An Update from Bucknell Head Track & Field/Cross Country Coach Kevin Donner

Dear Bucknell Spiked Shoe Family,

I'd like to begin by thanking everyone who made a gift to the One Herd One Day 24-hour giving challenge last week. It was the 10th year in which Bucknell Athletics has held the giving challenge, and thanks to all of you, our program did very well. We set a program record by raising $120,699, and had the program's second-highest number of donors with 333.

It was a great day and will help us as we continue to work towards our fundraising goal of $350,000 for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. As you all know, one of the fundamental goals of our program is to provide competitive opportunities for as many student-athletes as we can by carrying large rosters. With the price of buses, hotels, meals, and equipment at an all-time high, the only way we can offer those opportunities for all levels of our program is to meet our fundraising goal. There are three months left to the fiscal year, and if you have not had the chance to show your support, please consider doing so to help these young men and women succeed.

The indoor season has officially concluded, and we are already a few meets into our outdoor season with our annual trip to the Colonial Relays this coming weekend at the College of William & Mary. This is a trip that our student-athletes look forward to every year.

We had several new entries into the indoor all-time top-10 lists, including two new school records. Junior Wade Shomper set a new record in the shot-put with a toss of 57-8.5, and sophomore Justley Sharp set a new women's shot-put mark with a toss of 51-10.5. You can view all the new top-10 entries HERE.

Our annual Bison Outdoor Classic is coming up on April 12-13-14 at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium and our West Fields throws area. We will once again host an alumni reception inside the Pascucci Team Center at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. This year, the reception will take place during the distance races carnival on Saturday evening and will run from 7:30 p.m. to approximately 11:00 p.m. The Pascucci Team Center provides an excellent vantage point to watch the races, so feel free to go in and out as you please.

We will not have a Bucknell athlete in every race, so I will come in to catch up with alums periodically. We will have light snacks, water, and soda. Although it will be very informal, I see it as a place for alumni to meet and swap stories, and still watch the meet.

The meet will start on Saturday around 11:30 a.m., go well into the evening, and then resume for action all day on Sunday. In addition, the men's and women's decathlon and heptathlon will begin Sunday, and finish on Monday morning. The Bison Outdoor Classic remains one of the largest and most competitive meets on the East Coast.

Thank you once again for your continued support of our program, and I hope to see some of you at the Bison Outdoor Classic.