Collegiate sports such as football, basketball, soccer, track, and others dominate the entertainment scene in modern society. However, the only major varsity sport established on campus around the founding of Bucknell University was baseball. The majority of sports played on campus were crude games with no organization.
Crude sports were very similar to intramural sports played on college campuses today. Groups of students would meet to play in the former Tustin Gymnasium with no organized league or professional coaching. These games consisted of sock-ball, corner-ball, town-ball, hand-ball, and crude football.
Tustin Gymnasium can be compared to today’s Davis Gym. Students meet often to play pick up basketball, including in a three-on-three league. Hand-ball can be still seen played today in the Kenneth Langone Fieldhouse on the racquetball courts.
Tustin Gymnasium continues to stand on east campus and represents the importance of recreational sports. Jermaine Truax, head director of athletics and recreation at Bucknell University since 2018, reveals that an estimated 50% of students are involved in club sport activities.
Baseball was the first varsity sport known to Bucknell and saw large success over its first few years. In September of 1867, an all first-year student team was assembled known as the both the “Olympians” and the “College Nine”. The team went on to play four consecutive seasons together, only losing one game.
Bucknell Baseball would continue to gain hierarchical status when Christy Mathewson, one of the most decorated pitchers in baseball history, would go on to play for the Bison. Today, Bucknell baseball is consistently a top contender in the Patriot League Tournament.
The first game of football ever played under collegiate rules at Bucknell came in November of 1883. Lafayette challenged Bucknell to a dual on Thanksgiving Day. Lewisburg residents made the trip and classes were cancelled to experience the game first-hand on campus. Lafayette had a well-trained team, while Bucknell had no prior coaching at all, leading to a sound defeat.
Track and field was also established as a varsity sport in the 1880s. In the early 1900s, there was a banked, wooden 200 meter track on Sjoka Lawn. The team ran workouts there in preparation for the IC4A Championship meet at the end of each season. There was no recruitment until the mid 1900s however, when Art Gulden joined the program and transformed it from a club-like sport to a nationally ranked powerhouse.
The first ever women’s sport on campus was varsity basketball. The majority of the team was made up by Bucknell’s female institute students, ages 14 and up.
“Women were able to play intercollegiately against other schools,” remarked Isabella O’Neill, university archivist in Bertrand Library. “There was a group at the university called ‘The College Girls Athletic Association’, so they coordinated the games.”
Sports have always played a significant role both recreationally and competitively for students at Bucknell University. Today, Bucknell has 27 varsity teams that complete in the Patriot League. Committed to growth on and off the field, Bucknell continues to push its athletes to be well-rounded individuals in more ways than one.
To learn more about the first Bucknell University Athletics, please refer to the following links:
Bucknell University. “Bison Baseball Through the Decades, Presented by Geisinger.” Bucknell University Athletics, 27 July 2020, bucknellbison.com/news/2020/7/27/bison-baseball-through-the-decades-presented-by-geisinger.
Bucknell University. “Men’s Track & Field Through the Decades, Presented by Geisinger.” Bucknell University Athletics, 29 Mar. 2021, bucknellbison.com/news/2021/3/29/mens-track-and-field-mens-track-field-through-the-decades-pr-by-geisinger.
Jermaine Truax Discusses Historic Venues and Bucknell Baseball
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