Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2011
- Class:
- 1999
Julie Sweitzer Granger is one of the most decorated women's distance runners in Bison annals, with honors coming both on and off the track. In cross country, Sweitzer became Bucknell's first NCAA Championship qualifier in 1997, and she went on to place 84th in the national meet. She was the Patriot League cross country individual champion in 1997 and 1998, and she was a three-time all-league and two-time All-East honoree.
In track and field, Sweitzer was All-East in the indoor mile and outdoor 3,000 meters. Indoors, she claimed Patriot League titles in both the 800 meters and the mile as a junior, and in the mile and 1,000 meters as a senior. She was also part of three league-champion 4x800-meter relay teams indoors. Sweitzer was named Patriot League Athlete of the Meet at the 1998 Indoor Championships, she was a four-time All-Patriot League selection, and her seven indoor gold medals are tied for fourth-most in program history. Outdoors, Sweitzer captured Patriot League titles in the 1,500 meters in both 1997 and 1999, and she was part of the league-champion 4x800 relay as a senior.
Sweitzer graduated with Bucknell records in the outdoor 800, 1,500 and 3,000 meters, the indoor mile and 1,500, as well as the 4x800 and distance medley relays.
Sweitzer was a mechanical engineering major who graduated with a 3.8 grade-point average. She was a six-time Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year -- three times in cross country, twice indoors and once outdoors -- and was a Third Team Academic All-American in 1999. She was a part of four Patriot League championship teams, including a "Triple Crown" (cross country, indoor and outdoor sweep) in 1998-99. Sweitzer won both the Christy Mathewson Award as the top athlete in her class and the Margaret L. Bryan Award as the top multi-sport athlete in 1999.
Sweitzer came to Bucknell from Glen Rock, Pa., and in 2000 she was named to the Patriot League All-Decade Team.
