the Shamrock Invitational. Mantush, who won the indoor high jump title, hopes to go two-for-two by winning the outdoor crown. She qualified for the ECAC Championships at the Bucknell Team Challenge by clearing a height of 5-7 (1.70m). On the men's side, seniors Joshua Kaehler (Hanover, Pa./South Western) Tyler Hoffman (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) and David Mante (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) along with freshman Kyle Anthony (Barryville, N.Y./Eldred Academy) will lead the Bison in the field events, while senior Matthew Forys (Howell, N.J./Howell), junior Wallace Campbell (Montgomery, Ala./Montgomery Acad.) and sophomores Kerry Boyle (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) and Kevin Macleod (East Longmeadow, Mass./East Longmeadow) will command the Orange and Blue on the track. Kaehler eyes his second title in the javelin after winning last season. He holds the best mark in the Patriot League with a throw of 218-6 at the Penn Relays, which won him the event and qualified him for the NCAA East Regional and IC4A Championships. Hoffman looks to win his first hammer throw title of his career. His throw of 189-1 (60.38m) at the Penn Relays is the best distance in the conference by almost 18 feet. He is also an NCAA East Regional and IC4A qualifier Mante, who won the pole vault at the indoor championships, will look for the sweep this weekend. He qualified for the IC4A Championships with a height of 16-2 (4.95m) at the Bucknell Team Challenge. He holds the second-best mark in the league. Anthony qualified for the IC4A Championships in the long jump and the triple jump with distances of 23-10 (7.26m) and 48-9 ½ (14.87m), respectively, which ranks him second in both events in the league. Forys, who is coming off a two gold medal performance at the indoor championships will attempt to duplicate that feat this weekend at Lehigh. He is an NCAA East Regional and IC4A qualifier in the 5,000 and the 3,000 steeplechase with times of 14:07.83 and 8:50.10, respectively. His time in the 3,000 steeplechase tops the league as well. Campbell ran a time of 14:30.09 in the 5,000 to earn a spot in the IC4A Championships. His time lists him eighth in the league. Boyle, who won the 200 and 400 at the indoor championship, will look capture a gold medal in the 400. He became an IC4A qualifier in the event at the Bucknell Team Challenge with his time of 47.54, which ranks him second in the league. MacLeod qualified for the IC4A Championships in the 400 hurdles at the Bucknell Team Challenge with a time of 52.75, which is the best mark in the league.
Following the Patriot League Championships, Bucknell will participate in the ECAC/IC4A Championships starting on May 11. The Bison currently have 22 athletes that have qualified for the championships.
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