This past Saturday, Sept. 4, the men and women’s cross country team hosted the Bison Open. In this event, the men’s team placed in the top six. The Bison won the meet, defeating Lafayette by 15 points. The following Bison fought hard to finish in the top six: Michael Donnelly ’24 made his first collegiate debut and placed first, finishing with a time of 20:29:8. Brendan Millitt ’24 came in second, his time was 20:30:0. Stephen Schousen, Brendan O’Toole ’22, Harry Marson ’25, and Owen Chase ’22 finished after Donnelly and Millett. Schousen, O’Toole. Marson, and Chase all finished with three tenths of a second from one another. 

“I could not have envisioned a better season opener and fitting start for this group of guys. The rest of this season is going to continue to surprise and excite as we have been putting in some extremely high quality work. The rest of the Patriot League may not know it yet, but Bucknell XC is as good as anyone. This roster is full of nothing but dogs. Brendan O’Toole — dog. Sam Whittaker — dog. Brendan Mellitt — dog. Ryan Miele — dog. Owen Chase — dog. Harry Marson — dog. Stephen Schousen — dog. Greg Eisenhower — dog. Could not be happier to be a part of this squad. A lot of big things ahead for these handsome gentlemen,” Donnelly said. 

The women’s cross country team earned a victory over Lafayette and Juniata at the open as well. The Bison outscored the Leopards by 23 points. Emily Deschler ’22, started out her season by coming in first in the Bison Open. Deschler won the three-mile course with a time of 17:48.7. Eight Bison runners placed in the top 10, Deschler being one of the eight. The others include Karly Forker ’22, Lauren Trapani ’25, Ally Clarke ’24, Abby Paczewski ’24, Keeley Misutka ’25, Sarah Policano ’25, and Kate Amaddio ’23.

It is easy to say that the University has started the season strong. The Bison’s next race will be at Saint Francis on Saturday Sept. 11 at the Father Bede Invite. Good luck to all our runners!