By Colin Fields
Writer
The men’s track and field squad picked up a handful of victories and top program marks last weekend at the Bucknell Winter Classic in the Gerhard Fieldhouse. The Orange and Blue had big performances by Leonard Joseph ’13 and Tom Barr ’12 in throws, and Nathaniel Witter ’14 and Scott Weismiller ’14 in the pole vault. They were not alone; in total the men’s team took seven golds this weekend in what was the final meet of the regular season.
Joseph and Barr took first and second in the weight throw, respectively, and Barr picked up his fifth shot put win of the season just a week after breaking Timothy Medlock ’10’s school record. Barr’s winning toss of 53’ 7.75’’ gives him a ton of momentum heading into next week’s Patriot League Championships.
“I feel confident moving forward in 2012 after my victory this weekend because every time we compete, it is a test of our technique and conditioning. So far this season has shown good signs for our program and I am excited to see what happens at the league championships,” Barr said.
The Bison continued their dominance in field events when Weismiller and Witter shared gold in the pole vault. The tandem of sophomores both cleared the 15’ 3’’ mark giving them the top spot on Saturday.
On the track the Bison found similar success, cleaning up the podium in the 1,000 meters and picking up several other victories. Tyler Erhard ’14 took gold and teammates Brian Charland ’13 and Andrew Kirna ’15 finished in second and third. Robert Yamnicky ’13 took home the gold in the 3,000 and Alex Jagelsky ’15 won the 500 meters and picked up his second win in as many weeks after winning the 1,000 last weekend. Another first-year who enjoyed success was Christian Lupica ’15, who finished second place in the 60 meters with a personal best time of 6.99 seconds, the program’s all-time fourth-best mark.
“Running a PR is always a great feeling and it definitely was for me this weekend. Using the record books is always a great way to set personal goals for myself and hopefully I can keep continuing to drop my 60 time and help the team by scoring points in the process,” Lupica said.
The Bison will compete in the Patriot League Indoor Championships this weekend at Gerhard Fieldhouse.