Hall of Fame
A native of Beverly, Mass., Bucknam served as UNI’s head men’s track and field coach from 1984-2008 and the women’s head coach from 1997-2008, after beginning his career as a men’s assistant at UNI in 1979.
In his 25 seasons at UNI, Bucknam guided UNI to 35 league titles, including two top-10 and six top-20 finishes at NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships.
A 33-time Conference coach of the year, Bucknam produced three national champions and an outstanding 34 All-Americans, who collected a total of 85 All-America distinctions. In all, Bucknam has sent 146 qualifiers to the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships.
UNI earned 69 All-America honors from 2000–08, including 51 total from 2005-2008. UNI’s 47 men’s All-Americans from 2005-08 ranked as the 10th-most in the nation over that time.
During his time as assistant and head coach, UNI won or shared 38 league titles (Mid-Continent and Missouri Valley), including winning nine-straight MVC men’s indoor crowns (2000-2008), and also guided the Panthers to 25 MVC team titles and 231 MVC individual crowns.
In Bucknam’s final season with the Panthers, he tallied an all-time best outdoor showing for the program with an 11th-place finish (22 team points) at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championship in Des Moines, Iowa.
UNI also posted back-to-back ninth-place finishes at the 2007 and 2008 NCAA Indoor Championships.
In men’s NCAA Outdoor Championships, his team’s best finishes were 11th in 2008 and 17th in 1997, while at men’s NCAA Indoor Championships, top placings were ninth in 2007 and 2008, 12th in 2002, 18th in 2006 and 20th in 2001.
Bucknam’s men’s teams won 11 MVC indoor titles, six Valley outdoor titles and four cross country championships, while his women’s squads took two indoor titles, an outdoor crown and a cross country title.
He was named U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Region Coach of the Year nine times, including five-straight selections.
His top UNI student-athletes included MVC Hall of Famer and national champion Joey Woody (400-meter hurdles), national champions Tyler Mulder (indoor 800 meters) and Jacob Pauli (pole vault) and multi-time All-Americans Dirk Homewood and Balazs Csillag.