Bison Women's Water Polo Through the Decades, Presented by Geisinger

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- In 1998, Lynn Kachmarik had already carved out quite a successful coaching career at Bucknell. Then known as Lynn Comer, she arrived at Bucknell in 1982 as the head women's swimming and diving coach, and she became the longest-tenured and winningest head coach in the history of that program. In 1987, Kachmarik became the first woman in NCAA history to be named head coach of a men's water polo team, and in 1994 she succeeded Hall-of-Famer Dick Russell as head coach of the men's swimming and diving team. All the while, Kachmarik remained a major advocate for women's water polo, a sport in which she excelled herself at Slippery Rock University and on the U.S. National Team. Bucknell maintained a club women's water polo squad until finally, during the 1998-99 academic year, the sport gained varsity status. Kachmarik relinquished her swimming coaching duties to become the first head coach of the Bucknell varsity women's water polo team.

Over the next 22 years, the Bison women have won nearly 53 percent of their games and are annual Eastern contenders. Bucknell is in a period of resurgence right now under head coach John McBride. The Bison went 25-12 and finished a best-ever third at the Collegiate Water Polo Association Championships in 2019. Last year's team was off to a 15-4 start when the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each day this week, we will take a look back through the decades and hear from many of the top players who helped shape the burgeoning history of the Bison women's water polo program. Special thanks to Geisinger for sponsoring the series.

1990s
Today we take a look back at the origins of Bucknell women's water polo, as it transitioned from a club sport to full-fledged varsity program. Joining coach John McBride and current student-athlete Larissa Hodzic are three members of the original varsity squad: Dana Cull '99, Paige Cull '01 and Deann Long '02. Dana Cull captained the first varsity team in 1999, and she was a Second Team all-conference selection that year. Younger sister Paige was a three-year letterwinner and captain of the 2001 team. Her 189 career steals still ranks fourth on Bucknell's all-time list, and her 132 goals rank 20th. Long earned two varsity letters, and she was the recipient of the team's Lynn Kachmarik Award in 1999.

2000s
For the Bison women's water polo program, the decade of the 2000s still marked the program's infancy, and yet it was an era filled with tremendous team and individual accomplishments. There was also a landmark happening on the facility side during the 2002-03 academic year, when the team moved into its beautiful new home at Kinney Natatorium. The modern, spacious aquatics center played host to the Southern Championships in its very first year in in 2003, and a year later coach John Zeigler's squad had the opportunity to host the U.S. National Team for a training session and an exhibition game. After Bucknell's first varsity team in 1999 posted an 11-17 record, program founder Lynn Kachmarik departed the school for another professional opportunity, and in year two under new head coach and BU alum John Zeigler the Bison recorded their first winning season (16-14) and jumped to a third-place finish at Southerns. Bucknell recorded back-to-back 23-win seasons in 2005 and 2006, and in 2008 under first-year head coach John Abdou the Bison won a school-record 26 games -- a mark that still stands today -- captured the ECAC Tournament title at Kinney, and came within a 10-9 overtime loss to Princeton from winning their first Southern Championships title. In 2006, Meagan Gins became Bucknell's first Honorable Mention All-American, and two years later Valentina Rozas garnered the first of her three straight Honorable Mention All-America citations. Aubrey Rowe joined that club in 2009, giving the Bison two honorees in the same season for the first time, and Rowe also garnered CWPA Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Gins '08, Rozas '10 and Rowe '09 are three of the guests on today's chat, and they are joined by Adrienne Schober '02 and Meg Blitzer '05. Schober was Bucknell's first varsity recruit, and she was a First Team all-conference selection in 2000. She still ranks third in assists (142) and 12th in points (257) on Bucknell's all-time lists. Blitzer was a two-year team captain, a two-time First Team all-conference selection, and the first women's water polo student-athlete to win the Christy Mathewson Award as the top athlete in her class. Her 198 career goals were a team record at the time and still rank sixth, and she is also 10th in points (282) and second in steals (199). No Bison has played in more games than Gins' 132 from 2005-08. Her 237 career goals stood up as the Bucknell record until last spring, when Ally Furano eclipsed that mark. Gins also ranks third in points (351) and ninth in assists (114), and she was a rare four-time all-conference selection, including First Team honors in each of her final three seasons. Rowe is still Bucknell's all-time leader in steals in a season (84) and career (251), and she also ranks second in points (358) and fourth in both goals (222) and assists (136). She was the league's Rookie of the Year in 2006 and also claimed three all-conference citations. In addition to her three Honorable Mention All-America honors, Rozas was the CWPA Southern Division Player of the Year in 2008, and she was a three-time First Team all-conference pick. On Bucknell's career charts she now ranks third in goals (232) and steals (194), 10th in assists (99) and fifth in points (331).

2010s
The decade of the 2010s started with a bang, as the 2010 squad finished 17-10 and beat 19th-ranked Princeton 11-9 in the Tigers' home pool to claim Bucknell's first-ever Southern Championships title. The Bison have earned eight Honorable Mention All-America citations in this decade, including two-time honorees Kandis Canonica and Ally Furano. The latter is a current senior who has already broken the Bucknell career goal-scoring record, even in just two-and-a-half seasons. Aubrey Rowe held the previous team record for goals in a season with 75, set in 2009, until Furano piled up 123 in 2019. Furano already had 77 last year when the season was halted prematurely. Canonica '11, who is one of five Bison with 200 or more career goals, is one of the guests on today's chat, along with Julianne Valdes '14, Eleanor Marrs '16, Hannah Sunday '16 and Marta Considine '18. Canonica still holds the team records for assists in a season (64) and career (221), and her 423 career points also remains the school record. She was a four-time all-conference selection, including a pair of First Team citations, and she was an Honorable Mention All-American in 2010 and 2011. Valdes was a three-time Second Team all-conference selection, and she ranks seventh in team history in points (312) and assists (128) and eighth in goals (184). Marrs still ranks fifth on Bucknell's career chart in assists (134) and ninth in points (285). Sunday who is back with the team as an assistant coach, was a three-time First Team all-conference selection and a three-time All-CWPA Tournament Team honoree. She ranks seventh on the team's career goals list with 194, and she is also the season (128) and career (387) record-holder for ejections drawn. Considine was a 2018 Second Team all-conference selection and an Honorable Mention All-American.

Bucknell University Athletics

Bison Women's Water Polo Through the Decades, Presented by Geisinger

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