Bucknell University Athletics
A Long Journey for Another Year
9/30/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 30, 2007
By Todd Merriett, Bucknell Athletic Communications
Mark Masterson walked in the front door of his house and found a phone message waiting from Bucknell head water polo coach John Zeigler. Little did he know how much his life would change; and how quickly.
Masterson had just completed a leisurely morning swim in the warm Hawaii surf and enjoyed a long stroll on the pristine beach as he prepared for another day of perfect weather. With the sound of the waves lapping onto the shore still ringing in his ears, Masterson arrived at his family's beachfront home and saw he missed the call from Zeigler.
"I figured Coach just had a quick question for me," remembers Masterson about the phone call that changed his plans for the upcoming months.
Quickly calling Zeigler back, Masterson found out the good news; he was going to return to Bucknell University and become part of the men's water polo team once again, nine months after he thought his collegiate career ended with an 11-7 loss to St. Francis (N.Y.) at last November's Eastern Championship.
In 2004, Masterson was a sophomore at UC Irvine and a member of the team that has won three national titles and seen more than 70 players earn All-America honors. The Kihei, Hawaii, native played in just one game that season as he battled an injury. At that time, Masterson decided he wanted to transfer to an East Coast school with good academics as well as water polo, and that's when Bucknell came into the picture. He also knew he was going to pursue a medical redshirt to gain back that lost season.
After posting one of the best offensive seasons in recent Bucknell history in 2005, Masterson began the application process for the medical redshirt last fall, near the beginning of his senior season. The Bucknell compliance office informed Masterson and his father, Michael, that it would be a difficult case, but the Mastersons made the decision to continue.
Last January, Masterson learned he would not receive the year of eligibility back, but an appeal extended the case even further. With the case still pending, Masterson walked across the stage at last May's graduation even though he was a few credits shy of his diploma.
Instead of trying to get those final credits out of the way in an early summer school session, Masterson delayed summer school as long as possible to preserve his possible eligibility.
When the case was reopened in early August, Masterson immediately contacted the registrar's office at Bucknell, giving them a warning that he might be returning to the Lewisburg, Pa., school.
That warning proved prophetic on that fateful Monday when Masterson was contacted by Zeigler informing him of the good news. That phone call kicked off a whirlwind couple of days for Masterson, who arrived in Lewisburg less than 24 hours after completing his relaxing walk on the Maui beach.
Masterson talked to Zeigler at 10:30 a.m. local time and at 3 p.m. was on a plane bound for Chicago. By 1 p.m. Eastern time the following day, a mere 20.5 hours after the initial phone conversation with Zeigler, he was on Bucknell's scenic campus registering for classes. That process took less than 30 minutes and then Masterson was heading "downhill" to Kinney Natatorium for his first practice in his second time around as a senior.
"It was pretty sudden," states Masterson with a smile. "It was hard. I came off that flight and the first practice was alright, but then we had two practices a day for three or four days and it was rough. After two weeks I was back to normal, but it was a shock to my body."
Masterson initially came to Bucknell in 2005, following in his older brother's footsteps by playing water polo on the East Coast. His brother, Michael, played at Harvard, a school Mark was wait-listed by coming out of high school, from 1999-2002, and continues to play with a well-known club team in the San Francisco area.
After two years at UC Irvine, Masterson decided it wasn't the place for him and chose to transfer. Only three Eastern teams, Bucknell, Johns Hopkins and Brown, accepted transfers and Bucknell easily won his services.
"It is night and day when comparing Irvine and Bucknell," explains Masterson. "Irvine is a commuter school and people go there just for class and then go home. It is possible to become a more well-rounded person at Bucknell, in my opinion.
"I came East in February and visited Johns Hopkins and it was nice, but not my style. I then came here (Bucknell) and knew it was the place. I saw campus and really liked it. I liked the pool and met with Coach and liked him. When I went into the admissions office I dropped off my application and told Coach I was coming if I got in. Three weeks later I found out I was accepted."
A veteran of just five games in his two years at UC Irvine, Masterson shook off the rust and made an immediate impact at Bucknell in 2005. He was one of three Bison to start all 32 games and led the team with 48 goals and 70 points and ranked second on the squad with 32 steals and 22 assists.
Those numbers improved even more during the first of his two senior campaigns last fall when he posted team highs in goals (62), assists (31) and points (93). Those numbers, combined with his team-high 53 steals, the 10th-best figure in program history, helped Masterson earn Honorable Mention All-America plaudits.
"It was really cool to earn All-America honors," explains Masterson, who also was presented the Lee S. "Bud" Ranck Memorial Award at the Bucknell Department of Athletics and Recreation's Annual Senior Recognition Dinner last May. "My dad, my brother and I were playing golf and one of my brother's friends called and told me. It was a good season last year and it was nice to get the recognition, but I could only do it because of the guys around me."
Those guys around Masterson have not changed much in his return for his second go-around as a senior. The only graduation loss from last year's team that finished the season nationally ranked was Sean Robinson. That familiarity, along with an offseason team training trip to the water polo hotbeds of Hungary and Slovakia, has helped the team to one of the best starts in program history.
"It was a treat to go on the trip even though I didn't know if I would be coming back or not at that point," says Masterson about the team's two-week tour of Eastern Europe. "Hungary is the Mecca of water polo and we played everyday against high-level competition, which has only helped us this year. It was a great team-bonding trip.
"Sean (Robinson) and I didn't train as much as the other guys. We held back and let this year's seniors develop their leadership skills. We were in the mix of things, but backed off some."
Masterson is no longer backing off as the Bison jumped out to an amazing 8-1 record through their first nine games and are ranked 11th nationally, marking the highest in-season ranking in program history. In fact, Bucknell is the highest-ranked team from outside of water polo-crazed California.
Despite not training this past summer, Masterson proved he was back in form two weeks ago in front of a standing room-only crowd at Kinney Natatorium. The Bison hosted nationally ranked Princeton in a key league contest and defeated the Tigers 13-12 in sudden death overtime. Masterson ended the game after nearly 40 minutes of play by stealing an outlet pass at midpool and converting his fourth goal of the day to end the nearly two-hour contest.
"That (Princeton) was probably the craziest crowd I have ever played in front of," describes Masterson. "We couldn't hear the coaches or the referees' whistles. It was the coolest game I have ever played and the crowd was spectacular.
"My goal felt like slow motion. I didn't know if I was going to shoot it or pass it, but I got to five meters and knew the defender was tired so I figured I might as well go for it."
That thrilling win over Princeton was one of three for the Bison over ranked foes in their first three weeks of play this year. They also defeated No. 13 Pacific, marking the first win in program history over a team from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, and No. 20 Johns Hopkins. Bucknell brought an eight-game winning streak into this weekend's ECAC Championship at Kinney Natatorium.
Among the many fans rooting for Bucknell, and specifically Masterson, in the Kinney Natatorium stands this weekend will be his parents, Michael and Becky. Amazingly, they have been at each of the Bison's nine games this season despite living in faraway Hawaii. They came East for tournaments at Navy and Princeton, and for a weekend of home league games, with visits to see friends and family in Florida and Myrtle Beach in between. They flew back home to Hawaii during the Bison's idle week, but are due back in Lewisburg this weekend to cheer their son on once again.
"My parents come pretty much every weekend," mentions Masterson. "They love it and it's great having them here. Last weekend (Sept. 14-16) 14 of the 18 players on our team had their parents here."
While all that travel might seem unreal to most, it is not uncommon for the Masterson family as both of Mark's siblings, Michael and Becky, as well as Mark, went to high school in California at Marin Catholic since water polo is not widespread in Hawaii. The family rented a condo and went back and forth between California and Hawaii with regularity.
In two weeks it will be a much shorter trip for Masterson's parents as the Bison will return to his old stomping grounds at UC Irvine for the squad's annual trip to California.
"It's exciting to go back to Irvine," says Masterson. "It will be even better if we play Irvine since a lot of the guys I played with are seniors. For our team it is important to head to the West Coast and play the California teams. That high-level experience will only help us as we prepare for Southerns and Easterns."
With the championship portion of the schedule on the horizon, Masterson's second senior season is beginning to wind down. This semester's management, psychology and philosophy courses he is taking will enable him to graduate in December and he will head out into the "real world" four months later than he was originally expecting. Ironically, cleaning up his resume to start the job-search process was on Masterson's to-do list the day Zeigler called him in August.
Ideally, Masterson would not need the resume right away as he hopes to continue his water polo career by playing in Australia in January or February.
Or, he could always return to the place he loves more than any other: Maui. Nothing beats those morning swims in the calm Pacific Ocean - except maybe trudging through the snow in the dark for a 6 a.m. workout at Kinney Natatorium. For Masterson, the choice was clear.
