Bison Outdoor Classic Preview

800

Men

The men’s 800 at this year’s Bison Outdoor Classic looks to be dominated by Division II talent. Grand Valley State is bringing Derrick Egli (1:53), Jonathon Groendyk (1:51), David Jones (1:50), Matt McLaughlin (1:52) and Tyler Walters (1:52) to the meet in an attempt to stack the field. This is a super deep squad that will be bringing the heat, it’s not often that we see a group of five guys with this level of talent from one school in one race.

Drew Glick of Pittsburgh comes in fresh off a 1:49 PR in his win at the Raleigh Relays. Glick will be joined by his teammate Nate Sloan who holds a PR of 1:50. Penn State’s Benjamin Bulkeley (1:53) will be in the mix as well. Bucknell’s own Scott Gulizio, who has run 1:51, will be getting in on the action this weekend as well.

Women

The women’s 800 is going to be a race of teammate duos, led by Army West Point’s Cassie Mundekis, Abby Halbrook, and Haley Watson who hold PR's of 2:08, 2:09 and 2:11, respectively.

Pittsburgh’s Miranda Salvo comes in with a 2:09 PR followed by teammate Makenzie Zeh who comes in with a 2:11 PR. Christina Welzer of Cornell will contend for the win with a 2:08 PR of her own, and will be joined by her teammate Annie Taylor who has run 2:09.

Bucknell has Tiara Tardy entered with a 2:10 PR as well.

1500

Men

The men’s 1500 at Bucknell could be very fast this weekend. Aidan Tooker is fresh off his first sub four minute mile from indoors and comes in with a 3:43 1500 PR. Tooker will be joined by teammates Nathan Henderson (3:50) and freshman Michael Phillips (4:02 mile).

Penn State is bringing a loaded squad led by Colin Albert who just ran a PR of 3:44 at the Florida Relays. He is followed by James Abrahams (3:46), Drew Maher (3:47), Billy McDevitt (3:47), Owen Wing (3:47), and Will Ashenfelter who will be making his 1500 debut but has run 1:51 in the 800. That’s quite the crew.

Queens University of Charlotte, NC will be bringing a strong group as well, led by Daniel Wallis (3:47) and Felix Wammetsberger (3:48). That duo went 1-2 at the Indoor D2 National Championships in the mile this past winter.

Bucknell’s Jacob Stupak rounds out the field for the home team with a 3:47 PR and could be a fun sleeper pick to watch.

Women

The women’s 1500 field looks very competitive right off the bat. Pittsburgh’s Miranda Salvo comes in with a 4:21 PR and seems to be the class of the field. Cornell’s Annie Taylor will be doubling back from the 800 to run the 1500 as well. She holds a PR of 4:22 and will be followed by teammates Briar Brumley (4:28) and Gabrielle Orie (4:29).

Army West Point’s Abby Halbrook will also be doubling back from the 800. She has run 4:24.

West Virginia's Candace Jones comes in with a PR of 4:26 and could be someone who contends with the top group if she has a good day. Watch out for Penn State’s Moira O’Shea (4:28) and Grace Trucilla (4:31). They've had some underrated performances over the past few months.

3000 Steeple

Men

Lehigh’s Kip (Victor) Yegon comes in with a 9:00 PR in the steeplechase. He’s the reigning Patriot League champion, so he may be high on people’s radar. Also from Lehigh is John Tolbert, who has run 9:08. What makes this race exciting is that Connor McMenamin (Bucknell), who has a PR of 9:09, is a league rival who can challenge them for the win.

Syracuse’s Simon Smith is slated to make his steeplechase debut this weekend. He recently ran 14:13 in the 5k and has a mile PR of 4:07 which should make him a strong contender assuming he handles the barriers well. If Smith becomes a strong steeplechaser, he would make a great addition to Syracuse’s duo of Aidan Tooker and Noah Affolder.

Grand Valley State’s Jacob Domagalski comes into this race with a PR of 9:02 which should put him at the front of the race as well.

Women

Bucknell’s own Margaret Thomson enters the meet with a 10:37 PR and Payton Capes-Davis comes in with a PR of 10:56. These two will look defend their home track while being challenged by Grand Valley State’s Hanna Groeber (10:31) and Holly McKinney (10:51).

Suzanne Dannheim of George Washington University has a PR of 10:38 which should put her very solidly in the mix. Lehigh’s Stacie Nadel comes in having run 10:38 as well. Pittsburgh’s Natalie Hilton has run 10:41, and Penn State’s Marissa Sheva is entered with a PR of 10:55.

Lauren Jacob of Johns Hopkins has a PR of 10:48 and Tasha Freed has a PR of 10:49

5000

Men

The men’s 5000 could be one of the best races of the meet. Syracuse’s Kevin James is entered with a 14:09 PR and will look to dip under the 14 minute barrier for the first time in his career. As for Grand Valley State, they will be bringing Tanner Chada who has a PR of 14:16.

Queens University will be showing up with Anthony Raftis, a veteran who has run 14:25 earlier in his career. Noah Carey of Penn comes in at 14:22 while Ben Bumgarner of Penn State comes in at 14:25.

Bucknell’s Drew Dorflinger comes in at 14:18 and will be in contention for the win at home. Patriot League rival Jeffrey Kirshenbaum of Lehigh has a PR of 14:21 and could end up battling with Dorflinger late in the race.

Temple will be entering a solid duo of Kevin Lapansky and Harry Powell who have PR's of 14:32 and 14:34, respectively.

Women

The women’s 5000 is also looking incredibly deep. Penn State’s Alison Willingmyre has a PR of 16:37 which could make her one of the top collegiate athletes in the race. Grand Valley State will put up a strong fight with Stacey Metzger, who has run 16:28.

Alyssa Condell of Penn has run 17:03 this season which should put her in a good spot in this race in a field that is overwhelmed with top-tier talent.

Bucknell's Jenna Farmer, who holds PR's of 16:55, will be hoping for a personal best in order to contend with the leaders on her home track. She will be challenged by West Virginia’s Sarah Wills who has run 17:03 earlier in her career.

Another interesting entry is Christine Bendzinski (Bucknell class of 2018) who will be back in Lewisburg to challenge the 5k field. She is the Bucknell school record holder for both the 5000 and 1500.

10,000

Men

Grand Valley State is bringing yet another strong crew in the 10k. Ben Zaremba will be making his debut at the distance, but he has run 14:36 for 5000 so it seems reasonable that he can be a name to watch this weekend. Meanwhile, teammate Colin Herrmann has run 30:56 and will look to get closer to that 30 minute mark.

Nick Fransham of Mount St. Mary’s comes in with a PR of 30:26 and be looking for a sub-30 mark as well. Hofstra’s Alex Masai has not run a 10k on the track in his career so far, but his resume consists of 13:56 and 7:59 PR's which should set him up to do very well in this race (maybe even win).

Anthony Raftis of Queens University is entered with a 30:28 which should put him towards the front of the pack. There will also be a very strong post-collegiate field in the race, as there usually is at this meet.

Women

Kyleigh Spearing of Cornell will be making her 10k debut, but she has run 17:03 for 5k which will set her up to perform well over 10,000 meters. Ramsey Wagner of Army West Point comes in with a PR of 36:34 while Marist’s Hayley Collins comes in at 36:16.

Williams College’s Emma Herrmann holds a PR of 36:07, making her a contender to win as a Division III athlete in a mostly Division I field.

Similar to the men’s race, the women’s 10k could be controlled by post-collegiate athletes.