All RSS feed content is owned by the respective 3rd party website.
HALL OF FAME INDUCTS 17
 |
| Hall of Fame 2001 inductees: (seated) Penny Waderich-Fuehrer, Pamela Church, Lesa Hojnicki Sayer, Carolyn Misch, John Gersbach, Carl Wren, Craig Smith, John Sullivan, Jr. (accepting for John Sullivan, Sr.); (standing) Jeffrey Wittig, Samuel Shatkin, Thomas Gibbons, David Drummond, Louis Alexander, Jr., Michael Cirrincione, and Atlas Evans. Not pictured: Neil Alexander. |
Seventeen former athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators were inducted
into the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame at the start of Meliora Weekend.
The 2001 batch of Hall of Famers includes two sons of legendary coach and athletic
director Louis Alexander-Louis, Jr. ’51 and Neil ’50-who join their father in
the hall, and the group includes Penny Waderich-Fuehrer ’90, the first woman
athlete cited for winning national championships as a player and a coach.
Inductees are:
Louis Alexander, Jr. ’51-Captain and most valuable player of the University
basketball team in 1950-51, Alexander set a single-season scoring record in
1951. He was named by Street & Smith’s Basketball Yearbook as one
of the top 50 basketball players in the East. Before joining the Navy, Alexander
coached freshman basketball and baseball at Rochester. The chairman of the Rochester-area
College Athletic Directors, he served as varsity baseball and basketball coach
and then director of physical education and athletics at Rochester Institute
of Technology.
Neil Alexander ’50-A basketball and baseball player, he was co-captain and
most outstanding player of the basketball team for two seasons. After a long
career in the food industry, he retired from Alliance Foods.
Pamela Church ’85-A four-year letterwinner in field hockey and lacrosse, Church
helped the field hockey team win its first New York State AIAW championship.
She was a three-time First Team All-State honoree in lacrosse and was named
to the First Team All-ECAC Regional Team in 1985. A member of the U.S. Field
Hockey Association from 1985-1997, Church played field hockey and coached lacrosse
as well as participated in two marathons after graduation. She is senior project
manager at Raytheon Systems Company in El Segundo, California.
Michael Cirrincione ’69-A three-year baseball player, Cirrincione finished
28th in batting average in the nation (.388) in 1967 and served as interim head
coach of the team during his senior year. He also played three years of football
for the University. He spent his career in the Rochester City School District
as a teacher and administrator, receiving the Rochester Administrator of the
Year recognition in 1998-99.
David Drummond ’82-The four-year NCAA Division III All-American in six events
for the swimming team set six school records (three individual, three relay).
He was the two-time Upper New York State College Swimming Association individual
champion. Since receiving his master’s in fine arts in acting from the University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Drummond has acted in more than 80 productions as well
as in film and television.
Atlas Evans ’71-A four-year letterwinner in track and field, Evans set school
records in four events. He captained the track team in 1970 and was a member
of the 440 All-America relay team. Evans is chief financial officer of the MGH
Institute of Health Professions in Boston.
Penny Waderich-Fuehrer ’90-A four-year letterwinner and three-year starter
for the women’s soccer team, Waderich-Fuehrer played on the 1986 and 1987 NCAA
Division III national championship teams and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament
Team in 1987. The women’s soccer team won three straight UAA titles between
1987 and 1989. As coach of Monroe Community College’s women’s soccer team from
1993-98, she won the NJCAA national championship and was runner-up twice. The
three-time Northeast Region Coach of the Year, she is the only woman to have
won a national title as a player and coached a team to a national title. She
coaches three youth soccer teams and is pursuing certification in secondary
social studies.
John Gersbach ’39-Gersbach played football for four years, basketball for three
seasons, baseball for one season, and competed in track and field for three
seasons. He set the University broad jump record and was the top scorer in freshman
basketball his sophomore year. After serving in the Army and working as a psychologist
for the U.S. Veterans Administration, he worked for 29 years for Dundee Mills,
Inc. in New York City and Philadelphia.
Thomas Gibbons ’56-The four-year football player was a member of the school’s
first unbeaten, untied team in 1952, when he led the team with 680 yards rushing
and nine touchdowns. He led the team in rushing each of the next two years and
earned the Associated Press Little All-America recognition each year. During
his four years playing football, the team had a 24-7 record, the most successful
period in the team’s history to that point.
Lesa Hojnicki Sayer ’89-An All-American in track and field, Sayer helped Rochester
to its highest-ranked finish at the national championships-the NCAA Division
III national indoor runner-up in 1989. She won four titles at the UAA championships
as a senior and finished in the top three at the New York State championships
nine times. She broke records in the 800-meter indoor and outdoor run and the
1,000-meter indoor run. A human resource leader for Pizza Hut, Inc., she represented
New Jersey on a professional exchange team to Pakistan in 1994.
Carolyn Misch ’89-The All-American in cross country and track and field finished
14th at the NCAA Division III cross country championships, the first Rochester
female to qualify for cross country nationals and the first to win All-America
honors. She was a captain for three teams in 1988-89. Misch works for the Raleigh,
North Carolina, planning department.
Samuel Shatkin ’79-The Yellowjacket football team’s leading rusher in 1978,
Shatkin earned the Most Valuable Offensive Back and Most Valuable Team Player
trophies and the Stinger Award for most outstanding plays in one season. He
has a private practice in plastic and reconstructive surgery in the Buffalo
area.
Craig Smith ’39-Smith played three different positions in his four years of
baseball at Rochester and was captain as a senior, hitting over .400 and leading
the team in a one-loss season. He was also a two-year letterwinner with the
soccer team. He spent more than 40 years with the Bureau of Municipal Research
in Rochester, serving as director from 1955-83.
Merle Spurrier-Spurrier served in the department of physical education for
30 years and was director of the women’s program, where she oversaw activities
in 10 sports. In 1961, the Department of Athletics and Recreation recognized
her contributions and achievements by creating the Merle Spurrier Award, presented
annually to a senior woman who has made the most outstanding contribution to
women’s sports by demonstrating leadership, enthusiasm, and service in her four
years at the University. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame posthumously.
John Sullivan ’23-Sullivan’s brother, George, coached the Yellowjacket football
team when John played quarterback. After graduation, Sullivan was an assistant
coach for the Yellowjackets from 1923-26 and also an official for the National
Football Association. He served as head football coach at Aquinas Institute
of Rochester, where he won more than 70 percent of his games. In 1946, he rejoined
the Yellowjacket staff and served as an advance scout. He was inducted into
the Hall of Fame posthumously.
Jeffrey Wittig ’86-A four-year starter at quarterback in football, Wittig was
an All-American twice and set 17 University passing records. He was only the
fifth player in New York State to surpass 5,000 yards passing. Also a pitcher
and shortstop, he co-captained the baseball team for two years and was the team’s
Most Valuable Player twice, hitting a career .336 average and accumulating an
8-4 record as a pitcher. He is the director of corporate sales for Finger Lakes
Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Carl Wren ’50-A baseball pitcher with a four-year record of 17-10, Wren played
for some of Rochester’s most well-known coaches, including Louis Alexander,
Sr. in baseball and Elmer Burnham and Spike Garnish in football. He played on
both sides of the ball in football, taking over as placekicker in his sophomore
year and earning Honorable Mention All-Upstate New York for two years. He taught
high school for 32 years and coached baseball, football, and basketball as well.
Maintained by University Public Relations
Please send your comments and suggestions to:
Rochester Review.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]