Oct. 15, 2005
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
The Bucknell cross country teams competed at the Penn State National Invitational meet on Saturday morning In University Park, Pa., and ran against some of the strongest and most competitive teams in the nation, such as Duke and Providence. The women, who finished at last year's meet in 16th place, finished this year in the 11th slot, out of 34 teams, as the men repeated last year's performance by finishing 18th (out of a group of 37 teams). Duke won the women's race, while Eastern Michigan won it for the men.
Finishing first for the Bison women was junior standout Jenny Stevens (Laceyville, Pa./Wyalusing Valley), who finished 41st overall, out of 259 runners, with a time of 22 minutes, three seconds, less than three minutes behind the winner of the race, Shannon Rowbury of Duke. Second for the Orange and Blue was junior Leanna Nastase (Beaverdale, Pa./Forest Hills) (22:14, 48th overall), while sophomore Erin Cranmer-Hart (Slippery Rock, Pa./Slippery Rock Area) finished third for Bucknell, 51st overall (22:18).
Junior Christa Sawko (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville Area) was the next finisher for the Bison and 99th overall, finishing with a time of 22:57, while freshman Gillian Nordquist (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) was right on Sawko's heals with a time of 23:05 (113th overall).
Rounding out the scorers for Bucknell were junior Rebecca Pierotti (Hazleton,Pa./Bishop Hafey) (23:33, 130th overall) and senior Mollie Harms (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) (23:41, 142nd overall).
Leading the Bison men was once again junior Matt Forys (Howell, N.J/Howell), who finished in 47th place overall, out of 294 runners at 26:20. The overall winner was Martin Fagen of Providence (24:56).
Next for the Orange and Blue was sophomore Michael Gibney (Wading River, N.Y./St. Anthony's) (26:57, 118th overall), along with senior Kevin Fortkiewicz (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield), who turned in a time of 26:58, for 122nd place overall.
Senior Ryan Delaney (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt) finished fourth for Bucknell and 133rd overall, in 27:01, while Junior Derrin Pierret finished next in line and 151st overall, with a time of 27:12.
The Bison's last scorer was sophomore Wallace Campbell, who turned in 191st place finished overall, in 27:54.
Bucknell will return to action in two weeks, Oct. 29, as it travels to Bethlehem, Pa., for one of the most important meets of the season in the Patriot League Championships.