COLLEGEVILLE - Ursinus College inducted eight individuals into its Athletic Hall of Fame on November 2.
Taking their place among the college's all-time greats were Yori Adegunwa '01, Steve Coulter '86, Zeb Engle '09, Mark Schmidt '82, Jennie Moore '09, Ally Shicora '08, Kaitlyn Sutherland '09, and Nikki Thren '09. Ginny Murphy (Migliore) '87 will be honored as the recipient of the Adele P. Boyd '53 Award.
After the induction ceremony, which was slated as a brunch event for the first time, the Class of 2019 was recognized before kickoff of the football game against McDaniel. Below is a list of the new inductees and their impressive athletic resumes:
Yori Adegunwa
An early superstar of the men's track and field program, Adegunwa captured five Centennial Conference individual titles during his outstanding career. He won three consecutive 400-meter hurdles golds at the outdoor meet, including a CC record-setting run of 53.52 seconds at the 1999 championship, and was named Most Outstanding Performer of the Meet the following year, when he also grabbed gold in the 400-meter dash. Adegunwa still holds outdoor program records in the 400 hurdles (51.74) and high jump (6-8) to go with an indoor benchmark in the 400 (49.76). His top high jump mark still ranks among the top 10 in conference history.
Steve Coulter
Coulter was a key cog in a golden age of Ursinus men's soccer, helping to lead the Bears to an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) crown in 1983 and a return trip to the championship game in 1984. The school's all-time leader in assists (21), Coulter's 14 assists during the 1985 campaign are the most by an Ursinus player in a single season. Coulter, who served as team captain during his final two seasons, was an all-region selection in both years and was named first team All-MAC South as a senior.
Zeb Engle
Engle is the one of the premier pitchers in the storied history of baseball at Ursinus. The school's all-time leader with 302 strikeouts and 272 innings, Engle was the Centennial Conference Pitcher of the Year and a second team All-American as a senior in 2009, when he led the conference in wins, strikeouts, and ERA. A two-time first team All-CC selection, Engle delivered more strikeouts than any other left-handed pitcher in conference history, three times leading the league in punch-outs and twice in ERA; the southpaw also topped the conference in strikeouts per nine innings all four years of his career. Engle, who compiled a 23-11 overall record with 17 complete games, ranks third in program history in both categories, and his 3.27 career ERA is good for fourth all-time.
Mark Schmidt
A four-year linebacker for the Bears, Schmidt racked up 142 tackles and 5 sacks during his tenure in Collegeville. Schmidt's greatest achievements, however, have come since he delved into the coaching ranks, developing local powerhouses at both Neshaminy High School and Imhotep Charter. During a 19-year run at Neshaminy, Schmidt guided the Redskins to three District One championships and the school's first PIAA Class-4A state title in 2001. His charges finished that season with a perfect 15-0 record and a top-10 national ranking, with Schmidt collecting coach of the year honors from the Pennsylvania State Coaches Association, American Football Monthly, Riddell, Schutt Air, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. A five-time coach of the year selection by the Bucks County Courier Times, Schmidt was inducted into the Neshaminy Football Hall of Fame in 2006, when he skippered the Pennsylvania Big 33 team to a resounding victory over Ohio. Schmidt gained entry into the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2012.
Schmidt went to Imhotep in 2015, when he served as defensive coordinator and offensive line coach for a squad that finished with an undefeated record for the first time and garnered a No. 10 national ranking. He took over as head coach the following year, leading the Panthers to another undefeated regular season as well as Public League, Philadelphia, and District 12 crowns and a trip to the PIAA Class-4A state championship game.
Schmidt and his wife founded the Bucks County Challenger Football and Cheerleading program for special needs children, which serves hundreds of families and brings together players from almost a dozen high school football teams throughout the region for an annual 12-wwek Sunday morning program.
Prior to Neshaminy, Schmidt served five seasons as offensive line coach at Lock Haven University. Before that, he made stops at Temple, Penn, and the University of Kentucky.
Jennie Moore
Moore is one of the most decorated multi-sport athletes in recent Ursinus history, racking up seven All-Centennial Conference certificates between field hockey and softball and driving those squads to five combined championships during her time in Collegeville, most notably joining fellow inductees Sutherland and Thren in leading the field hockey team to the national title in 2006. She was a two-time first team All-American in field hockey and was named the conference's player of the year as a senior in 2008 after the Bears captured their fourth consecutive CC title. A standout in the classroom as well, Moore was a four-time member of the NFHCA National Academic Squad and a two-time Academic All-Centennial honoree. She ranks third in program history in goals (72), assists (43), and points (187).
Moore was every bit as elite on the diamond, garnering all-conference laurels all four years of her career. She nabbed first-team honors as a freshman and also as a junior, when she led the CC in RBI (33), walks (21), and total bases (76) en route to driving the Bears to a Centennial Conference championship. She ranks seventh in conference history in doubles (41), 11th in runs (122), and 16th in total bases (247).
Kaitlyn Sutherland
Another dual-sport star, Sutherland was one of the top field hockey players in all of Division III. A three-time first team All-American, she was named Centennial Conference player of the year in back-to-back seasons (2006, 2007) in addition to being a three-time first team All-CC and two-time first team All-region honoree. Sutherland's 63 career assists are the most in Ursinus history, and her 24 assists during the 2008 campaign still top the program charts; she ranks fifth all-time with 159 points. Like Moore, Sutherland was also a key contributor to the softball team, posting a career .306 batting average with seven home runs and 76 RBI and collecting second team all-conference recognition as a junior.
Nikki Thren
The third member of the Class of 2009's field hockey juggernaut, Thren was a two-time All-American, earning second-team honors as a junior and senior to go along with first team all-conference and first-team all-region laurels. Thren was also an exceptional student, twice receiving Academic All-Centennial recognition and posting four appearances on the NFHCA National Academic Squad. A terrific two-way player, Thren ranks second in program history with 20 defensive saves and produced 21 assists on the other end of the field.
Allyson Shicora
Shicora stands alone in the storied annals of Ursinus College women's lacrosse as the only Bear to be named first team All-Centennial three times. One of only 19 players in CC history with that distinction, Shicora holds the school record and ranks fourth in league history with 710 career saves, while her program-record .545 save percentage is good for ninth all-time in the CC. Shicora, who was an Academic All-Centennial honoree and a second team All-Metro Region performer in 2006, led Ursinus to three conference playoff appearances and a pair of trips to the semifinals.
Ginny Murphy (Migliore)
Murphy was a three-sport standout during the 1980s, most notably as a three-year starting forward for the Division I field hockey program. She led the Bears to three top-20 national finishes and back-to-back appearances in the ECAC championship, including a title in 1983. As a junior, she topped the team in assists and received the college's Linda McIntyre Award, given annually to an outstanding female athlete. Murphy also led the team in assists as a senior, when she earned Academic All-America recognition. She was selected to two international touring teams, traveling to England and Holland in 1984 and to England and Wales in 1986.
Murphy was a four-year starter and three-year co-captain for the basketball team, earning PAIAW All-Star accolades as a senior after leading the Bears in assists and steals. She earned one letter in softball, competing on the 1984 squad that won the MAC championship.