Bucknell University Athletics
Women's Crew Member Jessica Smith Wins Senior Athletic Award
6/26/2001 8:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
June 26, 2001
LEWISBURG, PA -- Bucknell senior women's crew member Jessica Smith (Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area) received a special award at the University's annual Senior Athletic Awards Banquet, sponsored by the Bison Club and held at the University in early May.
Smith won the Alvin E. Jackson, Jr. Memorial Scholar-Athlete Award, presented to senior athletes "for outstanding academic and athletic achievement, and future promise as Bucknell alumni." Smith shared the award with football player Dave Evans.
In addition to Smith and Evans, several other student-athletes were honored at the banquet, including the winners of the Christy Mathewson Award, given to the most outstanding athletes in the senior class. All-American football and baseball standout Kevin Eiben won the men's Mathewson Award, while women's swimming standout Molly Lowe won the women's Mathewson Award.
Smith was a member of the varsity pair for the Bison crew. The co-captain started her career as a coxswain before moving to varsity lightweight eight in her sophomore season. In 2001, her first season as a member of the pair, she and her partner took first in the Augusta Invitational, the Knecht Cup, the MIRA Regatta and the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Crew Championship. Smith, a 3.88 bio-chemistry major, was honored for her abilities on the water and in the classroom with a selection to the 2001 Verizon Academic All-District II University Division Spring At-Large First Team.
Bucknell is a highly-selective, privately endowed liberal arts institution with an enrollment of approximately 3,650 undergraduate students. Bucknell competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the Patriot League, along with Army, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, and Navy. Army and Navy do not compete in the league in football. Fordham and Towson are associate members of the league in football and Georgetown will join as a football-only member in 2001. American University will also become an all-sport member in 2001-2002.
In two of the past nine years, Bucknell ranked FIRST in the nation in the graduation rate of its student-athletes, and in the ten years the NCAA survey has been conducted it has never been lower than seventh. In addition, Bucknell ranks third in Division I in the total number of GTE Academic All-America selections, with 100 national Academic All-Americans since 1970.
