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Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track dominates

By Katherine Harris

Writer

The women’s track and field team put up some impressive performances in the Bucknell Winter Classic on Saturday. With only a week until the Patriot League Championships, this meet was an important last stepping stone for many of the Bison.

“Some people used this past weekend to rest for Leagues, others used it as a tuneup, others were competing for a spot on the Leagues roster and others were competing in their last indoor meet and hoping for good performances,” head coach Kevin Donner said.

With seven gold medals and many other top finishes, the Orange and Blue looked as strong as ever while competing on their home turf. Abby Monaghan ’13, Sarah Bella ’12 and Kathryn Wahls ’13 swept the top three spots in the weight throw. Monaghan’s first place throw of 53’ 2.5’’ also moved her into sixth all-time in the school record books, and Bella also placed first in the shot put.

“It seems that the pieces are coming together in all of the different events and that all of our hard work and hours of training are paying off,” said Monaghan. “The women’s team is coming together like a family and that to me is wonderful to witness.”

The Bison continued to best the field as Alexandra Romanelli ’13 took first place in the triple jump. In the pole vault, Emily Ando ’14 took first, while Rebekka Vuojolainen ’15 and Autumn Schnellenberger ’14 were part of a three-way tie for second. With their vaults, both Ando and Vuojolainen made the record books, with Ando tying for fifth all-time and Vuojolainen making an appearance at eighth.

Along with the impressive field performances, the Orange and Blue also had many top finishers in the track events. Kylie Pearse ’15 won the 1,000 meters, followed closely by teammate Kady Weisner ’14 in second. Hana Casalnova ’14 took the gold in the 500 meters and the Bison swept the top three spots in the 200 meters with Jennifer Zymet ’14, Kim Nagotko ’15 and Sasha Hornock ’13 leading the way.

“This past weekend we had a lot of different missions and many of our goals were accomplished,” Donner said. “I was very pleased with the results and now we look forward to a great Patriot League Championship.”

The Bison host the Patriot League Championships in Gerhard Fieldhouse starting today at 12 p.m. through Sunday.

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Men Sports Wrestling

Wrestling earns split

By Andrew Arnao

Staff Writer

The wrestling team managed a 28-13 victory at Lock Haven last Friday before falling to Penn 23-13 at home on Sunday, concluding the regular season with a 4-16 record.

The match against Lock Haven started well for the Bison with a 6-4 overtime decision by Austin Miller ’15, who leads the Bison in total wins for the year. After losing their next bout, the Orange and Blue rattled off five straight victories, including pins by Alex Pellicciotti ’14 and Stephen McPeek ’14.

“We all had good matches on Friday against the Lock Haven squad,” Miller said. “Alex Pellicciotti in particular had a great match where he pinned a very tough opponent after going up by a considerable margin.”

Miller recorded a major decision in the opening bout against Penn, giving the Bison another early lead. Penn tied the score 4-4 and went ahead 7-4, only for the score to be evened at 7-7 with a decision by Pellicciotti. John Regan ’12 and McPeek each gave the Bison leads with exciting last-second decisions, but Penn tied the score each time. Tied at 13 apiece with two bouts remaining, the Bison suffered a major decision at the hands of No. 10 Micah Burak, and a forfeit in the heavyweight category to end the match.

“This past Sunday we had mixed results,” Corey Lear ’13 said. “[Against Penn,] there were two great wins in the last seconds of the matches at 157 and 174. Wrestling without a heavyweight does not help with the outcome, [and the] effort was put forth to overcome that deficit but we fell short.”

Regan, the team’s only senior, was honored before the match against Penn. Regan ends his tenure as a Bison with a 53-33 record, including a 17-10 record this year.

“We now have a two-and-a-half-week idle period to train hard for the EIWA Championships,” Regan said. “We are sticking to our coaches motto to not work for a final result, rather work to prepare for the next match. Rather than working to win the EIWA, most of us have set our goals to win each match, one match at a time.”

The EIWA Championships will take place March 3-4 at Princeton University.

“We must have a strong showing there and finish the season on a good note,” Miller said. “We have to go in believing we will win … as individuals and as a team.”

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Baseball Men Sports

Baseball attempts to recreate 2010 NCAA appearance

Andrew Arnao

Staff Writer

The men’s baseball team will kick off its season on Feb. 18 in Davidson, N.C. against La Salle and Niagara. The Orange and Blue hope to build on their 25-28 record from last year.

“We are looking forward to getting started next weekend,” head coach Gene Depew said. “The warm weather has given us more of an opportunity to be on the field than we ever have had in the past. We have a solid group of seniors who would like to take their second trip to the NCAA Regionals.”

The Bison last made the NCAA Tournament in 2010, after winning the Patriot League tournament for the fifth time in school history. The team advanced to the Patriot League semifinals last season but lost a three-game series to Navy 2-1.

“Our loss to Navy in the playoffs last year has been something driving us during the offseason,” starting pitcher Ryan Ebner ’12 said. “We have a lot of guys with experience, especially since we have 10 seniors, all of whom will be seeing time this year. We also have some underclassmen that have been stepping up, so there will be plenty of competition for starting spots.”

Some of the returning seniors include 2011 All-Patriot League selections Ebner, relief pitcher Alex Cillo ’12, outfielder Bob Donato ’12 and pitcher/outfielder Matt Lamore ’12. Ebner also earned the Patriot League Pitcher of the Year award in 2011.

“We will need our senior pitchers to perform to their best and for some underclassmen to step up and have a great year,” Depew said.

“Our keys to success will be our ability to score runs consistently and to put together a complete game as a pitching staff,” Ebner said. “Our weak point [is] our speed, but we will be able to make up for it by playing smart and doing the little things right offensively.”

The Bison’s first home game is not until March 3, and they will not begin to play Patriot League games until the end of March. Schedule highlights include the Russ Matt Invitational in Florida in mid-March, as well as four-game home-stands against Holy Cross (March 31 and April 1), Lehigh (April 14-15) and a revenge matchup against Navy (April 7-8). The Patriot League Tournament starts in May.

“We have depth at every position and everyone on the team is working hard in practice,” outfielder Matt Busch ’13 said. “Our expectations for this year are winning a conference championship, and the Patriot League playoffs. A lot of the guys feel like anything less than this would be a disappointment. This is our year.”

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Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lacrosse team gains confidence

Reed Dempsey

Contributing Writer

The men’s lacrosse team fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes 9-8 in a preseason scrimmage. While the Bison lost, the team remains confident about this season’s prospects.

“It is encouraging that [the game] was so close while we were not playing near our best,” Billy Eisenreich ’12 said.

With promising practices this past week, the team is ready to move into the regular season.

“The scrimmage did exactly what we needed it to, that is, expose some of our weaknesses,” goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 said. “We proved last year we are capable of doing big things.”

This year’s Bison return seven starters and 26 lettermen from the 2011 squad that recorded the most wins in school history (14), the highest national ranking in school history (No. 7), a defense that ranked fifth in the nation and a perfect record in Patriot League play, going 6-0 in the regular season followed by wins against Lehigh and Colgate to take the Patriot League crown. Heading into the 2012 campaign, the Bison are ranked No. 12 in the “Inside Lacrosse” preseason coaches’ poll and are a preseason favorite in the Patriot League.

Last year, the Bison were anchored by a strong defense and this year should be no different. While the Orange and Blue lost several defensemen to graduation, the current squad is ready to step up and continue to play at a high level.

“The defense may be a little different from the past two years, but I believe we can continue to dominate,” Feeney said.

On attack, the Bison return six of their top eight leading scorers from a year ago, including Eisenreich, who was recently selected 21st overall in the Major League Lacrosse Draft.

“We have a lot of potential,” Eisenreich said. “We want to take it all the way to the national championship, hosting and winning the Patriot League Championships along the way.”

Captain Charlie Streep ’12 is still sidelined from an injury he sustained last fall but is optimistic the team will be able to get the job done.

“Eisenreich is going to have an All-American season … he’s one of the most dangerous players to face because he’s impossible to prepare for,” Steep said. “On top of that, attackmen Chase Bailey and Todd Heritage have a natural chemistry that I’ve never seen.”

This Saturday, the Bison welcome the University of Delaware Blue Hens (1-0) to Lewisburg, for a 1 p.m. start at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

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Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lacrosse looks for more than PL title

By Eric Brod
Senior Writer

In sports, heartbreak can either demoralize a team or motivate it to greatness. The latter looks to be the case for the 2012 Bison men’s lacrosse squad, which looks to defend its Patriot League title and avenge its excruciating but inspiring 13-12 overtime loss to eventual national champion Virginia. The Orange and Blue, who finished 14-3 last year, gave the Cavaliers their toughest game of the tournament, something that should not be overlooked going into this season.

The Bison come into the season with high expectations, both within the Patriot League and across the country. The coaches in the Patriot League selected the defending league champions as the preseason favorite with the highest possible vote total, and the Bison are ranked No. 10 in Inside Lacrosse’s 2012 preseason coaches’ poll. With seven starters returning from last year’s team and several other key players looking to step up, the Bison hope to defend their title and make a serious run in the NCAA tournament.

Despite the loss of Alex Lyons ’11 on defense, the team returns a strong defensive core led by Mike Huffner ’13, an honorable mention on the Face-Off Yearbooks All-American listings, Jason Neithamer ’12 and goalie Kyle Feeney ’13. The team also features breakout star Todd Heritage ’14 and co-captain Charlie Streep ’12. Streep is a third-team Inside Lacrosse preseason All-American, but will miss the spring season due to a torn ACL.

Coach Frank Fedorjaka’s squad also has a strong incoming first-year class to complement the veterans on the team. The incoming class looks to provide balance and instant impact for the squad with talented midfielders in Gavin Sullivan ’15 and Joe Kearney ’15. Cam Bulgione ’15 and Ben Kellar ’15 look to add depth to the defense and could provide immediate impact as starters this season.

“I’ve been really impressed with a lot of our younger guys stepping up on both offense and defense and filling in some roles from last year,” Streep said. “Everyone has really worked hard to keep their sticks and bodies sharp so we definitely have a lot to look forward to.”

With one of the most talented and deep teams in program history, the Orange and Blue are poised to capture back-to-back Patriot League Championships and make a name for themselves on the national stage.

The importance of the team sticking together will be key in determining how far the team goes.

“If last season taught us anything it was that this solidarity among the older guys is a necessity if you want everyone to be on the same page and realistically compete for a national championship,” Streep said. “Making sacrifices and holding ourselves and each other accountable for everything, big and small, on and off the field is what really made us successful and hopefully will again this season.”

The Orange and Blue officially kick off their season at home this Saturday against Delaware.

 

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Men Sports Wrestling

Wrestling drops two matches

Scott Padula & Alex Wagner
Writer & Assistant Sports Editor

The Bison wrestling team faced difficult tasks on Sunday and Tuesday as it came away with a tough 23-13 home loss to No. 11 American and a 27-12 loss at Army. Alex Pellicciotti ’14, John Regan ’12, Corey Lear ’13 and Stephen McPeek ’14 posted wins against American, while Lear, McPeek, Austin Miller ’15 and Derrik Russell ’13 won against Army.

The Orange and Blue got off to a rough start on Sunday, trailing 17-0 after a forfeit in the heavyweight class and losses in three other bouts. In the next four matches, the Orange and Blue mounted a comeback to trail 17-13 with two bouts left and an opportunity to win. The Bison were unable to complete the upset, though, as they fell in their final two matches.

“This weekend’s match was a great experience for our team. American is the type of team we need to wrestle not only to see where we are, but wrestling better teams will only make us better at the end of the season. Our team still has work to do in order to get where we want to by the time nationals comes around,” Lear said.

The most impressive win of the day occurred in the 165 lb. weight class where Lear defeated Ganbayar Sanjaa, the third-ranked wrestler in the nation in the 157 lb. weight class. Lear overcame a 4-3 deficit with 30 seconds left in the third period to capture an 8-5 decision.

Beforehand, Regan easily took the 157 lb. weight class for his seventh win in eight matches. Pellicciotti started the comeback with a 6-5 win over Kevin Tao in the 149 lb. weight class, while McPeek captured the final Bison win in the 174 lb. weight class with a 13-9 victory.

“I know wins like that show the team that anything can happen on any given day. We train just as hard as every other Division I program in the country, if not harder. This is the time of the year to take advantage of other teams getting worn out from the long season and to step up. It was a shame we didn’t upset them as a team but it was a good performance and we look to get some team wins this week,” Regan said.

The short turnaround before Tuesday’s matchup proved to be too much for the Bison. Although they won four of the nine bouts, they fell short to Army after a forfeit at the heavyweight spot and two pins against them.

Miller continued to be a consistent wrestler for the Orange and Blue by earning the team a 3-0 lead after winning the opening bout 13-7. Shawn Armato ’15, however, was pinned in his 133 lb. bout, giving Army a 6-3 advantage.

A 4-1 victory by Russell evened everything up, but a pin in the 149 lb. bout and a Bison loss in the 157 lb. bout put the Black Knights ahead once again 15-6. Lear and McPeek, continuing their great form, won back-to-back bouts to bring the Bison back within three points, but Army answered with two wins of their own.  A forfeit at the heavyweight ended things for good.

The Orange and Blue will head to Lock Haven on Friday before they wrap up their regular season with a home match on Sunday against the University of Pennsylvania.

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Basketball Featured Men Sports

Men’s basketball continues dominance

Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

Riding the nation’s longest conference winning streak heading into Wednesday’s matchup against Colgate, the Bison men’s basketball team had no issues extending that run to 19 games, dating back to last season, with a 66-50 victory over the Raiders.

“Colgate is a good team. They have good shooters that can really spread the floor, so that always makes them a dangerous team,” Bryson Johnson ’13 said. “Playing at Colgate is always a difficult challenge too. They always give us a good game when we go up there.”

The story of the contest was the Raiders’ offense, but only for its futility and inability to produce points. A stout Orange and Blue defense forced Colgate to shoot under 20 percent from the field for most of the game. Only until the final minutes, when the game was far from in doubt, did the Raiders break the 20-percent mark.

On the other side of the ball, the Orange and Blue used the same game plan that has helped yield 11 consecutive wins overall—balance. Three Bison scored in double figures, with Bryan Cohen ’12 leading the way with 12 points. Forwards Mike Muscala ’13 and Joe Willman ’13 each added 11 points.

With three out of their next four games against the Patriot League’s toughest competition, head coach Dave Paulsen gave his first-stringers some much needed rest. No starter played more than 24 minutes and all 14 members of the team saw the court for at least three minutes.

In their first contest of their second series of conference play, the Bison held off a stingy Army Black Knights squad, 81-68, at home last Saturday night. The Orange and Blue finished the Black Knights off late to grab the series sweep from the only team in the Patriot League to defeat them last year.

The Bison see the tough win as a blessing, with many stronger opponents left on the schedule.

“I think it prepares us well and showed that we can win games even when we don’t play a pretty game,” Johnson said. “It is important that we do not look ahead of our schedule and just take it game by game.”

Normally the Bison’s defensive stopper, Cohen took charge of the offense, scoring 19 points, his season high. Honored before the game for notching his 1,000th career point last week, Cohen broke a 50-50 tie midway through the second half with a three-point play, giving the Orange and Blue the lead for good.

Unlike their struggles against Colgate, the Bison played one of their best and most efficient games against Army. The Orange and Blue shot a resounding 70 percent from the field in the first half, yet led by just eight at halftime.

Muscala, Johnson and Cameron Ayers ’14 joined Cohen with double-figures in points.

With the heart of their league schedule coming up, the Bison will host Lafayette Saturday night at 7 p.m. on espn3.com and ESPN Full Court in their first of two straight games against Pennsylvania schools on television. Lehigh comes to town Thursday night for their matchup on CBS College Sports.

Despite all of the hype surrounding two tough league contests in front of a national audience, the Bison remain focused on the task at hand—winning a Patriot League regular season title.

“If we do what the coaches have outlined for us and play to our ability, we will be fine,” Johnson said. “But we know if we don’t do those things, then we can lose to anyone in our league.”

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Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis shines

Cooper Mead ’14

Contributing Writer

The men’s tennis team dominated the Saint Francis Red Flash last Friday in Loretto, Pa., coming away with a 7-0 landslide victory in its first match of the season.

Gregg Cohenca ’12 won in No. 1 singles 6-0, 7-5. Later, Cohenca and partner Evan Zimmer ’13 teamed up to secure a 9-7 victory in the team’s first doubles match. After his two commanding victories, Cohenca leapt over former teammate Zach Hascoe ’10 on the all-time wins list and needs one more win to break into the Bison’s top-10 list. On top of his doubles victory, Zimmer easily defeated Chris Jimenez in fourth singles 6-0, 6-3.

“It was a promising first match and as usual we are still working out the kinks that come with the start of a new season,”  Josh Katten ’13 said. “As a team we have been working hard on and off the court and we can only get better as the season progresses.”

Playing in the No. 5 spot for the Orange and Blue, Katten claimed a hard-earned victory over Lawson Barter, sweeping his Red Flash opponent 6-0 in the first set and winning a tiebreak in the second (5-7, 10-8).

In doubles, the second-year duo of Kyle Rosen ’14 and Scott Bernstein ’14 teamed up to defeat Barter and Juan Andres Pardo of Saint Francis 9-7.

“We’ve put in a lot of great effort thus far in the spring. This team is looking great and will continue to improve,” Aidan Lynch ’14 said.

The Bison will continue to make progress as they prepare for a formidable Penn State team on Feb. 11 and hope to secure their second victory of the spring season.

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Men Sports Track & Field

Men’s track sets record

Colin Fields

Writer

Tom Barr ’12 put on a huge performance in the shot put, breaking the old school record held by Tim Medlock ’10 by nearly a foot, as the men’s track team picked up  a combined nine victories and set 19 top-10 school marks at Youngstown State last weekend.

Barr’s toss of 54 feet, 11.5 inches was good for second place in the shot put. Barr’s fellow teammates Stephen Koullias ’13 and Quinten Marcott ’13 also finished fourth and fifth respectively in the shot put.

“This current group of throwers has made phenomenal improvements this year. The sheer amount of work put into practice time for all of these men has more than paid off,” Marcott said.

Barr picked up a victory in the weight throw, finishing with a throw of 63-5 and just missing out on another personal best.

“I am happy to beat Tim’s record. Records are meant to be broken, and as a former Bison Tim left his record as a challenge for someone to beat, and I am glad that I rose to the occasion,” Barr said.

On the track, Jason Brown ’13 set personal bests in the high jump and 60-meter hurdles. Brown’s mark in the high jump was good enough for first place while his 60-meter time was good for sixth place.

“It’s really satisfying to see the hard work and specialized coaching come together to pay off like it did when I won the high jump,” Brown said.

Alex Prieto ’14 also set a personal best in the triple jump, launching himself into the top ten in the record books and giving him the victory.

“It felt great to finally set a PR in triple jump. I had been struggling in the beginning of the season and was glad to see my hard work pay off,” Prieto said.

The Bison cleaned house in the 5,000 meters, taking four of the top five spots. D.J. Krystek ’13 took first with a time of 14:56.48 and Jon Dugan ’15, Robert Yamnicky ’13 and Mike McGowan ’15 took third, fourth and fifth respectively.

“It felt pretty awesome to finish with so much orange and blue up front. It is great to know you have so many guys running at similar levels because we can all help each other out on the track and during training,” McGowan said. “The upperclassmen have really been great role models for me by showing me how to excel in the sport. They are teaching me that training does not start and end at the official practice time, but starts from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed.”

The Bison resume action at the Bucknell Winter Classic on Saturday at Gerhard Fieldhouse. The Winter Classic marks the final meet before the Patriot League Indoor Championships.

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Men Sports Wrestling

Bison Athlete of the Week: Corey Lear ’13

By Chris McCree

Sports Editor

 

Profile:

Corey Lear

Junior

Hometown: Orangeville, Pa.

Weight class: 165 lbs.

Major: Computer Science

 

2011-12 Statistics:

Overall: 12-6

Dual: 9-4

EIWA: 5-0

vs. ranked opp: 1-3

Fall: 4-1  

Despite the team’s disappointing 23-13 home loss to rival American on Sunday, Corey Lear ’13 pulled off the upset of the year for the wrestling team, defeating Ganbayar Sanjaa in an 8-5 decision. Sanjaa is ranked No. 3 in the nation in the 157 lb. weight class, although he was wrestling up a class against the Bison. In the hotly contested bout, Lear trailed 4-3 late in the third period, but rallied behind a tie-breaking takedown and subsequent two-point near fall to pull off an impressive comeback in the match’s final seconds.

After watching his Bison teammates drop their first four matches to American opponents, Lear recorded his decision amidst an Orange and Blue comeback attempt. The team reeled off four consecutive victories in the 149, 157, 165 and 174 lb. weight classes, but failed to capitalize on this momentum during the match’s last two bouts.

Since joining the Orange and Blue in 2009, Lear has played a valuable role in the team’s success, recording 56 total wins over his three years. Much improved from his rookie season, Lear participated in all 37 of the team’s matches as a sophomore and finished the year second among his teammates with 24 wins. At the EIWA Championships, Lear claimed seventh place in the 165-lb. weight class.

After doubling his career win total over ranked opponents this past Sunday, Lear looks to build some late-season momentum as the EIWA Championships loom less than a month away.