Lauren Perry ’15 has been one of the stars of the women’s swim team this season. She is coming off a three-win weekend against Lehigh, and has already set a school record for the 200 freestyle.
Perry came into this season after being named to the All-Patriot League First Team last year. She was the first first-year, along with teammate Tara Boyle ’15, to make the First Team for the Bison since 2004. Despite a pair of losses by the team to start the season, Perry came out strong, recording a win in the 200 free against UConn and Fordham. Perry also contributed wins in the 100 free and 100 fly in a victory against Lafayette. At the Bucknell Invitational, Perry put in a strong effort in the 200 free to get a first-place time of 1:51.34, the best time in school history.
Perry started off the new year by recording wins against Binghamton and Army to lead up to her performance last week against Lehigh. Perry swam three wins in the 100 free, 200 free and 100 fly, and played a huge role in the team’s 184-102 victory. After swimming fly just three times this season, Perry’s time was only 57.65 seconds.
“Our team has done a really great job staying focused the past few meets and this is something we should continue as we head into championships,” Perry said. “I’m excited to see what we can do.”
Look for Perry and the rest of the women’s swim team to compete in the Bison Invite this weekend.
Hometown: Syracuse, N.Y.
Major: Undeclared
Top 50 free time: 23.85 seconds
Top 100 free time: 51.93 seconds
Top 200 free time: 1:51.34 seconds (all-time school record)
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Ray Lewis has been a polarizing figure for most of his career. Superbowl XLVII will be his last game before retirement.
Julian Dorey
Writer
“Clarifications”
On Sunday, win or lose, the greatest linebacker to ever set foot on a football field will walk away from the game once and for all.
Ray Lewis has no need for regrets. He did it his way. Through all the ups and downs of his 17-year career, Ray was Ray. To many in the general public, Lewis was real. Amid all his high-level play and his incredible wisdom that he imparted onto others over the years, Lewis stood up to and defeated the most difficult opponent a man could ever face. Himself.
With Lewis’ retirement set to happen late Sunday night, many football fans have decided to bring up his infamous involvement in events surrounding a double homicide in January of 2000. For the record, charges of murder were dropped against Lewis, and the two other men originally accused of the crime were both acquitted. Unfortunately, when your name and “murder” are stated in the same sentence, the stigma will forever be there.
I believe the entire ordeal was the greatest thing to ever happen to Lewis. He was a young and talented, yet reckless and self-destructive star in the NFL. He gave everything he had when playing football, and did not seem to care about his reputation or the consequences of his actions off the field.
“You don’t want to be Ray Lewis when he was 27,” Lewis said.
While Lewis was suffering through the process of clearing his name in the murder investigation, he looked in the mirror. He didn’t like what he saw, so he decided to change. He decided that what was done was done. He knew his reputation in the eyes of some could never be fixed, but he also knew he could make a positive difference in the lives of everyone he encountered from that point forward.
He opened numerous charity organizations. He took his team’s home city, Baltimore, a community mired in poverty and crime, under his wing. He took it upon himself to mentor every single young player that walked into the Ravens’ locker room. And he did all this while becoming the face of the NFL, a Super Bowl champion and the greatest linebacker in the history of football.
You can say that Lewis’ past makes him a questionable figure. Heck, you can say whatever you want. But in this country, the last time I checked, the law states that someone is innocent until proven guilty. The prosecution didn’t even try to prove Lewis guilty.
Lewis’ personal battle against himself has served as an inspiration to millions of people. That is what I’ll remember most about Lewis after he walks away from the game in less than 48 hours. Lewis’ legacy truly has no need for clarifications. The facts are there, and so is a great man.
The Bucknellian Archives Swimmers line up in preparation for a race. The Bison had 10 individual victories against Lehigh.
Katherine Harris
Writer
The women’s swimming and diving team gave a strong performance on its Senior Day meet, decisively ousting Patriot League rival Lehigh 184-102.
The Orange and Blue hosted Lehigh on Jan. 26 for the second-to-last meet of their regular season. Six of the Bison women, Lisa Bolle ’13, Anna Griest ’13, Morgan Oxley ’13, Elizabeth Porcellio ’13, Kelly Purcell ’13 and Marisa Taddeo ’13, were recognized before the meet.
“Lehigh is a strong team and we handled the challenge well as a group. In addition, it was a great way to send out our senior class since this meet served as our senior recognition day,” head coach Dan Schinnerer said.
The honored seniors performed strongly, with Oxley and Porcellio both a part of the relay team, along with Emma Levendoski ’16 and Emily Wright ’14, that won the 200 medley. Levendoski also had two individual victories of her own in the 100 back and 200 back.
Lauren Perry ’15 posted three victories. She won the 100 free with teammates Wright and Kaitlyn Utkewicz ’14 following close behind her for a top three Orange and Blue finish, as well as the 200 free where she blew the field away by 3.96 seconds. She finished with a victory in the 100 fly, a race she swam only three times this season.
“I was pleased with how I swam this weekend and I am excited to see what the championship meets will bring,” Perry said. “I think the team needs to continue to stay focused and maintain a positive attitude going into the rest of the season.”
Other notable performances for the Bison included Emily Norton ’15 with victories in the 100 breast and 200 breast, as well as Kelly Pontecorvo ’14 taking first in the 1,000 free and second in the 500 free. For diving, Katie Hetherington ’15 won the three meter board, while Tara Boyle ’15 took the one meter board with a career best score of 251.18.
“As we close out our season and work towards out championship meets in February and March, we continue to focus on improving in the details of our swims and dives. With more rest and less intense practices, we expect our team to sharpen their skills and peak for the championships,” Schinnerer said.
The Bison will finish out their regular season this weekend by hosting several opposing teams for the Bison Invite starting Saturday at 10 a.m.
At the men’s swimming and diving meet, both teams brought home the gold for the Orange and the Blue with a victory of 175-118 over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. The Orange and the Blue also celebrated Senior Day by honoring the five senior men.
Among the most impressive competitors for the Bison was Ben Seketa ’15, who won first in the 100 breast and 200 breast, marking his third time championing in both events. Tim Perley ’15 and Sam Mackie ’16 also claimed top spots in both events. Mike Nicholson ’14 came in first for both the 100 fly and 200 fly. Will Rappaport ’16 continued to excel for the Bison as the first place finisher in both the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke.
“I think we dominated from beginning to end and were able to improve from our previous meet against Army,” Perley said.
The Bison diving team also performed well, with Tyler Wenzel ’16 claiming his own victory in the one-meter. Wenzel also took second off the three-meter.
“I was happy with how I dove, but there are still personal improvements to be made on the three-meter board,” Wenzel said. “I feel the team came together and performed well overall to show that we are where we need to be going into the post season.”
The Bison look to continue their winning ways Saturday at the Bison Invite.
Leonard Joseph ’13 became the most decorated Patriot League field athlete of all-time with an exceptional performance at the Bison Open & Multi this past weekend. Robert Yamnicky ’13 also helped set the pace for the Bison at the Gerhard Fieldhouse, while Kevin Tapper ’15 led the Orange and Blue at the Penn State National Invitational.
At Penn State, Tapper recorded a victory in the 500 meters with a time of 1:04.28. Back in Lewisburg, Yamnicky took home the gold medal in the mile with a time of 4:21.38.
However, the weekend belonged to Joseph. At Penn State, he threw for 65.75 feet. It was Joseph’s first throw longer than 64 feet, and it was also the second longest throw in Bison history. He finished second in the meet, but was first among all collegiate competitors.
Joseph also won the Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week award for his performance this past weekend. It was the eighth time he won this award in his career, passing former Bison standout Tyler Hoffman’07 and making him the most decorated Patriot League field athlete in history.
“[Tyler] Hoffman was a great thrower and it is an honor to say that I have surpassed him in that area,” Joseph said.
“Lenny Joseph has really worked himself into one of the best hammer throwers in the nation with virtually no prior experience. He came into school as a discus thrower,” head coach Kevin Donner said. “He has put himself in the position where he is one of the elite Patriot League Athletes of all time and now one of the top throwers in the country.”
With Patriot League Championships only two weeks away, Donner is excited about the championship, but he points out that the team will need to stay healthy to compete.
“We need to live clean and try to avoid getting sick or hurt. It comes down to the little details from putting time in the training room to even stretching and eating well, which contribute to the body being 100 percent for competitions,” Donner said.
The Bison will return to competition this weekend as they travel to the Youngstown State Invitational.
Edward Louie | The Bucknellian Abby Monaghan ’13 hurls a weight. Her 3rd place finish made her one of the top performers for the Bison.
Lauren Boone
Writer
The Orange and Blue split their forces between the Bison Open & Multi and the Penn State National Invitational, with standout performances including the Bison claiming fifth in the distance medley relay, Kim Nagotko ’15 taking first in the 200 meter finals and Justine Schnell ’15 winning the 5,000 meter event.
At the Penn State National Invitational, the distance medley relay team shined, finishing the race in 11:50.29 to take fifth place. Nagotko posted a time of 25.27 in the 200 meter, beating her personal best of 25.59 set the previous day.
“Running on Penn State’s banked track showed us the times we were capable of reaching and gave us the confidence needed to keep moving forward with our season. It was also a great experience to compete with such highly skilled athletes as they showed us that we were not only able to compete with them, but also beat them … This past weekend was a great indicator that we are capable of claiming [a Patriot League Championship],” Nagotko said.
At the Bison Open & Multi, Schnell took first in the 5,000 meter event (18:20.31), making it the first win of her career.
Emily Ando ’14 won the pole vault by clearing the 11-7.75. Beth Braunegg ’14 also achieved a victory with a career best 2:53.03 in the 1,000 meter event at Penn State.
As a result of her performance, Braunegg was deemed the Patriot League Track Athlete of the Weekfor the first time in her career. Her times in the 1,000 meters and distance medley relay stand within the top five in the program record books.
Like Ando and Braunegg, Leah Goeke ’13 took first place in the 1,000 meters at home with 3:09.28, making it her first victory of the season.
The Bison will be back in action at the Youngstown State Invitational this weekend.
Christian Limawan | The Bucknellian Mike Muscala ’13 performs an emphatic dunk. His last-second shot against American was the game-winner.
Eric Brod
Senior Writer
After losing against Lehigh last week, the Bison pulled out a 56-55 victory over the American Eagles in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 30. The Orange and the Blue also defeated Holy Cross 65-58 on Jan. 26. The two wins improved the Bison’s record to 18-4 overall and 5-1 in league play.
Against American (7-14, 2-4), the Bison found themselves down with 2:15 left in the contest, but the Orange and Blue scored the game’s final eight points, capped off by a put back by Mike Muscala ’13 with 0.8 seconds left. Muscala, who suffered multiple blows to his chin during the game, finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds for his nation-leading 15th double-double. Cameron Ayers ’14 also added 14 points for the Bison.
After taking a slim 28-27 halftime lead, the Bison fell behind 39-32, but a three-point play by Ayers cut the lead to 39-35. The Eagles came back to extend their lead to 41-35, but then Ayers and Joe Willman ’13 led a 6-0 run to tie the score back up at 41. Still, the Bison were unable to find an offensive rhythm and found themselves back down by seven, 55-48. Steven Kaspar ’15 hit a huge jumper to cut the lead back to 55-51. The basket started the Orange and Blue’s late game sprint as they were able to pull out their most dramatic victory of the season.
The Bison had to overcome uncharacteristically bad foul shooting (11-24), while only shooting 1-10 from beyond the arc. The Bison used their outstanding defense to stay in the game and benefited from two missed free throws by American near the end of the game.
Against Holy Cross (10-10, 2-3), the Bison were able to erase memories of the Lehigh loss with a victory in Worcester, Mass. The offensive attack was led by Bryson Johnson ’13 and Willman, who each scored 16 points. Ayers was second on the team with 15 points, and Muscala put in 13 points to go along with 11 rebounds.
“I knew I had to be aggressive offensively from the start and just tried to get my team going,” Ayers said. “A lot of guys were in foul trouble so I felt I needed the ball in my hands to attack or to get guys open shots.”
After getting off to a slow start against the Crusaders, the Orange and Blue came out strong, racing off to a 14-8 lead. The team received help off the bench from Kaspar, who contributed six assists. The Bison continued their strong play throughout the first half, and took a 32-28 into the half.
After the Crusader’s hit a three to open the half, the Bison went on a 9-1 to extend their lead to nine at 41-32. Throughout the half, the Orange and Blue were unable to put Holy Cross away for good until the final minutes of the contest. With the Bison clinging to a 53-49 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the contest, the defense was able to come up with three huge stops before Ayers, Muscala and Johnson each hit crucial shots to extend the lead to 60-51. From there, Johnson and Willman were able to ice the game at the line, including Johnson sinking all four of his foul shots in the final forty seconds of the contest.
The Bison held the Crusaders to 34 percent shooting and just 5-16 from beyond the arc.
“We were able to defend their threes due to our focus and preparation on practice. We spend a lot of time going through their plays and their tendencies,” Ayers said. “I think we did a good job defensively but we can also get better.”
The Bison return to action Saturday when they host Patriot League rival Navy. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Heather Oros | The Bucknellian Shelby Romine ’14 faces off against a defender. Her 23 points were not enough to defeat American.
Ajan Caneda
Senior Writer
Although the women’s basketball team put up a valiant second half effort, it was not enough to negate American’s first half blitz, as the Bison fell 66-58 in Sojka Pavilion. The loss snapped the Orange and Blue’s four-game winning streak, which was topped off by a narrow 62-59 home victory against Holy Cross. They dropped to 13-8 overall with a 4-2 record in conference play.
Against Holy Cross, the Bison overcame a 14-point second half deficit to escape with the win. With 7:32 left in the game, the Bison staged a 20-3 run resulting from a strong effort on the defensive side of the court.
“We stayed positive by doing what we knew we could do and not worrying about what already happened,” forward Felicia Mgbada ’13 said. “As a senior, I want more than anything for my team to be successful and I am willing to do what it takes to make that happen.”
Although Holy Cross maintained a slim edge in the first half, the Orange and Blue gained their first lead of the game on a jumper by Shelby Romine ’14 with 7:15 to go in the half. Holy Cross eventually pushed its lead up to six points and held the Bison without a field goal for over three minutes. The half ended on a Crusaders jumper that gave them a 30-24 lead at the break.
“We knew going into the second half that we had to pick up our energy, and although it took us a while to play like we normally do, we finally got it together to pull out the win,” Audrey Dotson ’15 said.
After falling behind by 14 points, Dotson scored eight points en route to a 14-0 Bison run. Mgbada scored four of her 11 points on that run. Holy Cross answered back with a three-pointer at the 2:05 mark to take back the lead, but Katherine Harris ’15 countered with a three of her own to even the score.
The Bison continued displaying their stout defense, as Alyssa Dunn ’13 made a key block with 46 seconds left. Mgbada was eventually fouled and made two free throws to make it a two-point game. After another defensive stop, Holy Cross fouled Lindsay Horbatuck ’13. She made one of two free throws to give the Bison a 62-59 lead that would hold up after the Crusaders missed a potential game-tying three pointer at the buzzer.
“I think our increase in pressure on the defensive end helped us gain the momentum to win that game. Once we started playing defense and rebounding like we normally do, our offense started to really pick up,” Dotson said.
Dotson finished the game with 14 points and six rebounds. Dunn scored 11 points, while Horbatuck grabbed 13 rebounds.
“In conference, games are always closer no matter what the rankings of the two teams, and I think the fact that we’ve been able to stay so composed in those situations in the past few games was a major factor in our comeback on Saturday,” Harris said.
In the game against American, the Bison fell behind 23-4 early on but were able to cut the lead to 54-53. Unfortunately, the Eagles scored 21 points off 24 Bison turnovers. Romine scored 23 points, while Dotson had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Horbatuck pulled down 16 of the team’s 42 rebounds.
The Orange and Blue will travel to Annapolis, Md. Saturday night to face Navy.
Estie Pyper | The Bucknellian Adam Healey ’13 slams an opponent into the mat. Despite a hard fought effort, the Bison lost 23-10.
Billy Tyler
Assistant Sports Editor
The men’s wrestling team defeated Franklin & Marshall 30-10 at home, but lost a closely-contested match to the University of Pennsylvania 23-10 just two days later.
The team’s victory over F&M is the largest of the year. Recording big wins for the Bison were Paul Petrov ’16 with a 12-3 major decision, Corey Lear ’13with a pin in 2:36, Robert Marchese ’16 with a 13-4 major decision, Tyler Lyster ’15with a 14-2 major decision and Joe Stolfi ’15 with a pin in 31 seconds.
The Bison started the match strong, jumping out to an early lead behind a victory by Austin Miller ’15 and Petrov’s major decision. F&M won the next two matches, tying the score at 7-7. The Bison then took control of the meet, behind a 7-1 victory by Vincent Favia ’16 and Lear’s pin in his first match back from an injury. Following a defeat in the 174 lb. match, the team clinched the victory, winning the 184 lb., 197 lb. and heavyweight bouts.
Despite carrying momentum from the victory, the Bison were unable to translate it into a win against the University of Pennsylvania. Highlights for the Bison included a 6-3 decision by Petrov, a 3-1 overtime victory for Favia and a winning 9-0 major decision for Stolfi, who now has a seven-match winning streak.
The next match for the Bison will be at Saturday at noon at home against George Mason.
Lauren Lapoint | The Bucknellian Women rowers perfecting their technique. The Bison finished 28 training sessions overall in the warm Miami weather.
Andrew Arnao
Sports Editor
On Jan. 4, 20 Bison women’s rowers (two coxswains and 18 rowers) departed on an 11-day training trip to Miami, FL. It was far from a relaxation-only vacation. Though the temperature hovered around 80 F during the trip, the Bison were out on the water every day, doing a grand total of 28 rowing sessions over 10 days.
“The fact that we managed to complete 28 sessions in 10 days is a testament to the impeccable focus of our athletes,” head coach Stephen Kish said. “We accomplished something really unique; unlike anything else being done in the country.”
“The practice sessions had a heavy technical focus,” assistant coach Lauren LaPointe said. “This took the athletes’ understanding of their sport beyond mere conditioning into an awareness of the physics and biomechanics of the rowing stroke.”
The Orange and the Blue did get some free time to enjoy Miami. In addition to visits to South Beach and Lincoln Avenue, the Bison also enjoyed the company of some friendly dolphins and iguanas.
The women’s rowing team will return to action in March.
