Bucknell University Athletics
Team Awards Announced by Bucknell Women's Water Polo
5/3/2006 8:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
May 3, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell women's water polo team announced several award winners for the 2006 campaign earlier this week. Eight members of the team were honored by seventh-year head coach John Zeigler. Additionally, Meagan Gins (Albuquerque, N.M./Valley), Aubrey Rowe (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and Elizabeth Jensen (San Mateo, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep) were recently named to the All-Conference team, with Gins and Rowe earning first-team honors and Jensen landing a second-team citation. Rowe was also named the CWPA Eastern Conference Rookie of the Year.
In addition to her all-conference citation, Gins received the Vicki Gorman Award, which recognizes "contribution to Bucknell women's water polo at a consistent demonstrated level in excess of what is expected. The award was named after Gorman, a 1993 Bucknell graduate and former club player who was the first Bison to represent Bucknell as a member of the U.S. National Team. Gins, who was the team's Rookie of the Year in 2005, broke the Bucknell single-season scoring record with 70 goals and 103 points this season. She eclipsed Meg Blitzer's former record of 66 goals, while she easily beat Adrienne Schober's former standard of 93 points.
Gins is already among the best offensive players in Bison history despite playing just 64 career games. She ranks sixth in career goals, just 80 shy of Bliter's all-time standard, while she is ninth in points with 164, more than halfway to Blitzer's mark of 282.
Not just a scorer, Gins led the team in ejections drawn with 58 this year, including 13 in three games at last weekend's Eastern Championship. She was also fourth on the squad with a career-high 31 steals.
The Allyson Gillespie Award, which recognizes "demonstrated leadership, loyalty and total dedication to Bucknell women's water polo", was presented to Jensen. A junior, Jensen had a breakout season as she ranked second on the team in scoring with a career-high 92 points, placing her third on the single-season list. The left-hander netted a career-high 46 goals, 27 more than her previous best, and matched that figure with 46 assists, easily eclipsing her previous high of 34. Her assist total ranks her second on that list.
Jensen's point total this year helped her vault to seventh on the career points list with 179. She is second on the career assists list with 98.
Jensen finished the season with 25 steals and won a team-best 42 of 68 sprints.
The Class of '99 Award was established in recognition of the first graduating class of women's water polo players whose "perseverance and dedication led to the establishment of the program." This year's award was given to Amanda Nogic (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West), who was the lone senior on the team. Nogic started all 29 games she saw action in and ranked tied for fourth on the team with a career-high 38 points. A veteran of 91 career games, Nogic had made just 15 starts and registered just 33 points entering the 2006 campaign, she netted a career-high 17 goals and dished out a personal-best 21 assists this season. Additionally, Nogic was second on the team with 37 steals, also a career high.
Last year Nogic earned the Most Improved Award. This year junior Susan Kingerski (Sugarland, Texas/Saint Agnes Academy) and sophomore Laura Stalker (New Canaan, Conn./Choate Rosemary) shared that honor. Kingerski had seen action in just 15 games her first two seasons, but appeared in 26 this year, including her first career start. She netted a career-high 13 goals and tallied 16 points. Possessing an extremely hard shot, Kingerski scored a career-high three goals during a 9-7 win over George Washington last month. In addition to her offense, Kingerski recorded 11 steals.
Stalker was the lone Bison to see action in every game this season. She scored nine goals and compiled 10 assists for a career-high 19 points. A veteran of eight career starts, Stalker was strong defensively with a career-high 29 steals to rank fifth on the team despite coming off the bench in the majority of contests.
The Lynn Kachmarik Award, formerly the Coach's Award, was shared by juniors Mallory Sullivan (Tulare, Calif./Tulare Western) and Mandy Bynum (San Jose, Calif./Leland). The award is presented for "unwavering commitment and a selfless generosity to teammates," and is named after former women's water polo coach and CWPA and National Water Polo Hall of Famer Lynn Kachmarik. Kachmarik was the head coach for the Bucknell women's water polo team in its first season as a varsity sport. Sullivan, who served as team co-captain along with Nogic, tied with her fellow captain for fourth on the team with a career-high 38 points. In fact, Sullivan had just 39 points her first two seasons in Orange and Blue. She netted 20 goals and dished out 18 assists this season. Sullivan's best role is as a defender, where she recorded a team-high 40 steals to boost her career total to 91.
Bynum, who won the Gorman Award last year, completed her third year as the starting goalkeeper with solid numbers again. She started 30 of the team's 32 goals and recorded 226 saves, her third consecutive year over the 200 plateau. Bynum played 829 of a possible 906 minutes and allowed just 191 goals for an impressive save percentage of .542. She now has a career save percentage of .569 and ranks second on Bucknell's career saves list with 742, 150 less than Lindsay Chesterfield's program standard. Even though she plays goalie, Bynum helps on the offensive end as she was fifth on the team with a career-high 19 assists and even scored one goal.
Rowe not only won the conference Rookie of the Year, but she was the team Rookie of the Year as well. The Pennsylvania native made an immediate impact, scoring 42 goals in the season's first 14 games. Some lingering injuries slowed her pace down, but Rowe still finished second on the team with 58 goals and also assisted on 21 others for 79 points. She also ranked second on the team in ejections drawn (42), second in sprints (34) and third in steals (34). Rowe scored a career-high six goals against Wagner in February, coming one short of equaling Blitzer's program record.
Bucknell finished the season with a 23-9 record to equal the 2005 squad for the most wins in program history. The Bison also finished fourth at the Eastern Championship, marking the best-ever showing at the event.
