Bucknell University Athletics
From the AD's Desk
6/18/2009 8:00:00 AM | General
June 18, 2009
Greetings Bison Fans!
Another year of Bison Athletics is in the books! Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday that our fall teams were rolling in for the start of preseason training, but now we are already reflecting on the graduation ceremony and a wonderful Reunion Weekend in which so many former Bison student-athletes made it back to campus.
It was particularly gratifying to see so many alumni back for the reunions of the 1969 baseball and lacrosse teams. Both of those squads captured Middle Atlantic Conference championships 40 years ago, and Sid Jamieson and Gene Depew both hosted well-attended events commemorating the anniversaries of those great teams. I'm sure Sid and Gene were both regaled with memories and stories from those bygone days.
Reunion Weekend came on the heels of a fantastic spring athletics season here at Bucknell, and the across-the-board strong performances by those spring teams propelled us to yet another Patriot League Presidents' Cup title. It is our 15th Cup in the 19-year history of the Patriot League, our fourth in a row and 11th in the last 12 years. In addition, we also captured our 12th straight and 15th overall Women's Cup.
Even though the final Presidents' Cup standings may reflect a comfortable victory for the Bison (Bucknell finished with 122 points, runner-up Navy with 109.25), that was hardly the case. After the fall season, seven programs were separated by only nine points, and after the winter season, Bucknell led Navy by a slim quarter of a point with several others just behind. The big spring proved to be the difference in our triumph, but I have to say this was one of the most competitive years of my tenure at Bucknell. About midway through the spring season it appeared as if any of five institutions could still win the Cup, and I expect more of the same in the years ahead. With scholarships becoming more prevalent among our Patriot League peers, and with Navy and Army reaping the economic benefits of FBS football, Bucknell's stranglehold on the Presidents' Cup is under considerable fire.
Endless hours of hard work behind the scenes and a “do-more-with-less” outlook have kept Bucknell at the head of the class. It is going to take more of the same to fend off our challengers, and I am positive our coaches, staff and student-athletes are up to the task!
When recapping the spring campaign, we obviously must start with enthusiastic congratulations to our three Patriot League championship programs: men's golf, women's track and field and women's rowing.
Jim Cotner's men's golf team won the title and advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the third time in the last four years. They did so in come-from-behind fashion, overtaking both Navy and Army in the final round to win by five strokes. Junior Andrew Cohen had a brilliant weekend at the tricky West Point Golf Course, winning the individual league title for the first time.
The Bison rowers won an unprecedented fourth consecutive Patriot League championship on the Cooper River in April. Steve Kish's squad won every race in the meet, including the varsity eight by more than four seconds over Navy. The V8 was named Boat of the Year for the fourth straight year, and senior Page Kannor had a seat in that boat in each of those four years. Page's achievement was recognized in Sports Illustrated's “Faces in the Crowd” column in the June 1 edition of the magazine.
More outstanding rowing news came after the Patriot League Championship, as the lightweight eight first won at the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta, then placed second to Wisconsin at the IRA National Championships in California. You might remember that Bucknell won the lightweight eight national title at that regatta in 2007.
After suffering a slim nine-point loss to Navy at the Patriot League Indoor Championships in February, ending the program's seven-year title streak, the Bison women's track and field squad came back at the outdoor championships and ran away with the meet. It was the eighth outdoor title in the last 10 years for the Bucknell women. Congrats also go out to Amy Mantush, who was named the Patriot League Field Athlete of the Meet, and Sarah Bella, who was the Rookie of the Meet.
The men's track and field team had a very strong showing at the Patriot League Championships. In third place after day one, the Bison ended up in second place, almost 60 points ahead of third-place Navy.
After bringing home plenty of Patriot League hardware, the men's and women's teams combined to send a school-record 11 student-athletes to the NCAA East Regional in Greensboro, N.C., where there were many strong performances.
Also this spring, Bucknell teams accounted for two Patriot League regular-season titles (baseball, men's lacrosse), two Patriot League championship game appearances (men's lacrosse, women's tennis) and three other Patriot League Tournament berths (women's lacrosse, softball, men's tennis).
Hosting the Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Tournament was quite a thrill, particularly for Patriot League Coach of the Year Frank Fedorjaka and the Bison student-athletes, who earned the regular-season title and home-field advantage with a convincing win at Colgate on the final day of the regular season. After winning a thriller over Army in the semifinals, Bucknell fell one agonizing goal short against a very good, experienced Navy team in the final. Except for the result in the championship game, it was a terrific weekend at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Perfect weather, big crowds and great action made for some great theater on the CBS College Sports national broadcasts. The network got three games decided by a total of four goals, including a triple overtime classic between Colgate in Navy in the semis. The excitement surrounding this event on our campus will certainly serve as inspiration to get it back here again soon.
Off the field, this spring we have received some more good news on the academic front. As you know, Bucknell Athletics annually ranks among the national leaders under every scholar-athlete measuring system, and that trend continued in 2008-09.
In April it was announced that 17 Bucknell varsity programs earned NCAA Academic Performance Rate (APR) Public Recognition Awards. Each of those 17 teams had an APR score among the top 10 percent nationally within that sport. That 17-team figure ranked first in the Patriot League, seventh in the nation, and fifth in the nation based on percentage of sports offered by the institution.
A few weeks later, the NCAA made public the APR scores for every varsity program at every Division I institution. Not only did Bucknell meet the NCAA minimum standard in every sport, but we were ahead of the national average in all 27 programs. Furthermore, 12 programs achieved perfect scores.
The APR formula factors both academic performance and retention for each student-athlete. Underperforming programs could face NCAA sanctions, such as loss of scholarships.
Individually, Bucknell set a school record in 2008-09 with 22 student-athletes named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District teams. The previous high mark was 20 in 2006-07. There is still some national voting remaining for this year, and Bucknell has a number of student-athletes still alive as we look to pad our total of 117 all-time Academic All-Americans.
Bucknell has now boasted at least one Academic All-American in 31 straight years, the second-longest streak in the nation, behind only Nebraska's 32.
I would also like to congratulate Jason Soto, Kyle Anthony and Sam Nana-Sinkam on receiving 2009 Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar Awards. The award is presented to student-athletes of color who have excelled both academically and athletically. Jason, Kyle and Sam have been stars not only on the soccer pitch, track and gridiron, but also in the classroom and in the community.
Having a diverse population of student-athletes and staff is very high on our list of priorities and objectives at Bucknell, so I am especially proud to have three student-athletes recognized with Ashe Awards.
As we head into the summer months, my staff and I are hard at work preparing for a 2009-10 academic year that promises to be unlike any other that we have seen at Bucknell. In addition to the competitive pressure we are feeling from our Patriot League compatriots, the state of the economy has in many areas forced us to change the way we do business.
Department-wide budget restrictions will most certainly affect us and challenge us in many ways, and everyone on our staff has been given the clear message that we are no longer operating “business as usual.” Areas such as travel administration, printing and equipment expenses, and KLARC operating hours are all being scrutinized.
Compounding the budget reduction is the parallel reality that we are in the midst of a difficult fundraising climate. Philanthropy has declined sharply in all walks of life during this economic downturn, and the Bison Club has not escaped that hit.
I have written in this space a number of times that a significant portion of every varsity sport's daily operating budget comes from fundraised dollars via the Bison Club. It is the lifeblood of our program.
As I mentioned in the previous edition of “From the AD's Desk,” the adage “it's not what you give, but that you give” has never been more appropriate. While we understand that your financial circumstances may not make it feasible to donate at the same dollar level as in the past, we hope that you will still find it possible to remain involved with the Bison Club in any way possible.
As always, you can choose to support a specific varsity program or donate to the Bison Club, our unrestricted athletics fund. Please contact Todd Newcomb at the Bison Club Office (570-577-1771) or donate online. In order for Bucknell Athletics to continue to be the successful, dynamic, broad-based program that it is today, we will continue to need your assistance, even in these tough economic times.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you and everyone in the Bison Athletics family enjoys a safe and relaxing summer.
GO BISON!
John P. Hardt
Director of Athletics and Recreation
Previous installments of "From the AD's Desk"
-- August 15, 2005
-- September 26, 2005
-- December 1, 2005
-- April 6, 2006
-- August 3, 2006
-- August 28, 2006
-- October 22, 2006
-- March 26, 2007
-- May 25, 2007
-- August 8, 2007
-- November 20, 2007
-- March 30, 2008
-- June 10, 2008
-- June 12, 2008
-- Aug. 18, 2008
-- Dec. 19, 2008
-- Apr. 3, 2009
Players Mentioned
