lacrosse great Bob Vencak

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Photography: 
courtesy Rutgers Athletics

As the Scarlet Knights men’s lacrosse team begins a promising season, after going 10–4 in 2017, players could find inspiration in the story of former lacrosse great Bob Vencak, pictured, who was posthumously inducted into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame in the fall. A three-time All-American defenseman and team MVP from 1979–1982, Vencak RC’82, who passed away at the age of 57, captained the 1982 squad to a 10–2 record, the first Rutgers lacrosse team to reach double-digit victories. He was an All-World selection to play for Team USA, which won the 1986 gold medal at the Toronto World Games. “By the time he reached his senior year, he was really the most feared defenseman in the world,” says Jim Teatom RC’77, a player at Rutgers from 1973–1977.