When Craig Bunker graduated from Masconomet Regional High School in 2007, he planned to pursue a college career on both the football and lacrosse fields at Colby College.
Ultimately, he chose to "be great at one sport rather than be good at two," and the former quarterback focused his efforts on lacrosse.
That decision paid off. A short stick midfielder, Bunker was named a Division 3 First Team All-American for his work as a faceoff specialist, becoming the Mules' first-ever First Team selection and first-ever three-time All-American.
Oddly enough, the Topsfield native arrived in college with minimal experience in the faceoff 'X'. For the former three-sport All-Cape Ann League athlete, though, faceoffs afforded him a chance to play right away at Colby; had he gone to Trinity College in Connecticut (another school he was considering), they told him he likely wouldn't play until his junior year.
While he admits there was a transition period — he won just 48.9 percent of faceoffs his freshman season — Bunker's diligence finally paid off the following year.
"It's definitely a learning curve for any faceoff guy," Bunker said. "My freshman year, my numbers weren't that good. The summer after my freshman year, after taking a couple hundred reps a week, it really kicked in."
The secret to his success came in something nearly all of his Colby classmates had at their disposal: an iPod.
"I have a set of faceoff whistles on my iPod, and basically I just put in my headphones and just react to the whistle and work on my moves," Bunker explained. "It built my hand quickness and muscle memory, so on a live rep you just act."
After honing his skills collegiately over his first two seasons in Waterville, Maine, Bunker kicked it into overdrive as an upperclassman. The two-time captain won 72.4 percent of his faceoffs last season, which ranked him third in all of Division 3, and won 71.4 percent of his faceoffs this season, good for fourth in the country.
The honors kept coming for Bunker this week, too. He was named the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division 3 Specialty Player of the Year for his outstanding faceoff and groundball capabilities. He one of seven positional players in NCAA Division 3 lacrosse to be honored.
He's also slated to play for the North team in today's USILA Division 3 North/South Senior All-Star Game at Goucher College in Baltimore.
With Colby's season-ending loss to Middlebury in the NESCAC quarterfinals earlier this month, Bunker is now faced with another difficult transition.
"The biggest change is not being on a team and that competitiveness," the recent graduate said. "Not being there with them will probably be the toughest aspect."
The sport he's played for more than a decade won't fade away immediately. He's planning to play in various tournaments over the summer before he begins his job at Brown Brothers Harriman, Co., a privately owned financial services firm in Boston.
While Bunker said he may pursue a career as a coach in the future, the often-lauded scholar-athlete hopes to first establish himself professionally.
Regardless of any future with the sport, though, Bunker can cherish the fact that his contributions have helped put his self-proclaimed "small school in Maine" on the map in Division 3.
"We play the big dogs in Division 3 every year and compete," Bunker said. "I think that Colby has the potential to be one of the best. The future of Colby is bright."
That all depends, of course, on the Mules' ability to replace one of the nation's best faceoff men.
