Month: October 2012

Categories
Arts & Life Campus Events

Retreat fosters lifelong bonds and a vision for a better Bucknell

 

Courtesy of Laura Yeckley
Director, assisant directors and facilitars create lifelong friendships during the Common Ground Retreat.

Christina Oddo
Arts & Life Editor 

Common Ground continues to be a rewarding experience for students year after year during fall breaks. Common Ground is a free, five day diversity immersion retreat that takes place at the Cowan Forrest Brown Conference Center. Common Ground focuses on issues surrounding race, sexual orientation and gender. Thirty-five students participated this past fall break, lead by Director Capri Dubois ’13 and Assistant Directors Sam Lauer ’13 and Ana Aguilera Silva ’14. There were also 11 facilitators for the program.

Courtesy of Laura Yeckley
Thirty-five students break out of their comfort zones to learn more about one another.

“As a facilitator, Common Ground taught me that the things I say truly do have an impact on people,” Kate Albertini ’14 said. “One night, through tears and laughter, I encouraged participants to say ‘hi’ when they pass people they know on campus. At the time, I did not think it was that profound, but I can tell you that I have been so incredibly touched by all the amazing hugs and greetings I have both witnessed and received since returning to campus.”

Students take part in different activities that highlight topics about identity. The “Race Iceberg” is an activity that deals with racial and ethnic stereotypes, while the “Falling Stars” activity explores the coming out process. Different levels of discussions are facilitated in small and large groups throughout the retreat.

“I do not come from a very diverse background, and the diversity immersion retreat opened my eyes to the difficult experiences many Bucknellians are going through at home and on campus in relation to issues of race, sexual identity and gender among others,” Jennie Means ’14 said.

Favorite bonding activities among the participants include “Trees & Stumps,” “Mafia,” “Psychiatrist,” dance parties and campfires.

“What gives me the most hope for the future of Bucknell is the response members of the retreat have had since returning to campus,” Means said. “The experience we had together and the love and respect we now share is something that will not only help us maintain our friendships into the future, but will also drive us to make change on Bucknell’s campus and follow through on the action plan we created.”

Categories
Sports

Bison Athlete of the Week: Caroline Tolli ’13

 

Alex Wagner

Sports Editor

Player Profile

Caroline Tolli ’13

Lockport, N.Y.

Education and Spanish

 

Season stats:

8th of 110 (16:21) at Harry Lang Invitational

1st of 97 (18:27) at Detroit Titan Invitational

2nd of 34 (19:43) at Saint Francis (Pa.) Invitational

13th of 243 (21:47) at Pre-Nationals

Caroline Tolli ’13 has been one of the most consistently strong performers on the women’s cross country team all year. Her performance over the weekend at Pre-Nationals in Louisville, Ky. was no exception. Tolli finished in 13th place out of a strong 243 competitor field after finishing the Sawyer State Park’s six-kilometer course in 21:47. She was one of two Orange and Blue runners finishing in the top 100.

“The course at Pre-Nationals is well-made, very flat and fast. It’s unlike any course we’ve run on so far this year, as we’ve been training and racing on hills in preparation for the Patriot League Championship,” Tolli said. “Knowing the course was fast (and the competition good), we all as a team tried to get off to an aggressive start on Saturday and keep moving up in the field throughout the race. It was a lot of fun to run hard on such a nice course–I tried to make the most of the opportunity and enjoy every minute.”

Tolli’s strong performance helped lift the Bison to a 12th place finish out of a 27-team field. Now her focus is on the future as the Patriot League Championships approach.

“My finish definitely gives me momentum in training the next few weeks going into the Patriot League meet, where I just want to do all I can to help my talented, hardworking team win a championship,” Tolli said.

Categories
Golf Sports Women

Lee leads women’s golf

Alex Wagner

Sports Editor

On Oct. 15 and 16, the women’s golf team earned a ninth place finish at the Mid-America Conference Preview tournament in Nashport, Ohio behind a career-best performance from Jen Lee ’16.

Lee shot a 74 on Monday, just two above par, and an 83 on Tuesday to tie for 13th place in individual scores and to become the Orange and Blue’s top performer.

Unfortunately, her strong individual performance did not translate to a top spot for the Bison, who finished in ninth place out of 15 teams with rounds of 320 and 325.

Bridget Wilcox ’14 also performed well, shooting rounds of 77 and 82 for a 159 total, earning her a tie for 20th place, just two strokes behind Lee. Lauren Bernard ’14 finished in a tie for 46th with a 164, Kasha Scott ’14 finished in a tie for 57th with a 166 and Emily Timmons ’15 finished in a tie for 72nd with 171 strokes.

Ball State won the tournament with a team score of 621, followed by Bowling Green State with 624 and Eastern Michigan with 625.

The last event this fall for the Orange and Blue will be the Palmetto Invitational at Kiawah Island, S.C. on Oct. 28-29.

Categories
Football Men Sports

Football drops fifth game in a row

 

Chloe Chou | The Bucknellian
Brandon Wesley ’14 looks for an opening in the opposition’s defense. The Orange and Blue were only able to find the end zone in the final minutes of the game against Harvard.

Eric Brod
Senior Writer

Coming off a hard fought loss to Holy Cross last week, the Bison were stifled by No. 21 Harvard as they dropped their fifth straight game 35-7.

Early on, the Orange and Blue defense proved stout against Harvard, forcing two punts and an interception on their first three possessions. An interception by Evan Byers ’15 gave the possession to the Orange and Blue at the 12-yard line. Quarterback Brandon Wesley ’14, after completing seven of his first 10 passes of the game for 79 yards, threw an interception in the end zone. With 3:01 left in the first quarter, the Crimson took the lead on a six-yard touchdown run.

Harvard was able to pull away in the second quarter by outscoring the Bison 21-0 and outgaining them on offense 237-21. The backbreaking play for the Bison came when a Harvard tight end caught a 20-yard pass, and ran for the touchdown, digging the Orange and Blue in a 28-0 halftime hole.

The Bison played much stronger in the second half, holding the Crimson to only a single touchdown. The offense finally broke through in the game’s final minute when Wesley led the offense on a 10 play, 91-yard drive that ended in a one-yard touchdown run by Jeremiah Young ’13.

“Our team continues to play hard at every position through the course of the game. Evan Byers continues to improve, as does Jordan Dudas [’15], and Matt Steinbeck [’15],” head coach Joe Susan said. “We need to eliminate turnovers and do a better job of catching the ball in our receiver group. We are bringing along more young players. In this league you cannot stay young very long.”

Wesley finished the game 21-29 for 227 yards. Travis Friend ’14, Charles Thompson ’14, Tyler Smith ’13 and Young contributed to 10 catches for 108 yards. Byers had an outstanding game with two interceptions.

The Bison rushing attack was stifled by the top-ranked rushing defense in the nation, gaining just 23 yards on 37 carries.

“We had some match-up issues with their front seven,” Susan said. “Their front four is the best I have seen at this level. They play seven guys and keep the pressure on an opponent.”

The Bison look to snap their five-game slide tomorrow when they travel to Bethlehem, Pa. to take on Patriot League rival Lehigh at 12:30 p.m.

“We have shown resilience as a team. We will work hard to put together an effective game plan against another ranked opponent,” Susan said. “When this turns, it will stay turned.”

Categories
Men Soccer Sports

Men’s soccer fights for a draw

Chris McCree
Sports Editor

The men’s soccer team earned a 1-1 tie at Holy Cross last weekend, moving the team into a tie for fourth place in the Patriot League at 1-1-2. Josh Plump ’13 scored the Bison’s lone goal midway through the first half, but the team was not able to pull ahead despite outshooting the Crusaders 21-9.

“Even though we were really aiming for three points and the win Saturday, tying Holy Cross on the road was not the worst outcome,” Plump said. “The past few games we have come out flat in the first half, which has been a problem for us. We put together a decent second half, but could not find the back of the net.”

The Orange and Blue got off to a slow start, recording just four shots in the first half to the Crusaders’ five. Twenty-three minutes into the contest, Holy Cross’ Luke Melody took a corner kick out of the air and headed it into the back of the net to give the Crusaders the lead.

“It has been a constant weakness in the past couple of games; we start games very slowly. I believe we have conceded almost all of our goals in the first half,” Chris Thorsheim ’16 said. “Our strength has been our ability to respond and dominate the second halves of games.”

The Holy Cross lead was short-lived as Plump quickly knotted the game just four minutes later. On the play, Plump beat three defenders across the top of the box and fired a strike into the back of the net.

Going into the half at one goal apiece, the Orange and Blue came out in the second with a heightened aggression and dominated the half. The team outshot the Crusaders 11-1, but could not manage to get the go-ahead goal. In the closing minutes of the game, Thorsheim fired a very promising strike, but it bounced off of the goalpost, allowing the Crusaders to conserve the tie through the end of regulation.

In overtime, the Bison continued their offensive dominance and outshot their opponents 6-3. The team generated two solid scoring chances from Brendan Burgdorf ’13 and Jesse Klug ’16, but both were kept out by the Crusaders defense.

“We are a fit team capable of outscoring opponents with ease, except we have not been finishing our chances,” Thorsheim said. “In our past couple of games, we have outshot and created many chances. It’s putting these shots on goal that has been difficult for us.”

The tie represented the second straight for the Bison in Patriot League play after earning the same result against Navy on Oct. 6. The team has three league contests remaining on the schedule before the Patriot League tournament begins in early November. The first of these match-ups will occur tomorrow when the team hosts Army at 7 p.m.

“The Patriot League is still up for grabs,” Thorsheim said. “The next couple of games will be extremely important for us. These Patriot League challenges ahead will dictate whether we have the ability and the desire to become a championship team.”

Categories
Soccer Sports Women

Women’s soccer shut out

Ajan Caneda
Copy Editor

After dropping its first conference game against Colgate on Sept. 29, the women’s soccer team bounced back to pick up home wins over Holy Cross and Army. Unfortunately, the Orange and Blue were unable to capitalize on its scoring opportunities against American, falling 1-0 to the Eagles on Senior Day. Seven seniors were honored, including midfielder Taryn Boucher ’13, who had a team high of seven shot attempts in the loss. Currently, the Bison are 9-7 overall, with a 2-2 record in Patriot League play.

“There was a lot of excitement going into the game, but we understood that it was important for us to stay focused on beating American,” Boucher said. “Unfortunately, although I think we were the better team, we could not come back from their goal in the first half. Sometimes that’s just the game of soccer.”

The Bison struggled on offense early, reeling off only three shot attempts in the first half. American countered with eight of their own and found the back of the net in the 25th minute for the 1-0 lead. Despite the low shot production, the Bison kept the pressure on with four corner kicks in the half.

In the second half, the Bison picked things up, trying to even the score. The Orange and Blue outshot the Eagles 11-4 in the half. This included a blocked shot attempt by Boucher that would have been the equalizer for the Bison. Despite the shot advantage for the Orange and Blue, American stayed strong in goal, not allowing anything to go past the net, including a Kayla Yee ’13 penalty kick that sailed over the goal post.

Goalie Sandita McDermott ’13 finished with three saves, while Boucher, Yee and Liz Dwornik ’14 combined for 12 of the Bison’s 14 shot attempts.

“It was definitely a hard loss, especially on Senior Day,” Yee said. “We started out slow in the first half and American capitalized on their chances. In the second half, I thought we were the better team but weren’t able to find the back of the net.”

Yee and McDermott reflected on their journeys as Bison soccer players.

“The past four years at Bucknell have been amazing. My teammates and coaches have been the best part of my experience … and I’m definitely going to miss them next year,” Yee said.

“Being a member of this team really embodies something so much more than yourself and allows you to not only grow as an individual but really grow with a group, particularly with the six other girls in my class. I would say that being a part of this team is what made my Bucknell experience as amazing as it is,” McDermott said.

The Bison start a three-game road trip against two Patriot League rivals this weekend. They will travel to Bethlehem, Pa. tonight to face Lehigh. On Sunday, the Orange and Blue will make their way to Easton, Pa. to battle Lafayette at 1 p.m.

“Although the loss was disappointing, our season is far from over. We have a really important weekend coming up versus Lehigh and Lafayette, and it’s important for us to put this defeat behind us and focus on winning our next three league games and securing our spot in the tournament,” Boucher said.

Categories
Field Hockey Sports Women

Field hockey shut out

Andrew Arnao
Senior Writer

The field hockey team fought hard but eventually fell to No. 14 Lafayette on Oct. 13, suffering a 2-0 shutout against its Patriot League rival. The Orange and the Blue now have a 2-1 record in the Patriot League standings and an 8-7 record overall.

The Bison defense was tremendous throughout the game, holding Lafayette to just two shots in the first half and only one shot in the second half. Unfortunately, two of those well-placed shots managed to get past goalie Erica Perrine ’14, giving Lafayette a 1-0 lead in the first half and an insurance goal early in the second half.

“The game went very well other than the score,” head coach Jeremy Cook said. “They are ranked 14th in the nation for a reason, but we really played well and had them on the ropes for some of the first half and the majority of the second half.”

The Bison offense kept the pressure on the Leopards and proceeded to outshoot them 8-3, including a seven-shot outburst in the second half. Though none of the shots found the back of the net, it was clear that the Orange and the Blue offense was in control for most of the second half.

“[We] outshot them and out cornered them, but they were able to score and hold us off which is something Lafayette has done well all year against good teams,” Cook said. “We had all the right answers, just couldn’t find the back of the net. This does give us a lot of confidence heading in to the final couple weeks of play and the tournament … now we are all hoping we can earn a second shot at them in the title game.”

The Bison continue Patriot League play tomorrow with their final home game against Lehigh at noon. Tayler Siegrist ’13 and Kelly Stefanowicz ’13 will also be honored as part of the team’s Senior Day.

Categories
Men Sports Water Polo

Men’s water polo shines in close games

Estie Pyper | The Bucknellian
Attacker Julian Colina ’14 takes a shot on net. The Bison players made their shots count when it mattered most, especially in the last-second win against Princeton.

Scott Padula

Staff Writer

The men’s water polo team went 3-1 last weekend in a string of games when it hosted CWPA rivals Johns Hopkins, Navy, George Washington and No. 16 Princeton. The Bison are now 5-1 at home on the season.

On Oct. 13, the Orange and Blue began their home stint by defeating Johns Hopkins in overtime 12-10. The match was back and forth throughout, most notably marked by Matt Napleton ’13, who recorded 16 saves. In the field, the Orange and Blue had five different Bison tallying a pair of goals, with a total of seven Bison registering a point. Notable performances came from Jack Else ’14, who drew five ejections, and Brian Barron ’13, who won all six swim-offs, including two extremely important ones in overtime.

The second game against No. 14 Navy was Senior Night for the Orange and Blue. Led by senior captains Napleton and Barron, the Bison fought hard but fell to the Midshipmen 17-11. The contest was close for the majority of play, with the Orange and Blue only trailing by one entering the fourth quarter. In the fourth, the Midshipmen outscored the Bison 6-1 in the final eight minutes of play. Despite the losing effort, the seniors saved some of their best performances of the weekend for this game. Barron found the back of the net eight times, recorded an assist and won two of his four sprints. Barron’s eight goal tally was the most by a Bison since 2000. In goal, Napleton stopped 11 shots in 32 minutes of action, and  additionally registered an assist in the game.

To kick off action on Oct. 14, the Orange and Blue defeated George Washington 13-8. The Bison outscored the Colonials 4-1 in the second quarter, giving them a three goal lead into the half. Alex Nowlin ’14 led the offense for the Bison, netting five goals and tallying two assists. Joining him with multi-point performances were three other Bison: Barron, Else and Stefan Aleksic ’16. Else also matched his career-high for ejections drawn in a game with six. In goal, Napleton made an impressive 15 saves.

In the final game of the weekend, the Orange and Blue defeated No. 16 Princeton 10-9. The Bison led in the first quarter 3-0 and took a 5-2 tie into the intermission. In the third quarter, the Bison held the three goal lead by matching Princeton’s three scores with three of their own. With 49 seconds left to play in the fourth quarter, Princeton tied the score at 9-9 with a buzzer-beating shot. The Bison responded when Else drew a five-meter penalty shot with 36 seconds left to play. Barron found the back of the net, giving the Orange and Blue an eventual win. Barron scoured four goals and registered an assist. Else and Kimble were also invaluable to the Bison, with four and three ejections drawn, respectively. In the cage, Napleton recorded 13 saves.

Next up for the Bison will be the Santa Clara Rodeo in Santa Clara, Calif. on Oct. 19-21.

Categories
Cross Country Cross Country Men Sports Women

Cross country divides forces

 

Edward Louie | The Bucknellian
Bison runners forge a path at the front of the pack. Pre-Nationals proved to be a tougher test for the Orange and Blue than the Gettysburg Invitational.

Billy Tyler
Contributing Writer

The men’s and women’s cross country teams divided their squads last weekend to compete at both Pre-Nationals in Louisville, Ky. and the Gettysburg Invitational in Gettysburg, Pa. The divided teams produced varying results at two premier events with extremely competitive fields.

Pre-Nationals, featuring a strong national caliber field, presented a tough test for the Orange and Blue. The men’s team goal to finish in the top half of the competitive field was hindered by some bad luck, in the form of several falls early in the race to key runners, including Glen Williams ’15 and D.J. Krystek ’13. John Dugan ’15 managed to finish the eight-kilometer course strongly coming in 146th place with a time of 24:48.3. He was followed by Michael McGowan ’15 in 177th (25:05.1), Charles Seigneur ’13 in 188th (25:08.4), Andrew Garcia-Garrison ’15 in 190th (25:10.1) and Tyler Erhard ’14 in 243rd (25:54.7).

“[The falls] really cost our team quite a bit,” head coach Kevin Donner said.

Donner is still confident his team gained valuable experience from the event and will bounce back to perform well at the Patriot League Championships.

The women’s team had similar results in the event, which featured a fast and aggressive field. The quick pace left several members of the Bison struggling to sustain the tempo in the last bit of the six-kilometer race. Leading the way for the Bison was Caroline Tolli ’13, who finished 13th overall with a time of 21:47.

Both teams fared better at the Gettysburg Invitational. The men’s team had a second place finish out a field of 35 teams. The team also had two members finish in the top 20 in of the eight-kilometer race, with Andrew Kuchta ’16 (26:02) and David Strauss ’14 (26:09) taking ninth and 18th place, respectively. The Bison finished the event with a total of 70 points, second only to Lock Haven with 50 points.

The women’s team had an equally strong result at the event, taking the third place spot in a field of 36 schools. Just as with the men’s team, the women’s team was led by members finishing in the top 20, with Becky Snelson ’15 (23:13) taking 17th place and Emily Waksmunski ’14 (23:18) taking 19th place.

“Overall, everyone ran really well this weekend, and I think it was a good confidence booster to have this as our last meet before Leagues,” Snelson said.

Many of these reserves provided solid results and several were able to earn spots on the travel roster for the team’s next event, the Patriot League Championships, which will take place on Oct. 27 in Hamilton, N.Y.

Categories
Men Sports Tennis Tennis Women

Tennis duos shine

 

Chloe Chou | The Bucknellian
Maria Cioffi ’16 extends to reach the ball. She had a strong weekend for the Bison individually and in her double play with Elenca Vidrascu ’14

Alex Wagner

Sports Editor

Men’s tennis teammates Chris Tortora ’14 and Jonathan DeFrancesch ’15 and women’s tennis teammates Maria Cioffi ’16 and Elena Vidrascu ’14 saw success in doubles and singles play in the Lehigh Invitational last weekend.

Tortora and DeFrancesch together accounted for seven of the team’s 15 wins over the weekend after each went 2-0 in singles play as well as combining for a 3-0 doubles record, including a highly-contested 9-7 win over Lehigh.

“This was the second tournament that Johnny [DeFrancesch] and I have played together in, and we keep making strides in improvement,” Tortora said. “Johnny is an energetic player and that really helped me get my blood flowing. We beat our opponents more so because of our high levels of intensity than anything else.”

Evan Zimmer ’13 also had a good weekend as his 1-1 singles record and 2-1 doubles record with partner Josh Katten ’13 moved him up three spots to fourth place on the Bison’s all-time win list. He is now 119-63 in his career with the Orange and Blue.

“This weekend went very well for not only me, but the team as a whole,” Tortora said.  “We got to match up our lineup versus some quality opponents and we fared very well. I was able to be effective with my serve and I stayed mentally tough throughout all of my matches.”

On the women’s side, Cioffi and Vidrascu had similar success as a duo and as singles. They went 2-1 in doubles after two tight 9-8 wins against Lehigh opponents. They are now 10-3 together on the season. Cioffi also went 2-0 in singles with defeats of Delaware and Lehigh.

Although Vidrascu was unable to get a win in singles, her doubles success moved her up to a tie for 18th place on the Bison’s career wins list, as her record is now 38-35.

Jen Bush ’15, Christie Schneider ’15 and Stephanie Pino ’16 were also able to contribute to the Orange and Blue’s success as they each earned a singles victory against Lehigh.

The men’s team will be back in action from Oct. 18-22 as Zimmer, Katten and Kelly Morque ’13 head to Charlottesville, Va. for the ITA Regional Championships. The women’s team will not be competing until the start of dual play on Feb. 2.