Bucknell University Athletics
Montefusco Receives Senior Athletic Award at Bucknell
5/3/2002 8:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
April 30, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell senior Melissa Montefusco (Chatham, N.J./Chatham), co-captain of the Bison women's lacrosse team and the all-time assist leader in school history, received a special award at the University's annual Senior Athletic Awards Banquet, sponsored by the Bison Club and held at the University on Apr. 30.
Montefusco won the Bison Club Award, presented to senior athletes "who best exemplify the winning spirit of the University's athletics program." Montefusco shared the award with Jabu Powell of the football team.
In addition to Montefusco and Powell, 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. Basketball star Bryan Bailey won the men's Mathewson Award, while track and field record-breaker Stephanie Bango won the women's Mathewson Award.
After earning a starting role in four of 12 games as a freshman, Montefusco broke onto the scoring scene her sophomore year with 13 goals and 18 assists. A starter in all 13 games her second season, the midfielder's 18 assists ranked third best on the Bucknell single-season chart at the time. Already in eighth place on the Bucknell career assist list after two seasons, Montefusco picked up All-Patriot League Second-Team honors in 2000 for the first time in her career.
As a junior, Montefusco recorded eight goals and 23 assists, falling just one helper shy of the school's single-season record. She did, however, better the Bucknell career record for helpers, compiling 46 by the conclusion of her third season. The old record of 42 had stood since 1992. Montefusco ended her junior campaign with her second-straight selection to the all-league second-team and ranked 10th in the country in assists per game.
Elected co-captain her final year, Montefusco played in and started all 15 games this past season. With career highs in both goals (25) and assists (26), she led the squad with 51 points. Her 26 helpers set a new single-season record, and continued to build on the career mark she had shattered a year before. At the conclusion of her senior season, Montefusco owned the Bucknell single-season assist record, the career helper mark, and the Patriot League's career assist record with 72. She earned a spot on the All-Patriot League team for the third-consecutive year, this time landing on the first-team.
With 122 career points, Montefusco finishes her career in sixth place on the Bucknell chart. As of April 30, her assists per game average for the 2002 season ranked ninth in the nation.
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.
