By Colin Fields
Staff Writer
The men’s track team had an impressive performance as the host university of the Bison Outdoor Classic. The event is unscored for team competition but the Bison toppled more than 20 top-10 marks and are pressing for a third straight outdoor title.
On Sunday, Ray Holmes ’14 increased his career best by nearly two feet in the triple jump with a distance of 48’ 8’’, ranking him third all-time at the University.
“We have a great team this year and our start this season shows the depth of our team on both the men’s and women’s side of the program. We have already had a lot of great performances and everybody is getting better as the weeks tick away towards the Championships,” Holmes said.
The Bison throwers have torn through the Bison record books this season, and last weekend was no different. Leonard Joseph ’13 placed second in the hammer toss by becoming the fourth Bison to ever clear the 200 foot mark and moving him into fourth in Bison history.
There were plenty of personal records broken over the weekend, including Daniel Markwalter ’13 placing third in the pole vault clearing 15’ 9’’, moving him into fourth in program history.
On the track Robert Arent ’12 and Christian Lupica ’15 performed well in the 400 meter hurdles. Arent finished third with a time of 53.02 and Lupica 10th with a time of 55.08 seconds, moving him into the top 10 in Bison history.
“As a team, we’ve been training hard and not really worrying about peaking yet, so the fact that we are still competing so well as a whole just means that by the championship portion of our season, when everyone is at their peak form, we are going to be a really tough team to beat,” Lupica said.
The Bison are hosts again this weekend at the Bison Team Challenge, the season finale for the Bison at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
“Competing at home allows us to be more relaxed and comfortable which is conducive to getting good marks on the track and in the field. We’re looking to win our third outdoor championship in a row. Getting this outdoor season off to a good start puts us in good position to defend our championship title,” Arent said.
The Patriot League Championships will be held May 4 and 5 in Worcester, Mass.