Senior midfielder Maddy Molinari has been a mainstay on the Bison women’s lacrosse team for the last four years. She was a First Team All-Patriot League selection in 2017, after earning three PL Midfielder of the Week Awards. Maddy is Bucknell’s leading goal-scorer with 36, and she also has six assists for 42 points on the season. Defensively, she has 24 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers to rank among the team leaders, and perhaps her biggest impact has come in the draw circle, where she ranks second in the league with 80 draw controls.

A Manhasset, New York native, Maddy is also an outstanding student majoring in psychology. As a two-year co-captain, she has led the Bison to the Patriot League Tournament in each of the last two seasons.

Bucknell women’s soccer student-athlete Cora Climo recently sat down with Maddy to talk about her time in Lewisburg.

---

 

CC: What is your major and how did you choose this major?

MM:  I am currently a senior pursuing a degree in psychology along with a concentration in management. I am interested in applying the aspect of consumer behavior and social psychology to pursue opportunities in the marketing and advertising world come graduation. Continue reading “Profiles from the Herd: Maddy Molinari” →

Mike Schiappa was a four-year starting defenseman for the Bison men’s lacrosse team. He was a two-time Academic All-Patriot League selection, earning a stellar 3.77 cumulative GPA in biomedical engineering.

Women’s soccer student-athlete Cora Climo caught up with Mike this spring to talk about future plans and what it takes to be a successful student-athlete.

---

CC: How did you choose biomedical engineering?

MS: So my dad is a dentist and my mom is a physician. I’ve always been pretty interested in the sciences, medicine specifically. But I was also drawn to math in high school. I thought that biomedical engineering was a really good combination of all of those interests. And so when I realized that Bucknell had a great engineering department and a smaller biomedical engineering department, I was really excited to have that opportunity to develop a really good relationship with my professors and really develop my engineering skills, as well as my knowledge of the medical field. Continue reading “Profiles from the Herd: Mike Schiappa” →

With the Patriot League Swimming & Diving Championships getting underway this week, we caught up with Bison junior Chris Devlin, who is already one of the conference’s top swimmers.

Chris was the 2016 Patriot League Swimmer of the Meet — Bucknell’s first such honoree since 1993 — after winning the 200-yard backstroke and 400-yard individual medley. A year earlier, he won the 400 IM and was runner-up in the 200 back en route to PL Rookie of the Year honors. This year he enters the PL Championships with the league’s fastest time in the 200 back by nearly two full seconds.

The school record-holder in the 100 back, 200 back and 400 IM, Chris has also competed at some of the top national meets, including the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials and the 2015 Phillips 66 National Championships.

Chris is an economics major from Dresher, Pennsylvania.

Continue reading “Profiles from the Herd: Chris Devlin” →

Bucknell University’s location in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, sits not far from a region in our state that not long ago enjoyed tremendous prosperity thanks to the flourishing coal industry. Unfortunately, as coal usage has lessened through the years, and many of these small, blue-collar towns in our area are struggling.

Mount Carmel is one such town. Located about 35 miles to the southeast of Lewisburg, Mount Carmel has seen its population dwindle through the decades, and poverty is rampant. While we might not be able to bring back the coal, the Bucknell community is trying hard to help revitalize the town, and help Mount Carmel keep its identity.  Continue reading “Profiles from the Herd: Tyler Greene” →

The Bucknell women’s cross country team didn’t just repeat as Patriot League champions 10 days ago in Easton, the Bison dominated in historic fashion. Never before had a team swept the top four places in the championship meet, but we did just that with Christine Bendzinski, Kate Scott, Sarah Chandler, and Colleen Buckley going 1-2-3-4. Toss in a strong 13th place finish from Elizabeth Sheprow, and the Bison totaled a paltry 23 points to easily outgun runner-up Lehigh, which had 75.  Continue reading “Profiles from the Herd: Christine Bendzinski” →

The Bucknell field hockey team has had a few “sister acts” in recent years. Two senior co-captains on the great 2014 team that captured the Patriot League regular-season title were Liz Wills and Kelsey Mucelli. Their younger sisters, Anna Wills and Amy Mucelli, were both sophomores on that team, and both were poised for stardom themselves. Today, Anna and Amy are co-captains on a team that has similar aspirations to the 2014 squad.

The Bison enter Sunday’s game at Monmouth with a 4-3 record against a very difficult schedule. The losses have come against No. 4 Penn State, No. 15 Princeton and a strong Saint Joseph’s team. The victories include a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over No. 12 Albany, a season-opening 2-0 shutout of Rutgers, and a 2-1 road win over Lehigh in the Patriot League opener last week.

Two more top-10 opponents are still on the horizon in No. 1 Syracuse and No. 9 Boston University, but the Bison have shown well thus far. Boston University, American and Lafayette, typically the three other challengers for the Patriot League title along with Bucknell, all come to Graham Field this year.

For Anna Wills, she is doing much more than trying to follow in her sister’s footsteps. She truly comes from a family of athletes. Anna’s mother, Elizabeth McCabe Wills, won an AIAW national championship with the La Salle field hockey team in 1980, and that team is enshrined in the La Salle Hall of Athletes. Anna’s older brother Brendan graduated from Bucknell in 2011 and was a member of the Bison swimming and diving team. Another brother, Frank, was a varsity swimmer at West Chester. Her grandfather played college soccer and a great-grandfather played professional baseball in the Philadelphia Athletics system.

Anna has done quite a good job forging her own legacy at Bucknell. She is in her fourth year as a starter and is now considered one of the Patriot League’s premier defenders. She earned First Team All-Patriot League honors last season, and was a member of the 2016 Preseason All-Patriot League Team. She is also a double-major in political science and film studies and has made the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll ever year so far. She was named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team in 2015.

We recently caught up with Anna to talk about her time at Bucknell so far.

Continue reading “Profiles from the Herd: Anna Wills” →

Ask any soccer coach to rank the most important positions on the field, and center back will always be at or near the top. Center backs are typically the last line of defense before the goalkeeper, and they generally spend much of the game keeping an eye on the other team’s dangerous striker. The best center backs have the physical blend of size and speed, they are great communicators, and they have enough technical skill to handle the ball coming out of the back once possession is gained. One lapse in focus can undermine 89 minutes of hard work.

Fortunately for head coach Brendan Nash and the Bison men’s soccer team, they have had a “rock” at center back for the last three years. Senior co-captain Zack Rockmore, that is. Playing a position that has long been a hotbed for Coach Nash (think back to guys like Mayowa Alli, Pat Selwood and Mike Lookingland), Zack has played nearly every minute of every game since arriving at Bucknell prior to the 2014 season.

Zack began his collegiate soccer career at Boston College, but injuries derailed his shot at a significant role with the Eagles, and he made the decision to transfer to Bucknell. He was immediately part of a Patriot League championship team in 2014, and then last year he earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors.

Last week we sat down with Zack and chatted about his journey to Bucknell, that magical championship run, and what he has learned about leadership along the way.

Continue reading “Profiles from the Herd: Zack Rockmore” →