Jan. 1, 2008

2007 Men's Water Polo All-America Teams

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell's men's water polo star Jason Rechel (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) was recently named Honorable Mention All-America by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches . The only Bison player honored, Rechel, a senior, adds the citation to his CWPA All-Southern Division First Team honor and his Eastern Championship All-Tournament First Team award this past fall.

Bucknell's Scott Schulte Award winner at the squad's annual awards banquet last month, Rechel is the second straight Bison to be honored with Honorable Mention All-America plaudits, following Mark Masterson.

A team co-captain, Rechel posted team highs in goals (70) and points (102), becoming the first Bison to reach those milestones since 2000. He also added 32 assists to stand second on the team and finished his career with 169 goals, 96 assists and 265 points. He came up just 15 goals, 29 assists and 47 points shy of joining Bucknell's career top-10 lists in those categories. No player has joined any of those lists since Kevin Permisohn in 2000.

Rechel was also Bucknell's top sprinter for the third consecutive year. He won 52 of 106 sprints and finished with 169 sprints won in his career. Additionally, Rechel was strong on the defensive end with 34 steals, which ranked tied for fourth on the squad. He wrapped up his four-year career with 116 steals to rank eighth in Bison history.

A player who improved his offensive game every year, Rechel had a standout senior campaign, scoring at least one goal in 30 of 33 games, including a seven-goal outing against Johns Hopkins in late October. The seven goals were the most by a Bison since 2001. Overall, Rechel posted 17 multiple-goal games.

Bucknell posted a 20-13 record in 2007, its first 20-win campaign since 2001, and just the eighth in program history. The Bison finished the year ranked 19th nationally and took fifth at the Eastern Championship.