Six to be Inducted into Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame
6/28/2011 8:00:00 AM | Hall of Fame
June 28, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Pat Flannery '80, a former Bucknell point guard who later coached the Bison basketball team to its first NCAA Tournament victory, joins five other outstanding former student-athletes who will be inducted into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame on Homecoming Weekend this fall. Also elected were Mike Anders '98, the winningest pitcher in Bucknell baseball history; Hugh Donovan '96, an All-America defenseman and co-captain of Bucknell's 1996 undefeated men's lacrosse team; Chris Simpson '94, a dynamic guard who scored more than 1,200 points for the Bison basketball team in the early 1990s; Julie Sweitzer Granger '99, one of Bucknell's best-ever women's distance runners; and Ken Twiford '62, a two-sport star in football and baseball.
The new class will be inducted as part of the 33rd Hall of Fame Induction Breakfast, hosted by the Bison Club on Homecoming Weekend. This year's ceremony will take place on Saturday, Oct. 22, and the new Hall of Famers will also be re-introduced at halftime of the Bucknell-Holy Cross football game later that afternoon.
The Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame was established in 1979 to honor the very best in the history of Bison athletics. This year's induction brings to 223 the number of outstanding student-athletes, coaches, administrators and friends of Bucknell whose contributions to Bucknell athletics are forever preserved in the Hall of Fame.
| KEN TWIFORD '62 was one of the top two-sport athletes during his days at Bucknell, and as a senior he was the winner of the Al Humphreys Award as the top multi-sport competitor in his class. In football, Twiford played both fullback and linebacker under Hall of Fame coach Bob Odell. He was one of the top players on the 1960 Bucknell team that finished 7-2 and captured the Lambert Cup as the best team in the East. That year he was named to the All-Middle Atlantic Conference First Team, as he was ranked in the top seven in the conference in both rushing and receiving yards while also intercepting six passes in nine games on defense. In addition to starring both offensively and defensively, Twiford also handled punts, kickoffs and PATs and was almost constantly on the field.
Twiford was also a three-year letterman in baseball, playing both shortstop and third base. He led the team in home runs during his three seasons from 1960-62 and ranked fourth nationally in homers per game in 1961. He was a Second Team All-MAC selection in 1962 while serving as team co-captain. Twiford was offered a bonus to sign with the Kansas City Athletics following graduation, but at the same time he received a military draft notice. He later served as a football and baseball coach at Franklin & Marshall. |
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| PAT FLANNERY '80 might be best-known for coaching the most successful team in Bucknell men's basketball history in 2005-06, but he was also a terrific point guard on some very good teams for coach Charlie Woollum. He captained the 1979-80 Bison team that finished 20-7 and ushered in an era of unprecedented success at Bucknell. Flannery remains the only player ever to lead the Bison in assists for four straight years, and he finished his career with a total of 505 assists, which was a school record at the time and still ranks third in Bucknell history. He also tallied 779 career points and boasted a career free-throw percentage of .787. Bucknell posted a 38-16 record over Flannery's final two seasons, and he captained the team each of those years. Flannery also played on the baseball team at Bucknell.
In 1994-95, Flannery was selected to replace Woollum as head coach at his alma mater. Over the next 14 seasons he would go on to post 234 wins on the Bucknell sideline, second-most behind only Woollum's 318. In 2004-05, Flannery's team capped off a 24-win season with a first-round upset of national power Kansas in the NCAA Tournament. It was the first NCAA win for any Bucknell or Patriot League team. A year later, the Bison broke the school record with 27 wins, earned a national top-25 ranking for the first time in program history, and as a No. 9 seed beat Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. During the three-year span from 2004-05 through 2006-07, Flannery led the Bison to a 73-22 overall record, including wins over national powers such as Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Kansas, Arkansas, DePaul and Xavier. The team went 38-4 in Patriot League play, the best three-year stretch in conference history, and 36-4 at home. Just as impressive, the program had a 100 percent graduation rate during that span. Flannery retired after the 2007-08 season with a final career record of 329-221 (.598) overall and 234-178 (.568) at Bucknell. He earned his 300th career victory at Xavier on Dec. 20, 2006. |
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| CHRIS SIMPSON '94 earned First Team All-Patriot League honors while leading the Bucknell men's basketball team in scoring in both 1992-93 and 1993-94. Playing for Hall of Fame coach Charlie Woollum, his 20.5 points-per-game average as a senior in 1993-94 is the third-highest single-season mark in program history, and he is one of only seven Bison players ever to score more than 20 points per game over a full season. Simpson's 1,229 career points currently rank 13th on Bucknell's all-time list. He also shares program marks for points in a half (27), consecutive 20-point games (6) and most 20-point games in one season (16).
A powerful and durable guard, Simpson ranks in the top 10 on Bucknell's career lists in free throws made and attempted as well as free-throw percentage. He once went 15-for-15 at the line against George Mason, a Bucknell and Patriot League record for most free throws made in a game without a miss. In 1993-94, Simpson averaged an incredible 39.2 minutes per game, also a program record. As a junior and senior, Simpson was a part of teams that became the first at Bucknell to record back-to-back 20-win seasons, and both of those squads made appearances in the Patriot League championship game. Simpson received honorable mention on the Basketball Times All-East Team as a senior, and he was a co-recipient of the Christy Mathewson Awards as the top athlete in his class. |
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| HUGH DONOVAN '96 captained the most successful men's lacrosse team in program history, the 1996 squad that finished a perfect 12-0, captured the Patriot League title and earned a No. 9 national ranking. Donovan was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year that season, and he is considered to be one of the top defensemen ever to wear the Orange & Blue.
Donovan earned Honorable Mention All-America honors in 1996 after helping the Bison rank No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense, allowing only 6.25 goals per game. He was a two-year captain and three-time all-conference pick. Donovan earned the Christy Mathewson Award as the top athlete in his class, and he later went on to play professional lacrosse. |
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| MIKE ANDERS '98 was an outstanding pitcher on the Bucknell baseball team, and he still owns program records for most career victories (21), fewest walks per nine innings (1.77), games started (37), innings pitched (265) and complete games (21). Anders also ranks third on Bucknell's career strikeout list with 181.
In 1998, Anders was named Patriot League Pitcher of the Year after posting an 8-3 record with a 2.96 earned-run average for a team that won a school-record 31 games. He was a First Team All-Patriot League selection as a senior and a Second Team pick as a sophomore, and he was also a two-time ECAC All-Star. Anders, who also played some basketball at Bucknell, captained the baseball team his senior year, and he earned the Bison Club Award at the annual Senior Awards Dinner. |
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| JULIE SWEITZER GRANGER '99 is one of the most decorated women's distance runners in Bison annals, with honors coming both on and off the track. In cross country, Sweitzer became Bucknell's first NCAA Championship qualifier in 1997, and she went on to place 84th in the national meet. She was the Patriot League cross country individual champion in 1997 and 1998, and she was a three-time all-league and two-time All-East honoree.
In track and field, Sweitzer was All-East in the indoor mile and outdoor 3,000 meters. Indoors, she claimed Patriot League titles in both the 800 meters and the mile as a junior, and in the mile and 1,000 meters as a senior. She was also part of three league-champion 4x800-meter relay teams indoors. Sweitzer was named Patriot League Athlete of the Meet at the 1998 Indoor Championships, she was a four-time All-Patriot League selection, and her seven indoor gold medals are tied for fourth-most in program history. Outdoors, Sweitzer captured Patriot League titles in the 1,500 meters in both 1997 and 1999, and she was part of the league-champion 4x800 relay as a senior. Now 12 years since her graduation, Sweitzer still owns Bucknell records in the outdoor 3,000 meters (9:40.32) and the indoor mile (4:52.41) and 1,500 (4:39.63). She also owned school records in the outdoor 800 and 1,500, as well as the 4x800 and distance medley relays, that have since been surpassed. Sweitzer was a mechanical engineering major who graduated with a 3.8 grade-point average. She was a six-time Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year - three times in cross country, twice indoors and once outdoors - and was a Third Team Academic All-American in 1999. She was a part of four Patriot League championship teams, including a "Triple Crown" (cross country, indoor and outdoor sweep) in 1998-99. Sweitzer won both the Christy Mathewson Award as the top athlete in her class and the Margaret L. Bryan Award as the top multi-sport athlete in 1999. |
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