Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Slated for Saturday
10/6/2006 8:00:00 AM | General
Oct. 6, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Six Bison athletics stars from the past, representing seven different sports, along with former university president and longtime student-athlete advocate Gary Sojka, will be inducted into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame at a breakfast ceremony during Homecoming Weekend festivities on Saturday.
The inductees will also be honored at halftime of the Bucknell-Penn football game later in the afternoon. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
The Hall of Fame ceremony begins at 8:30 a.m. in the Terrace Room inside the Elaine Langone Center on campus. The $7 admission includes a buffet breakfast.
The Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame was established in 1979 to honor the very best in the history of Bison athletics. Joining Sojka in the Class of 2006 are former soccer great Mark Brotherton '83, record-setting quarter and half-miler Mike Geraghty '84, women's soccer groundbreaker Lisa Gibbons '95, self-made men's basketball star Patrick King '92, standout wide receiver Ron Kinsey '66 and two-sport star Tricia Way '94.
This year's induction brings to 193 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.
MARK BROTHERTON '83 was the first Bucknell soccer player to be named all-conference four straight years. A four-year letterman and two-time co-captain, he was named to the All-East Coast Conference Team after each of his four seasons with the Orange and Blue. He was co-MVP of the Western Section of the ECC and a Tri-State All-American in 1981 and 1982.
Brotherton, who was the first Bison player selected to compete in the Senior Bowl Soccer Classic, registered 21 goals and 12 assists for 54 points in his career. At graduation he ranked fourth on Bucknell's career assists list and sixth in both goals and points. Today he still ranks in the top 10 in goals and points. A Christy Mathewson Award winner as the top athlete in his senior class, Brotherton is the eighth member of the soccer program to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
MIKE GERAGHTY '84 is one of the top middle distance runners in the history of Bucknell's vaunted men's track and field program. He ranks second only to former NCAA champion Thomas McLean in both the outdoor 400 meters (47.50) and 800 meters (1:49.84). Indoors, Geraghty remains the school record holder in the indoor 500 meters (1:02.34), and his record in the 400 (49.01) was just broken this winter after 22 years in the books. He is also second to McLean in the indoor 800 (1:51.77). Geraghty also graduated with school records in the outdoor 4x800 relay (7:31.84), which still stands, and the outdoor distance medley relay (9:54.04), which now ranks third. Geraghty was an extremely versatile runner who also helped set a then-school record in the outdoor 4x100 relay and also ran what was then the second-fastest time in school history in the 200-meter dash.
Geraghty, who was elected team captain as a senior, won East Coast Conference championships in the outdoor 400 meters in 1982 and 1984, and he competed in the NCAA Indoor Championships in 1982 and 1984. His standout performances helped lead Bucknell to six ECC team titles - three indoors and three more outdoors.
LISA GIBBONS '95 was Bucknell's first true superstar in the sport of women's soccer, and she holds school and Patriot League scoring records that may never be broken. Women's soccer became a varsity sport at Bucknell in 1990, and in the program's second year Gibbons came along and instantly helped the team to a seven-win season and credibility in Eastern soccer circles. She finished her career with a whopping 66 goals, 35 assists and 167 points. No other Bison player has scored more than 100 points or 39 goals since then.
Gibbons scored 20 goals in 1993, then as a senior in 1994 she logged 19 goals and 19 assists for 57 points, the third-highest total in the nation that year. Gibbons was a First Team All-Patriot League selection three times, was the league's rookie of the year in 1991 and the offensive player of the year in 1993. As a senior, she was named to the NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region Team and was a Christy Mathewson Award winner as the top athlete in her senior class. Gibbons is the first Bucknell women's soccer player to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
PATRICK KING '92 is one of the more inspiring student-athletes to be enshrined in the Hall. A walk-on to the Bison men's basketball squad, King made his way through the junior varsity ranks, eventually earned a starting forward position and as a senior was named Patriot League Player of the Year after averaging 20.3 points per game. An Academic All-America selection in 1992, King is the school and Patriot League-record holder for field-goal percentage in a season (.670 in 1990-91) and career (.638), and despite the fact that he played only a little over two full seasons with the varsity, he reached the 1,000-point milestone and averaged 14.2 points per game in his career.
King led the Bison to the Patriot League championship game as a senior captain in 1991-92, when he became only the fifth player in school history to average better than 20 points per game. He also holds school records for free throws made in a season (205) and ranks fourth all-time with a career .814 free-throw percentage. King, who went on to play professionally in his native Germany, is the 43rd member of the Bucknell men's basketball program to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
RON KINSEY '66 was a three-year starter at end and was a vital member of Bucknell's 1964 Lambert Cup team and the 1965 Middle Atlantic Conference championship team. He was overshadowed a bit by Hall of Famer and classmate Tom Mitchell, who is the school's all-time leading receiver, but Kinsey was also a difficult matchup on the other side. His 89 receptions and 1,183 career receiving yards were second only to Mitchell at graduation and still rank among the top 15 in the school record book, despite more recent expanded schedules and four-year player eligibility.
Kinsey had the winning touchdown in Bucknell's 21-14 win over arch-rival Delaware in the final game of the 1964 season, a victory that clinched a 7-2 record and the Lambert Cup, awarded to the top team in the East. Earlier that season, he had 10 catches for 147 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter of a 24-21 upset win at Harvard, which was Bucknell's first win over an Ivy League team since 1891. Kinsey is the 69th member of the Bison football program to be voted to the Hall of Fame.
GARY SOJKA was an outstanding collegiate athlete in his own right and is already member of the Athletics Hall of Fame at Coe College, where he was a halfback on the football team and a conference hurdles champion in track and field. Sojka's enshrinement in the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame is a reflection of his unwavering support of Bucknell's scholar-athlete ideal. As university president from 1984-94, Sojka led Bucknell Athletics through one of its most significant transitions in school history and positioned the program to be a leader in promoting the student-athlete model.
Under his leadership, Bucknell became a charter member of the football-only Patriot League in 1986, and he pledged full support when the league expanded to an all-sports conference in 1990. As president he served on the Patriot League Executive Council and the NCAA Presidents Council. Even after his tenure as president came to an end, Sojka remained a loyal friend and advocate of Bison Athletics. He served as the school's NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative and played a significant role in Bucknell's successful NCAA re-certification process earlier this year. The Bucknellian's 2006 "Person of the Year" will not only be forever enshrined in the Hall of Fame, but the three-year old home of the Bucknell men's and women's basketball teams - Sojka Pavilion - bears his name.
TRICIA WAY '94 became the first woman athlete in Bucknell history to earn all-conference honors five times. She was a three-time All-Patriot League selection in women's lacrosse and a two-time honoree in field hockey. She co-captained the 1993 field hockey team and was a two-year captain in lacrosse. As a midfielder in field hockey, she registered five goals and three assists and was the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete in 1992.
In lacrosse, Way collected 53 goals and 66 points to rank ninth and 10th, respectively, on Bucknell's career charts. She was named to the ILWCA All-Academic Team in 1993 and 1994 was also the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete in lax following each of those seasons. Way was a winner of the Christy Mathewson Award as the top senior athlete. She is the seventh lacrosse player and 10th field hockey player to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
The 2006 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7 in Bostwick Dining Hall.
