Bucknell University Athletics
Track and Field's Leonard Joseph Overcomes Difficulty to Star at Bucknell
4/5/2013 8:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
April 5, 2013
By Thomas Walter, Athletic Communications Student
William Earnest Henley once wrote, "It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul."
Perhaps nobody better embodies this more than senior Leonard Joseph who has created his own path in this world.
Joseph is going to Xavier University next year to pursue his Master's degree in industrial psychology. While he still has half of a semester at Bucknell left, when Joseph leaves Bucknell this May it will be as one of the most decorated track and field athletes in Bucknell history.
In all of program history he ranks second in the hammer throw, fourth in the weight throw, and seventh in discus. He has won three individual Patriot League Championships and earned Honorable Mention All-America accolades.
And to think that at one point in his life, the possibility of Joseph attending Bucknell or any other university was slim to none.
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"I've been self-sufficient since I was ten years old," said Joseph. "Because of the way I was living at home it was necessary for me to be able to take care of myself."
Prior to his senior year of high school, due to circumstances that Joseph chooses not to dwell on, he was forced to move into his aunt's basement in Whitesboro, N.Y. This meant changing school districts. Despite the changes that were engulfing his life, Joseph continued to excel in athletics.
That excellence in athletics was a launching pad for Joseph that began to attract colleges. He was a member of both the football team as well as the track and field team in high school. He holds the school record in discus at both Whitesboro and Clinton high schools, was named track team's MVP as a senior and placed seventh in the hammer throw at the 2010 USATF Junior National Championships.
His tremendous skills were what caught the attention of Richard Hunt, the principal at Clinton High School. When Hunt first came to meet Joseph and his family, he noticed that Joseph was living in the basement. The principal proceeded to go buy his newest student a dehumidifier to make the difficult living situation a little easier.
"When he bought me the dehumidifier it showed me that he was not just the average principal," says Joseph. "He took a special interest in the students who were disadvantaged. Ever since then he has been a supporting figure in my life and I would not be at Bucknell without his help."
Finally, after seemingly ignoring him for so long, good fortune had finally found Joseph.
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Once arriving at Bucknell Joseph did not waste any time before he began to dominate. He placed third in the discus and fourth in the hammer throw during the Patriot League Outdoor Track & Field Championships in his freshman year. Joseph, originally recruited by Bucknell as a discus thrower, was convinced by Bucknell's assistant coach Bob Schanbacher to focus primarily on the hammer.
Schanbacher has turned out to be another role model from whom Joseph has learned so much. In addition to the actual coaching aspect, Schanbacher has helped Joseph away from competition as well.
"When I got to Bucknell I noticed he liked to develop his athletes beyond the skills needed to compete," Joseph remembers. "He wanted to take care of me and teach me things that I could not learn at home that extend beyond academia and athletics."
Schanbacher, however, believes that Joseph's growth off and on the field comes from his own determination.
"Lenny is an athlete that has had extremely high goals from the start," Schanbacher said. "He is very driven to accomplish things, and he is able to focus very intently on what he does. He is the same way academically as well."
Joseph has been a consistent member of Bucknell's Dean's List and Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. From 2011-12, he was member of the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team.
It is the combination of Joseph's skills that has allowed Schanbacher to help teach and him Joseph into one of the strongest throwers in Bucknell history.
Since arriving at Bucknell, Joseph has become a physical specimen, something Schanbacher believes is necessary in order to compete in the hammer throw. But in an event that requires the precise timing and extreme amounts of repetition, it is Joseph's commitment to detail and technique that sets him apart.
"He takes the information you give him and is able to put it into motion language faster than anyone," Schanbacher explains. "He is more adaptable than most."
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"First and foremost, I want to be an All-American. Second, based on where I am with projections I hope to break the school record in our opening weekend," Joseph said, who is scheduled to begin his season at the Colonial Relays April 5-6.
Those are Joseph's goals for this spring season. He will have one last chance to accomplish these goals, as this will be his final competitive season.
"In some ways goals limit you. I don't like dealing with goals," said Schanbacher. "Lenny has all the answers. I have just given him some of the tools. But, I do have a feeling Lenny is going to have a pretty good season."
To reach his goal Joseph will have to work hard to improve on his 17th-place finish at the NCAA Championships last year, but working hard is something Joseph has dealt with all his life. He has not had the luxury to slack. He is not about to start now.
While the memories of the past may always be with him, Joseph has shown that he has enough fortitude to deal with anything that comes his way. He also knows that when faced with trying times the tools he has learned from the hammer throw, hard work and attention to details, can go a long way to finding success.
Considering all that Joseph has been through and what he has accomplished, some may say he has already found it.
