An epic evening of racing at Bucknell University

The live flash results are not all up yet, so I cannot give you the exact numbers. But it was an excellent night for the women and men at the Bucknell Bison Invitational at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium. The old Big Six (Matty, after whom the stadium was named) would have been proud of the Running Red Foxes. Among the highlights ...

--In the first section of the men's 10,000-meter run, freshmen Johnny Lee and Ryan Colabella (running unattached during this redshirt season) both qualified for the USATF Junior Championships in the event. Their respective times were in the 32:20 range. The qualifying standard is 32:45.
--In the invitational (fastest) section of the 3,000-meter steeplechase, senior Arquimedes DelaCruz won the event with a stirring kick. His time of 9:07.81 (that result WAS posted) was just off his PR and school record. An excellent effort.
--In second unseeded 5km section, sophomore Ryan Scrudato joined the sub-15:00 club with a monster breakthrough performance of 14:58/14:59-range. Of course, we really want to see verification of the official time. But all of us had him safely under 15:00. Great job, bro!
--In the seeded, invitational 5km, senior Will Griffin ran a similarly stirring race to the finish, just getting nipped at the line and placing second in a 14:32-range time -- just off his outdoor school record. However, we had him closing his last 1km in 2:49 and his last lap in 62-63, so it was an excellent bounce-back effort for our super senior, who had a ragged start to his final season of eligibility. Remember: It's not how you start, it's how you finish. In the same race, redshirt Kenny Walshak ran a strong 14:43, with a last 1km in the 2:54 range. Great job.
--Finally, in the women's 10km, seniors Kathryn Sheehan and Katie Messina both easily qualified for the ECAC Championships with fantastic efforts. Kathryn had a monstrous breakthrough race with a time in the 36:40 range, and Katie cruised in comfortably in 37:04 -- both well ahead of the ECAC standard of 37:40.24 in the event.

So ... let's see ...
--2 USTAF Junior qualifiers
--2 ECAC qualifiers
--1 individual champion
--1 individual runner-up
--1 new member in the sub-15:00 club.

I've said it before, hopefully I'll say it about 1,000 times again ... NICELY DONE!