Bucknell University Athletics
From the AD's Desk
8/15/2005 8:00:00 AM | General
Aug. 15, 2005
It is hard to believe another year is in the history books! While our coaches and athletics staff will be working hard this summer in preparation for the 2005-06 season, it would be a shame not to take a few moments to reflect on the abundance of wonderful memories and accomplishments witnessed by our Bison teams over the last 10 months. In a nutshell, as you will see below, Bucknell certainly enhanced its national reputation as a leader in combining excellence in athletics and academics in 2004-05.
Of course, the unprecedented success of the Bison men's basketball team had a lot to do with that. What an amazing ride it was for Pat Flannery and his gritty squad this winter. A mid-season 11-game winning streak, including consecutive wins over Niagara, St. Joseph's and Pittsburgh, was later followed by the most remarkable postseason run in the 110-year history of the program. Fans jammed Sojka Pavilion for the first two rounds of the Patriot League Tournament, and the Orange & Blue allowed a total of only 69 points in stirring wins over Lafayette and American. Then came the exciting win over Holy Cross in the championship game, as three busloads of orange-clad Bison fans helped carry the team to its first-ever Patriot League title. The NCAA Tournament victory over Kansas - the first NCAA win ever for Bucknell and the Patriot League - will always be one of those "I remember where I was when ..." moments for all Bison supporters.
I had the pleasure of witnessing first-hand the historic win over Kansas, as well as the hard-fought second-round loss to Wisconsin. And let me tell you, the pride I felt as director of athletics went well beyond basketball. Before the national tournament even began a study was released lauding Bucknell's 100 percent basketball graduation rate, which was obviously the best in the field. And if you could have seen the way our players and coaches handled themselves in front of a throng of national media and tens of thousands of fans, you would understand why our student-athletes graduate at a near-perfect rate. Their poise and composure, both on and off the court, impressed everyone, particularly those folks in Oklahoma City who weren't intimately familiar with Bucknell.
The basketball title was one four Patriot League championships in 2004-05, three of them coming during the winter season. The women's swimming and diving team, under the direction of Jerry Foley, captured its third straight league title in dominant fashion, again thrilling the home crowd at Kinney Natatorium with a wire-to-wire victory. Kevin Donner's women's indoor track and field team won the PL title for the fourth year in a row and seventh time in the last eight years. The women then captured the outdoor track and field title for the second straight season and sixth time in seven years, extending Bucknell's reign as one of the elite women's track programs in the East.
Men's lacrosse had a terrific spring as legendary head coach Sid Jamieson headed into retirement. The Bison finished 8-5 overall and wound up in a three-way tie with national powers Navy and Army for the Patriot League regular-season title. Unfortunately, a sudden-death overtime loss to Army in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals proved to be the season finale, as we were not awarded an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Still, the team finished with a No. 14 final national ranking and a memorable overtime victory over then-second ranked Navy in March. That win, which marked the highest-ranked opponent Bucknell has ever beaten in lacrosse, came the afternoon after the basketball team's Patriot League championship game victory at Holy Cross, making it one of the most amazing 24-hour periods of my tenure at Bucknell! Congratulations also go to senior attackman Chris Cara, who led the nation in scoring for the second straight year, earned Third Team All-America honors and was selected in the Major League Lacrosse draft by the Long Island Lizards.
Also falling just short of a Patriot League title this spring were the women's tennis and men's golf teams. Rebecca Helt's tennis squad had one of the best seasons in school history, finishing with a school-record 17 wins. Led by Patriot League Player of the Year Nada Curcic, who went 19-2 at No. 1 singles this year, the Bison advanced all the way to the Patriot League title match, where they fell to a very strong Army team.
It was an outstanding spring on the links, where Jim Cotner's men's team finished a close second to Army at the Patriot League Championship, held here at the Bucknell Golf Club. Sophomore Charlie Waddell became the first Bison player to win a PL individual golf title, while junior Ben Pellicani, who shot a school-record 65 in the second round, finished in second one shot back. On the women's side, a fifth-place finish at the Big South Championship was our best-ever, as freshman Amy Loughney tied for fifth individually to become the first Bucknell player to earn All-Big South honors.
I was especially excited to welcome two new head coaches this year in Jess Spadafora (women's lacrosse) and Heather Rakosik (softball). Heather had the chance to coach one of our most successful student-athletes of the year in junior first baseman Lauren Wible, who led the nation with an amazing .524 batting average and later became our 110th national Academic All-American.
In the fall, men's soccer and volleyball both finished near the top of the Patriot League regular-season standings and qualified for postseason play. Senior defender Michael Lookingland was drafted by Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer, making him the first Bison soccer player to enter the MLS. It was also a banner year for John Zeigler's water polo programs. In the fall his men's squad finished 17-14, its best record in four years, and now we will prepare to host the NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship this coming December at Kinney Natatorium. In the spring, the women's team finished with its best record in program history (23-11) and also recorded a best-ever seventh-place finish at the Eastern Championships. In February the team earned a Top 20 national ranking for the first time after starting 8-1 and winning the Bucknell Invitational.
Finally, our football team finished strong with four straight victories to finish 7-4, its best mark since 1999. Were it not for heartbreaking losses to Villanova, Penn and Lafayette - three teams who combined to finish 22-11 - it might have been a really magical year at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Still, head coach Tim Landis and his staff saw many outstanding performances, particularly in a memorable 42-7 win over defending Patriot League champion and national finalist Colgate. Kudos to junior Sean Conover, who earned All-America honors after being named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, as well as exciting senior quarterback Daris Wilson, who simply dominated late in the year and broke school and league records for rushing yards by a QB.
Our student-athletes also continue to be recognized for their achievements in the classroom. In April we learned that of the six Patriot League Scholar-Athlete honors awarded for winter sports, Bucknell captured four of them. Chris McNaughton, the hero of the Kansas game, won for men's basketball; record-setting pole vaulter (and NCAA Championships qualifier) Melanie Buczko was the women's indoor track and field honoree; and Adam Freeman and Rebecca Scheffter won for men's and women's swimming and diving, respectively. Jonathan Hemmert was the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete for men's soccer in the fall, while Lauren Wible not only won the softball honor in the spring, she was named the Patriot League Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. What a tremendous honor!
Hemmert, Wible and football's Justin Gibson all earned ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America honors, giving Bucknell 110 national Academic All-Americans since 1970, which is third-best nationally. In addition to that trio, Greg Buzzell (men's soccer), Mike Cangelosi (football), Freeman, Megan Good (softball), Ryan Goodman (men's lacrosse) and Chelsea Robertson (volleyball) earned Academic All-District honors.
This fall an amazing 219 Bison student-athletes were named to the Dean's List with a 3.5 or better grade-point average, while a league-best 101 student-athletes were named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. Once again we were among the nation's top 10 Division I institutions in graduation rates, and all 26 of our sports met the NCAA standard in its new Academic Performance Rate study, including eight programs that achieved perfect scores.
This was also an extremely rewarding year in that we were able to honor many outstanding teams and individuals from Bison athletics lore. Legendary coaches Tom Gadd, Art Gulden, Sid Jamieson, Bob Latour and Craig Reynolds were all recognized along with many of their former players and peers. The 1964 Lambert Cup-winning football team and the 1964 NCAA Championship swimming team came back to campus to celebrate 40-year anniversaries. We also permanently hung on the wall of Sojka Pavilion the No. 23 jersey of women's basketball great Molly Creamer, and we welcomed Mickey Melberger, Hassen Abdelleh, Gary Toubman, Margaret Grunow Conze and Bobby Ferraro into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame.
As you can see, 2004-05 was hectic, exciting and a lot of fun, and we hope next year brings even more thrills, particularly with the return of the varsity wrestling program. I hope to see you at our events on campus and on the road throughout the year, and as always, GO BISON!
John Hardt Director of Athletics and Recreation
