Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Athletic Hall of Fame Welcomes Five New Members
7/12/2002 8:00:00 AM | General
July 12, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Five former standout student-athletes were recently elected to the Bucknell Athletic Hall of Fame. The Class of 2002 will be formally inducted at a breakfast ceremony during Homecoming Weekend festivities on Nov. 9. The inductees will also be honored at halftime of the Bucknell-Lafayette 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 2002 are cross country and track standouts Bob Bickel '79 and Lee Edmonds '79, football All-American Mike McDonald '80, three-sport star Margaret Philleo Ricci '79 and swimming record-breaker Roger Schwanhausser '75.
This year's induction brings to 168 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.
BOB BICKEL '79 and LEE EDMONDS '79 join classmate George Buckheit, a 1986 inductee, in the Hall of Fame from one of the greatest cross country and track eras in Bucknell history. Bickel and Edmonds were ranked among the top 50 American runners in 1978 and 1979, a significant achievement for a Bucknell runner. They ran on cross country teams that were a perfect 49-0 in dual meets and won Bucknell's first four of 18 consecutive East Coast Conference and Patriot League championships. Bickel and Edmonds both competed in the 1978 NCAA Cross Country Championship, the first of five consecutive years the Bison qualified for the meet.
Bickel won ECC championships in the indoor 3-mile run in 1978 and outdoors in the 10,000 meters 1978 and 1979, tying for first both times with Edmonds. Bickel, a Vestal, N.Y., native who now lives in Moorestown, N.J., was also sixth in the Penn Relays 10K and 18th in the NCAA 10K in 1978. He was fourth in the IC4A 10K to earn All-East honors in 1979. He and Edmonds remain tied for sixth on Bucknell's all-time list in the indoor 5,000 meters (14:26.64), and Bickel is fourth (29:07.94) on the 10K all-time list. He trails only Hall-of-Famers Bill Reifsnyder, Buckheit and Edmonds on the 10K chart.
Edmonds, a Lewisburg High School graduate who now resides in Cooperstown, N.Y., won ECC indoor titles in the 3-mile run in 1978 (tying with Bickel) and 1979, and outdoor titles in the 10 K in 1978 and 1979. In 1978, he was second in the IC4A 10K to score All-East recognition. That year he was also fifth in the Penn Relays 10K and 21st in the NCAA 10K. He repeated as All-East in 1979, placing third in the 10K. In addition to being tied with Bickel on the all-time indoor 5,000-meter list, he is fourth outdoors in the 5,000 (14:16.64) and third in the 10,000 (29:06.14). No Bucknell runner has come within 10 seconds of his outdoor 5K time in the last 15 years.
MIKE McDONALD '80 joins the Hall of Fame in 2002 after several near-misses. One of the top offensive linemen in school history, he was named to the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association All-America first teams in 1980. He received the Stuart Smith Award as the team's outstanding sophomore in 1977. After sitting out the 1978 campaign with a broken leg, McDonald returned in 1979 to serve as team co-captain and was named a District II Academic All-American. He completed his eligibility as a graduate student in 1980. McDonald, who received several pro tryouts following his collegiate career, helped open holes for All-America running back Ken Jenkins, who rushed for 1,270 yards in 1980 (then a school record) and 2,336 in his career. McDonald is a resident of Lititz, Pa.
MARGARET PHILLEO RICCI '79 was one of Bucknell's top woman athletes of her era, competing in field hockey, basketball and lacrosse. In field hockey, she was selected to the Susquehanna All-Star Team three straight years. She played on the Mideast Regional tournament team all four years at Bucknell and was selected to the all-mideast second team. She played in a U.S. National Field Hockey tournament during her senior year. Philleo Ricci played four years of lacrosse as well, and as a junior was named to the All-Central Pennsylvania second team. She was a three-year member of the women's basketball team and received the Scolar Athlete Award in 1979. Philleo Ricci came to Bucknell from Annandale, Va., and she now resides in Port Matilda, Pa.
ROGER SCHWANHAUSSER '75 was one of the leaders of a terrific Bison swimming team that captured four straight Middle Atlantic Conference and East Coast Conference team championships. In addition to winning three individual conference titles, Shwanhausser earned gold medals on 11 different relays, including three in 1973 and all four in 1975, when all of the wins came in record time. In addition to setting four ECC marks in 1975, the Bison achieved the rare accomplishment of winning all four relays with the same men. A native of Summit, N.J., and a current resident of Ridgefield, Conn., Schwanhausser demonstrated his versatility and teamwork by handling a leg on the 800 free relay as well as the breaststroke leg on the 400 medley relay. He graduated with Bucknell records in the 100 backstroke and 200 individual medley, and he still ranks in the top 10 in both events. In 1975 Schwanhausser was presented the William Dearstyne-William Dorr Award, given annually to "that person who, by performance, leadership and example, contributes the most to the Bucknell men's swimming team." His son, Stephen will be a senior on the men's swimming team in 2002-03, and last year he set school records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. They are the only father-son combination in school history in any sport to have held school records. The duo currently appears on the same Bucknell top-10 list in the 200 IM, with Stephen fifth and Roger ninth.
