The Bucknell Bison competed in the Patriot League Championships from Feb. 25 to 26. Both the men and the women were able to compete at very high levels and had some individuals stand out as extraordinary. 

The men’s team finished the first day of the meet in third, behind the Navy Midshipmen and the Army Black Knights. Robert Feeney ’24 shined in Weight Throw, tossing the weight with a distance of 61-7 ½, securing him a fifth-place title while also placing him sixth in the Bucknell records. Teammate John Calisi ’23 followed right behind him in seventh place (57-9 ¾). Both of these athletes earned the Bison an overall of six points, while both also individually collected IC4A qualifications. 

Franco Perinotti ’23 placed sixth in the Pole Vault on his clearance of 15-5. Teammate Matt Federovich ’24 placed eighth in the Long Jump with a leap of 22-7. 

Samuel Whittaker ’23, continuing his success from the start of the season, was the headliner on the first day of the championships. With a time of 14:17.12, Whittaker placed third in the 5000-meter run, earning the Bison six points, qualifying for the IC4A, and obtaining the fifth all-time spot in the Bucknell record book. 

Seth Hoffritz ’23, Christian Cadmus ’24, Zachary Jelinek ’26 and Colby Belczyk ’25 placed seventh in the 4×800-meter relay with a time of 7:53.44, gaining two more points for Bucknell. 

Passing the preliminaries, and competing on Saturday in the finals, Brian Scotto ’25 placed fifth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.15), with Cooper Hyken ’26 and Brandon Foust ’25 finishing in fourth and sixth place in the 60-meter dash. All three of these athletes earned IC4A qualifications, as well. The Bison ended the day with 18 points in five events and were ready to show up and show out the next day. 

The following day of the meet, two relay teams placed very well. Rayven Sample ’24, Gardy Philogene ’26, Max Spaulding ’24 and Ethan Wolford-Tuffy ’24 finished fourth in the 4×400-meter relay (3:19.76), earning an ECAC qualification. 

Jayson Harmer ’26, Jelinek, Belczyk and Cadmus finished seventh in the Distance Medley (10:08.61), earning an IC4A participation. 

In the 60-meter dash, Hyken ran 6.97 to push Bucknell forward while also obtaining an IC4Q entry. 

Scotto placed sixth in the 60-meter hurdles, with a time of 8:31, again, pushing the Bison forward while earning an IC4Q participation. 

Continuing the day with more success, Perinotti finished fourth in the Heptathlon with 4965 points, placing him third all-time in the Bucknell record books. Not too far behind him, Miguel Negrete ’24, with 4031 points, placed eighth in the same event. 

Tristan An ’25 placed third with 5.5 points in the high jump. An’s jump of 6-7 ½ grabbed an IC4A certification. 

Teammate Chris Sims ’25 claimed sixth place in the Triple Jump with a mark of 45-10. 

Then, in Shot Put, Anthony Zamarra ’23 earned fifth on a toss of 53-1 ½. 

Overall, the men finished in fifth place, with a total of 51.5 points while also receiving six IC4A nods. 

The women started their first day with a bang. Meghan Quinn ’24 finished second all-time in Bucknell history in the 200-meter dash (24.49), placing second, as well as placing first in the 60-meter dash (7.59). Both of these allowed Quinn to qualify for the ECAC and enter into the final the next day. 

Following Quinn in the 200-meter dash, teammate Bridget Lalonde ’23 finished ninth (24.92), making her sixth all-time in Bucknell history and also earning her an ECAC qualification. Lalonde also passed into the finals in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.25 with Katherine Loew ’25 right behind her. Loew placed into the finals, as well, while also placing sixth all-time in Bucknell history (56.85). 

In the 800-meter run, Anna Posh ’25 won an ECAC qualification, placing sixth all-time in Bucknell history with a time of 2:12.95. 

Ally Clarke ’24 pushed the Bison towards more success in the 5000-meter run, taking seventh place, an ECAC qualification and a spot at ninth all-time in Bucknell’s history (17:16.17). 

Lea Bourgeois ’23 finished fifth in the Heptathlon with a total of 3365 points, placing her eighth in Bucknell’s history. 

Mariana Engleby ’24, Hollie Walters ’24, Mackenzie Turner ’23 and Posh, with a time of 9:18.00, earned fifth place with an ECAC qualification to accompany in the 4×800-meter relay. 

Another ECAC qualification was earned in the 60-meter hurdles by Karen Hull ’24 (8.80). Abigail Paczewski ’24 then finished eighth (4:58.58) with Caryn Rippey ’26 directly behind (4:59.55) in the Mile Run. 

The Bison women performed very well on the first day of the championships, holding sixth place going into the next day. 

Quinn continued crushing the competition on the second day of the championships. With a time of 24.23, Quinn placed second at the meet in the 200-meter dash, earning an ECAC qualification. Quinn also placed second in the 60-meter dash (7.56), making her now second all-time in Bucknell history, while also earning the Bison eight points during this meet.

Lalonde also continued her triumph in the 400-meter dash, running 55.33 for fourth place, clinching an ECAC qualification as well. 

Lalonde and Quinn teamed up with Loew and Jessie Castellano ’23 in the 4×400-meter relay, placing both third in the meet and third in the Bucknell record book (3:44.99). Hull, again in the 60-meter hurdles, finished fourth (8.75), earning an ECAC certification, while also pushing the Bison forward with a leap of 5-7 in the High Jump. Abby Kates ’24, with a jump of 5-5, placed behind Hull in the High Jump. 

Continuing with leaps of faith, Lexi Gray ’23 hit a mark of 38-11 ½, claiming fourth place in the championships and seventh in Bucknell history. 

Engleby, Turner, Clarke and Alison Cooke ’26 finished fourth, claiming an ECAC qualification in the Distance Medley with a time of 11:55.88. 

Paczewski, with an impressive time of 4:58.37, grabbed an ECAC participation and grabbed sixth in the Mile Run.

Siobhan O’Sullivan ’24 had an exhilarating weekend, smashing a record from 2020 in Shot Put with a new score of 49-10. O’Sullivan placed second, earning an ECAC qualification, and also provided the Bison with eight points. 

Christine Ajao ’25 placed eighth in the same event (41-4 ½). 

The women placed fourth overall with a total of 78.25 points in the Patriot League Championships. 

“The women’s team did unbelievably. Meghan Quinn, Bridget Lalonde and a couple of others all set school records,” Foust said. “The men’s team has a little to work on in preparation for our outdoor season, but overall we did a pretty good job with the injuries we had. We’re all excited to go into outdoor season and get back to work. Personally, I felt pretty good in the 60 with me and my teammate going 4th and 6th. We worked hard, and the outcome seemed to have shown that.”

Our Bison Track and Field Team competed at such a high level and performed so well. Qualifying participants will compete at the IC4A Championships and the ECAC Championships next weekend.