Category: Sports

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Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis suffers first losses of season to Pittsburgh and Duquesne

Katherine Harris

Senior Writer

The women’s tennis team had a tough weekend on the road, battling against Pittsburgh on Feb. 8 to an eventual 6-1 loss, followed by another tough 6-1 defeat to Duquesne the next day.

The Bison picked up their first loss of the season when they traveled to the Alpha Tennis and Fitness Club to compete against a tough Pittsburgh squad. Maria Cioffi ’16 led the Bison on the day, defeating her No. 2 singles opponent 6-3, 6-2. Cioffi also boosted the Bison’s score with a doubles victory, partnering with Elena Vidrascu ’14 to score an 8-3 victory in the No. 1 match. Unfortunately, these were the only highlights of the day for the Bison, who ultimately fell in a 6-1 loss.

The Orange and Blue also had trouble against Duquesne. Lydia Colvin ’15 notched the only victory for the Bison on the day, defeating her opponent in the No. 3 singles match 6-7, 6-4, 10-7 at the end of the day. Once again, the Bison were not able to build on the victory, ending with a 6-1 score for the match.

“In my opinion, the scores didn’t reflect the quality of the matches and the fight that each one of us was willing to give,” Colvin said. “We definitely made a conscious effort to support each other immensely on the court, cheering for others even when we were down. [We] need to continue to work hard in practice to reflect that effort in future matches. We’re excited for this weekend of new opportunity.”

The Bison will now prepare for their next matches this weekend, facing Niagara and St. Bonaventure in New York.

Categories
Men Sports Track & Field

Men’s track ends regular season on high note, wins five events

Thomas Walter

Staff Writer

The men’s track and field team ended its regular season with a successful weekend of five event victories as it hosted the Bucknell Winter Classic, its final meet before the Patriot League Championships this weekend.

Leonard Joseph ’13 placed first in the weight throw with a 63-8.25 toss, successfully defending his title from last year. Kevin Keller ’15 won the long jump with a distance of 23-2.25, while Alex Prieto ’14 was victorious in the triple jump with a 47-5.75. Patryk Najbar ’14 also placed first with a time of 7.00 seconds in the 60-meter dash.

Nathaniel Witter ’14 rounded out the individual victors after clearing 15-3 in pole-vaulting, resulting in his second straight win at this event.

“My win this week gave me confidence in my consistency … but for me to achieve what I want at the Patriot League meet, I will need to jump higher than what I won with this past weekend,” Witter said. “I do know that it is obtainable, though, and with the energy level that this weekend will bring, anything is possible.”

Witter also knows that the team has a long way to go before it can be satisfied. But, its performance from this past weekend gives the team more confidence heading into this coming weekend.

“I think that everyone on the team is excited to see what we can do,” Witter said. “There has been some fall backs due to sickness but many people are stepping up.”

The Bison will make a run to defend their Patriot League title this weekend in West Point, N.Y.

Categories
Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track and field grab four gold medals at Winter Classic

 

Edward Louie | The Bucknellian Nora Adams '16, Morgan Roche '15 and Emily Wakmunski '14 take off in the women's 4x400 m relay at the Bucknell Winter Classic. The Bison won four gold medals, three of them by first years.
Edward Louie | The Bucknellian
Nora Adams ’16, Morgan Roche ’15 and Emily Wakmunski ’14 take off in the women’s 4×400 m relay at the Bucknell Winter Classic. The Bison won four gold medals, three of them by first years.

Lauren Boone

Writer

The Orange and Blue claimed four gold medals at the Bucknell Winter Classic, the last regular season meet before the Patriot League Championships. Abby Monaghan ’13 defended her weight throw title from last year, while three first-years claimed new titles.

The Bison tasted a portion of their success in the field events. Monaghan won the weight throw event, posting a mark of 51-3. She broke the 50-foot barrier for the first time in the past three competitions.

In the pole vault, Emily Ando ’14 cleared 11-3.75, tying for first place. In the shot put event, Sophia Nnadi ’16 claimed victory with a mark of 43-10. This was the first time that Nnadi broke the 40-foot mark. This was also Nnadi’s first collegiate victory.

The Orange and Blue were also victorious in the sprints. Jess Bridle ’16 took first place in the 200-meter race with a time of 26.05, while Chrissy Haney ’16 claimed victory in 1:18.74 in the 500-meter race. In the 60-meter event, Kim Nagotko ’15 took third with 7.88. In the preliminary round, Nagotko recorded a new personal best time at 7.80.

“This weekend was great for individuals, including myself, and for the team as a whole. I believe this was a high intensity meet because it was the last indoor meet for the seniors. Not only were the seniors high in spirits and putting all of their effort in their last throws, but all individuals were trying to accomplish their goals before the league meet. I definitely exceeded my goals and I’m super happy about that,” Nnadi said. “I look forward to competing in my first league meet this weekend and to finish my indoor season with the team.”

The Bison will be back in competition this weekend at the Patriot League Championships. They will defend their title on Army’s turf in West Point, N.Y. from Feb. 15–17.

Categories
Men Sports Wrestling

Wrestling drops two matches

Billy Tyler

Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s wrestling team had a busy weekend, with a home meet against Lock Haven followed by a match-up at No. 10 Cornell on Feb. 10. Unfortunately for the Bison, neither match resulted in a victory for the team, and the Orange and the Blue saw their record fall to 6-11 on the year.

The match against Lock Haven was a closely fought contest that was not decided until the final bout. Entering the deciding round, the Bison trailed by just one point, 17-16, meaning that the winner of the final bout would take the match for their team. In this bout, Joe Stolfi ’15 saw his eight-match win streak end as he was pinned by his opponent in 5:57, resulting in the 23-16 loss.

The match was far closer than the final score indicated. The Bison won five of the nine contested bouts in the match. Lock Haven stayed in the match due to wins in three bouts (125, 184 and 285) which garnered them 17 points. Lock Haven benefited greatly from the forfeit in the 125 bout, as the Bison’s usual wrestler in this class, Austin Miller ’15, is out for the rest of the season with an arm injury. 

Several members of the Bison, meanwhile, put on solid performances in their matches to counterbalance Lock Haven’s weighted lead. These winners for the Orange and the Blue include Paul Petrov ’16 with a 13-3 major decision, Adam Healey ’13 with a 3-1 decision, No. 17 Corey Lear ’13 with a 2-0 decision, Robert Schlitt ’16 with a 6-5 decision and Tyler Lyster ’15 with a 7-2 decision.

The wrestling team attempted to bounce back from their loss with a win at Cornell. Things did not go according to plan for the Bison, as they fell 37-3 to the Big Red.

Stolfi redeemed his earlier loss by getting the only win for the Bison in a 9-2 decision. This win was Stolfi’s ninth win in his last 10 matches. Another match of note was the 165-pound match, which featured two ranked opponents. Lear for the Bison was pinned by No. 1 Kyle Dake in 53 seconds. Dake, a three-time NCAA champion, has won 65 consecutive bouts. His last loss was in the 2011 EIWA title bout to former Bison wrestler Kevin LeValley ’11.

The men’s wrestling team returns to action Friday at Clarion and Saturday at American.

Categories
Sports

Basketball standout Mike Muscala ’13 nominated for CLASS award

Christian Limawan | The Bucknellian Mike Muscala '13 one of ten finalists for the award, given to outstanding student athletes.
Christian Limawan | The Bucknellian
Mike Muscala ’13 one of ten finalists for the award, given to outstanding student athletes.

Basketball center Mike Muscala’13 has been chosen as one of the finalists for the Senior CLASS award, a national honor that receives only ten male and ten female nominations per sport from around the country. The award is given each year to an athlete that excels in “Community, Classroom, Character, and Competition.”

The award is decided by the votes from fans and Division I head coaches. Votes can be submitted once a day on either the Senior CLASS Award website or the Senior CLASS Award fan page on Facebook. Voting will remain open until March 25th.

Muscala is in the middle of an incredible season. He leads all of Division I Basketball with 16 double-doubles, and ranks fourth in rebounds with 264. He also leads the Patriot League in scoring with 437 points, and is also first with 64 blocked shots.

Muscala, a management major, made Dean’s List last semester, and was a member of the Patriot League All-Academic Team in 2011 and 2012.

Past winners of the Senior CLASS Award include J.J. Redick, Manti Te’o, Kirk Cousins,  and Tim Tebow.

Make sure to go online and vote for one of the most prolific athletes to ever wear a Bison uniform!

Categories
Club/Intramural Men's Squash Sports

Men’s squash team dedicates brand new court

 

Xiaolong Li | The Bucknellian The men's squash team poses with Frank Wiegand '60 in the new squash court. Coming off their Patriot League Tournament victory, the Bison won all four of their matches on Saturday.
Xiaolong Li | The Bucknellian
The men’s squash team poses with Frank Wiegand ’60 in the new squash court. Coming off their Patriot League Tournament victory, the Bison won all four of their matches on Saturday.

Andrew Arnao

Senior Writer

The men’s squash team celebrated the dedication of its new playing facility, the Wiegand Squash Center, with a round-robin tournament against Denison, Fordham, Northeastern and Lehigh on Feb. 2. The dedication came a week after the Orange and Blue won the Patriot League squash tournament, a stunning achievement for a team that was formed less than five years ago.

“With the dedication of these courts, Bucknell has just become a better place,” Frank Wiegand, one of the primary donors, said in a short speech at the event.

The team was the brainchild of Morgan Beeson ’12 and Kirk Bonner ’12, who were both present during the dedication ceremony. When the team formed in 2008, there were only five members during the team’s inaugural trip to Princeton, two of whom had never played squash before.

“We were literally the worst team in the country!” Beeson said.

The squash team faced additional adversity in the outdated American dimension courts, which are narrower than the now standard international dimension courts. The squash team aimed to fix this problem, and last spring enough money was raised by parents and alumni to install four new, international dimension courts.

The men’s squash team has since evolved into a formidable powerhouse. The roster now boasts 16 members. The Bison proved their strength by defeating Colgate to win the Patriot League Tournament last weekend, while impressively outlasting varsity squash teams such as Navy.

In the tournament, the Bison won all four matches, including dominant 9-0 shutouts against Fordham, Northeastern and Lehigh.

The men’s squash team will look to ride this wave of recent success into Nationals next week at Yale.

Categories
Bison Athlete of the Week Sports

Bison Athlete of the Week: Sasha Hornock ’13

 

The Bucknellian Archives
The Bucknellian Archives

 Andrew Arnao

Sports Editor

Sasha Hornock ’13 was part of a spectacular day for the Bison last weekend, when two school records were broken and the women’s track and field team won by a mere 0.16 points. For Hornock, who broke the tie for the best 60 meter dash time in Bison history, it was just another day of putting her name in the record books.

Hornock has been blazing around the track for the past three years as a Bison and has records in the top 10 for the 60 meter, 100 meter, 200 meter, long jump and various relays. The 60 meter event is where Hornock has thrived. During prelims of a meet last season, Hornock tied a school record with a time of 7.75 seconds. It took almost a year, but she finally moved into sole possession of the Bison record when she ran for 7.74 seconds during the Youngstown State Invitational last weekend.

In addition to garnering six points on her record-breaking finish, Hornock also garnered one point with her eighth place finish in the 200 meter, while finishing .04 seconds ahead of the next competitor. This extra point proved to be crucial, as the Bison managed to win the meet with 150.16 points, just ahead of Duquesne.

In addition to her achievements this year, Hornock has been successful for most of her tenure as a Bison. She was voted Player of the Year in 2009, and last year she was chosen for the Academic All-Patriot League Team for both indoor and outdoor track and field. Her performance so far this season indicates that her accolades will only continue as she finishes her final year.

Hornock and the rest of the women’s track and field team will return to action Saturday for the Bucknell Winter Classic.

Hometown: Dover, Pa.

Major: Biology

Top 60 m dash time: 7.74 seconds (all-time school record)

Top 100 m dash time: 12.25 seconds

Top 200 m dash time: 25.22 seconds

Top Long Jump: 18-4.75

Categories
Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis starts off season with a 5-2 victory

Katherine Harris

Senior Writer

The women’s tennis team started off its spring season with a decisive 5-2 victory against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Feb. 2.

“I think our team came out with a great deal of energy for our first match of the season. We all remained positive throughout our matches and I think that brought us to victory,” Lydia Colvin ’15 said.

Maria Cioffi ’16 and Colvin led the Bison as they competed at the West Branch Tennis Club, with Cioffi winning the No. 2 singles match 6-4, 6-1, and Colvin ousting her opponent in the No. 3 match 6-0, 6-2. Jen Bush ’15 and Christie Schneider ’15 also won the No. 5 and No. 6 matches, respectively, to round out the field for the Orange and Blue.

“[Head coach Rebecca] Helt has been saying a lot lately that ‘practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.’ I think if we stay in that mindset and push ourselves to stay dedicated and focused in training, then we’re in for a very successful and rewarding season,” Bush said.

Cioffi and Colvin also performed strongly in the doubles portion of the match, as both of them earned another victory on the day with their 8-3 win in the No. 2 match. Bush also got her second win on the day, as her and Stephanie Pino ’16 won their No. 3 doubles match 8-4.

“The more matches we get under our belts, the more confident our players will feel. Confidence leads to better execution. I think we have good talent, we just need to see who gains the confidence to compete in the big matches,” Helt said.

The Bison will travel to Pittsburgh this weekend to compete in matches against both Pittsburgh and Duquesne.

Categories
Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis comes out on top in opener

 Emily Evancho

Contributing Writer

The men’s tennis team shook off its winter coats and delivered a 5-2 victory in its first game on Feb. 2 against Saint Francis (Pa.). The Orange and Blue were especially triumphant in doubles play with a sweep in all three doubles matches.

The Bison effortlessly handled St. Francis’s doubles teams with the closest match being an 8-3 win by Nick Bybel ’16 and Josh Katten ’13. The other two doubles teams of Kelly Morque ’13/Evan Zimmer ’13 and Aiden Lynch ’14/Chris Tortora ’14 also defeated their Saint Francis opponents with an 8-2 win each.

“Everyone had high energy from the start of doubles, and that energy carried on into the singles matches,” Tortora said.

Singles weren’t as easy for the Bison as Zimmer and Katten struggled early on in their matches. Nonetheless, both demonstrated determination when they fought back to achieve dual victories for each match. Bybel triumphed easily in his singles match, winning 6-2, 6-0.

“We’re always glad with grabbing the first victory of the season, but aim to stay balanced and focused on our goals at the end of the season at the Patriot Leagues. It’s going to be a fun year,” Scott Bernstein ’14 said.

The Bison play their next pair of matches this weekend in Pittsburgh against Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne.

Categories
Men Sports Track & Field

Men’s track dominates competition in Ohio

 

Edward Louie | The Bucknellian Members of the men's track team, pictures here at a recent home meet, raced past their competition at the Youngstown State Invitational in Ohio.
Edward Louie | The Bucknellian
Members of the men’s track team, pictures here at a recent home meet, raced past their competition at the Youngstown State Invitational in Ohio.

Thomas Walter

Staff Writer

Men’s Track & Field Travel’s To Youngstown State Invite; Records Continue to Be Broken

Christian Lupica ’15 led the men’s track and field team to a 322.5 point victory at the Youngstown State Invitational this past weekend. The Bison finished 205.5 points ahead of second-place Duquesne.

The men’s team concluded the event with wins in eight events. The Orange and Blue finished in the first five spots in the 3,000 meter and four of the first five in the 400 meter. In the field events, Ray Holmes ’14, Alex Prieto ’14 and Kevin Tapper ’15 finished first, second and third in the triple jump, respectively.

The weekend, however,belonged to Lupica; in the 60 meter, he ran a personal best of 6.93 seconds to finish fourth. In the 60-meter hurdles, he broke his own school record by one-hundredth of a second at 8.04 seconds.

“Running a personal record is always a great and rewarding feeling, and breaking my own school record is just extra,” Lupica said. “It’s a real confidence booster to be running my best this close to the league championship, and I plan on riding the positive momentum through the rest of the season and hopefully run some more personal bests.”

Lupica and the rest of the Bison will look to gain some final momentum before the Patriot League Championships as they host the Bucknell Winter Classic Saturday.