Bucknell University Athletics
Nicole Marotta Receives Senior Athletic Awards at Bucknell
4/28/2009 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
April 28, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell senior Nicole Marotta (Bridgewater, N.J./Mount St. Mary Academy), a member of the Bison women's soccer 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.
Marotta won the Bryan-Humphreys Award, presented to senior athletes who have “exhibited exceptional versatility within his or her sport, displaying outstanding achievement and the selfless determination to help the team succeed by contributing in a variety of ways.” Marotta shared the award with John Togneri of the men's lacrosse team, who was the male selection.
In addition to Marotta, 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.
Marotta was recognized frequently for her success on the field. Seeing game time as both a defender and a midfielder in her career, the two-time team captain was named to the NSCAA All-Region and SoccerBuzz All-Region teams in 2006. That same season, the Patriot League named her the Defensive Player of the Year. The 2008 season marked the third consecutive year Marotta was voted First Team All-Patriot League, making her just the second Bison women's soccer player to be selected to the first team three times (the other was Hall of Famer Lisa Gibbons).
As a freshman, Marotta helped the team to a Patriot League Tournament Championship, and in the years that followed, she led the Bison to a pair of regular-season titles.
Off the field, Marotta was twice named to the NSCAA/adidas Scholar All-East Region Third Team. The latest honor came after posting a 3.37 grade-point average while majoring in neuroscience. Marotta is also a Patriot League Academic Honor Roll honoree.
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.
