On Saturday, April 20, Bucknell Track and Field hosted the Bucknell Team Challenge at the Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium. The men’s and women’s teams both finished first of ten teams. This weekend was particularly special for Bucknell as it was Senior Day.
On the men’s side, the Bison dominated the shot put, filling the top five slots and collecting 30 points. Wade Shomper ’26 earned gold and moved to second in Bucknell History, Braden Stryker ’25 finished silver and moved to fourth in the Bison record book, Robert Lerner ’26 notched third, Keenan LaMontagne ’26 finished fourth and Patrick Donaher ’26 placed fifth.
Additionally, four Bison throwers scored 13 total points in the discus throw. Lerner placed third, LaMontagne finished fourth, Dariel Guzman ’24 notched fifth and Shomper snuck into sixth.
In the hammer throw, Aiden Tacker ’26 earned third place and Guzman finished fifth.
Another thrower who stood out was Garrett Arden ’27, who finished fifth in the javelin throw.
The jumpers also had an outstanding day. Jeffrey Cianfrocca ’26 prevailed in the high jump, winning gold and earning fourth in Bucknell history. Additionally, 14 points were won in the triple jump from Chris Sims ’25 placing second and Jared Hess ’27 finishing third. In the long jump, Matt Federovich ’24 earned a fourth-place leap.
In pole vault, Lucas Williams ’27 won first with his clearance of 15-9 and tied for eighth in Bucknell History.
In the 1500-meter run, the Bison scored 27 points. Jayson Harmer ’26 scored ten, Bobby Lynam ’25 won eight, Carter Paul ’27 gathered six, Trent Dinant ’26 earned two and Lucas Ward ’27 scored one.
Another running event that scored lots of points for Bucknell was the 3000-meter steeplechase. Daniel Hilmer ’26 clinched ten points (1st place), Mason Barlow ’27 earned eight points (2nd place) and Grant Kern ’26 tallied four points (4th place).
In the 200-meter dash, Brandon Foust ’25 won second place tallying eight points and Ethan Wolford-Tuffy ’24 placed third winning six points.
In the relays, the “A” Team in the 4×100-meter relay of Amani Brown ’27, Preston Lubeski ’27, Brayden Young ’26 and Foust won gold, while the “A” Team in the 4×400-meter relay of Alex Simpson ’24, Colby Belczyk ’25, JP Byrnes ’27 and Zachary Jelinek ’26 finished second.
Other runners who contributed to the Bison’s win were Belczyk and Simpson in the 800-meter run, Lubeski in the 400-meter run, Foust in the 10-meter dash and Max DiCerbo ’25 and Jeffrey Gibbs ’24 in the 5000-meter run.
On the women’s side, the team collected 252.5 points and 11 wins. A stand out thrower for Bucknell was Justley Sharp ’27 who had two wins and set two new school records in the shot put and discus.
In the hammer throw, two throwers scored points. Madison McGloin ’24 won the event earning ten points and Annie Glenning ’24 finished fourth tallying four points. The throwers also prevailed in the discus throw combining for 14 points. Christine Ajao ’25 won second place while slotting ninth in Bucknell history and Prizila Negrete ’27 finished third scoring six points. Furthermore, in the shot put, Siobhan O’Sulivan ’24, Ajao and Negrete all combined for 15 points.
Evelyn Bliss ‘27 won gold in the javelin throw, while Brylee Tereska ’26 notched silver.
Regarding the jumpers, four Bison collected 19.5 points in the high jump. Abby Kates ’24 earned eight, Madeline Lehker ’26 and Abby Eisold ’24 scored five and Olivia Boyce ’24 tallied 1.5 points. In the triple jump, Megan Baggetta ’27 was second place, Kaia Slaw ’24 fourth and Lila Gaughan ’24 sixth.
In the long jump, two Bucknell jumpers scored 12 points. Gaughan finished second to gain eight points and Madison Libby ’25 placed fourth to win four points.
In the pole vault, Elizabeth Bryant ’26 recorded the win and ten points, while Karly Renn ’25 placed sixth.
One of the categories where Bison runners scored the most points was in the 800-meter run. Caryn Rippey ’26 placed first and won ten points, Katherine Loew ’25 finished second and earned eight points and Grace Vives ’26 clinched fourth place with four points.
The 3000-meter steeplechase was also very successful for Bucknell, earning a combined 20 points. Ally Clarke ’24 won gold, Meghan Rentner ’27 won bronze and Kailey Granger ’27 finished fourth.
In the 400-meter dash, Meghan Quinn ’24 won ten points in first place, while Colleen Linko ’24 finished third earning six points and Alison Cooke ’26 grabbed fifth and two points.
Quinn also added eight points with her second place finish in the 200-meter run.
Ella Derstine ’25 and Maddy Hippensteal ’24 gained 16 points in the 400-meter hurdles.
Abby Paczewski ’24 concluded her regular season career in Lewisburg with a gold medal finish in the 1500-meter run. She raced for a time of 4:41.14, earning ten points.
Other runners who stood out for Bucknell over the weekend were Lauren Trapani ’25 earning first place in the 5000-meter run and Eisold finishing third in the 100-meter hurdles, nabbing six points.
Regarding the relays, the “A” Team of Anna Posh ’25, Hailey Tabar ’24, Regan McGrath ’27 and Katrina Torelli ’27 won bronze and added six points to the overall score, with a time of 4:05.32.
Next week, Bucknell will split the team between the Penn Relays and the Bloomsburg Maroon & Gold Competition.
