The AU track and field teams combined for eight top 15 finishes after competing in the Bison Outdoor Classic at Bucknell and the Patriot Open Invitational at George Mason over the weekend.
Josh Olsen, Mark Allen and Ali Tyburski posted strong performances for the Eagles at Bucknell, while Zach Wright and Alexa Bolden set new marks in the AU record books at GMU.
Olsen, Allen record 1-2 finish
Five Eagles placed in the top 15 in their section of the 5,000-meter run, with Olsen and Allen leading the way. Olsen registered a time of 14:22.60, which earned him his first outdoor victory of the year and was also good for 10th all-time in AU history.
Allen crossed the finish line shortly after Olsen at 14:23.11 to place second. Both runners’ times were IC4A qualifying times.
Ryan Williams (14:38.67), Mark Leininger (14:38.82) and John Pope (14:39.17) rounded out the Eagle runners by finishing in 11th, 12th and 14th, respectively.
In the Patriot Open Invite, Wright launched himself to the highest finish for AU at the event. He landed in third for the men’s high jump with a mark of 2.03 meters, just short of his school record of 2.04 meters.
University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Rico Taylor earned the top mark of the event with a final jump of 2.13 meters.
The other notable finish on the men’s side at GMU came courtesy of Ian Lutz, who finished 13th in the men’s 5,000-meter run at 15:17.48.
Tyburski earns second place
At Bucknell, Tyburski came in second in the 1,500-meter run after clocking in at 4:35.65. The sophomore’s time was good enough for seventh best in program history.
Meanwhile, Bolden was busy rewriting the Eagle record books at George Mason. In the 200-meter dash, her time of 26.83 put her in 28th place but was the third fastest finish in Eagle history.
Bolden then notched the sixth fastest time at AU in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01.72 to finish in 24th.
The AU track and field teams return to action next weekend when they travel to Baltimore for the Morgan State Legacy Meet April 21.
The Eagles will then finish up April at the Penn Relays, before getting ready for the Patriot League Outdoor Championships scheduled for early May.
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