Update from Head Water Polo Coach John McBride -- September 2024
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Hello from Bison Water Polo,
I hope this note finds everyone well and that you had a great summer! There is a lot to catch everyone up on so this note may be longer than most. We welcomed five new scholar-athletes on the men’s team: Tyler Hedblad, Jovan Udovicic, Jack Dillane, Ned Smith, and Jake Wedding. We welcomed six new student-athletes on the women’s team: Ashley Hopper, Olivia Hopper, Hayden Hedstrom, Ava Bayne, Arianna Mertens, and Rhys Beutler. We are very excited about both classes. They will bring much-needed depth to both programs!
The men’s preseason was much shorter this year because the NCAA had moved our start date back a week later than usual, cutting our typical 6-9 days of preseason down to three days. That put us a little “behind the eight ball,” so to speak, but this is a very talented group of young men, and they will catch on quickly and are already showing signs of doing so.
We changed things up this year and went to California for our first weekend of games at the UCSD Triton Invite. We usually go to Santa Clara in late October, but I wanted to see what we needed to work on early, knowing we would be behind. We played really well that weekend. The team went 2-2 with wins over UC Merced and Redlands while falling to Long Beach and UCSD. We followed that weekend up by going to the Princeton Invite, where we finished 0-3 against Harvard, Princeton, and Santa Clara. We could have beaten both Harvard and Santa Clara if it had been later in the season, but we fell short in both games. In those two games, we scored a combined 28 goals so offense is clearly not our issue. We need to spend a lot of time on our defensive identity moving forward. Historically defense has been our strongest attribute so I know the team can get there. NO ONE likes defensive practices but the team knows that’s what’s needed and is committed to getting better at it. If you are interested in attending any games this year you can find the schedule HERE.
The women have started their off-season practices. Right now it is just a lot of yardage and weight room. Building their strength and speed is important so we can have a much more competitive season in 2025. We will be much deeper than we’ve been in the past few years because we have finally gotten our roster numbers back to where they should be post COVID.
BUCKNELL HALL OF FAME
We are very excited to have another Bucknell Water Polo great going into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame this year. Garrin Kapecki ’89 will be inducted on Friday, October 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the Terrace Room here on campus. We’d also like to extend an invitation to the classes from’ 74-’79 to attend so we can honor the “original” water polo veterans who helped Bucknell Water Polo get to the position we are in now! You can register for the dinner here.
The following sums up Garrin’s stellar Bison career:
GARRIN KAPECKI ’89 is one of the finest water polo players in Bucknell history, and he earned Honorable Mention All-America honors following his junior and senior seasons. He was a three-time All-Mid-Atlantic Conference selection, claiming Second Team honors as a sophomore and First Team citations as a junior and senior, and in 1987 he was selected as the league’s Most Valuable Player.
Kapecki was selected to the All-Eastern Championship team in all four of his collegiate seasons, including First Team honors in his final three appearances. He helped lead the Bison to a league championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1985, and he captained the team in 1987 and 1988. Kapecki was the second-leading scorer as a freshman on the 1985 championship team with 67 goals and 27 assists. It was his tally with 32 seconds remaining that gave Bucknell a dramatic 11-10 win over Navy in the Mid-Atlantic Conference championship game. The Bison went on to reach the finals in the Eastern Championships, which qualified them for the NCAA Tournament. They defeated Loyola Chicago in the seventh-place game at NCAAs to finish 25-9 with a final national ranking of 11.
Kapecki’s best individual season came as a junior in 1987, when he piled up 110 goals and 63 assists for 173 points en route to league MVP and Honorable Mention All-America honors. He played through a knee injury in his final season in 1988 but still finished with 64 goals and 16 assists while repeating as an Honorable Mention All-American.
Kapecki graduated ranked third on Bucknell’s all-time goals (316) and points (443) lists. He played on four straight winning teams that combined for a 67-41 mark under Hall of Fame head coaches Dick Russell and Lynn Comer Kachmarik.
Following his senior season, he was selected to play for the United States National “B” Team. He represented his country at the Mexico City Olympic Festival before being sidelined with the knee injury, and he also played in three more United States Olympic Festivals in 1989, 1991, and 1993. Kapecki was inducted into the Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame in 2019.
A native of Northbrook, Ill., Kapecki went on to a successful business career while continuing to play water polo as a member of the New York Athletic Club. He helped that team win four national championships, and he remained connected to the sport through numerous volunteer and administrative roles at the local and national levels, including chairman of Illinois Water Polo in the early 2000s. He also served as a color analyst for the Big Ten Network’s coverage of water polo for over 15 years.
Unfortunately, the men’s team will be away for games that weekend and will be unable to attend. Knowing Garrin personally, I cannot think of anyone who deserves this honor more. Congratulations to Garrin!!
The men’s program will host the Bucknell Invitational this weekend, Sept. 20-22 in Kinney Natatorium. We will face Mount St. Mary’s (6 p.m.) on Friday, Fordham (3:20 p.m.) and McKendree (7:20 p.m.) on Saturday, and Wagner on Sunday (12 p.m.). Thanks to an anonymous donation, Kinney Natatorium has now been fitted with the appropriate cameras which will allow us to broadcast home matches. All 16 games of the invitational will be carried on YouTube this weekend.
I look forward to everyone following the men’s and women’s journey this year! See you on deck.
John McBride
Head Water Polo Coach
Bucknell University
jwm035@bucknell.edu
Past Newsletters:
Bison Club support is the driving force behind Bucknell Athletics. Your donations directly impact the holistic development of student-athletes from 27 Division I varsity programs who are building a foundation at Bucknell to become leaders and difference-makers around the globe. Make your gift online, or call 570-577-1771 to support your favorite Bison team today.
I hope this note finds everyone well and that you had a great summer! There is a lot to catch everyone up on so this note may be longer than most. We welcomed five new scholar-athletes on the men’s team: Tyler Hedblad, Jovan Udovicic, Jack Dillane, Ned Smith, and Jake Wedding. We welcomed six new student-athletes on the women’s team: Ashley Hopper, Olivia Hopper, Hayden Hedstrom, Ava Bayne, Arianna Mertens, and Rhys Beutler. We are very excited about both classes. They will bring much-needed depth to both programs!
The men’s preseason was much shorter this year because the NCAA had moved our start date back a week later than usual, cutting our typical 6-9 days of preseason down to three days. That put us a little “behind the eight ball,” so to speak, but this is a very talented group of young men, and they will catch on quickly and are already showing signs of doing so.
We changed things up this year and went to California for our first weekend of games at the UCSD Triton Invite. We usually go to Santa Clara in late October, but I wanted to see what we needed to work on early, knowing we would be behind. We played really well that weekend. The team went 2-2 with wins over UC Merced and Redlands while falling to Long Beach and UCSD. We followed that weekend up by going to the Princeton Invite, where we finished 0-3 against Harvard, Princeton, and Santa Clara. We could have beaten both Harvard and Santa Clara if it had been later in the season, but we fell short in both games. In those two games, we scored a combined 28 goals so offense is clearly not our issue. We need to spend a lot of time on our defensive identity moving forward. Historically defense has been our strongest attribute so I know the team can get there. NO ONE likes defensive practices but the team knows that’s what’s needed and is committed to getting better at it. If you are interested in attending any games this year you can find the schedule HERE.
The women have started their off-season practices. Right now it is just a lot of yardage and weight room. Building their strength and speed is important so we can have a much more competitive season in 2025. We will be much deeper than we’ve been in the past few years because we have finally gotten our roster numbers back to where they should be post COVID.
BUCKNELL HALL OF FAME
We are very excited to have another Bucknell Water Polo great going into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame this year. Garrin Kapecki ’89 will be inducted on Friday, October 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the Terrace Room here on campus. We’d also like to extend an invitation to the classes from’ 74-’79 to attend so we can honor the “original” water polo veterans who helped Bucknell Water Polo get to the position we are in now! You can register for the dinner here.
The following sums up Garrin’s stellar Bison career:
GARRIN KAPECKI ’89 is one of the finest water polo players in Bucknell history, and he earned Honorable Mention All-America honors following his junior and senior seasons. He was a three-time All-Mid-Atlantic Conference selection, claiming Second Team honors as a sophomore and First Team citations as a junior and senior, and in 1987 he was selected as the league’s Most Valuable Player.
Kapecki was selected to the All-Eastern Championship team in all four of his collegiate seasons, including First Team honors in his final three appearances. He helped lead the Bison to a league championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1985, and he captained the team in 1987 and 1988. Kapecki was the second-leading scorer as a freshman on the 1985 championship team with 67 goals and 27 assists. It was his tally with 32 seconds remaining that gave Bucknell a dramatic 11-10 win over Navy in the Mid-Atlantic Conference championship game. The Bison went on to reach the finals in the Eastern Championships, which qualified them for the NCAA Tournament. They defeated Loyola Chicago in the seventh-place game at NCAAs to finish 25-9 with a final national ranking of 11.
Kapecki’s best individual season came as a junior in 1987, when he piled up 110 goals and 63 assists for 173 points en route to league MVP and Honorable Mention All-America honors. He played through a knee injury in his final season in 1988 but still finished with 64 goals and 16 assists while repeating as an Honorable Mention All-American.
Kapecki graduated ranked third on Bucknell’s all-time goals (316) and points (443) lists. He played on four straight winning teams that combined for a 67-41 mark under Hall of Fame head coaches Dick Russell and Lynn Comer Kachmarik.
Following his senior season, he was selected to play for the United States National “B” Team. He represented his country at the Mexico City Olympic Festival before being sidelined with the knee injury, and he also played in three more United States Olympic Festivals in 1989, 1991, and 1993. Kapecki was inducted into the Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame in 2019.
A native of Northbrook, Ill., Kapecki went on to a successful business career while continuing to play water polo as a member of the New York Athletic Club. He helped that team win four national championships, and he remained connected to the sport through numerous volunteer and administrative roles at the local and national levels, including chairman of Illinois Water Polo in the early 2000s. He also served as a color analyst for the Big Ten Network’s coverage of water polo for over 15 years.
Unfortunately, the men’s team will be away for games that weekend and will be unable to attend. Knowing Garrin personally, I cannot think of anyone who deserves this honor more. Congratulations to Garrin!!
The men’s program will host the Bucknell Invitational this weekend, Sept. 20-22 in Kinney Natatorium. We will face Mount St. Mary’s (6 p.m.) on Friday, Fordham (3:20 p.m.) and McKendree (7:20 p.m.) on Saturday, and Wagner on Sunday (12 p.m.). Thanks to an anonymous donation, Kinney Natatorium has now been fitted with the appropriate cameras which will allow us to broadcast home matches. All 16 games of the invitational will be carried on YouTube this weekend.
I look forward to everyone following the men’s and women’s journey this year! See you on deck.
John McBride
Head Water Polo Coach
Bucknell University
jwm035@bucknell.edu
Past Newsletters:
Bison Club support is the driving force behind Bucknell Athletics. Your donations directly impact the holistic development of student-athletes from 27 Division I varsity programs who are building a foundation at Bucknell to become leaders and difference-makers around the globe. Make your gift online, or call 570-577-1771 to support your favorite Bison team today.