April 2, 2008

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's track and field team will have athletes competing at both the Auburn Invitational and the Princeton Invitational this weekend, April 4-5. Coming off a second-place finish at the Patriot League Indoor Championships and after taking the No. 3 spot in the Patriot League Outdoor Preseason Poll, the Bison opened the 2008 outdoor season this past weekend, sending athletes to both the Maryland Invitational and Susquehanna's Jim Taylor Invitational. Both events did not have team scores.

Bucknell Men's Track and Field Notebook

At the Maryland Invitational, March 29 -
- Bucknell took three individual event titles. Sophomore Kyle Anthony (Barryville, N.Y./Eldred Central) won the triple jump, qualifying to IC4A Championships with a provisional mark of 47-7. He went on to take third in the long jump (21-10 ¾). Junior Kevin Macleod (East Longmeadow, Mass./East Longmeadow) took the title in the 400-meter hurdles, winning the event in 53.87. The Bison took the top-two places in the 5,000-meter run. Junior Clinton Orloski (Butler, Pa./Slippery Rock) won the event, stopping the clock at 15:11.37, while sophomore Baron Willeford (New Orleans, La./Columbia Prep (N.Y.)) took second with a time of 15:13.34.
- Additionally, Bucknell's 4x400 relay team won the event by over 3 seconds. Junior Kerry Boyle (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton), freshman Guy Castranova (Trenton, N.J./Notre Dame), sophomore Clement Gyan (Yonkers, N.Y./Abraham Lincoln) and MacLeod ran an IC4A-qualifying time of 3:14.76 to notch the second-fastest time in Bucknell history.
- In the 110-meter hurdles, both sophomore Andrew Yehl (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) and sophomore Ryan White (Elkins Park, Pa./Father Judge) qualified for the final after finishing fourth (15.06) and fifth (15.82), respectively. Yehl went on to place third in the final with an IC4A-qualifying time of 14.79 for a career best and the fifth-fastest time in Bucknell history. White placed fifth in the final (15.97).
- In the high jump, freshman Drew Fitzgerald (Ballston Spa, Pa./Ballston Spa) posted a mark of 6-6 to tie the 10th-best height in Bucknell history. He finished second in the event. He went on to tie White at 14-0 in the pole vault for fourth.
- Senior James Meyer (Pac. Palisades, Calif./Pacific Palisades) took second in the hammer throw with a career-best distance of 168-9. His mark is the eighth-best in program history. Meyer went on to place third in the discus throw (138-11).

At the Jim Taylor Invitational, March 29 -
- Bucknell won one individual event on the men's side. Freshman Matt Bender (Holland, N.Y./Holland Central) took first in the 400-meter dash, running a time of 52.24 and went on to have Bucknell's top finish in the 200-meter dash. He placed sixth in the event, stopping the clock at 24.00.

IC4A-Qualifying Marks (Outdoor 2008) -
- Kyle Anthony: Triple Jump (47-7, Maryland Invitational)
- Andrew Yehl: 110-Meter Hurdles (14.79, Maryland Invitational)
- Kerry Boyle, Guy Castranova, Clement Gyan, Kevin Macleod: 4x400 Relay (3:14.76, Maryland Invitational)

New Bison Top-10 Marks (Outdoor 2008)-
- 110-Meter Hurdles: Andrew Yehl (14.79, 5th, Maryland Invitational)
- High Jump - Drew Fitzgerald (6-6, 10th, Maryland Invitational)
- Hammer Throw - James Meyer (168-9, 8th, Maryland Invitational)
- 4x400 Relay: Kerry Boyle, Guy Castranova, Clement Gyan, Kevin Macleod (3:14.76, 2nd, Maryland Invitational)

2008 Outdoor Honors -
- Patriot League Preseason Poll: Bucknell (3rd, 81 points, two first-place votes)

Looking Ahead -
- Up next, the Orange and Blue will host two home meets, the Bison Outdoor Classic, April 11-12, and the Bucknell Team Challenge, April 19.
- Bucknell will send athletes to the Penn Relays, April 24-26, and to the Shippensburg Invitational, April 26, before heading to the Patriot League Outdoor Championships, hosted by Navy in Annapolis, Md., May 2-3.
- The ECAC and IC4A Championships are set for May 16-18, in Princeton, N.J. The NCAA East Regional Championships are scheduled for May 30-31, and the NCAA Championships will take place June 11-14, in Des Moines, Iowa.