Sports

by Ken Baker '99

Smith Becomes Youngest Player to Win Mid-Amateur

Nathan Smith ’01 won the United States Mid-Amateur Championship on October 16, becoming the youngest champion in the history of tournament. Traditionally, the winner of the Mid-Amateur has received an invitation to the Masters at Augusta National.

Smith was declared the champion when his opponent, Bryan Norton, conceded the match after suffering a calf injury on the ninth hole. At the time, Smith had a three-under and was leading the match by four holes. Smith hit the eight of nine greens in regulation.

A native of Brookville, Pennsylvania, Smith was a four-time All-American for the Gators from 1998 to 2001, finishing second at the national championships as a senior. He won the North Coast Athletic Conference title three times and helped the Gators win team championships in 1998, 1999, and 2001.

Four Individuals, One Team Inducted Into Hall of Fame

Four individuals and one team joined the other memorable names in the Allegheny Athletic Hall of Fame during Homecoming festivities on the weekend of October 4. T.J. Erdos ’93, Alyse Holden ’92, Derrick Owens ’93, Sandi Starr Everhart ’87, and the 1988 softball team made up this year’s inductees.

Erdos was a 27-time All-American under his father, head swimming and diving coach Tom Erdos, on the Gator swimming and diving team. He earned All-America honors 11 times as an individual and 16 times as a member of a relay team. Erdos still holds the Allegheny records in the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley. A four-time All–North Coast Athletic Conference selection, he was a member of three relay teams that still hold records in the 400-yard freestyle, 800-yard freestyle, and the 400-yard medley relay.

Holden was the 1992 Female Athlete of the Year after earning four All-America honors and was selected to three all-region teams. She led the cross country team to four NCAC Championships and was the individual champion as a senior. Holden still owns four school records—three indoor (800-meters, 1000-meters, and the mile) and one outdoor (3,000 meters)—and won NCAC titles in the 600-, 800-, and 1500-meter events as well as the 1600-meter relay.

Owens was a member of Allegheny’s All-Century men’s basketball team, which was announced in 1995. The two-time captain was selected to the All-NCAC squad three times in his career. Owens sits 3rd in career assists with 516, 5th with 196 steals, and is 12th with 1,133 points. He is just one of 17 Gator basketball players to score 1,000 points in his career.

Everhart was a powerful thrower on the track and field teams in the mid-1980s and was selected as an All-American twice. She finished fifth in the shot put in 1986 and sixth in 1987 at the NCAA Division III Championships. She was selected as the conference’s NCAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year in 1985 and repeated the honor in the outdoor season of 1986. A six-time NCAC shot put champion, Everhart still owns the indoor and outdoor shot put records as well as the outdoor discus mark.

The 1988 softball team recorded a record of 40-5, finishing second in the nation. On their way to the national tournament, the Gators claimed the Central Region Championship and the Ohio Northern University Championship. The squad also had three All-Americans—Shelley Brown ’89, Nancy Nelson ’88, and Gia Celularo ’88—and head coach Sheilah Lingenfelter was named the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year. Team members, in addition to the three All-Americans, were Ronnie Bohm ’91, Mari Cruikshank ’90, Kristin Egers ’91, Teva Eiler ’90, Dana Gorton ’91, Suzanne Helfant ’88, Kathy Kuhar ’88, Debbie Macejka ’90, Nelson, Mary Snyder ’91, Kyle Sollenberger ’90, Penny Whiteman ’91, and Kirsten Von Vorys ’89.

Turner Rewriting Receiving Records

Senior wide receiver Jon Turner has made a habit of finding the open spot on the field in tough situations. And he’s made a habit of making the tough catch when the Gators need it most.

That’s why he’s become the favorite target of senior quarterback Bubba Smith. And why he’s heading to the top of the Allegheny receiving records list.

As of this writing in October, he’s about to surpass Ronnie Anderson ’97 as the Gators’ career leader in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Anderson was a three-time first-team All-NCAC selection. Turner has already surpassed current offensive coordinator Andy McKenzie ’95 and stands second with 17 career TD receptions. He has surpassed Chris Conrad ’97 on the career yards list and is eyeing McKenzie and Anderson at the top.

Take a look at some of the greatest receiving seasons by Gators. In 1995 Anderson caught 53 passes for 771 yards. In 1969 Jay Lewis ’70 hauled in 53 passes for 909 yards and 15 TDs. Turner’s 2001 season was just as good. That year, as a sophomore, he caught a school-record 59 passes for 802 yards and 10 touchdowns. He tied the school mark with four TD catches against Kenyon that year.

As a junior, Turner earned All-NCAC honors with 38 catches for 430 yards and three touchdowns.

Now, as a senior, he is on track to shatter those numbers. Through two games, he has 19 catches, 190 yards, and two touchdowns. At this pace, he’ll finish the season with 95 receptions, 950 yards, and 10 TDs.

Keep in mind that the career mark for receptions is 125, a number that Turner has a good chance of breaking. He has 121 career receptions. The career TD mark will likely fall this season as well, as “JT” needs one more score to tie the career standard of 18 set by Anderson. In addition, he surpassed Conrad for third on the all-time yardage list with 1,540 yards (1,783, Anderson).

Kajder Smashing Records on the Volleyball Court

Senior setter Vicki Kajder’s performance on the volleyball court has been as impressive as Jon Turner’s on the gridiron. The senior setter set the career mark for service aces in the first match of the 2003 season and surpassed the career mark for setting assists in the season’s 11th match.

Kajder’s marks will likely last a long time, as they did before her arrival. The assists record was set in 1991 and lasted 12 years before Kajder smashed it. Carol Frederick ’89 had set the previous record for aces as a senior in 1988.

As if Kajder hadn’t already done enough damage to the record keeping, the psychology major has the season attack percentage in her sights ... actually, way under her sights. Kajder’s 2003 attack percentage of .531 easily overshadows the current record of .366 set by Hall of Fame member Molly Dietz ’92.

What’s next? Well, for Kajder and the Gators, it’s the NCAC championship and the NCAA tournament. That was their goal at the beginning of the season. After a start that saw Allegheny at 1-3, they’ve come on strong, going 8-4 in their last 12 matches.

Softball, Tennis Welcome New Coaches

Sandra Sanford and Jared Luteran were hired this summer as head coaches for softball and tennis, respectively.

Most recently, Sanford served as an assistant under legendary coach Donna Newbury at Muskingum University, helping the Muskies win the NCAA Division III National Championship in 2001. She was part of the 2001 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Regional Coaching Staff of the Year that season. In 2000 the Muskingum staff and Sanford were named the Central Region Coaching Staff of the Year.

Under her tutelage as hitting coach, the Muskies led the nation in home runs in 2000 and 2001. The team’s 47 home runs in the 2001 championship season was an NCAA Division III record. Sanford was also responsible for recruiting, planning practice, and developing a strength and conditioning program, along with overseeing the academic progress of the team.

In the summer of 2001, Sanford had the honor of being the head coach of the Coast to Coast softball team, an all-star team that traveled to the Netherlands and Belgium for international play.

Sanford graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1995 and earned her master of arts in education from Muskingum in 2002. As a senior at UConn, she led the Huskies to the 1995 Big East Conference championship and the title game of the NCAA Regional Tournament. Sanford was named to the All-Northeast Region first team in 1995.

Luteran has four seasons of collegiate coaching experience at West Virginia Wesleyan College, where as a rookie coach he led the Bobcats to their first conference title in 19 years. He was twice named the conference’s coach of the year while leading the Bobcats to two undefeated seasons. Wesleyan also made its first trip to the NCAA Division II national tournament under his guidance.

A 1998 graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan, Luteran guided the Bobcat men to a record of 40-15 during his four seasons. As the women’s coach for one season, Luteran posted a mark of 11-5, running his career record to 51-20, including a 45-4 mark in conference matches.

In addition, Luteran has served on the NCAA and ITA National Ranking committees, as well as leading physical education and outdoor adventure classes.
As a player, Luteran won three conference titles, two in doubles and one as a singles player. He also captained the Bobcats as a senior at West Virginia Wesleyan.

For updates on how our teams and athletes are doing throughout their seasons, check out the athletics Web site: www.allegheny.edu/athletics.