CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- The 2012 Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held at the College of the Holy Cross for the sixth time in League history and the first time since 2006, beginning Friday at Hart Track.
Bucknell, led by reigning Men's and Women's Coach of the Year Kevin Donner, will look to make it three straight sweeps and four overall sweeps of the outdoor championships. They'll also vie for a 2012 sweep of the indoor and outdoor titles after having won both the men's and women's indoor championships in February. The Bison were selected in the preseason polls to repeat as outdoor champions.
Several student-athletes, including a pair from Lafayette, own multiple Patriot League-best marks on the 2012 season. (For the full list of top times/distances, see charts below.)
Lafayette's Jerome Rudolph, who won four consecutive Patriot League Male Track Athlete of the Week awards, holds the top times in the 100 (10.39) and 200 (21.22) dashes, and he also was a member of the League's best 400-meter relay team (41.06). For a Patriot League Student-Athlete Spotlight featuring Rudolph, go to the League's YouTube Channel.
Rudolph's teammate, Joelle Neilson, also has a pair of individual top marks in the League. She has recorded the best distances in the long jump (18-9¾) and the triple jump (38-9).
Bucknell's Robert Arent is the League's only student-athlete to be listed atop three individual lists, owning the top times in the 400 (47.46), 110 hurdles (14.31) and the 400 hurdles (52.82). Arent is the reigning Outdoor Track Athlete of the Meet.
Arent isn't the only major award winner returning as all six major award winners will be competing at the Patriot League Championship. That includes Navy's Jess Palacio (Track), Amanda Phelps (Field) and Lauren Allam (Rookie) who swept the women's awards.
Holy Cross' Stephanie Okpoebo, who won the 100 and 200 as a freshman last year, has the top times in the two events heading into the meet (100, 12.06 seconds; 200, 24.72).
Navy's Zachary Duncavage owns the League's top mark in the discus (181-6), which also is No. 1 among IC4A qualifiers.
