Bucknell University Athletics
David Kennedy Receives Senior Athletic Award at Bucknell
5/3/2002 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
April 30, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell senior David Kennedy (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis Country Day School), a standout goalkeeper on the school's men's water polo team, received a special award at the University's annual Senior Athletic Awards Banquet, sponsored by the Bison Club and held at the University on April 30.
Kenney won the Bradley N. Tufts Award, presented for to one male and one female senior athlete "in recognition of exceptional athletic achievement and contributions to Bucknell athletics." Kennedy shared the award with women's basketball standout Vicki Quimby.
In addition to Kennedy and Quimby, 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. Track & field standout Stephanie Bango won the women's Mathewson Award, while men's basketball star Bryan Bailey received the men's Mathewson Award.
Kennedy broke onto the water polo scenes as a sophomore, starting 26 of the 27 games that season. He recorded 238 saves, while also recording 23 steals. In addition to his defensive abilities, Kennedy proved his versatility by finishing third on the squad with 27 assists from his net minding position.
As a junior, Kennedy, honored as the team's Defensive MVP at the conclusion of the season, shattered a nine-year-old single-season saves record with 393 stops, bettering John Bradbury's mark of 300 set in 1991. He also allowed only 322 goals for a career-high save percentage of 55.0%. His 34 steals were fourth best on the squad and he handed out 29 assists for the fourth-highest total on the team.
The goalie continued to improve his defensive skills, completing his career with his best season in net as a senior. Elected co-captain his final season, Kennedy led by example, making 349 saves while only allowing 228 goals for a new career-best save percentage of 60.5%. In the process, he broke the school record for career saves with his 834th with 13 games left in the season. A record that had stood for 21 years, Kennedy went on to record an astounding 1,002 saves in his four years at Bucknell.
Bucknell is a highly selective, privately endowed liberal arts institution with an enrollment of approximately 3,550 undergraduate students. Bucknell competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the Patriot League and has full membership along with American, Army, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh and Navy. Bucknell has won the Presidents' Cup, signifying the Patriot League's all-sports champion, in 8 of 11 years.
Bucknell has finished in the top 10 nationally in the graduation rates of its student athletes in each of the 11 years the NCAA has conducted such a survey. Twice in that span Bucknell ranked FIRST in the nation in graduation rates. In addition, Bucknell ranks third in Division I in the total number of Verizon Academic All-America selections, with 101 national Academic All-Americans since 1970.
