Bucknell University Athletics
25th Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame Class Inducted this Weekend
10/20/2003 8:00:00 AM | General
Oct. 20, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Five former standout student-athletes, along with late football coach Tom Gadd, were inducted into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame at a breakfast ceremony during Homecoming Weekend festivities on Saturday. The inductees were also honored at halftime of Bucknell's 14-10 victory over Towson later on Saturday afternoon.
The Bucknell Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1979 to honor the very best in the history of Bison athletics, and this year's class was the 25th to be inducted. To celebrate the milestone, more than 30 Hall of Famers returned to campus for special recognition both at the induction breakfast and at halftime of the football game.
Elected to the Class of 2003 were Gadd, Bucknell's all-time winningest football coach; standout golfer Bob Etzweiler '61; softball star Lisa Fink '93; champion distance runner Brian Harshman '85; Ed Hess '90, one of Bucknell's finest men's tennis players; and former men's basketball captain Mike Joseph '90.
This year's induction brings to 174 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.
Although his tenure as head football coach at Bucknell was tragically cut short after only seven years, TOM GADD will go down in history as one of the school's most inspirational coaches in any sport. A longtime defensive assistant coach, Gadd accepted his first head coaching post at Bucknell prior to the 1995 season. At the time, Bucknell football had experienced just one winning season in its previous 14, but Gadd's teams proceeded to rattle off a school-record seven straight winning campaigns. Among them were a Patriot League championship season in 1996 - the Bison's first league title of any kind since 1965 - and a school-record 10-win season in 1997.
From 1995-2001, Gadd's teams won 48 games, tying the record for most victories by a Bucknell football coach while doing so in the shortest amount of time. His teams went 28-10 at home and 23-12 against non-league foes.
Following the 2000 campaign Gadd was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He underwent successful surgery and returned to coach the Bison to a 6-4 record in 2001. But the cancer soon resurfaced, and Gadd was unable to coach in 2002, instead handing over the reins to longtime defensive coordinator Dave Kotulski. Gadd passed away on March 1, 2003.
In addition to his on-field accomplishments, Gadd will be remembered for his tireless efforts in community and alumni relations. He is the sixth football coach to be inducted into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame, joining Carl Snavely (1927-33), Edward Mylin (1934-36), Al Humphreys (1937-42, 1946), Harry Lawrence (1947-57) and Bob Odell (1958-64).
BOB ETZWEILER '61 is still remembered as one of Bucknell's top golfers. He occupied the No. 1 or 2 position on Bison squads that captured three straight Middle Atlantic Conference championships. Etzweiler captured the MAC individual title in 1959, tied for second in 1960 and placed fifth in 1961. He qualified for the NCAA Championship during his senior campaign and became one of only five eastern players to qualify for the match-play field of 64. The York, Pa., native was also selected to play in the East-West Match at that tournament.
In an era when virtually all of the competition was in match-play format, Etzweiler had a career dual-match record of 23-10-1 and was 18-3-1 against MAC opponents. He helped lead Bucknell to a 25-9 record during his career, including a school-record 10-2 record in 1961. Etzweiler, who is just the second golfer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, later won numerous amateur titles in the York area.
LISA FINK POVSIC '93 is one of Bucknell's top female athletes and arguably the top softball player in school history. Fink, who also played basketball at Bucknell, is a rare first-ballot Hall of Famer. A four-time All-Patriot League selection, Fink batted .440 during her senior year and earned Patriot League Player of the Year and First Team Academic All-America honors.
An NCAA Woman of the Year nominee in 1993, Fink graduated with Bucknell career records for hits (185), RBI (90), home runs (12), triples (13), runs (146) and stolen bases (90), and she broke 10 other single-season records. She owned a .378 career batting average and never hit below .344 in her four-year career.
As a senior, the South Williamsport, Pa., native helped the Bison to a 27-8 record, the best winning percentage in school history. The winner of the Margaret L. Bryan Award as Bucknell's top senior two-sport athlete, Fink was also an outstanding guard and one of the top defenders on the Bison women's basketball squad. She earned three varsity letters in basketball in addition to her four on the diamond.
BRIAN HARSHMAN '85 won six East Coast Conference individual titles, including the indoor mile and 1,000 meters in 1984 and 1985, the indoor 2-mile run in 1983 and the outdoor 1,500 meters in 1985. Another in a long line of standout distance runners to perform under the guidance of late legendary coach Art Gulden (Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2001), Harshman holds the Bucknell indoor record in the 3,000 meters (8:04.04) and the outdoor mark in the 5,000 (13:57.04), and he is listed the top-10 all-time list in three other events. He is one of only two men in Bucknell history to run the 5,000 meters in under 14 minutes.
Harshman, a native of Skillman, N.J., won the 5K at the Colonial Relays in 1983 and came back to finish third a year later. He posted two top-25 finishes at the IC4A Cross Country Championship, finishing as high as 17th during his junior year.
ED HESS '90 posted an amazing 60-3 career singles record for the Bison men's tennis team, setting the school victory record while playing every match from the No. 1 position in the lineup. His 101 combined singles and doubles wins ranks second all-time.
Hess, who went 18-0 as a senior, was the East Coast Conference No. 1 singles champion in 1987, 1989 and 1990, and he twice won ECC titles at first doubles. In 1990, the team captain was ranked as high as 86th in the nation. In addition to his individual accolades, Hess helped lead the Bison to three ECC team titles and a combined 38-12 record. A native of Short Hills, N.J., who attended Memorial High School in Houston, Texas, Hess was the recipient of the 1990 Bison Club Award for best exemplifying the winning spirit of Bison Athletics.
A classmate of Hess and one of the top point guards in Bucknell basketball annals, MIKE JOSEPH '90 was a three-year starter for the Bison and a member of two East Coast Conference championship squads that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. He was a two-time First Team All-ECC selection and the nation's second-leading free-throw shooter in 1989-90 when he set a school record with a .929 (144-155) mark.
Joseph set nine Bucknell records, including marks for career assists and free throws, career 3-point field goal percentage and career free-throw percentage. His .884 career free-throw mark ranks 14th in NCAA history. Joseph, a native of Hazleton, Pa., finished his career ranked fourth on Bucknell's all-time scoring list with 1,518 points, and became the first Bison to post back-to-back 30-point games. One of the finest pure shooters in school history, Joseph was a 1990 Christy Mathewson Award winner as the top senior athlete.
