Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2017
- Class:
- 2007
Melanie Buczko Lincoln was a standout performer for the Bison track and field team. She completed the rare double of winning Patriot League gold medals in the pole vault and 60-meter hurdles. Best known as Bucknell's all-time greatest woman pole vaulter, Buczko captured three indoor and two outdoor championships in the event. Her top marks of 13 feet, 5.5 inches indoors and 13-3.5 outdoors eclipsed the school records by a wide margin, and they were also Patriot League records at the time. She became the first Bison ever to clear 13 feet (only two other Bison in history had ever even topped 12 feet at the time), and her indoor record was by 14 inches over the next-best performer.
A six-time All-East performer, Buczko won a pair of ECAC Championship titles in the pole vault, outdoors in 2004 and indoors in 2005. She qualified for the NCAA Championships in both of those seasons, placing 11th at the 2004 outdoor and 14th at the 2005 indoor national championship meet. In addition to her pole-vaulting prowess, Buczko set the school record in the 60-meter hurdles (8.89). She later became a member of the Patriot League 25th Anniversary Team.
Buczko was also a standout in the classroom. A civil engineering major, she was a CoSIDA Academic All-American and two-time Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She received the Charles White Prize for excellence in academics and athletics, as well as the Moles Scholarship Award for outstanding effort in working toward a career in construction engineering and management. She was also presented the Christy Mathewson Award as the top athlete in her class.
A native of Butler, Pa., who was a competitive gymnast up until her sophomore year in high school, Buczko is also a member of the Butler High School Hall of Fame.
(Hall of Fame Class of 2017)
