Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Athletic Hall of Fame Welcomes Six New Members
8/22/2001 8:00:00 AM | General
Aug. 22, 2001
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Five former standout student-athletes and a legendary head coach were recently elected to the Bucknell Athletic Hall of Fame. The six-person Class of 2001 will be formally inducted at a breakfast ceremony during Homecoming Weekend festivities on Oct. 20. The inductees will also be honored at halftime of the Bucknell-Georgetown football game later that afternoon.
The Bucknell Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1979 to honor the very best in the history of Bison athletics. Elected to the Class of 2001 are cross country and track standout Mark Hulme '83, All-America shortstop Joe Markulike '90, dominating softball pitcher Sharon Nichols '91, All-America linebacker Larry Schoeneberger '75 and record-setting long and triple-jumper Jill Wise '89. Former cross country and track and field coach Art Gulden, who led the Bison to 68 conference championships, will be inducted posthumously.
This year's induction brings to 163 the number of outstanding student-athletes, coaches, administrators and friends of Bucknell whose contributions to Bucknell athletics are forever preserved in the Hall of Fame.
ART GULDEN led the highly successful Bucknell cross country and track and field program for 31 years before passing away last spring due to complications related to his lengthy battle with cancer. After taking over a program and building it virtually from scratch, he led Bucknell to 68 conference titles and maybe more importantly, he demanded success in the classroom. His teams regularly boasted among the highest grade-point averages of any on campus, and he coached nearly a dozen student-athletes to national Academic All-America honors.
Gulden earned the respect of his peers in both the East Coast Conference and the Patriot League and was named Patriot League Coach of the Year 20 times in the 11-year history of the conference. His men's cross country teams won 18 straight conference titles between 1975-92 and won three IC4A championships. Arguably Bucknell's most nationally-accomplished sports program, the Bison men's cross country program qualified for the NCAA Championships nine times in the last 21 years, and at one point compiled a remarkable dual-meet winning streak of 167 -- spanning 16 years. During the fall of 1999, it was the women's turn. For the first time in school history the women earned an at-large selection to the NCAA Championship, where they finished 24th.
Fiercely competitive and equally tenacious, Gulden's teams reflected his personality. His training regimen, developmental program and competitive philosophy consistently paid dividends as the Bison regularly made phenomenal improvements in their college careers.
Many of Gulden's runners continue to race together long after graduation, and the Bison have enjoyed outstanding success in the Alamo Alumni Runs, a series of road races sponsored by Alamo Rent-A-Car in which alumni from numerous schools compete as a team representing their alma mater. Bucknell has also made its presence felt with outstanding performances at the annual Hood-to-Coast Relay the past three years.
Gulden served as chairman of the TAC Eastern Regional Olympic Development Committee, as a member of the NCAA Cross Country Executive Committee, and as a member of the U.S. Olympic Development Committee for Distance Running. He was past president of the IC4A Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association and was the District II Coach of the Year five times. He served as president of the U.S. Cross Country Coaches Association in 1991-92, and coached the U.S. national team at the World Cross Country Championships in Norway in 1989.
MARK HULME `83 played a big part in Gulden's program while at Bucknell as a member of nine ECC cross country and track and field championship teams. He was All-East in cross country in 1982 and competed in the NCAA Championships in that sport in both 1980 and 1982. In track, Hulme won individual ECC indoor championship titles in the mile (1982 and 1983) and the 1,000-meter run (1983), and he competed in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in 1982. He was named the Outstanding Athlete at the 1983 conference indoor meet and still holds school records in the 1,500-meter run, both indoors (3:45.24) and outdoors (3:43.84). He also currently ranks second in the indoor 1,000 meters, third in the indoor mile and second in the outdoor mile.
JOE MARKULIKE `90, a two-time first team all-conference shortstop, set 17 records his senior year, hit .454 (5th in the nation) and was selected as a Second Team All-American. The two-time team captain compiled a career batting average of .395, which ranks third in Bucknell annals. Markulike was also a standout in the classroom as a mechanical engineering major, earning Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors and ECC Scholar-Athlete honors for three years. As a senior he was tabbed the ECC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Verizon/CoSIDA Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves organization following graduation.
SHARON NICHOLS `91 was quite simply the most dominating softball pitcher to ever wear the Orange and Blue. By the time she graduated she held every pitching record, and to this day she still holds 13 Bucknell marks -- including five career records. Nichols, a perennial all-conference selection, posted a 0.83 career earned run average, notched 332 strikeouts and had 51 victories in the circle. During her career she threw four no-hitters and a perfect game, and in 1991 she compiled a streak of 59.2 innings without allowing an earned run. As a senior, Nichols ranked sixth nationally with a 0.38 ERA and compiled a 16-6 mark with eight shutouts.
LARRY SCHOENEBERGER `75 was a standout linebacker for the Bison football squad, earning American Football Coaches Association All-America First Team honors as a senior. He had 124 tackles that year and was also tabbed to the Associated Press All-State Third Team, ECAC All-East First Team and the weekly All-East team three times. As a junior, Schoeneberger had 118 tackles and was an AP Little All-America honorable mention selection and an ECAC All-East First Team choice. The 1974 team captain is the 65th Bison football player and 30th grid captain to be enshrined in the Hall.
JILL WISE `89 became the first Bucknell woman to compete in an NCAA Track and Field Championship when she qualified for the indoor meet in the triple jump in 1988. In addition, she competed in the outdoor TAC-USA Championship and the Olympic Trials that year. Wise, who ranked in the top-10 in the country in the triple jump that season, won seven individual conference championships in long and triple jumps over the course of her great career. Even more amazing, five of those titles included meet records. Wise held the indoor and outdoor triple and long jump school records when she graduated, and still holds both triple jump marks by wide margins -- nearly two feet indoors (41-1 ?) and nearly two-and-a-half feet outdoors (41-3 ?). She is also currently the co-holder of the outdoor long jump record (19-0 ?).
