Bucknell University Athletics
From the AD's Desk
4/14/2011 8:00:00 AM | General
April 14, 2011
Greetings Bison Fans!
It's been some time since our last update, but please don't take that to mean things have been quiet here in the world of Bison Athletics. Quite the contrary! In fact, we just wrapped up one of the busiest stretches of home events since we opened the Kenneth Langone Athletics & Recreation Center in 2003.
In a four-week span, we successfully hosted a number of major championship competitions. It started with the Patriot League Swimming & Diving Championships in Kinney Natatorium the third week of February. Two weeks later the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships came to Sojka Pavilion for the first time. Sprinkled in among those championship events were four Patriot League Basketball Tournament games, including a fun, retro-style women's game in Davis Gym, as well as the nationally televised men's championship game, which of course included an Orange & Blue celebration at the end! And finally, while the basketball team went off to Washington, D.C., for the NCAA Tournament, we saw some national high school records fall as the PIAA Swimming Championships returned to Kinney Natatorium for the sixth year in a row.
We built the KLARC eight years ago with the vision of hosting major events such as these, and in just the last month alone, tens of thousands of spectators have come to campus. I dare say that the overwhelming majority of them have left with positive impressions of Bucknell.
Our men's basketball team led the Patriot League in attendance for the sixth consecutive year – nearly 48,000 fans saw the Bison play at Sojka Pavilion this year – but that was certainly not the only hoops title to return to Bucknell this season.
Inspired by the passion and leadership of their head coach, Dave Paulsen, the Bison had a return to glory in 2010-11. The team won 25 games, the second-most in program history, went 13-1 during the Patriot League regular season, and topped it off with a 15-point win over Lafayette in the championship game in front of the third-largest crowd in Sojka Pavilion history.
Special thanks to seniors G.W. Boon, Darryl Shazier and Stephen Tyree, who were rewarded for their patience and perseverance through some challenging times. G.W., Darryl and Stephen will certainly be missed, but the good news is that thanks to the terrific recruiting efforts of Coach Paulsen and his hard-working staff, there will be plenty of talent coming back to defend the title next year.
Obviously, the loss to Connecticut at the NCAA Tournament stung, but clearly the Bison ran into one of the hottest teams in the country. The Huskies had just steamrolled five opponents to win the Big East championship, and they kept their strong play going all the way to the national title. Despite the loss, it was a wonderful experience for the team.
And what about the tremendous fan support in D.C.! Almost a thousand fans and alumni met for a pregame tailgate at the Monaco Hotel, and the sea of orange at the Verizon Center was truly amazing. The Bucknell fans were strong in numbers and in spirit, and the turnout drew many positive comments along press row and in the Twitter-sphere as tipoff approached.
Men's basketball was not the only winter program to finish strong. Highlighting an exciting week of EIWA wrestling at Sojka Pavilion was the incredible performance of senior 149-pounder Kevin LeValley, who not only beat a defending national champion to win the league title, but he became the first Bison to win the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler honor. Kevin went on to finish seventh at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors for the second year in a row.
The Bison women's basketball team won its final two regular-season games to jump into fourth place and earn the right to host a Patriot League Tournament game under the new women's tourney format implemented for 2011. Prior to the format change, we had already been awarded the right to host the EIWA Championships in Sojka Pavilion, so the Bucknell-Army quarterfinal basketball game moved over to Davis Gym. This move invigorated many longtime fans who harbored so many fond memories of basketball in Davis, and the Bison women played to the loud, enthusiastic crowd and defeated Army by 14 points. The team bowed out in the semifinals to eventual champion and No. 1 seed Navy.
Championships have been the norm for the Bison track and field program, especially on the women's side, so a second-place finish for the women and a third-place finish by the men at the Patriot League Indoor Championships leave the teams striving for more this spring. Both Bucknell teams are getting healthier entering the outdoor season, and both have championships to defend next month in Easton, Pa.
The men's and women's swimming & diving teams both finished third out of eight teams at the Patriot League Championships before large crowds at Kinney Natatorium. Several school records fell throughout the weekend, and special congrats to Matthew Segar, who went on to win the Eastern championship in the 200 freestyle.
Following that strong winter campaign, Bucknell has moved into first place in the Patriot League Presidents' Cup chase. We were in third place after the fall, but now we have totaled 71.75 points, 9.50 more than second-place Navy. Bucknell also has the lead in both the Men's and Women's Cup standings as we go for our 17th overall title in the 21-year history of the league.
If the month of March is any indication, there appear to be a number of spring sports poised to make a run at a championship.
The men's lacrosse team is off to a 10-2 start – tied with Hofstra for the most wins in the nation – and is tied atop the Patriot League standings with two big road games looming. The Bison have been ranked in the top 20 for most of the season (currently 12th) and have beaten four ranked teams already.
The baseball team had an amazing turnaround in the pitching department after a rough opening weekend at James Madison. With Doug Shribman still blasting home runs at a record pace and the pitching staff compiling an ERA under 3.00 since that JMU series, the Bison are one of the favorites to repeat as Patriot League champions this spring. The team has some work to do after dropping the first two league series, but there are still plenty of games to be played.
The softball and rowing teams also have league titles to defend. Like the baseball team, Heather Rakosik's softball squad is just now diving into conference play, while the rowing calendar gets started a bit later than the other spring sports. Some uncooperative March weather has presented a challenge to the Bison rowers and their training schedule, but Steve Kish's squad will be ready to go after a sixth straight Patriot League championship on Apr. 24 in Worcester, Mass.
We mentioned that the outdoor track & field teams are both looking to repeat as Patriot League champions, and there have already been some fantastic performances early in the outdoor season. Another team with a title to defend is the women's water polo team, which captured its first Southern Division title a year ago. Interim head coach Paul Rave's team is currently 10-14, with six of the losses coming to nationally ranked teams.
The men's and women's golf teams have been very strong as well. In recent years the men have consistently contended for Patriot League titles, including wins in three of the last five seasons. Jim Cotner has a younger team this season, but the postseason hopes are as high as always.
Meanwhile, Kevin Jamieson has done a terrific job with our women's golf program, and this year's team just finished what most feel was the best season in program history. The Bison won two tournaments in the fall, including one in South Carolina against a mostly southern field, and they just finished a best-ever third at the Big South Championship. Every team and individual record has fallen since September, and for the first time the team had two All-Big South honorees in senior Katie Jurenovich and freshman Lauren Bernard. Lauren tied for second at the Big South Championship, just one shot behind the winner. Congrats also to junior Minjoo Lee, who repeated as the Big South Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The Bison men's tennis team is looking very tough this spring and is clearly in contention for a Patriot League title. Rebecca Helt's team is 10-7 overall, including a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to annual title contender Navy, in which the deciding point came down to a close, three-set singles match. The women's team has made it to the Patriot League championship match in each of the last three seasons and is looking to get beyond that barrier later this spring. The women feature one of the league's top players in senior Lauren Lucido, who just became the program's all-time wins leader.
Women's lacrosse has suffered some growing pains this season with a roster that includes 14 freshmen, seven of whom are regular starters. But the team has shown improvement over the course of the season and is coming off an impressive 17-11 victory over Manhattan this week.
Of course, another big part of the April calendar is spring football. Coach Joe Susan and his staff are hard at work during this important training period, and the practices already in the books have been spirited and productive. We hope you will join us for the annual spring game on Saturday, Apr. 16 at 8 p.m. Check out the Web site for the complete practice schedule.
On the facilities front, the baseball and softball teams are just beginning to play their first home games in their newly revamped facilities. Depew Field and Becker Field have both received major facelifts in the last year, with new playing surfaces, dugouts, fencing and scoreboards. The final phase of the baseball/softball improvement project will address the grandstands and pressboxes at both sites.
Construction is just about complete on the new golf instructional center, located on Smoketown Road adjacent to the existing practice range. The Bison golf teams are beginning to make use of the indoor amenities, while the new practice green, short-game area and practice range are looking good, but still need to soak up a full growing season before they are ready for use. Check out some photos of the new facility HERE.
Once again this season Bison Athletics will be hitting the road for our annual Bison Club spring receptions tour. The first reception will be Monday, May 9 at Hurley's in New York City. Others follow on May 10 at Bahr's Landing Restaurant & Marina in Sandy Hook, N.J. , May 17 in Philadelphia, May 18 in Boston, May 19 in Connecticut, May 24 in Washington, D.C., and May 26 in Pittsburgh.
As the weather gets warmer, there will also be an assortment of alumni and friends golf tournaments and other social events, including a football alumni flag football game and reception on June 4 as part of Reunion Weekend. The popular Bud Ranck/Tom Gadd Memorial Kickoff Classic golf event is set for July 31 and Aug. 1.
For more details, check out the Bison Club calendar HERE, or contact Todd Newcomb at 570-577-1771.
We are also in the middle of our annual student-athlete call-a-thon. If you have donated to the Bison Club in the last year, you may have already received a call from one of our student-athletes. This program has been very popular among both our Bison supporters and the student-athletes themselves through the years. The call-a-thon will continue throughout the month of April. If you have not yet received your call from a Bison student-athlete, I encourage you to engage her/him in conversation when the call does come. It is a great way to find out more about that program, and hearing the voices behind the donations gives our student-athletes a better appreciation for those who make a difference for their team.
All of these wonderful things that are happening in Bison Athletics are a direct product of our generous Bison Club supporters. I remind you that a large portion of every Bucknell varsity athletics program's operating budget comes directly from fundraised dollars. We would not be able to compete successfully without you!
So if you have not yet made your contribution to the Bison Club, please call Todd Newcomb, Associate Director of Athletics/Director of the Bison Club at 570-577-1771, or donate online at BucknellBison.com.
Thank you so much for your continued support of Bison Athletics, and as always … GO BISON!!!!
Respectfully,
John P. Hardt
Director of Athletics & Recreation
Bucknell University
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
-- June 15, 2010
Players Mentioned
