Friday, October 1, 2004 Athletics honors alumni achievements By Sara Kamber co-sports editor Emotions ran high on Saturday for the 2004 Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony where members of the class of ’94 were welcomed back to acknowledge their place in Behrend sports history. The 15"’ annual Hall of Fame was held in the McGarvey Commons, where guests were greeted by Athletic Director, Brian Streeter, and enjoyed a dinner reception before the ceremony kicked off. The five misty-eyed inductees in cluded two women’s basketball players, Anne Bonner and Wendy Ebinger Sudnerman, two men’s basketball play ers, Don Plyler and Byron Thome, and representing men’s tennis, Eric Good. Women’s basketball coach Roz Fomari introduced the first former ath lete, Anne Bonner. Fomari recalled her excitement about being able to coach both Bonner and Ebinger, then seniors, in her first season as the Behrend women’s basketball head coach. “I told some of the ‘93-‘94 team that was there to support Anne and Wendy that I wish I had the opportunity to coach them now,” said Fomari. “I am much more prepared to handle situations and coaching elements than when I was a rookie coach. I kind of wish I knew then what I know now.” Bonner and Ebinger led women’s bas ketball to their most successful three year run in the history of the sport at Behrend. Bonner finished her career shooting 53 percent from the field and 80 percent at the line. She tops the record books as number one in field-goal per centage, number two in points per sea son with 431, and number two in field goals made in a single game with 11 as well as holding thirteen other records. As a result of scoring 431 points during her senior season, Bonner was named to the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Confer ence Southern All-Star Team. Bonner warned the crowd filled with family members, athletic staff, and stu dent athlete representatives that she would try her best to get through her speech without crying, but made no promises. She choked up when recall ing her first meeting with Fomari. Coach had outlined her expectations for Bonner and told her, “this is your job, and I ex pect you to do it.” Today, Bonner still holds her coach’s confidence in her abili ties as sacred. “I am really proud of all that Anne and Women’s tennis rolls win streak at six, lead AMCC By Mike Tomko staff writer The women’s tennis team continued its great play this week winning four games, three of them against AMCC teams and all in consecutive days. Following these four impressive victories, two of them by the score of 9-0, the lady Lions sit atop the AMCC conference alone. “The team lost only one match out of three days of games. The girls played very well for having three straight days of matches,” said Coach Jeff Barger. “It was a big confidence boost.” On Sept. 24, the team defeated Chatham 8-1 in Pittsburgh. Next the team traveled to Maryland for two matches, one on Satur day and Sunday. On Saturday the lady Li ons shut out Frostburg 9-0 and continued their winning ways on Sunday by shutting out Penn State Altoona 9-0. “It was worth while because they are in our AMCC division. So it was good prac tice to play them now before the champi onships,” said freshman, Allison Mudrey. Intramural Sand Volleyball Champs... cood- Prelect Mayhem men’s - Fockers Bryon Thorne, Wendy Ebinger, and Eric Good pictured with Athletic Direc tor Brian Streeter. The Hall of Fame ceremony took place in the McGarvey Commons. her teammates accomplished,” said Fomari. “It is always a great feeling to have such an impact on a student athlete’s life.” All-star guard, Wendy Ebinger, guided her team to 70 wins over four seasons, ECAC championships, and the NCAA tournament. She, too, is ranked in more than 15 categories including number one in field-goals made in a game notching 12, number one in all time steals with 290, and number one in assists with 386. Ebinger reminded the guests that no matter how aggressive she was on the court or how many point she scored, none of her accomplishments would have been possible without her team. She recalled her days playing on the Perry courts and was saddened that a place she held so close to heart had now been built over. Ebinger said she felt honored to be inducted with four of her closest friends of that time, whom she felt all built an important legacy to their respective programs. Eric Good led the men’s tennis team to 14 wins in 1993 and 13 in ’94. Dur ing his career he posted a 47-30 mark in singles play, and his 40-16 doubles record is still the best in Behrend his tory. Eric Good was the most emotional speaker of the inductees saying many times that the other four were athletes, he was just lucky to be there. When stop ping to remember Herb Lauffer, the Ath letic Director at the time of these ath letes’ college careers, he almost could not go on. Lauffer was remembered by all “It was rough playing three matches in a row but then we had Monday off and an other match on Tuesday so we were all pretty well rested.” On TUesday, the team had a home game against a talented Waynesbuig team. Frus tration set in early for Waynesbuig as they were down early and often. Mudrey and partner Mindy Calvert set the tone winning their doubles match 8-3 with Mudrey domi nating the net throughout Mudrey also won singles match 6-1,6-4, helping the lady Li ons win against Waynesbuig by a score of 6-3. This win gives the lady Lions a six game winning streak. “It was good competition,” said Mudrey. “Last year Waynesbuig beat us pretty bad so it was good to come back and win.” Despite the team’s recent win streak, which now stands at six games, few fans have come out to the games to support the team. “It’s nice when people come and cheer us, but you can’t force people to go,” said Mudrey. To this point, the team leads the AMCC five of the inductees and each noted that he holds a special place in their hearts. Don Plyler and Byron Thome are con sidered two of the best to ever run the court for the Lions. Plyler is especially noted for his long-distance shooting, holding number one records in three pointers made in a season with 196, and three-pointers made in a game at nine. He holds a number of other records as well, and was named Male Athlete of the Year in 1991-92. During his speech, he thanked Thome for being his go-to guy without whom he would not be here. Thome has been named one of the most athletic players in Lions history by the Athletic Department. In his senior season, he totaled 568 points, which is the third most all-time points scored in Behrend men’s basketball history. Thome made his mark on the record books finishing number one in steals at 171, number two in all-time scoring with 1,386, and number three in assists with 321. He was the first ever Division 111 All-American at Behrend. While Thome remembered Lauffer, he recalled a story of a visit back to Behrend when Lauffer sat Thome down and said “thank you.” Thome said that it was not until that night he realized what Lauffer was thanking him for, and in a way, what Lauffer was thanking them all for. ‘This was one of the most talented groups I have seen here,” said Fomari. “It takes a lot qualify for the hall of fame, and certainly this class was a superb group.” conference with a 5-0 record within the con ference and is the only team with a winning record. Overall the Lions have a record of 9-3. “It’s always good to see my ladies domi nate the opposition,” said Brett Pollack, a follower of the lady Lions. For the third straight week the lady Li ons have had the AMCC tennis player of the week. This week the award went to sophomore, Mindy Calvert,. The award was previously held by Freshman, Allison Mudrey and Sophomore .Jenna Yankowski. “This is the third straight week someone from our team has won this award,” said Coach Baiger. “That is pretty good.” The Lions next game is a rematch against Chatham at home on Oct. 3. This is the last conference game of the season for the lady Lions, who have already clinched first place in the AMCC conference. “This year it seems like we are the team to beat This year is the first year we’ve beat teams 9-0,” said Mudrey. “In the past they haven’t done that, so we are doing pretty good so far.” women’s-ASA Brad Ruffo Sport: Class: Brad Ruffo (West Middlesex/West Middlesex H.S.) was named this week’s Beacon/Food and Housing Athlete of the Week. Last weekend at the Allegh eny Invitational, Ruffo fin ished 12 out of 206 runners notching a time of 27:04. Ruffo has been the top men’s Sports psychology major ends research, heads for home Cole during his interview with writer Annie Sevin earlier this week. By Annie Sevin staff writer Mark Cole, a senior from the Univer sity College Northampton, England, has finished his sports psychology research at Penn State Behrend. Unfortunately for Behrend and Cole, he will be leaving the campus today to return to his home Uni versity. “1 would love to stay here for a year, but I’ve got to get back and gradu ate,” said Cole. Cole was here at Behrend for six weeks researching sports psychology for his senior thesis (a 15,000 word paper). He was comparing and contrasting how American and English sports teams ap proach issues such as handling stress, mental attitudes, and coping with a big game. Cole chose Penn State Behrend be cause the campus matched perfectly to Northampton in terms of size, teams, and sports facilities. He said it’s the exact same level of sporting ability here. He chose sports that are available here as well as in England such as soccer, ten nis, golf, volleyball, cross-country, and track and field. He used Behrend ath letes and coaches from those sports teams to conduct the research for his the sis. Mainly, he surveyed them about their athletic experiences. Not only did Cole work with the sports teams, he also worked with the psychol ogy department. Specifically, he worked with Dr. Dawn Blasko. She took an in terest in Cole’s work and encouraged him to talk to Behrend students about the field of sports psychology and how it can help athletes. Cole explained that psychology is very important aspect of athletic competition. “The difference between winning and losing in any sport is not points.. .instead it’s [the athletes] attitude toward their mental game.” He stated that it was a challenge to “convince people that within the world of sports, psychology is a massive field now.” The Behrend Beacon 111 HOUSING AND FOOD SERVICE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Sept. 27,2004 Men’s cross country Sophomore finisher for the blue and white at all three Invitationals this season Next up the team will travel to the Dickinson Invitational on October 2 at 10:00 a.m. Housing and Food Service Athlete of the Week is se lected by the Sports Informa tion Staff. Unfortunately, that wasn’t Cole’s only challenge; he also had to get over the negative attitude obstacle. “The biggest challenge is trying to break down the barriers of people’s negative attitudes in [sports] psychology,” he said. Cole’s research wasn’t about finding the nega tive or positive aspects of sports as some might think. Instead, he maintained it was about comparing and contrasting the differences and similarities of the En glish and American sports teams. During his stay at Behrend, Cole was pleased about how helpful and friendly everyone was. Jokingly, he attributed everyone’s kindness to his nationality saying, “Maybe it’s my accent.” He en joyed his living experience on campus as well. When asked what he thought about Behrend, Cole declared, “Beauti ful, beautiful campus.” He said when people come here; they soon realize what they’ve got. “You’ve got everything you need here. You’ve got shops, food, a gym, everything.” Cole says he enjoyed his stay in Penn sylvania; he thinks Erie is very lucky to be near water. “I’d die to be living any where near water,” he said. Cole enter tained the idea of bringing more water sports to the campus; he thought that perhaps Behrend should make better use of having a lake so nearby. Cole’s stay at Behrend was all too short, but before he says goodbye to North America, he will spend a few weeks in the Algonquin National Park enjoying kayaking, repelling, and hiking. Then he will return to Northampton to graduate this coming May. Cole considers himself lucky for com ing to Behrend to conduct his research. That puts him ahead of the game when he returns to school because the rest of his peers are still on summer vacation. He mused, “I’ve already started my dissertation...[but] I still have to do a year’s worth of classes when I go back as well as write a 15,000 word paper.”
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