Bucknell University Athletics
From the AD's Desk
6/15/2010 8:00:00 AM | General
June 15, 2010
Hello Bison Friends and Alums!
What better way to begin the summer edition of "From the AD's Desk" than by celebrating yet another Patriot League Presidents' Cup!
We have 27 varsity programs at Bucknell, and nine of them captured league titles in 2009-10. To have one-third of our teams raise a trophy at the end of the year is extremely gratifying and reinforces that we are doing things the right way. Our eight Patriot League championships tied a school record and propelled us to our 16th Presidents' Cup in the 20-year history of the league. And for the sixth time, Bucknell swept the overall, Men's and Women's Cup titles in the same year.
To recap, in 2009-10, Bucknell earned Patriot League titles in men's soccer, women's cross country, women's indoor track & field, women's outdoor track & field, men's outdoor track & field, women's rowing, softball and baseball, as well as the CWPA Southern Division championship in women's water polo.
This year's unprecedented success is a tribute to Bucknell's long-standing commitment to a broad-based athletics program, and it reflects the fact that Bucknell regards intercollegiate athletics as an important part of the overall education program and college experience. A student-athlete's success in competition helps develop skills that are important in any field of endeavor, and the success of Bison alumni over the years certainly demonstrates that. Today's Bison scholar-athletes are being prepared and trained to become tomorrow's leaders.
With six spring teams winning championships, it is hard to decide where to begin, but let's start with track & field. In one of the more incredible home events of my tenure at Bucknell, our Bison men's and women's track & field teams swept the Patriot League outdoor titles on a picture-perfect spring weekend at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
As you know, Bucknell's women's program has dominated Patriot League competition through the years, and 2010 was no exception. The Bison women ran away with the meet, locking up the Patriot League Triple Crown (cross country, indoor and outdoor titles) for the sixth time, while winning the outdoor meet for the 10th time in the last 12 years. Chelsey Musante won two of Bucknell's six individual titles and was named the Patriot League Field Athlete of the Meet.
The resurgent men's track & field program had been getting closer and closer to unseating Army and Navy for the league championship, and during the indoor season the Bison fell just six agonizing points behind the Black Knights. In the outdoor meet, Bucknell kept getting one outstanding performance after another, and ultimately the league title came down to the final event, the 4x400-meter relay. Bucknell went into the event with a small lead, and all it needed was a third-place finish to win its first team title since 1991. With anchorman Rob Arent concluding an incredible MVP performance, the Bison finished second in the relay and won the closest meet in league history by three points over Army. The wild celebration in the infield gave everyone goose bumps, and with tears streaming down his face coach Kevin Donner told me it was his best day as a coach. Coach Donner was rewarded with much-deserved Patriot League Coach of the Year accolades for both the men's and women's meets.
Bucknell's first championship of the spring came from the women's rowing team, which captured its fifth consecutive league title. The Bison won the varsity eight race by more than two seconds over Navy, and coach Stephen Kish earned Patriot League Coach of the Year honors for the fourth time in the last five years. The rowing squad went on to compete at the Eastern Sprints for the second time, and then the lightweight four earned a bronze medal at the IRA National Championships.
Only a few hours after the rowing team won the Patriot League title, John Abdou's women's water polo team captured its very first Southern Division crown with an 11-9 victory over No. 19 Princeton in the Tigers' home pool. The Bison were the No. 1 seed at Southerns, and they went on to earn their ninth straight berth in the Eastern Championships, where they finished fifth.
The Bison softball team was the No. 3 seed in the Patriot League Tournament, and Heather Rakosik's team pulled off an amazing run through the postseason to capture the program's first championship since 1997. The tournament started with a comeback win over perennial league power Lehigh, then after a loss to Colgate, Bucknell got into the championship series with a 2-1 win over No. 1 seed and tournament host Army. The Bison then had to beat Colgate twice to claim the title, and they did just that by scores of 4-3 (9 innings) and 6-4.
Tournament MVP Alex MacLean struck out the final two hitters to send Bucknell to the NCAA Softball Tournament for the first time in program history. The Bison were sent to the Columbus Regional, where they fell to national powers California and Ohio State. Despite the setbacks in Columbus, a 28-win season and a league title is and outstanding accomplishment and certainly worthy of tremendous pride.
Perhaps inspired by the softball team, Gene Depew's baseball squad came all the way from the No. 4 seed to capture the Patriot League championship. In a pair of best 2-of-3 series, Bucknell used timely combinations of good hitting and pitching to first defeat No. 1 Army and then No. 3 Holy Cross, both on the road. Both series went three games, and the Bison won the final games by scores of 11-7 and 12-7. Leading the impressive hitting attack was Tournament MVP Doug Shribman, who had seven home runs and 16 RBIs in the six tournament games, including the go-ahead three-run homer in the deciding game at Holy Cross.
Amazingly, Shribman finished the season with 21 home runs, one of the highest totals in the country. To put that total in perspective, entering the season, Bucknell's career home run record was 24.
The Bison went on to compete in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time overall and for the second time in the last three years. Two years ago, Bucknell pulled off a monumental upset of Florida State on opening night of the tourney, and they nearly did it again this year in Columbia, S.C. The Bison led host South Carolina 5-1 into the late innings, but the Gamecocks rallied with a five-run bottom of the eighth to win 9-5. Bucknell was then eliminated by Virginia Tech the next day.
While we are all tremendously proud of the championship teams, others also fared well this spring and deserve mention.
The Bison women's tennis team had another strong year and ultimately played its way into the Patriot League Championship final for the sixth year in a row. Unfortunately, the Bison again fell just short of Army, falling 4-3 as the title came down to the very last three-set match on the court. Coach Rebecca Helt can be proud of her team, particularly seniors Tania Varela and Carlin Calcaterra, who both wrapped up terrific careers in the Orange & Blue.
Kudos also go to the men's lacrosse team, which overcame a slew of injuries to produce another exciting season. The Bison began the year with an overtime loss to Duke, which went on to win the national championship. Unfortunately that would be a theme for the team in 2010. The Bison finished 8-6, with five of the losses coming by one goal, with the other a close 9-7 defeat at No. 1 Army in the Patriot League Tournament. Congrats to senior attackman Austin Winter, who became the program's first-ever three-time All-American.
Both Bucknell golf teams turned in solid performances this spring. The men won the St. Peter's Invitational, but then had a tough go of it at the Patriot League Championship. Coming in as favorites having won three of the previous four championships, the team finished fifth this year. Senior Andrew Cohen broke the school record with a 73.2 average and was named to the PING All-Region Team.
The women's team posted a school-record round of 303 at the Big South Championship, where the Bison finished sixth. Sophomore Minjoo Lee posted a 2-under-par 70 in the first round, a new school record and the first sub-par round in program history. She finished fourth and earned All-Big South honors for the first time.
I recently had the great pleasure of accompanying Dave Paulsen and the Bison men's basketball team on their 10-day tour of Italy. The trip was a rousing success on multiple levels. After a productive 10 days of practice leading up to the tour, the team won three of its four games against Italian clubs. Not only did the players get a taste of the international style of play (and officiating), but it was a great bonding opportunity in a non-pressure environment. Beyond the basketball, it was a wonderful cultural and educational experience for everyone in the traveling group. Traveling from Rome to Florence to Venice to Lake Como with stops in between, we received a first-hand sampling of some of the world's most renowned art, history and cuisine.
The study abroad program at Bucknell is extremely popular, but unfortunately student-athletes whose competitive seasons bridge both the fall and spring semesters are unable to take advantage. A trip such as this, which is permitted by the NCAA once every four years, serves as an abbreviated substitute for the study abroad experience.
Of course, all of the great on-field feats have once again been balanced out by the numerous academic accomplishments of our Bison student-athletes and teams. Just this week it was announced that Bucknell has easily surpassed the NCAA's minimum standards in its Academic Performance Rate (APR) metric. The APR measures both eligibility and retention over a four-year rolling period, and teams falling below a certain score risk losing scholarships and postseason eligibility. Bucknell is not only well above the minimum in every sport, but 13 programs have perfect scores and all 27 are above the national average. Back in May, 18 Bucknell programs were awarded NCAA APR Public Recognition Awards, the fifth-highest total among all Division I institutions.
Bucknell added 10 more ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District honorees this spring: Ben Allen (baseball), Kyle Anthony (men's track & field), Andrew Brouse (baseball), Sarah Ebright (at-large/field hockey), Sherry Finkel (softball), Allison Janda (women's track & field), Jonathan Lockhart (men's track & field), Mary Pavlovich (softball), Jessie Snyder (softball) and Kim Weaver (at-large/rowing). Elizabeth Regan was named Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women's rowing, while Minjoo Lee was the Big South Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Congratulations also go out to men's soccer's Patrick Selwood and rowing's Kim Weaver, who were the recipients of the 2010 Alvin F. Jackson Jr. Memorial Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented to the top scholar-athletes in the senior class. Patrick and Kim were honored at both the annual Senior Athletics Dinner and the Bucknell Senior Awards ceremony held on commencement weekend.
As always, we take just as much pride in the academic feats of our student-athletes as we do in their athletic feats. Our goal at Bucknell is to have an athletics program that is consistent in quality and rigor with our first-rate academic program. Regardless of whether a Bucknell student is in the classroom or on the field of competition, the experience should be robust and challenging and should provide a positive foundation for future success.
In that light, we are continuing to address our athletics facilities needs with some exciting new “Target of Opportunity” projects.
Not only did the Bison baseball and softball teams win Patriot League titles this spring, but when their home seasons finished ground was broken on the next phase of the baseball/softball facility improvements. The first phase included the installation of the new FieldTurf playing surface and fencing at Depew Field and an iron and brick gateway entry plaza leading to both fields. Now underway is the fitting of new fencing at the softball field; the construction of in-ground dugouts, brick backstops and pedestrian walkways at both diamonds; and the addition of new LED scoreboards at both facilities.
In addition, we are continuing fundraising efforts to build permanent spectator grandstands and press boxes at both facilities.
We have now completed the design phase and obtained the necessary building permits to begin construction on a new instructional golf center as soon as all funding has been secured to support the project. In this regard, we have made substantial progress in large part due to a significant gift in the form of a “challenge” by a Bucknell alum, and we are cautiously optimistic that if fundraising continues at its current pace we will be starting the construction in the near future.
Also, this summer we will start a formal feasibility study as we begin to determine the scope and parameters of the vital Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium renovation and improvements project. And finally, we are exploring the potential for another "Target of Opportunity" project that would address long-standing campus recreational needs. This potential development would be aimed at addressing fitness and dance studio space, locker room issues, upgrades to the racquetball and squash courts, the rowing team's ergometer room, the indoor climbing wall and some outdoor recreational space surrounding Gerhard Fieldhouse and the Langone Athletics & Recreation Center.
Of course, all of these projects depend on the financial backing of our loyal supporters and alumni. Without your help, we would not be in a position to offer our student-athletes such first-class facilities in which to compete and train. If you would like more information on how you can support our programs by joining the Bison Club, please contact Todd Newcomb at 570-577-1771 or tnewcomb@bucknell.edu.
On the giving front, I would like to close with a positive statistic passed along by manager of athletics fundraising Terry Conrad. As part of this year's Senior Gift Drive, Terry reports that 135 of our 138 senior student-athletes made a gift to Bucknell. That's 97.8 percent! Congratulations to the Class of 2010 on all that they accomplished during their four years at Bucknell, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them as successful alumni.
Best regards, and as always ... GO BISON!
John P. Hardt
Director of Athletics & 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
-- June 18, 2009
-- Aug. 21, 2009
-- December 21, 2009
-- April 1, 2010
