Bucknell University Athletics
From the AD's Desk
6/10/2011 8:00:00 AM | Bison Club
June 10, 2011
Greetings Bison fans!
I write to you on yet another 90-degree day while wondering what happened to spring? Well we are close to wrapping up another very successful season of Bison Athletics. Now that our javelin throwers Laura Rycek and Ted Heitzman (an All-American after finishing sixth in the nation!) have competed at their respective NCAA championships this week, another campaign is in the books.
Our 2010-11 season can best be summed up in back-to-back headlines on BucknellBison.com last week. The first headline read, “Bucknell Athletics Programs Again Exceed NCAA Academic Performance Standards,” and the second stated, “Bucknell Captures 17th Patriot League Presidents' Cup.”
At Bucknell we talk boldly about being a national leader in terms of achieving success both on the playing fields and in the classroom, and those two banner headlines validate all of the hard work put forth by our student-athletes, coaches and staff.
This was the seventh year that the NCAA has compiled data under its “Academic Performance Rate” formula, which awards points for both academic eligibility and retention. Programs that do not meet a certain baseline score are subjected to penalties such as loss of scholarships and postseason bans. As you might expect, Bucknell annually passes the APR review with flying colors, and this year was no exception. All 27 Bison programs scored well above the national average, and 13 programs earned perfect scores of 1,000.
Prior to the public release of the APR scores, the NCAA issues APR Public Recognition Awards to programs that score in the top 10 percent within their respective sport. Bucknell received 16 of those awards, which was tied for sixth-most among the more than 350 Division I programs.
Congratulations to every Bison student-athlete for taking such pride in balancing your academic work with the sweat you put into being part of a Division I varsity team.
Of course, Bucknell's success was not just limited to APR reports this year, as another big spring season clinched yet another Presidents' Cup! In case you have lost count – and it's starting to get hard to keep track – that is six Cups in a row, 13 of the last 14, and 17 in the 21-year history of the Patriot League. Bucknell also captured both the Men's and Women's Cups again this year, marking the seventh time we have swept all of the hardware. Remarkably, we have now won the Women's Cup 14 years in a row.
Special congratulations to the six programs that won Patriot League championships in 2010-11. Men's soccer kicked things off with a repeat performance in the fall, and then men's basketball followed in the winter with its triumphant charge to the title. Spring teams accounted for four more championships, coming in women's rowing, men's lacrosse and men's and women's outdoor track and field.
The men's lacrosse team garnered major national headlines in a season that will go down as one of the best in program history. Patriot League Coach of the Year Frank Fedorjaka had his team locked in all season, and by the time the Bison finished off a 10-3 defeat of Colgate in the league championship game at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, they had racked up a school-record 14 wins and were ranked seventh in the USILA national coaches' poll, also a new program record.
The Bison lax squad did not lose a Patriot League game all season, going 8-0 including the playoffs, they went 9-0 at home and beat six nationally ranked teams. Unfortunately, this storybook season ended a few chapters early, as team dropped a heartbreaker in overtime at Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Bucknell played brilliantly and held the lead for most of the game, but the Cavaliers stormed back in the last few minutes of regulation and won it in OT. The loss became all the more excruciating as we watched Virginia go on to win the national title.
Despite the painful end to the season, I am extremely proud of the entire program for the way it performed this season. To close the regular season with three straight road wins to clinch the No. 1 seed, and then to sweep Lehigh and Colgate by a combined 15 goals in the Patriot League Tournament was really impressive. With the last four games of the year all appearing on national television, and with the media praising Bucknell's talent level and the way it was able to match up with traditional power Virginia, the Bison men's lacrosse program is poised for even bigger and better things moving forward.
In the realm of Patriot League rowing, I think it is safe to say that coach Steve Kish's program has reached the dynasty stage. The Bison captured their sixth consecutive league title back in April, propelled by wins in the varsity eight and second varsity eight on Lake Quinsigamond in Massachusetts. The lightweight eight later won gold at the Dad Vail Regatta for the second time in three years, and that boat finished fifth in the nation at the IRA Regatta on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J., last weekend.
Speaking of multiple Patriot League crowns, hearty congratulations to coach Kevin Donner, who saw his men's and women's track and field teams sweep the outdoor championships for the second year in a row. For the women, it was their third straight PL title and 12th overall.
After coming up just short indoors, the Bison left little doubt in the outdoor meet. The men's team turned in a monster final day and bested runner-up Army by 29 points. Junior Rob Arent was named the most outstanding track athlete of the meet for the second year in a row after winning the 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles, while also breaking the school record in the 110-meter hurdles. Meanwhile, the Bison women also ran away with the meet. Navy finished 25 points behind Bucknell and was the only other team within 100 points of the Bison.
Special kudos to Bob Schanbacher, who has been coaching Bucknell's men's and women's throwers for the last 19 years with tremendous success. This year, five Bison throwers competed at the NCAA East Prelims, and two of them – Rycek and Heitzman – threw the javelin at the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa this week. Heitzman, a local product from nearby Southern Columbia High School, became Bucknell's first track and field All-American since 1996 after finishing sixth in his event.
Elsewhere this spring, the baseball team had another strong season, but its Patriot League title defense came up a little short as Navy prevailed in the third game of a best-of-three series in Annapolis. Bucknell's 1-0, 16-inning victory in game one of that series was one for the ages. Congrats to Doug Shribman, who leaves as Bucknell's all-time home run king, and to Ryan Ebner for winning PL Pitcher of the Year honors.
The softball team was also seeking to repeat as Patriot League champs but just missed qualifying for the league tournament. Women's lacrosse, featuring a lineup of almost all freshmen, also missed out on the postseason. As you may have read, we are currently engaged in a search for a new head women's lacrosse coach, as Caline McHenry stepped down at the end of her fourth season at Bucknell. We wish Caline all the best in the future. And congrats to women's lax goalie Alyssa DeLorenz, who was just named a First Team Academic All-American!
We recently completed the search for our new head men's and women's water polo coach, and I am very excited to welcome John McBride to the Bison Athletics family. John has been an assistant coach at Brown for the last seven years and also has extensive experience with the U.S. National Teams. The Bison women finished seventh at the Eastern Championship this spring.
Wrapping up the spring, the Bison golf and tennis teams turned in their usual share of strong performances. Most notable was Kevin Jamieson's women's golf squad, which finished a best-ever third at the Big South Championship in April. Freshman Lauren Bernard finished second individually and joined senior Katie Jurenovich on the All-Big South Team. This was probably the program's best year ever, as the Bison captured six top-four finishes, two team victories and two individual wins, and the individual and team scoring records were also shattered during the campaign.
The men's tennis team had one of its most successful seasons in recent memory, as Rebecca Helt's squad finished 11-8 overall and made it to the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament. The Bison played very competitive matches with traditional league powers Army and Navy, and they swept the rest of the league competition.
Women's tennis was rebuilding after some big graduation losses this year, and their run of seven straight Patriot League finals appearances came to an end. Senior Lauren Lucido deserves special mention after becoming a four-time All-Patriot Leaguer as well as Bucknell's all-time leader in both singles and doubles wins.
Men's golf was not quite as experienced as in recent years, and after some good moments during the regular season, including a win at the Bucknell Invitational, the team finished fifth at the Patriot League Championship at Navy.
So another terrific season is almost complete, but I would be remiss if I did not offer some heartfelt words of “thank you” to all of those who have helped Bison Athletics maintain this high level of success.
First and foremost, thank you to John Bravman, who just wrapped up an extremely successful first year as president of Bucknell University. John has simply been wonderful to work with, and after just one academic year together, I have absolutely no doubts about his appreciation for the educational value of college athletics, pertaining to such ideals as teamwork, discipline, working under pressure and commitment to continuous self-improvement.
I remember spotting John roaming the sideline at a preseason football practice on a sweltering hot day last August, team roster in hand as he was trying to familiarize himself with his new team. Since then he has attended many other games and practices, and I can tell you first-hand that all of our coaches and student-athletes are very appreciative of his support of Bison Athletics.
It would also be impossible to keep up with our increasingly stiff competition without the support of all of you, our loyal alumni and fans. Your attendance at games, friendly notes and contributions to the Bison Club are vital to the program's success. In fact, we are currently on pace to set a new record for most gifts to the Bison Club. THANK YOU, and keep up the great work!
If you have not yet given this year, there is still time to help us set the record. Please contact Bison Club director Todd Newcomb at 570-577-1771 or tnewcomb@bucknell.edu, or donate online.
I am also very proud of our senior student-athletes, who gave back to the Senior Gift Drive at a perfect 100 percent rate this year. To all of you, I say thank you for a great four years, and I hope you will remain active as alumni supporters. Even though there are no more practices to attend or games to play, this is still YOUR program, and I encourage you all to stay involved.
As summer arrives, there are always some facilities improvements going on, and this year is no exception. The new Instructional Golf Center (photo gallery) is now substantially complete, and the indoor space has already seen use from our varsity golfers. The new outdoor practice tee and short-game areas are looking great thanks to what had been a cool, wet spring, but it will still be another several months before they are fully rooted and ready for use.
The baseball and softball teams just completed a full season with their new dugouts and scoreboards, and now we are continuing the final phase of the project, which will address permanent seating grandstands and pressboxes for both facilities. Planning also continues for a major renovation of Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
And I am very excited to announce a summer project that will re-purpose the former Freas-Rooke Pool seating area into a fully dedicated Erg Room for the Bison rowing team.
I wish all of you a safe and enjoyable summer, and as always … GO BISON!
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
-- April 14, 2011
