Oct. 27, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. -- The Bucknell Bison, who competed at the Bloomsburg Open, won three of four awards from the Patriot League Tuesday.

Michael Ryan was named the Male Runner of the Week and Lauren Wiemken was named the Female Runner of the Week.

Freshman Robert Yamnicky also garnered weekly honors for the Bison, taking home the Male Rookie of the Week award.

Lehigh's Victoria Berard was selected as the Female Rookie of the Week.

The eight men's and women's teams will prepare for the Patriot League Championships at Colgate on Saturday. The men will start at 11 a.m. and the women will follow at noon.

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Male Runner of the Week

Michael Ryan, Bucknell Jr., Schnectady, N.Y. Ryan placed second out of 29 runners at the Bloomsburg Open Saturday, finishing the 7k run in 24:27. He helped the Bison take the top 12 spots. This is Ryan's first Runner of the Week award in 2009.

Female Runner of the Week

Lauren Wiemken, Bucknell Jr., Howell, N.J. Wiemken won the individual title in a race that didn't count toward team points, running the 5k course in 20:28. The victory was Wiemken's first of the season and it helped Bucknell place runners in six of the top seven spots.

Male Rookie of the Week

Robert Yamnicky, Bucknell Fr., Shelton, Conn. Yamnicky won the individual title at the Bloomsburg Open Saturday. His first top finish of his young career helped the men's team take the top 12 spots at the Open. Yamnicky ran the 7k course in 24:27, .35 seconds faster than his teammate and second-place finisher Michael Ryan.

Female Rookie of the Week

Victoria Berard, Lehigh Fr., Denville, N.J. Berard was one of two Lehigh runners to compete at the Pete Nevins Invitational Saturday, placing fifth out of 90 runners. The finished the 5k race in 20:15.

Honorable Mention Performance Last Week

Sara Lederman, Bucknell Fr., Livingston, N.J. Lederman  placed third (20:41) out of 36 runners at the Bloomsburg Open Saturday, helping the Biosn take six of the top seven spots in the 5k race. 

Patriot League Notebook

2009 Patriot League Championships

The 2009 Patriot League Cross Country Championships will take place Saturday at Colgate University. The men will start at 11 a.m. with the women to follow at noon. The top 14 finishers in both the men and women's race will be awarded All-Patriot League status, with the top-seven being named to the First-Team and the next seven earning Second-Team recognition. 

Buzzing Fast New `Bees'

Watch out for Busby, Byrne and Barry. Army's Jillian Busby and Navy's Brigid Byrne and Annie Barry have posted the top freshmen performances of the season, thus far. Busby has been named the Female Rookie of the Week three times this season after her runner-up finish at the annual Star Meet on Oct. 16. She also had a good showing at the Paul Short Run, placing 78th out of 363 runners in the highly competitive race. Byrne, who won consecutive Rookie of the Week awards in the first two weeks of the season, placed 83rd at the Paul Short Run. Barry was the Rookie of the Week in between Byrne and Busby, placing 18th at the Colgate Invite. She also earned the Runner of the Week award two weeks after placing 11th at the William & Mary Inter-Regional.

Hanko Vying For Title

Navy's Andrew Hanko, the runner-up in last season's League Championship, has won four of eight Runner of the Week awards, including three of the last five. Hanko's top finish of the season was when he placed first at the Navy Invitational on Sept. 15 and first at the Star Meet on Oct. 16. He also led Navy at the Roy Griak Invite (22nd) and at the Paul Short Run (13th). In 2008, Hanko earned All-Mid-Atlantic Region and First-Team All-Patriot League honors. He was the 2007 Patriot League Rookie of the Year.

Navy Sweeps Preseason Polls

The Navy men's and women's cross country teams have been selected to finish first in their respective 2009 Patriot League Preseason Polls. Both squads are the reigning Patriot League Champions. The Navy women's squad, which won the title outright last season, earned 97 points in the preseason poll, including 13 first-place votes. Bucknell garnered the other three first-place votes and 87 points to finish second in the poll. Lehigh was picked to finish third with 67 points, followed by Army (58) and Colgate (41). Holy Cross (40), American (38) and Lafayette (18) round out the eight teams in the poll. On the men's side, Navy took the top spot with 95 points and 11 first-place votes. Army picked up the other five first-place votes and 89 points to finish second. American (69), Lehigh (61) and Bucknell (55) followed in third, fourth and fifth place, respectively. Holy Cross and Colgate tied for sixth with 31 points, while Lafayette was picked eighth with 15 points.

Team Notebooks

American The Eagles were idle last week and will return to action at Colgate on Saturday for the Patriot League Championships. In its last event, the men's team finished seventh at the University of Virginia Panorama Farms Invitational on Oct. 16, while the women's team placed fifth at the Blue and Gold Invitational in Newark, Del. On the men's team, junior Colin Eustis led the Eagles, placing 20th (24:20.03). Sophomore Octavia Rinehardt, who was the lone women's team member at the UVA Panorama Farms Invite, placed 19th (21:45.11). Greta Wicklund led the women at the Blue and Gold Invite Oct. 17, placing 10th (19:33.58). 

Army The Black Knights were idle last week and will return to action at Colgate on Saturday for the Patriot League Championships. In the Black Knights' last meet, they went 1-1 against Navy in their annual Star Meet, as the women picked up a 24-34 win and the men lost 19-41. Junior Courtney Clement and freshman Jillian Busby led the Black Knights, taking the top two spots in the race. Clement was first, finishing the 6k course in 21:37.6, while Busby, who has four first-place finishes in her first year, was second (21:45.6). The men were led by Zac Reiter, who placed fourth out of 24 runners with a time of 25:40.9 in the 8k race.

Bucknell The Bison competed at the Bloomsburg Invite with both the men's and women's teams finding great success in the unscored meet. The men's team snagged the top 12 spots, led by first-place finisher, freshman Robert Yamnicky. Junior Michael Ryan finished second. The women also had a big day out of Lauren Wiemken, who won the individual title with a 20:28. The Bison will return to action at Colgate on Saturday for the Patriot League Championships.

Colgate The Raiders were idle last week and will return to action at Colgate on Saturday for the Patriot League Championships. In their last event, the Raiders competed at the Albany Invitational with sophomore runner Elise DeRoo setting yet another school record with her first-place time of 17:28.7. It was the second time DeRoo has claimed first in a race this season. Her finish helped Colgate place fifth out of 24 teams. On the men's side, Ed Sherridan posted the top team finish, placing 33rd (25:48.3) and helping the team finish eighth out of 24 teams.

Holy Cross The Crusaders competed at the Central Connecticut Mini-Meet with the women's team placing seventh out of 10 teams and the men's finishing 11th out of 11. Ben Brink led the men with a 16:46.46 to finish 69th. Meghan Dunne was 34th (11:08.76). Holy Cross will return to action at Colgate on Saturday for the Patriot League Championships.

Lafayette The Leopards were idle last week and will return to action at Colgate on Saturday for the Patriot League Championships. In their last meet, they hosted the Leopard Invitational on Oct. 17 with the women's team taking first and the men's team finishing seventh. Sarah Welsh-Huggins led Lafayette, placing fifth (21:57.8). Ryan Stasiowski finished 20th for the men's team (26:51.8).

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks sent their men's team and a few members of their women's team to participate in the Pete Nevins Invitational. The men, led by Dan Soltan, finished third out of 15 schools. There was no team score for the women as Victoria Berard was one of two Lehigh runners competing in the race. Soltan and Berard both finished fifth in their respective races. Lehigh returns to action at Colgate Saturday for the Patriot League Championships.

Navy The Midshipmen were idle last week and will return to action at Colgate on Saturday for the Patriot League Championships. In their last meet, the Midshipmen went 1-1 at the annual Star Meet, with the men winning 19-41 and the women losing 24-34. Andrew Hanko led a trio of Midshipmen who swept the top three spots. Hanko took first with a time of 25:20.9. In the women's race, Katie Rentz placed third (21:51.5).