The men’s track and field team had two extremely impressive showings on Feb. 7-8, trouncing the competition at the Youngstown State National Invitational at the Watson and Tressel Training Site and also dominating at the Akron Invitational at the Stile Field House.

“Our team split up this weekend to compete at two separate facilities in an attempt to get the best times and marks possible before the Patriot League Championships,” Ray Holmes ’14 said. “We train all year primarily for this upcoming meet, and we had some key performances this past weekend at both facilities which reflects that we are on course to strongly contend for the League title.”

At the Youngstown State National Invitational, the Orange and Blue took the top three spots in the 500-meter run. Ryan Johnson ’16 led the effort, posting his personal best 1:04.58, which allowed him to quality for the IC4As. In addition, the Bison placed first and second in the long jump, led by Alex Prieto’s ’14 first-place finish. He tallied a jump of 23-00.75 to best Kevin Tapper ’15 who leaped 22-11.25. Finally, Jack Fellows ’15 came in second in his throw event with 58-03.00.

In Akron, Anthony Menza ’16 competed in the 400 meter run and dashed to the finish line in 48.97 seconds, placing him fifth in Bison track and field history. Similarly, John Westwood ’16 posted a fourth place finish in the mile (4: 12.31). In addition, Johnson placed fourth in the 800 meter run (1:52.33), with teammate Alex Jagelsky ’15 finishing right behind him (1:52.44). 

The Bison squad was also dominant in field events at Akron. Holmes won the triple jump (49-09.25), which was also his personal best and placed him second on the Bison all-time performers ledger. His leap also allowed him to qualify for IC4As. The Bison squad ended their strong showing at Akron, placing second in the 4×400-meter relay. Menza, Jacob Eaton Hall ’14, Tapper, and Christian Lupica ’15 all contributed for 3:14.06, the second-fastest time ever posted by an Orange and Blue relay team in the event.

The Bison continued their focused competition at the Youngstown State National Invitational. Nathaniel Witter ’14 and Scott Weismiller ’14 finished second and third respectively in the pole vault, scoring 15-05.00 and 14-11.00. Dennis Logan ’14 finished second in the 800 meter run but just missed qualifying for IC4A’s with a time of 1:54.56.

“This was by far our most successful weekend of the track and field season,” head coach Kevin Donner said. “Our athletes are rounding into good shape and they are starting to sharpen up at the right time. Breaking into two different meets allowed certain athletes to compete against a higher level of competition. We walked away with everything we were hoping to accomplish. This week we have a tune-up here at home where we will have a lot of different individual missions that will set us up for next weekend’s league championships.”

The Bison will finalize their lineup this evening at the Bucknell Tune-Up and hope to take their momentum into the 2014 Patriot League Championships, which they will host on Feb. 21-23. The action will begin at 5 p.m.