Bison Men’s and Women’s Track and Field hosted the Bucknell Team Challenge on Saturday, April 22. Nine teams competed throughout the day, including: Army, Binghamton, Mount St. Mary’s, Saint Francis (Pa.), Lock Haven, Lafayette, Bloomsburg and American. Despite the weather delays, the Orange & Blue swept first place by large margins for both the men and the women. 

The Bison men outpaced their competition with 150 points compared to Army’s 92 points. 

In the shot put, four Bison throwers scored points. Anthony Zamarra ’23 won gold with a toss of 54-7 1/2, Braden Stryker ’25 earned silver with a throw of 52-9 1/4, Wade Shomper ’26 won bronze with a 51-2 3/4 throw and Robert Lerner ’26 grabbed sixth place with a throw of 48-1 1/4. Altogether, shot put added 25 points for the Bison.

“The team challenge was a blast this weekend,” Zamarra said. “There were so many great performances, and it was awesome getting to celebrate all the members of the graduating class. [I am] looking forward to entering the championship season and having some great marks.”

For the javelin throw, James Reidinger ’25 and Trevor Drescher ’25 earned silver and bronze, adding a combined fourteen points to the Bison score. John “Jack” Calisi ’23 and Robert Feeney ’23 combined for eight points in the hammer throw competition. 

Over at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium, Noah Martin ’23 won the 3000-meter steeplechase and Henry Didden ’26 earned fourth place. 

The Bison 4×100-meter team added 10 points, as Cooper Hyken ’26, Matthew Perello ’24, Ethan Wolford-Tuffy ’24 and Brandon Foust ’25 earned a time of 41.60 seconds and clinched first place. Perello and Hyken also placed in the 100-meter dash along with Brayden Young ’26 who collectively earned fourteen points. 

The Orange and Blue had three finishers in the top five of the high jump, with Jeffery Cianfrocca ’26, Tristan An ’25 and Thomas Cahill ’24 all contributing points. For long jump, Cahill and Matt Federovich ’24 both placed, with leaps of 20-11 1/4 and 20-5 1/4, respectively. 

Many more Bison athletes earned critical points for the team, including Franco Perinotti ’23 who earned second place in the pole vault at 15-5, Foust who finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.21 seconds and fourth in the 400-meter dash, Rayven Sample ’24 who finished fifth in the 400-meter dash, Chris Sims ’25 who earned fourth place in triple jump, Domenic Campagna ’23 who finished fifth in the 3000-meter run with a time of 8:43.85 and Max Spaulding ’24 who finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 57.97 seconds.

The Bison women won by an even larger margin than the men, with 227 points compared to Army’s 72 points. 

The Orange and Blue jumpers saw immense success, as Karen Hull ’24 set the school record with a high jump of 5-8 3/4. Olivia Boyce ’24 tied the previous record of 5-7 3/4, and Madeline Lehker ’26 had a leap of 4-11 3/4. 

The jumpers weren’t the only group to break the school record, as the 4×100-meter relay team shattered their previous record with a time of 46.32. Bridget Lalonde ’23, Meghan Quinn ’24, Lila Gaughan ’24 and Hull ’24 compose this all star team.

In the 400-meter dash, three Bison runners earned points including Katherine Loew ’25, Colleen Linko ’24 and Mackenzie Turner ’23, all of who finished in the top six. 

Mia Bellucci ’23 brought home first place in the 3000-meter run and was closely followed by teammates Kate Amaddio ’23 who clinched second and Keeley Misutka ’25 who earned fifth place. 

In the 3000-meter steeplechase, Ally Clarke ’24 earned first place as Tori Chace ’26 earned sixth. Mariana Engelby ’24 also won the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:44.69.

For the 100-meter dash, Quinn added another first place finish to her impressive career. Gaughan also placed in sixth earning an additional point for the Orange and Blue. 

As for the 100-meter hurdles, Hull claimed first and Emily Grubb ’24 earned sixth place. Jessie Castellano ’23 and Lalonde claimed second and third place, respectively,  in the 200-meter dash, earning a combined fourteen points for the Bison. 

As for the 800-meter run, Caryn Rippey ’26 earned second place with teammates Abby Paczewski ’24 and Hollie Walters ’24 finishing at fifth and sixth. 

The Bison had five different scorers in the 400-meter hurdles including Ella Derstine ’25, Maddy Hippensteal ’24, Alison Cooke ’26, Mikayla Horvath ’23 and Abigail Dunne ’23.

As for the field events, Brylee Tereska ’26 won the javelin throw, with Riley Beebe ’23 earning fourth place and Phoebe Blumberg ’23 earning sixth. 

Three Bison finished in the top five of shot put, with Siobhan O’Sullivan ’24 taking home gold, Christine Ajao ’25 taking home bronze and Avery Rebar securing fourth place. Madison McGloin ’24 also placed second in the hammer throw.

After a few weekends at home, the Bison are back on the road. From Thursday, April 27 until Saturday April 29, the Orange & Blue will compete at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. The Bison will also compete at the Maroon and Gold invitational in Bloomsburg on Saturday, April 29.