By Tyler Diedrich
Editor in Chief
I remember shaking a tall, lanky, somewhat-athletic-looking kid’s hand during one of those awkward orientation icebreakers in 2008. I figured he was a basketball player. I didn’t figure he was the soon-to-be savior of St. Bonaventure basketball and face of the class of 2012.
Nearly four years later, I realize what began that day for my classmates and I.
We took a special ride – a ride very few have Bonnies experienced since the 1970s. We can look back on four memorable years of continual progress and lofty expectations that came to fruition on the hardwood this year.
I haven’t been following Bonaventure athletics long, but it’s not difficult to realize this class of senior athletes was truly special during its four years in Olean.
Before we get to the obvious, I must acknowledge two groups whose accomplishments didn’t get the attention they deserved at the time.
Women’s soccer coach Manoj Khettry did a heck of a job recruiting in 2007-08. His team, led by seniors Tori Burchett, Kaitlin Krisko, Emily Buccilla, Chelsea Smetzer and Hannah Lapp – plus their redshirt junior classmates Dakota Carroll, Alicia D’Alessandro and Shannon Van Riper – made the Atlantic 10 Championship each of the last four years after an eight-year hiatus. The group’s 42-35-5 overall mark tied the school record for wins by a senior class, all while maintaining a sterling academic record.
The men’s swimming and diving senior class – Michael Dansa, Peter Koenig, Yi Liu, Jack McMahon, Ilya Nenashev and Francisco Nieves – took silver in the A-10 Championships all four years (six consecutive overall).
Other senior athletes leave empty handed. The baseball and softball teams failed to make the postseason each of the last three years and have some ground to make up the next few weeks in order to finally get back. The lacrosse team, including nine seniors, failed to make a postseason as well. The women’s swimming and diving senior class finished with just two of its original nine members in Lanae Petty and Alycia Gossett.
Relatively few seemed to notice with all the hoopla on Bob Lanier Court the last few years, though.
The women’s basketball senior class – Jessica Jenkins, Megan Van Tatenhove, Armelia Horton (redshirt) and Jennie Ashton – constructed by far the best record of any class in program history at 98-37. Behind it, the Bonnies went to four national postseason tournaments, highlighted by an NCAA Sweet 16 run this year.
As for the men, redshirt senior Da’Quan Cook leaves the Bonnies after five years, while Michael Davenport returns next year as a
redshirt senior after sustaining a season-ending injury Dec. 10.
The leaves us with the man who defined the class of 2012’s legacy.
He’s the same man whose hand I shook at orientation without realizing how significant he would end up being to this university.
His name?
Andrew Nicholson.
His play – and, therefore, his postseason recognition – improved each year, culminating with A-10 Player of the Year honors as a senior, all while balancing a demanding workload as a physics major and a bombardment of media requests. Nicholson will likely parlay his success at Bonaventure into a successful career – on the court in the NBA and/or in the laboratory.
But I’m not sure the big man ever flashed a smile as wide as the one he did while joining his teammates in hoisting the A-10 Championship trophy that magical March afternoon in Atlantic City. For Nicholson, it’s never been about collecting individual honors or being the center of attention. Same with Jenkins, Van Tatenhove, the women’s soccer seniors and the majority of their class.
Their accomplishments in the sports arena illustrate the Bonaventure tradition of humility perfectly.
I speak for the entire class of 2012 when I say it’s hard to ask for a better way to go out. We waited until our last few months here, but this athletic year was a climax of a four-year lesson straight from St. Francis that’s true in sports and life: “Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation.”
The Bonnies didn’t quite go all the way, but we waited patiently and leave Bonaventure content knowing our athlete classmates and their teams maximized their potential and took us on a ride we’ll always remember.
diedrits@bonaventure.edu
