Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Tim Bolte Named Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year, One of Two Bison Named to Academic All-Patriot League Team
11/22/2011 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 22, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - A Bucknell student-athlete has been named the Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year for a third consecutive year. Senior LB Tim Bolte (Towson, Md./Loyola Blakefield) earned the honor, the league announced Tuesday, following back-to-back honors by 2011 graduate Travis Nissley. Bolte and classmate Bryce Robertson (Reserve, La./East St. John) were also two of 14 players across the league selected to the Academic All-Patriot League Team.
Bolte is the sixth Bison to earn the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year, joining Bill Farthing (1989), David Berardinelli (1991, 1992), Rob Glus (1993, 1994), Kevin Eiben (2000) and Nissley (2009, 2010).
This is the third major academic award this season for Bolte, who was named a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy in September and earned his second straight CoSIDA Academic All-District II selection earlier this month.
A three-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll member who has earned a 4.0 grade-point average each of the last three semesters, Bolte is now a two-time member of the Patriot League All-Academic Team. He owns a 3.93 cumulative GPA while majoring in East Asian Studies (Chinese) and political science, and is a six-time member of Bucknell's Dean's List.
Bolte has spent time as a tutor at Cristo Ray Jesuit High School in Baltimore, serves on the executive board of Phi Gamma Delta and is a member of Alpha Lamda Delta Honor Society and Phi Sigma Alpha Honor Society. In addition to a full academic schedule, Bolte is currently co-writing a future publication through the Bucknell Institute of Public Policy titled "Islam and Democracy: Testing the Micro-Level Foundations".
Bolte, who plans on attending law school, completed an internship at BDP International in Shanghai, China. While there, he held American culture and English proficiency classes after work for those in the company who wanted to improve their English and learn more about the United States.
A two-year starter at linebacker, Bolte ranked second on the Bison with a career-high 64 tackles this season, boosting his career total to 142. He started the final 22 games of his career and finished his senior season with nine tackles for loss, two sacks, five passes defended, one interception, two forced fumbles and a pair of fumble recoveries.
Bolte moved into a starting role for the first time as a junior and finished second on the team with a career-high 57 tackles.
Having already earned his first career All-Patriot League honor earlier in the day, Robertson earned a spot on the Academic All-Patriot League Football Team for the first time in his career after a record-breaking season. A four-year starter, Robertson made national headlines thanks to his interception prowess this year. He came one pick shy of equaling the FCS record with 13 interceptions. He posted four multi-interception outings and had at least one interception in nine of Bucknell's final 10 games.
Robertson easily broke the 24-year-old Patriot League record of nine interceptions in a season and the Bucknell record of 10 that had been held by Gene Luccarelli since 1970. He has five more interceptions than anyone else in FCS in 2011.
Robertson finished the season with more interceptions than Bucknell had turnovers (12), and his 184 interception return yards broke Kevin Eiben's 11-year-old program record.
A 2011 First Team All-Patriot selection, Robertson totaled 39 tackles this year and finished with 148 for his career. He also had a strong tenure as Bucknell's primary punt returner, returning 18 punts for a career-high 140 yards this fall. He finished the year with a career-high 346 all-purpose yards.
Off the field, Robertson is a management major with a minor in Jewish studies. He owns a grade-point average of better than 3.2 and he posted a 3.83 last spring to land on the Bucknell Dean's List.
A resident assistant on campus, Robertson is part of the T.E.A.M. mentor program that mentors freshmen to help ease their transition to college. He is also the service project manager for his management class, has volunteered at a Lewisburg-area church handing out goods to the homeless and is an active volunteer at Lewisburg Elementary School reading books to students.
To be eligible for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and the Academic All-Patriot League Team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and be a starter or key player in his/her sport. Freshmen or students in their first academic year at their school are not eligible for the honor.
The Academic All-Patriot League Team is in its second year and was added for all sports in the 2010-11 seasons to honor additional student-athletes who excel both on and off the field. The Football Academic All-Patriot League Team has 14 student-athletes to equal one-half the size of the sport's All-Patriot League First Team.
Bolte and Robertson helped Bucknell to a 6-5 record in 2011, a five-win turnaround from 2010.
Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Tim Bolte, Bucknell, Sr.
Football Academic All-Patriot League Team
Tim Bolte, Bucknell, Sr.
Bryce Robertson, Bucknell, Sr.
Chris Looney, Colgate, Jr.
Adam Lock, Colgate, Sr.
Jeremiah Kayal, Georgetown, Sr.
Wilburn Logan, Georgetown, Sr.
Mike McCabe, Holy Cross, Sr.
John Macomber, Holy Cross, So.
Tom Mannix, Holy Cross, Jr.
Brandon Ellis, Lafayette, Sr.
Mark Ross, Lafayette, So.
Zach Barket, Lehigh, Jr.
Tanner Rivas, Lehigh, Sr.
Ryan Spadola, Lehigh, Jr.
