Men’s and Women’s Track and Field competed at home on Saturday in the Bucknell Team Challenge. It was a Bison sweep of the team titles with the men scoring 322 points and the women scoring 306.5 points, both over 150 points ahead of second place.
Ethan Pratt-Perez ’28 and Mason Barlow ’27 started the meet off strong for the Orange and Blue, combining for 18 points with their 1-2 finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase, running 9:26.41 and 9:41.22, respectively. The duo of CJ Simbiri ’28 and Chris Sims ’25 also found a 1-2 finish in the triple jump, reaching 47-08.5 feet and 46-08.75 feet, respectively. Simbiri’s mark places him at number seven in school history for the event.
The quartet of Cooper Hyken ’26, Garrett Backus ’27, Luke Petryna ’28 and Brandon Foust ’25 ran the second fastest time in school history on their way to a first-place finish in the 4×100 relay, passing the baton around in 40.92 seconds. The trio of Carter Paul ’27, Lucas Ward ’27 and Ben Santos ’25 swept the top three spots in the 1500 meters, running 3:57.47, 3:57.66 and 3:59.19. The Bison had six of the top eight scoring spots in the event.
The Orange and Blue swept the top three in the shot put as well with Wade Shomper ’26, Braden Stryker ’25 and Braiden Pulver ’28 tossing marks of 55-11.75, 55-11.25 and 52-02.5, respectively. Stryker’s mark is a new best and places him at number four in the Bison record books. Success in the throws did not stop there, however, as Robert Lerner ’26, Angelo Regec ’25, Stryker, Keenan LaMontagne ’26 and Shomper swept the top five in the discus throw. Lerner’s throw of 163-05 gave him the top spot and a spot in the Bison annals at a tie for ninth.
In the 800 meters, Colby Belczyk ’25 found the top spot with a time of 1:53.22 while Hayden Singer ’27 and JP Byrnes ’27 were right behind him in third and fourth, respectively. Ethan Knight ’28 picked up a win in the 400-meter hurdles, running 53.91 seconds, over half a second ahead of second place. Jayson Harmer ’26 cruised to an easy win in the 5000 meters, running 15:19.02, over a minute ahead of the next fastest finisher.
Elizabeth Bryant ’26 started things off for the women, placing second in the pole vault, clearing 12-06.25, the second-highest mark in school history. The quartet of Christine Ajao ’25, Madison Fowler ’28, Prizila Negrete ’27 and Avery Rebar ’26 swept the top four spots in the shot put with Ajao’s mark of 46-07.5 giving her the win.
Kerry O’Day ’28 won the 3000-meter steeplechase in 11:16.33, over 30 seconds ahead of second place. In the 1500 meters, Caryn Rippey ’26, Kailey Granger ’27, Margaret McLoughlin ’25 and Hailey Reinhard ’27 swept the top four spots, combining for 29 points. Rippey’s time of 4:34.57 gave her the win by almost 10 seconds.
Noelani Sadler ’28 ran 14.19 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, just .06 seconds off her school record. In the 800 meters, Anna Posh ’25, Kate Moncavage ’28, Clara Knab ’28, Anna Carruthers ’28 and Sarah Policano ’25 claimed the top five spots, running 2:13.64, 2:14.55, 2:15.25, 2:15.45 and 2:15.79, respectively.
Fowler and Ajao came back for the discus throw, claiming the top two spots with Fowler’s throw of 140-09 feet elevating her to the gold. Alex Lea ’28 took home the win in the 200 meters, running 24.42 seconds, over half a second ahead of the next fastest finisher.
The Bison continue their season next week at a variety of meets. The highlight will be the 129th Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa., while some of the team heads to St. Francis on Saturday.
