Bucknell University Athletics
Kevin Donner Picked to Head Track & Field, Cross Country Programs
7/25/2001 8:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
July 25, 2001
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Kevin Donner, for the past six years the head men's and women's track and field and cross country coach at Saint Francis (Pa.) University, has been selected to fill the same post at Bucknell, Director of Athletics John Hardt announced today.
Donner follows in the footsteps of the legendary Art Gulden, who led Bucknell's cross country and track and field teams to 68 conference titles in 31 years. Gulden passed away this past May while attending the IC4A/ECAC Championships in Princeton, N.J.
"I am thrilled to have a coach with the reputation of Kevin Donner lead our cross country and track and field programs," said Hardt. "Bucknell has a tradition of excellence in track and cross country, and Kevin proved at Saint Francis that he will be able to build upon our program's foundation of success and continue Bucknell's strong tradition of achievement both competitively and in the classroom."
"I am very excited and privileged to have the opportunity to come to Bucknell," said Donner. "It is a program with a rich tradition, and along with that comes high expectations. Following in the footsteps of Art Gulden is going to be quite a challenge. The experience my staff and I enjoyed in building the program at Saint Francis basically from the ground up was a priceless one. I hope to bring some of that along with me to Bucknell to keep this proud program moving in the right direction."
A native of Detroit, Mich., and a 1984 graduate of the University of Detroit, Donner successfully transformed the Saint Francis program into one of the elite squads in the Northeast Conference. This past year was a banner campaign for the Red Flash men's teams, as Saint Francis captured its second straight NEC cross country title, followed by indoor and outdoor track and field titles as well. The cross country unit placed third at the Mid-Atlantic Regional and vaulted to a Division I national ranking of 26.
Donner also guided the Red Flash women to an NEC cross country title in 1997 and the men's and women's cross country teams to All-Academic Team honors in each of the last five seasons. He was cited as the conference coach of the year in cross country and track seven times, and in 2000 he was honored as the top men's cross country mentor in the Mid-Atlantic Region. All 81 men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field school records were shattered under Donner's watch.
Among the stellar individual achievements by his Red Flash student-athletes were a cross country All-America, 40 men's and women's NEC titles, 27 all-conference performers, nine U.S. Junior National qualifiers, two Canadian National qualifiers and six Verizon Academic All-Americas.
Prior to his stint at Saint Francis, Donner served as assistant women's cross country and track and field coach at Central Michigan University from 1993-95. There, Donner coached eight All-Mid-American Conference performers and one NCAA qualifier.
Following his graduation from Detroit, Donner established a new varsity program at his alma mater, becoming the school's first-ever women's coach. He served a nine-year stint at Detroit, where he coached 20 All-Midwestern Collegiate Conference student-athletes and guided the women's cross country program to back-to-back MCC titles in 1986 and 1987.
A member of the NCAA Division I Coaches Associations for cross country and track and field, Donner takes over the reins of a Bucknell program that has listed among the elite in the East for the better part of two decades. Bucknell's women's cross country team has captured three straight Patriot League titles, while the men's team has won three of the last four conference meets. Similarly successful on the track, the Bison women have earned the last two Patriot League outdoor titles and two of the last three indoor championships. The men have placed second to Army in six straight indoor championship meets and in six of the last seven outdoor competitions. All told, the Bucknell men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field squads have captured 11 Patriot League championships in 10 years, while never finishing lower than third.
Donner will also be charged with continuing Bucknell's academic tradition. Bucknell has ranked among the nation's leaders in the graduation rate of its student-athletes in recent years, including best-in-the-nation accolades in 1992, 1993 and 1996. During the 2000-01 academic year, Bison student-athletes were awarded seven of the 22 Patriot League Scholar-Athlete citations, which topped the conference for the ninth straight year. Bucknell also claimed a league-high 249 members of the 2000-01 Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, which honors student-athletes who achieve a 3.20 grade-point average during the semester coinciding with his/her sport.
