In their first track and field competition of the winter season, the Bison men’s and women’s teams emerged victorious at the Gulden Invite. The women’s team scored 242 points with the next closest team, Saint Francis, scoring 64. Meanwhile the men’s team scored 140 points to edge out second place Mount St. Mary’s (121). 

The women’s team had a host of individuals who finished in the top three in their events. Gianna Macones ’22, who was named Women’s Field Athlete of the Meet, placed first in long jump and second in triple jump. Ashlyn Ramos ’22 won the mile by scoring the sixth best time in Bison history. In the 400, the Bison swept the podium with Jessie Castellano ’23 finishing first, Michaela Bracken ’22 finishing second and Mackenzie Turner ’23 coming in third. Karly Forker ’22 earned an ECA qualifying time in the 1000 on her way to victory while Nora Bennett ’22 finished soon afterwards in second. 

The Bison also took the top two spots in the 5000 with Ally Clarke ’24 and Mia Bellucci ’23 finishing first and second. Karen Hull ’24 earned the ninth best Bison time all time in the 60m hurdles. Meghan Quinn ’24 also had a great meet for the Bison finishing second in the 200 and fourth in the 60m dash. In the field portion of the competition, Jennifer Scott ’23 and Karly Renn ’25 went first and second in the pole vault and Bracken earned a top 10 all time mark in the high jump. 

“It was definitely a refreshing meet after having a long series of injuries this year. I got cleared to come back to track early this month and it was definitely off to a rough start at first but it came to show that pushing through all of these obstacles the past few months paid off,” Macones said. 

The men’s team also had a ton of success in the competition. Ethan Wolford-Tuffy ’24 won the 400 with an IC4A qualifying time and was a part of the winning 4×400 relay team with Rayven Sample ’24, Sam Coughlin ’25 and Brian Kennedy ’22. Not to be outdone, the 4×800 relay team also finished first with a team of Brendan O’Toole ’22, Alex Simpson ’24, Seth Hoffritz ’23 and Colby Belczyk ’25. Belczyk also won the 1000 for the Bison with Thomas Matsumura ’22 finishing third in the event. 

The Bison performed well in the 5000 claiming second and third courtesy of Noah Martin ’23 and Matthew Cervon ’22. Following the trend, Anthony Zamarra ’23 and Braden Stryker ’22 took second and third respectively in the shot put. 

“I’m super excited to see where this season takes us and can’t wait to show everyone what BUTF has in store,” Macones said. 

Both teams will be back in action this weekend. The teams will be split amongst the Bison Open on Jan. 28-29 and the Sykes & Sabock Invite on Jan. 29 at Penn State.