Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Golf Team to Join Big South Conference as Associate Member
12/4/2002 7:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Dec. 4, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Big South Conference commissioner Kyle Kallander and Bucknell University director of athletics and recreation John Hardt announced today that the Bucknell women's golf program has joined the Big South as an associate member.
Holy Cross will join Bucknell as an associate member in the sport of women's golf, and both institutions will compete in the 2003 Palmetto Utility Protection Service Big South Women's Golf Championship.
Both schools are full-time members of the Patriot League, which does not offer women's golf as a championship sport. As current Division I members, both institutions will immediately be eligible for the Big South's automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Golf Championship.
"The Big South is excited to welcome these two fine institutions and their student-athletes into our women's golf family," said Kallander. "We believe this will be a mutually beneficial partnership for both the Big South and for Bucknell and Holy Cross, ensuring access to the NCAA Championships for the institutions and the Conference."
"At Bucknell we are always looking to upgrade competitive opportunities for our student-athletes, and this partnership with the Big South Conference will certainly do that for our women's golf program," said Hardt. "We are pleased to be a part of such a well-established and well-respected affiliation."
Under the direction of third-year head coach Kevin Jamieson, the Bucknell women's golf program is in its fifth year of varsity competition. The Bison have fared well against Northeastern competition, finishing fifth at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships in each of the last two seasons. Led by talented seniors Jess Hetrich and Molly Campbell, freshman Kelly Evans and sophomore Jaime Hays, who carded a school-record 74 this fall, Bucknell will look to make a quick mark on a talented Big South field.
"I am extremely excited for the opportunity to join the Big South," said Jamieson. "From our student-athletes' perspective, this is an opportunity to gain some recognition both academically and for their play on the golf course that we have not been afforded while competing as an independent. The opportunity to compete for a conference championship is huge for the growth of our young program."
The Big South is a NCAA Division I Conference with nine institutions in the Southeast. Birmingham-Southern College, Charleston Southern University, Coastal Carolina University, Elon University, High Point University, Liberty University, Radford University, UNC Asheville and Winthrop University comprise the 19-year-old League, which is based in Charlotte, N.C.
Bucknell sponsors 26 intercollegiate sports, 14 each for women and 12 for men, at the Division I level (1-AA in football). It is a charter member of the Patriot League and has won the league's all-sports championship in nine of the 12 years it has been contested. Bucknell continually ranks among the top institutions in student-athlete graduation rate in Division I every year, and ranks third in Division I in producing Verizon Academic All-Americans.
