Bucknell University Athletics
Billy Haire Receives Senior Athletic Award at Bucknell
4/28/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 28, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell senior Billy Haire (Darien, Conn./Darien), a member of the Bison men's lacrosse team, received a special award at the University's annual Senior Athletic Awards Banquet, sponsored by the Bison Club and held at the Elaine Langone Center on Tuesday, April 28.
Haire won the Bradley N. Tufts Award, presented to senior athletes “in recognition of exceptional athletic achievement and contribution to Bucknell athletics.” Haire shared the award with Amanda Brown of the women's basketball team, who was the female selection.
In addition to Haire, several other student-athletes were honored at the banquet, including the winners of the Christy Mathewson Award, given to the most outstanding athletes in the senior class.
Haire solidified his place in Bucknell's defense early in his career, playing an integral part of a team ranked second in the nation in goals allowed (6.3) in 2007. Since then, the senior captain has been named the 2009 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year in both the preseason and at the year's end. He was also chosen an Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-American (Honorable Mention) prior to the 2009 season and has added to his list of accolades with his third All-Patriot League team selection.
The Darien, Conn., native recently helped the Bison to an undefeated league record, the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament and the team's second consecutive trip to the championship game. With Bucknell's 10-8 win over Army in the semifinal contest, Haire and his senior classmates became the winningest men's lacrosse team in Bucknell history with 36 victories in four years.
Bucknell is a highly selective, privately endowed liberal arts institution with an enrollment of approximately 3,500 undergraduate students. Bucknell competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the Patriot League and has full membership along with American, Army, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh and Navy. Bucknell has won the Presidents' Cup, signifying the Patriot League's all-sports champion, in 14 of 18 years, including 10 of the last 11.
Recently, 17 Bison programs – the seventh-most in Division I – earned NCAA Public Recognition for having Academic Performance Rates in the top 10 percent nationally in their respective sport. In addition, Bucknell ranks fifth in Division I in the total number of CoSIDA Academic All-America selections, with 116 national Academic All-Americans since 1970.
