Feb. 17, 2002

Army's men's team captured top honors for the ninth-straight year and Bucknell's women's squad pulled away on the last day of competition to win the team title for the fourth time in the last five years at the 2002 Patriot League Indoor Track & Field championships at Army's Gillis Field House.

On the men's side, Army lapped the field with 210.50 points, clearly outdistancing second-place Bucknell (86 points) and third-place Lafayette (79.50) for the team trophy. Black Knight sophomore Jeff Weaver, who won the long jump and finished second in the triple and high jumps, was named the Field Athlete of the Meet in leading the hosts to victory.

Colgate junior Tyrone Russell was named the Track Athlete of the Meet after sweeping gold medals in the 200 (22.02) and 400-meter (49.24) dashes. Russell, who keyed the Raiders' fourth-place finish in the team standings (66 points), is the fifth CU performer to win Athlete of the Meet recognition.

Lafayette's Julio Piazza was selected by his peers as the Coach of the Year for the second time in six years after guiding the Leopards to third place in the team standings, their highest finish since 1999. The 'Pards improved from a sixth-place finish in the team standings in each of the past two years. He shared it in 1997 with Army coach Jerry Quiller.

The women's standings were somewhat closer, although the Bison regained the crown they lost to Navy last year by scoring 167 points. BU had won the PL title three-straight years, starting in 1998, before Navy gained the championship in 2001. Army placed second in the team standings with 123.16 points, followed by Navy (112) and Lehigh (81.48).

Junior Maura McCusker gave Colgate a sweep of the Track Athlete of the Meet awards by winning the women's trophy. She captured top honors in the 1,000-meter run (2:53.85) and the mile run (4:57.70) to lead the Raiders to sixth place in the standings.

Navy's Amanda Hasenauer was presented the Women's Field Athlete of the Meet award after breaking her own record in the pole vault with a gold-medal height of 3.90 meters. She previously set the record at 3.75 meters in the 2001 League championship meet.

The Women's Coach of the Year award was presented to Bucknell first-year coach Kevin Donner, who took over the Bison program after the passing last summer of long-time coach Art Gulden. Gulden had led BU to five team titles in the first 11 years of the PL Indoor championship meet and was named the Indoor Coach of the Year eight times.

Two other performers to pick up a pair of individual gold medals were Army Soph. Trevor Hopper and Fr. Tiffany Martin. Hopper swept top honors in the 55-meter hurdles (7.64) and the 500 (1:05.15) while Martin captured first-place points in the 55-meter dash (7.36), the long jump (5.62m) and placed second in the 200-meter dash (25.98).

Complete meet results are available on Army's track web site (www.goarmysports.com).

MEN'S TEAM SCORES: Army 210.5, Bucknell 86, Lafayette 79.5, Colgate 66, Lehigh 56, Navy 54, American 40, Holy Cross 18. Track Ath. of the Meet: Tyrone Russell, Colgate. Field Ath. of Meet: Jeff Weaver, Army. Coach of the Meet: Julio Piazza, Lafayette.

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES: Bucknell 167, Army 123.16, Navy 112, Lehigh 81.48, Lafayette 59.32, Colgate 51, American 18, Holy Cross 8. Track Ath. of the Meet: Maura McCusker, Colgate. Field Ath. of Meet: Amanda Hasenauer, Navy. Coach of the Meet: Kevin Donner, Bucknell.