Reflections Magazine Issue #50 - Spring 1999 | Page 13

National Catholic Basketball
Tournament. The Saints finished second
in the WHAC, earning their fourth
straight invitation to the NAIA Division
II National Championship Tournament.
After defeating Caldwell (NJ) College in
the first round, the Saints fell 67-53 to
#11-seeded Northwestern (IA) College.
Senior co-captains Steve Bennett and
Sam Lofton became the first Siena
Heights players to compete in four
national tournaments. Junior center
Justin Bascom was the lone Saint
named to the All-WHAC Team and the
NAIA honorable mention All-America
Team; he averaged 11.6 points and 8.4
rebounds per game. Lofton, who ranks

SHU’s first annual
Hall of Fame Celebration
By Scott McClure ‘86, Sports Information Director

When the athletic department formed a Hall of
Fame Committee last fall, they knew the
committee’s easiest job would be finding
qualified and deserving candidates for this
year’s inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame class.
This spring, the committee narrowed a field of
15 finalists down to six former Siena Heights
athletes and one former coach for induction
into the Hall of Fame at a reception and dinner
September 25 during Alumni Weekend. The
committee also selected one team to honor as
part of the celebration.
The seven charter Hall of Fame inductees are:

Sports
Round-up

13
team NAIA All-American forward in 1987, he is
the Saints’ all-time leading scorer. He began
his professional career in Denver, played for the
Detroit Rockers for two seasons, and has been
one of the Blizzard’s top scorers over the past
five seasons.
Abby English Waldbaum ’90, outstanding
women’s soccer player of the mid-1980s. A
two-time NAIA All-American midfielder for the
Saints in 1988 and 1989, she ranks among the
top five all-time in scoring and led the Saints to
their first NAIA National Championship
Tournament appearance in 1988.

Martha Hans Palmer ’88, who was the first
Ben Braun, former Saints coach, now
Siena Heights track and field athlete to win an
University of California Berkeley basketball
NAIA national title when she won the 55-meter
coach. The men’s basketball program was
hurdles at the 1988 NAIA
only two years old
when Braun began
Alumni/Family Weekend, Indoor National
Championships. A threehis collegiate
coaching career at
Sept. 24-26: Come back to time NAIA All-American, she
currently is an assistant
Siena Heights in
celebrate with all the coach at Siena Heights.
1977. He coached

in the top five all-time in steals and
assists, was named to the All-WHAC
Defensive Team. Senior forward Dan
McKian (3.25 GPA) was named to the
All-WHAC Academic Team.

Softball
Coach Jenelle Zook’s softball team
finished the season 17-24 overall, 9-19
in WHAC league play. Sophomore
shortstop Jamie Hallenbeck was the
lone Saint named to the All-WHAC
First Team. Sophomore Julie
Giovannucci was an All-WHAC
honorable mention pick. Four Saints
were named to the All-WHAC
Academic Team: senior first baseman
Lea Kell, senior outfielder Jen
Scherer, junior pitcher Kristin Heinze
and junior catcher Jen Roberts. The
fences recently went up at the Saints’
new softball field, and the team is
continued next page

the 1978-79 team to
honorees! Hall of Fame, Shelly Lizyness ’93, softball
a 24-6 record (their
pitching ace who moved the
first winning season)
golf outing, alumni athletic Saints out of mediocrity and
and went 148-103 in
into national championship
eight seasons as the
contenders. A two-time Allcontests and more!
Saints’ head coach.
District pitcher and District
in 1985, he became
Player-of-the-Year in 1990 and 1991, she holds
an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan
numerous pitching records for the Saints. She
University; less than a year later, he was
currently works for Ford Motor Company.
named head coach. He led Eastern to three
John Detro ’85, one of the pioneers who helped
Mid-American Conference titles and three trips
establish Siena as a small college running
to the NCAA Basketball Tournament in his ten
power. Detro was an NAIA All-American in both
years at EMU. He moved west two years ago
indoor and outdoor track and field for the Saints
to become head coach at UC Berkeley.
in 1984 and 1985 and continued his running
Lawrence Miller ’84, who played basketball
career in the Army after graduation. He is now a
for Braun in the early 1980s. He was an Allmedical technician in the U.S. Army.
District guard for the Saints and the 1982
In addition to inducting the charter Hall of Fame
Most Valuable Player. One of the first Siena
class, the athletic department will honor the
Heights players to reach 1,000 career points,
1988-89 men’s basketball team, the first Siena
he has coached basketball and been an
basketball team to qualify for an NAIA Division I
administrator in the Detroit Public Schools for
National Championship Tournament. That team,
several years.
coached by current athletic director and men’s
Andrew Crawford ’89, a soccer stand-out at
coach Fred Smith, featured such Saint greats
Siena. Crawford currently plays professional
as William Clyburn, Mark Merriman, Craig Tanis
indoor soccer for the Buffalo Blizzard of the
and Carleton “Moon” Johnson.
National Professional Soccer League. A first-