Bucknell University Athletics
Monique LeBlanc Receives Senior Athletic Award at Bucknell
5/3/2002 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
April 30, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell senior Monique LeBlanc (Cumberland, R.I./Bishop Feehan), a starter on the school's women's basketball team the past three years, 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.
LeBlanc won the Robert A. Latour Service Award, presented for to one male and one female senior athlete for extraordinary service to Bucknell and local communities. LeBlanc shared the award with Larry Scheetz of the baseball team.
In addition to LeBlanc and Scheetz, 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.
LeBlanc was a three-year starter and two-year captain for the Bison who played in every game since her arrival on campus. The 6-0 guard/forward averaged 5.4 points and 6.4 rebounds this season, as Bucknell set a school record with 21 victories and captured its first-ever Patriot League title. The Orange and Blue went on to face Baylor in their first NCAA Tournament appearance. LeBlanc, a constant force on the offensive glass, finished eighth among the Patriot League rebounding leaders.
A vocal leader on the team, LeBlanc was recently honored by the coaching staff at the team's postseason banquet with the Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second-straight year. A tireless worker, her accomplishments are far reaching. She is a two-time Verizon Academic All-America nominee, and is a member of the University's Dean's List and Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.
Through all of her academic and athletic accomplishments, "Mo" has found time to give back to the community through her efforts with SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Council) and BAAD (Bucknell Athletes Against Drugs & Alcohol). In addition, she also serves on the Bucknell Orientation Panel.
A starting forward on Bucknell's Patriot League champion women's basketball team, LeBlanc has been selected to attend the 2002 NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex and Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in May. She was invited to the 2001 conference, and was asked to return this year due to her involvement with the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, where she served as the representative for the Patriot League for the past year. In addition to her invitation to this year's conference, LeBlanc was named to the NCAA Championship and Competition Committee. She is the only student-athlete on the committee.
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.
