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Sports

Women’s lacrosse team falls to 1-3

By Andrew Arnao

Contributing Writer

Despite a strong effort by the defense, the women’s lacrosse team fell to the Robert Morris Colonials 9-5 in Sunday’s home game. The Orange and Blue also lost to Penn State on Wednesday, 22-2.

Against Robert Morris, team captain Julia Braun ’11 scored two goals, while Katelyn Miller ’14, Andrea Feldman ’14 and Ali Carey ’14 scored a goal apiece. Carey also finished with an assist.

The Bison led the game twice in the first half but entered halftime tied 3-3. In the second half, Colonial goalie Kaitlin Pentz made seven saves and allowed only two goals as Robert Morris stormed ahead with six goals.

“During the second half we weren’t able to maintain possession as much as we had hoped,” Adrienne Wendling ’13 said. “Overall I felt as though defensively we did a great job playing together as a unit and having each other’s slides and trails.”

Goalie Alyssa DeLorenz ’11 made 10 saves, eight of them in the first half. Wendling led the team with five caused turnovers, while Sophie Kleinert ’14 had three draw controls. The defense also caused 24 turnovers.

Overall, the teams were very evenly matched, posting similar final numbers. Both teams had seven draw controls, and Robert Morris had 21 ground balls compared to 20 for the Orange and Blue. The Colonials and the Bison also had 24 and 22 turnovers, respectively.

The away game against Penn State was much more lopsided, as the Bison fell behind 9-0 before scoring their first goal with a minute left in the first half. The Bison also scored first in the second half, but the offense was otherwise silent, taking only five shots the entire game.

Miller and Lindsey Ferro ’14 had a goal apiece, while Feldman and Kleinert had assists. DeLorenz also had 18 saves.

The team will play away at Drexel next Sunday, at 1 pm.

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Sports

Men’s lacrosse beats Nova, loses to Penn

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The men’s lacrosse team split a pair of tough games against two ranked Philadelphia opponents this week, falling to No. 14 Penn 8-6 on Tuesday after defeating No. 20 Villanova 10-8 on Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison’s record now stands at 2-1.

On Tuesday against Penn, the team got off to a quick start, scoring twice in the first 1:58 to stun the Quakers for an early 2-0 lead. The Bison were able to maintain their two-goal lead and headed into the locker room at halftime with a 4-2 advantage. But the Quakers used a six-goal second half to overtake the Bison.

Ryan Klipstein ’11 led the offensive attack with a hat trick. Nick Gantsoudes ’12, Mike Danylyshyn ’11 and Chase Bailey ’13 also contributed goals. Overall, the Bison were outshot 28-19.

Last Saturday, the Orange and Blue took control early and were able to hold on. The Bison were able to jump out to a 6-3 halftime lead and maintained their three-goal lead at 8-5 going into the third quarter. The Wildcats rallied before the Orange and Blue were able to lock up their second victory of the season.

The offense was once again led by Klipstein, who registered four goals in the contest to pace the offensive attack. Billy Eisenreich ’12 tallied two goals, while Todd Heritage ’14 had a goal and two assists.

The Bison were outshot 35-23, but goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 was solid in goal once again, making 13 saves in the contest. On defense, Alex Lyons ’11 forced three turnovers.

The Bison return to action on Monday when they open Patriot League play against rival Navy at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium

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Sports

Women’s swimming competes at ECACs

By Mike Wolf

Writer

The women’s swimming team put on a great show at the ECAC Championships this past weekend, finishing 10th out of over 35 competing teams, with 134 points. The event was held at the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of New Hampshire took home first place after an intense weekend of competition.

Four separate Bison managed to make it through preliminaries to the finals on the last day of the championships. Alex Panzarino ’14 recorded one of the best performances of the weekend with a 2:05.78 in the 200-yard butterfly. Her previous best time this season was 2:08.83. That time was good enough for sixth in the prelims and the second-best time in Bison history. Panzarino came in seventh on finals day which was the Bison’s best overall finish. Sinead O’Dwyer ’11, Morgan Oxley ’13 and Marisa Taddeo ’13 also qualified for finals in each of their respective events.

The Bison’s 400-free relay was also successful with 11th-place finishes in both the prelims and the finals. The team was made up of Taddeo, Caroline Higgins ’14, Alyssa Rollando ’14 and Panzarino. The team cut almost three seconds off its preliminary time in the finals and posted the third-best time in this event by a Bison team this year.

With this finish, the team will enjoy a productive off-season, happy with the way it finished the year but hungry for more next year.

 


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Sports

Segar ’12 leads swimming at ECAC championships

By Colin Fields

Contributing Writer

Matt Segar ’12 broke a school record in the 200-yard freestyle that had stood for 23 years en route to victory as the men’s swimming team competed at the ECAC Championships in Pittsburgh last weekend. Thomas Brown ’12 also broke his own school record in the 200 backstroke, and the Bison 800-free relay team brought home a victory in one of the most successful Eastern Championships in school history.

Segar broke a record that was set by Bison hall-of-famer Jim Harvey, who set the record in the 1988 NCAA Championships. Segar’s time of 1:38.41 in Trees Pool Saturday beat Harvey’s time of 1:38.63 over two decades earlier.

“It feels awesome to break a record. It’s really an honor to break a record that’s been held by one of the most accomplished athletes in Bucknell history. It was a goal that I had for over a year now, and it’s nice to finally achieve it,” Segar said.

With his victory, Segar took home the first ECAC title of his career and Susquehanna Valley Limousine Bison Athlete of the Week honors.

“Going into the meet placing in the top eight was my main goal,” he said. “I definitely didn’t expect to win. Ideally I wanted to swim a little faster, but overall I’m happy with how I finished.”

Brown finished third in the 200 backstroke. At the Patriot League Championships a week earlier, Brown swam the 200 back in 1:48.04, breaking the school record. Brown did it again this week by swimming it in 1:47.85, shaving .19 off his own record.

Segar and teammates Christian Treat ’13, Trevor Reitz ’14 and Matt Ramey ’14 won the 800-free relay in the final event of the night on Saturday. The quartet’s time of 6:47.12 was fourth-best in Bison history, despite having two first-years in the relay. Ramey also reached the finals in the 200 back and the 400 IM.

“It was a good atmosphere,” Ramey said. “I enjoyed being at a familiar location like Pittsburgh because it’s close to my home. It felt great to be on the winning relay, and I think it just makes you even more excited for next year’s competition.”

The Bison boasted winners in multiple events at the Eastern Championships for the first time since 1993, an outstanding conclusion to the year for the men’s swim team.


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Sports

Men’s tennis defeats St. Francis (Pa.)

By Joe Ruby

Writer

The men’s tennis team earned its first win of the season on Friday, defeating host St. Francis (Pa.) by a score of 6-1. Kyle Rosen ’14 and Chris Tortora ’14 each won their first matches as Bison.

In the doubles phase of the contest, the Bison took two of three and clinched the doubles point, with the team of Josh Katten ’13 and Kelly Morque ’13 winning the second doubles match 8-2 and the team of Rosen and Scott Bernstein ’14 earning the 8-3 victory in the third doubles match. Anton Kovic ’11 and Evan Zimmer ’13 were edged out in the first doubles match by a score of 8-7.

The Bison kept control of the competition in the singles phase, winning five of the six matches, all in two sets. Gregg Cohenca ’12, competing in the second slot, improved his singles record in duals to 3-2 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Youlian Natchev. In the third through sixth spots, Rosen, Mark Malloy ’11, Tortora, and Gregory Maxson ’13 each won their first dual matches of the year for the Bison. Tortora and Maxson were particularly dominant, each conceding only two games to their opponents.

The Bison will face non-conference opponent Niagara at 6 p.m. today in Olean, N.Y. The team will remain in Olean to face St. Bonaventure at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

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Sports

Women’s tennis takes first victory of season

By Joyce Novacek

Writer

The women’s tennis team earned its first win of the spring season this past weekend, defeating the St. Francis Red Flash 6-1. Lauren Lucido ’11 led the Bison, winning first singles and her doubles match with teammate Courtney Casey ’12.

After Lucido and Casey won 8-3 in first doubles, Lucido easily defeated Tina Miller in first singles (6-1, 6-2). With this singles win, Lucido has a career record of 74-33 and has moved into fourth place on the all-time career wins list.

The Orange and Blue also won second doubles, with Dara Dwojewski ’11 and Elena Vidrascu ’14 defeating the St. Francis pair with a score of 8-1.

In addition to her doubles’ success with Lucido, Casey swept her own opponent in fifth singles, defeating Julie Meier of St. Francis 6-0, 6-0. Vidrascu also found success in singles, defeating the Red Flash’s Laura Husband with scores of 6-1 and 6-1. Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 only allowed one game in her singles match, winning second singles against Devyn Sarver, 6-1, 6-0.

“I am proud of our team for performing the way we needed to against St. Francis. I am hoping that this win will improve our confidence going into our matches this coming weekend,” Casey said.

The team will try to keep the momentum going on March 5, when it travels to Olean, N.Y. to take on the St. Bonaventure Bonnies.


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Sports

Softball drops all four at Longwood

By Lindsay Regruto

Staff Writer

The women’s softball team put up a strong fight in the Longwood Tournament last weekend, but it was not enough to capture a win as the Bison went 0-4 for the weekend.

“This weekend was a great learning experience. We took strides in the right direction and learned a lot about ourselves,” Meredith Dickson ’12 said. “We know what we need to work on to be successful and be Patriot League Champions again.”

The Orange and Blue battled it out with Stony Brook in their first match-up of the Longwood tournament on Saturday, losing 1-0. The Bison defense came out strong with a 1-2-3 inning for Alex MacLean ’13 in the third. Both teams were connecting offensively, but neither the Bison nor the Seawolves could bring any of those hits home. The scoreboard remained empty going into the seventh inning. Following a combination of Bison errors, the Seawolves managed to bring in a run late in the inning. Sam Rollandi ’11 singled in the bottom of the seventh, but it was the Bison’s lone hit for the inning.

The Bison came out strong in the second game of the day against Quinnipiac, losing 5-4. The Orange and Blue took advantage of the struggling Bobcat defense to put four runs on the board in the second. Later that inning, pitcher Bridget Gates ’13 had a 3-up-3-down inning to solidify the lead. The fourth inning saw momentum change in favor of the Bobcats as they managed back to back doubles, ending in two runs.

With the score gap decreased, both teams continued to battle it out. Quinnipiac managed to tie up the game in the bottom of the sixth with two more runs. With the score still tied at the end of the seventh, the game was pushed into extra innings. The eighth inning saw no addition to the scoreboard. In the ninth, Quinnipiac managed to put runners in scoring position and brought in the final run of the game on a wild pitch.

The Bison lost to Quinnipiac once again on Sunday with a score of 8-1. In the second, Alison Ford ’11 singled to get on base and stole home in a double steal to give the Orange and Blue a one-run lead. Quinnipiac answered later that inning with a run of its own to tie the game. The Bobcats managed to gain three runs off the Orange and Blue in the third for a 4-1 lead. The Bison defense rallied in the fourth to hold off the Bobcats, but it didn’t last long as the Bobcats scored again in the fifth. The Bison could not get their offense started and were unable to bring anyone else around the bases. Quinnipiac scored three more in the sixth to give the Bison their third loss.

The Orange and Blue lost their final game of the weekend 6-2 against Longwood. Longwood was the first to erase its goose egg off the board, scoring in the third with one run off the Bison. The Bison answered with a run of their own in the fourth to tie the game. The Lancers added at least one run to the board each inning for the remainder of the game. Jessie Snyder ’11 doubled to right center in the seventh to take advantage of the Bison’s last chance to score. Ford singled to bring Snyder home, giving the Bison one more run, but the short rally was not enough.

“This weekend was definitely a tough one for the team, but we came away from it knowning that there are a lot of things to fix, and we’re all committed to making those adjustments,” Snyder said. “We know that we have the potential as a team, it’s just a matter of making things happen.”

The Bison will be back on the field March 11-13 at the George Mason Tournament in Fairfax, Va.


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Sports

Donato ’12 sparks baseball to first win

By Chris McCree

Writer

The baseball team claimed its first victories of the year against the University of Richmond last weekend in Virginia. The Bison lost their first game 4-2 but won their next two 5-3 and 4-3 in a series that marked a stark contrast from the team’s previous series against James Madison University.

“I felt that our team played very well this weekend,” David Duffett ’12 said.  “It was important for us to come back from last weekend and put together a couple good wins. We combined a few quality starts from our pitching staff with a good offensive effort from our position players.”

The series started off with a 4-2 loss for the Bison as their comeback efforts in the ninth inning fell just short. After loading the bases with one out, Richmond pitcher Jacob Mayers was able to induce a game-ending double play and seal the win for the Spiders. Outfielder Matt Lamore ’12 was the Bison’s primary offensive threat for the game, going three-for-four and falling just a triple short of the cycle.

After losing their fifth straight, the Orange and Blue won their first game of the year the following day. The game featured an effective combination of hitting and pitching as the team registered 11 hits and allowed just three runs on the day. Jack Boehm ’12 pitched the final five innings of the game and didn’t allow a single run in the 5-3 victory.

The climax of the trip came during Sunday’s match. Colby Vanderbeck ’14 sent the Bison home dramatically as he hit a solo home run to break a 3-3 tie in the top of the ninth. The Bison held on for the 4-3 victory as relief pitcher Steve Carlin ’11 was credited with the win after retiring the side in the bottom of the ninth. Doug Shribman ’11 and Bob Donato ’12 each hit home runs of their own, contributing to the other three runs scored by the Bison offense. Shribman’s homer was the thirtieth of his career, which places him at a tie for the most in team history.

Considerable improvements by the Bison pitching staff were the primary reason for the team’s success this weekend.

“As a staff, we felt like we had a lot to prove after last weekend, and we stepped up to the challenge. We had three solid starts on the mound, and our bullpen kept us in every game,” Carlin said.

Coming off a series in which they surrendered 91 runs in four games, the Orange and Blue pitchers strung together three quality starts and recorded a team ERA of 2.42 over the series.

The Orange and Blue now set their sights on next weekend’s opponent, Virginia Military Institute (VMI). Hoping to build on this weekend’s success, the team will travel to Virginia for a four-game series against the Keydets.

“Richmond was a big test for us as a team, especially after a disappointing opening weekend against James Madison. Overall, we really responded well and showed a little glimpse of what we are capable of.  We hope to keep this momentum going into next weekend at VMI,” Carlin said.

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News

Sixth annual Student Leadership Institute held

By Sam Krassenstein

Continuing Writer

Eight University alumni and parents returned to campus to share their leadership and career experiences with students at the sixth annual Student Leadership Institute this past weekend in the Elaine Langone Center (ELC).

Bill Saporito ’76, the Assistant Managing Editor at TIME Magazine and former editor-in-chief of The Bucknellian, was highlighted as the keynote speaker and spoke about his first professional writing gig: covering the Bruce Springsteen concert on campus in 1975.

Jay Talsania ’86, an orthopedic hand surgeon, told his story about bringing his family to impoverished areas in Central America to provide much-needed medical services through the Healing Hands Mission. Other speakers at the institute spoke about on topics such as team motivation, professional etiquette, and networking.  Students that attended the event had opportunities to network and learn from the alumni.

“The program was really beneficial for me and my classmates; we met some great alumni who were excited to be able to give back to the students,” Greg Gianis ’13 said.

The institute hosted a wide array of speakers from financial, government, and medical fields, such as alumni from Stifel Nicolaus, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and cds creative, inc. More than 70 students joined alumni in the ELC for the institute, learning about the endeavors of seasoned alumni.

“I enjoyed Jay’s speech about providing free medical services in Guatemala. I found his story to be very inspiring,” Stephanie Schneider ’14 said.

The Student Leadership Institute was put together by Residential Education and Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, and they are currently looking for students to help develop the event for next year.

“The Leadership Institute is a great opportunity for students to meet and interact with alumni who have gone on from Bucknell to hold various leadership positions and to affect positive change in their workplaces and communities,” said Beth Bouchard, the Director of New Student Orientation and Student Leadership Programs, who is in charge of this program.

Students interested in helping to program for next year’s institute can email Bouchard or visit ELC 306, the Office of Residential Education and Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.

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Forum features famed songtalker and ardent civil rights activist

By Oleysa Minina

Contributing Writer

The Bucknell Forum continued its series “Creativity: Beyond the Box” with a woman who is not only a singer, scholar and author, but also a social activist who has used her love of song to bring about social change.

On Tuesday in Trout Auditorium, Bernice Johnson Reagon sent a message of strength and hope for all those going through hardships. The Bucknell Forum focuses on presenting people from a variety of disciplines that exemplify creativity and insightful experiences about the role of creativity in their lives.

The speech started with Reagon bursting into the captivating song “Anybody Here.” She emphasized that people should try to “make a racket with their bodies and create a pool of energy that everyone around you can feel.”

Reagon did just that through her speech, which focused on stories of how she used song, especially sacred Negro spirituals, to move and inspire people and bring about social justice and freedom.

The negro spirituals Reagon sang were “powerful and exemplify true music, true art and embody true passion,” said Morgan Davis ’12, director of the gospel choir Voices of Praise.

Reagon has worked as a music consultant and producer for several award-winning film projects, has earned Peabody Awards for her work in the radio series “Wade in the Water: African-American Sacred Music Traditions” and is the founder and director of the Grammy-winning a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock.

She said that she was “born” into singing in 1942. It has been her instrument of choice for change and transformation throughout her life, starting with the Albany Marches in the 1950s and especially during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, where Reagon was a member of the SNCC Freedom Singers.

Throughout the civil rights movement, Reagon was amazed at the transformative power of youth, especially during movements like the Greensboro sit-ins, and stated that “no one is a failure, unless you give up.” She said that the trouble they experienced was a “stirring that would become transformative.”

Throughout the speech Reagon interwove songs and spirituals that she has used throughout her career and life. For her, music and song unify people and help them discover who they really are, especially in times of change and troubles.

University professor Eugenia Gerdes said that she found it inspiring that as a cultural historian Reagon was “able to combine her knowledge of people and culture and the ability of her art to move people and bring about change.”

Reagon also urges students to truly connect with at least a couple of teachers because they can provide past experiences and guidance. She tells individuals to always inch forward and raise awareness about important issues.

“In every century, people will have the opportunity to contribute to an important cause,” Reagon said.

Reagon received a Charles Fankel Prize for her contributions to the public understanding of humanities, which was presented by former President Bill Clinton at the White House in 1995. Reagon is Professor Emerita of History at American University and holds the title of Curator Emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.