Bucknell Bison, Day 2: Men's 4x800 relay, school record and IC4A qualifier!

What a truly tremendous way to end a fabulous weekend at Bucknell. We were hoping to nab an IC4A qualifying mark (standard = 7:43.00) in the 4x800 relay. The relay was dealt a bit of a blow because Zachary Ropes came down with some allergy related illness symptoms leading up to the race. We decided to sub out Zachary with Stefan Morton and it was mission accomplished -- in a big way, with an unexpected and dominant school record. As always, the leadoff leg sets the tone, and Brian Henderson did this in a huge way with a statement-making 1:54.7. He handed off to Drew Burns, who was immediately overtaken by an absolute blazing leg from Geneseo's second man (who split 1:51 and change). This hard charging Geneseo runner actually helped Drew, who threw down a monster 1:53.4. Steven Morrison made up the deficit in a hurry and extended the lead with a game-changing 1:52.2 (how much did we miss HIM during indoors?). Stefan got the baton in great shape, and he hung on for the school record in decisive fashion, knocking out the four-year-old mark that is one of the most hallowed on the books.

Not to be overlooked here is the excellent depth our middle-distance runners exhibited. Ropes led off the B Team (which ran in the first section) with a 1:56.8, despite feeling the effects of his illness. Mark Cappuccitti broke 2:00 for the first time in awesome fashion, and Steven Rizzo did the same. Add to that Anthony Colasanto's open race time of 1:57.86, and that's quite a bit of middle distance depth in a few short hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Bucknell, one that we won't soon forget.

3,200-meter relay

1-Marist A (Brian Henderson 1:54.7, Drew Burns 1:53.4, Steven Morrison 1:52.2, Stefan Morton 1:56.7) 7:37.37 (IC4A qualifier) *school record, old record 7:39.27 by Chris Vanzetta, David Marthy, Matt Panebianco, Will Griffin in 2013

5. Marist B (Zachary Ropes 1:56.8, Tanner Senius 2:00.9, Mark Cappuccitti 1:58.5, Steven Rizzo 1:58.7) 7:55.37