This past weekend, the Bison women’s and men’s track and field teams traveled to Bethlehem, Pa. to compete at the Patriot League Championships, hosted at Lehigh University. The men’s team posted a third-place finish, with Jeff Brown ’20 and Stefone Moore-Green ’20 having standout performances on the weekend. The women’s team posted a fifth-place finish with standout performances by Katie Salisbury ’20 and Delia Sipe ’21.

For the men, the first day of competition resulted in strong prelim finishes, which resulted in the team ranking in fourth place going into the second day of competition. Brown broke his own school record in the 60 for the third time this season with a time of 6.75. This time also tied the Patriot League Championship record set in 2016.

Nick Marino ’21 was just barely edged out of his first-ever Patriot League Gold in the pole vault by rival Joseph Kelly from Lehigh. Marino tied his personal best at the 2020 PLCs but had more attempts to clear the height than his opponent.

On the second day of competition, Brown defended his title as the champion in the 60-meter dash. He also added points with a sixth-place finish overall in the 200-meter dash (22.48). Moore-Green took second in the 400 with a time of 48.98 and added a fourth-place finish in the 200 with a time of 22.17 in his first-ever Patriot League Indoor Championships.

“Walking away from the Patriot League Championships, I felt good about the day, I trusted my training and was able to see where I stack up compared to the League’s best. I realize I have to keep working to achieve that gold medal, so it’s back to the lab, ” Moore-Green said.

Other strong performances included Jack Memoli ’22 who finished fourth in the 60m hurdles, Ethan Dunne ’21 who placed sixth with a personal best of 4716 in the heptathlon, and C.J. Falcioni ’20 who placed fifth in the shot put with a mark of 54-6.

“As a team placing third is fine, and it was good to see where our weaknesses are compared to top competitors like Army and Navy. Now we are able to see where we can work to close the gap between us and them,” Moore-Green said.

The women posted strong results on the first day of the competition. In the 5k, three Bison, Ashlyn Ramos ’22 (6th, 17:24.95), Hope Beyer ’20 (7th, 17:39.70) and Emily Deschler ’22 (8th, 17:43.16) placed and earned points for the team. In the long jump, Gi Macones ’22 placed fourth and picked up five points for the Orange and Blue.

Alex Butz ’21 scored in the pole vault (6th, 11-11.75). Her mark is a new personal-best that now ranks in a tie for fifth in the school record books, and is an ECAC standard. Valerie Fischer ’23 also moved on to the final rounds in the 400 (58.23) after finishing fifth in the qualifying round.

On the second day of competition, the Bison posted strong finishes in multiple events. Salisbury defended her title as the champion in the 60-meter. The senior sprinter also added points for the Bison in the 200m, triple jump, and long jump. Macones (9th, 37-3), and Sam Lopes ’22 (10th, 36-11.5) both placed in the triple jump, but missed scoring with teammate Salisbury. Butz, who had finished at sixth place in the pole vault on the first day of competition, took the second place awards in the high jump as she cleared 5-5.

Sipe placed second as she broke the school record, previously set in 2010, in the shot put with a mark of 48’6”.

Ramos finished fourth overall in the 3000 (9:59.78). The distance medley relay squad of Karly Forker ’22, Michaela Bracken ’22, Gianna Mincone ’20, and Tara Lyons ’22 took third (12:06.42) behind opponents Army and Lehigh. In her Championship debut, Fischer placed sixth in the 400m, while Lyons scored points in the 800 with an eighth-place finish.

The Bison will return to competition next week at the IC4A/ECAC Championships.