EDINBORO, Pa. (April 27, 2013) -- The Edinboro University Athletic Department held its 32^nd Annual Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony on Saturday night, formally inducting eight new members into the Athletic Hall of Fame.  In addition, the department announced the 2012-13 Coach of the Year plus the winners of the Nancy Acker Award for Female Athlete of the Year and Sox Harrison Award for Male Athlete of the Year.
          Edinboro University alumnus and current WICU TV 12 Sports Director Mike Ruzzi served as master of ceremonies.  The night began with the showing of the highlight video, which was produced by ETV's Patrick Nuzzo and featured the photographs of Cory Byknish. 
          President Dr. Julie Wollman provided the opening remarks, and then she welcomed the eight new inductees into the Hall of Fame along with Director of Athletics Bruce Baumgartner.  Baumgartner then remained to address the 575 attendees and announce the Contributor of the Year Award, which was presented Mark Eberle of Eberle Physical Therapy.
          Next up was the recognizing of Edinboro's All-Americans and major conference award winners for 2012-13.  A new award was then introduced with the presentation of the Jon Pintea Spirit Award to its namesake, senior Jon Pintea.  The award was created to recognize Pintea for his incredible support and devotion to Edinboro athletics through the years.  It will be presented in the future whenever is deemed deserving of the award.
          State senator Sean Wiley and state representative Greg Lucas presented citations to long-time coaches Greg Walcavich (men's basketball) and Doug Watts (cross country/track & field), who are stepping down after long tenures at Edinboro.
          The evening wrapped up with the presentation of the department awards for 2012-13.  Women's swimmer Natalie Smith and men's cross country/track & field member Dustin Thomas received the awards for Female and Male Scholar-Athletes of the Year, respectively. 
          Gary Kagiavas was named the Coach of the Year, marking the first time the only coach the program has known since its inception in 1996 has been recognized.  Women's basketball All-American Kiara Brown was named the Nancy Acker Award winner and Branden Williams, a member of the football team, was the recipient of the Sox Harrison Award.
          Bios for the eight Hall of Fame inductees are below.  Click here for the release on the Coach of the Year and Male, Female Athletes of the Year.      
 
Al Donahue ('91) is regarded as one of the finest linebackers in Edinboro football history, and was named the team's Defensive Player of the Year all four seasons.  While playing from 1987-90, he started every game in his career, finishing with 423 career tackles.  That figure ranks seventh all-time.  He started his career off with a bang, recording a team-leading 150 as a freshman in 1987.  That figure included 79 solo tackles, with nine tackles for losses, a pair of sacks, and two interceptions.   The 150 tackles is the seventh-highest total in school history, and no Fighting Scot has totaled that many tackles since then.  He was named to the All-PSAC West second team in 1987.  The next year he was named to the Street & Smith Pre-Season All-American Team, and would end the year third on the team in tackles with 83.  He was third again in 1989 with 84 stops, including six for losses, a pair of sacks, and three interceptions.  He was a major part of the 1989 Edinboro team which earned its first-ever berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs, ending the year at 8-3 and winning the PSAC West championship.  As a senior he topped the century mark again and led the Fighting Scots back to the NCAA playoffs.  He ended with 106 tackles, three for losses and three interceptions to earn second team All-PSAC West honors.  He was also a pre-season College Football Preview All-American and pre-season second team Football Gazette All-American.  The '90 squad posted
Edinboro's first-ever playoff win, a 38-14 victory at Virginia Union, before losing to Indiana(Pa.) in the quarterfinals.  Edinboro finished with a 9-3 record, still tied for the most wins in a season.      
 
Marin Hightower ('00) ranks as one of the all-time great women's basketball players at Edinboro.  She joined the Fighting Scots program in 1997-98 after playing one season at Division I Delaware State, where she was the MEAC Rookie of the Year.  She would conclude her Edinboro career as an honorable mention Kodak All-American in 1999-2000 after setting a new school scoring record for a season at 23.6 ppg.  She is one of only six players at Edinboro to earn Kodak All-America accolades.  The forward was also a first team All-PSAC West choice as a senior, averaging 23.6 ppg. while scoring 613 points, the third-highest season average and at that time 21^st in the PSAC.  She added 8.6 rpg. and blocked 41 shots, the 12^th-highest season total.  She was a second team All-PSAC West selection as a junior after averaging 19.2 ppg., the 11^th-highest season total, and 8.2 rpg.  As a sophomore her totals were 8.1 ppg. and 4.9 rpg.  All told, in three seasons Hightower scored 1,218 points, which placed her 14^th all-time at the time of her selection.  She averaged 16.7 ppg., good for fifth, and also ranks 18^th in career rebounds with 520.  In addition, she is seventh in career field goal percentage (48.2 pct.), 11^th in career field goals made (483), 13^th in career field goals attempted (1,002), tenth in career free throws made (248), and ninth in free throws attempted (372) and blocked shots (74).         
 
Carrie McKeon ('01) (now Carrie Kelly) ranks as one of Edinboro's all-time great women's runners under head coach Doug Watts, competing in cross country and track & field and later being named to Edinboro's all-time team.  She ran from 1997-2000, earning All-American honors in cross country in 1997, '98 and 2000.  She was also a three-time All-East Region performer and a two-time All-PSAC runner.  She capped her brilliant cross country career in 2000 by being named the East Region Runner of the Year and was the Most Valuable Runner at the East Regional.  She won the East Region individual title and led Edinboro to the team championship, after placing fourth at the PSAC Championships and leading the Fighting Scots to the team crown.  She would earn All-American honors for the third time, finishing 33^rd.  McKeon began her career in 1997 with a 19^th place finish at the PSAC Championship, but she moved up to seventh at the East Regional to earn All-Region honors for the first time.  She would go on to earn All-American accolades with a 23^rd place showing as Edinboro came in fourth as a team.  As a sophomore McKeon placed third at the PSAC Championships and fifth at the East Regional to capture All-PSAC honors for the first time and All-Region for the second.  Edinboro won both team titles and went on to place fifth at Nationals as she earned All-American honors for the second time with a 24^th place finish.  In 1999 she again led the Fighting Scots to the PSAC an East Region titles, and Edinboro went on to finish third at Nationals.  McKeon also finished 11^th at the U.S. National Junior Championships and was 35^th at the World Junior Cross Country Trials.  In the classroom she was a PSAC Top Ten selection in 2000 and 2001, and was a three-time Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic choice.     
 
Steve Russell ('94) is regarded as one of the finest defensive backs in Edinboro football history, and was named to Edinboro's all-time team.  He played for the Fighting Scots from 1991-94 and ranks second in career interceptions with 19, including two returned for touchdowns, and holds the school record for return yards (321).  He either led or tied for the team lead in interceptions all four years.  Edinboro enjoyed great success during his four seasons, posting a 30-12-1 record and making the NCAA Playoffs in 1992 and 1993. 
Despite playing in just seven games as a senior, Russell was accorded second team Football Gazette All-American honors and was a Sporting News Pre-Season All-American.  He finished the year with 43 tackles,
along with five interceptions and four passes broken up.  The year before he finished with seven interceptions, tied for the fourth-highest total in a season, with 10 passes broken up.  He finished with a career-high 68 tackles.  He was an honorable mention Football Gazette All-American in 1993, and earned first team All-PSAC West recognition as a junior and senior.  In 1992 he totaled 46 tackles, with five interceptions.  As a freshman he had 41 tackles and a pair of pickoffs.  Russell also put up some impressive numbers as a kickoff returner, averaging 24.4 yards on 19 returns, including a 92-yard return for a touchdown in 1993.   
 
Erica Shaffer ('00) (now Erica Kendall) is one of the finest volleyball players to take the court at Edinboro, earning a spot on the all-time team.  She was a two-time AVCA All-Atlantic Region and All-PSAC West performer while playing outside hitter and middle hitter from 1996-99.  She helped Edinboro to PSAC championships in 1997 and '98 along with Atlantic Region titles in 1996 and 1998 for trips to the Elite Eight.  The Fighting Scots qualified for the Atlantic Regional all four years and also reached the PSAC championship match each year.  During her career the Fighting Scots posted a 104-45 record.  She ranks among the all-time leaders in numerous statistical categories, including 11^th in career kills with 1,051 and eighth in hitting percentage (.301).  She also stands second in career block assists (406), third in total blocks (459) and sixth in block solos (53).  She played in 430 career games, which ranks 13^th.  Among the season statistical leaders, Shaffer is ninth in hitting percentage (.381 in 1998) and 14^th (.351 in 1999).  She holds the fifth-highest season total in total blocks with 168 in 1998 and the 17^th with 118 in 1999; the eighth-highest figure in block solos with 25 in 1998; along with three of the top 12 season totals for block assists with 143 in 1998 (2^nd), 105 in 1999 (9^th, and 91 in 1997 (12^th).  
 
Paul Stamm elevated the Edinboro swimming program into one of the best in the country while coaching the Fighting Scots from 1986-93.  During his tenure his swimmers broke over 310 school records and owned the best combined win-loss percentage in school history.  All told, he produced 27 All-Americans, including current head coach Chris Rhodes.  Stamm's teams dared to challenge PSAC powerhouses Clarion, Shippensburg and West Chester.  The men's teams came away with third place finishes at the PSAC Championships his final five years, along with a pair of fourth showings his first two years.  The women's team also placed third his final five seasons.  Nationally, his men's team posted its highest finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships in 1992, coming in ninth, along with 11^th-place finishes in 1989 and 1993, and a 13^th place finish in 1988.  Six of his seven teams were in the top 20.  On the women's side, the Fighting Scots peaked with tenth-place finishes in 1991 and again in 1992.  He led the women to five top twenty finishes.  All told, six of his swimmers have preceded him as Edinboro Hall of Fame inductees.  Prior to taking over at Edinboro, Stamm was a legendary high school coach at Titusville High School and later at Meadville High School, coaching four state champions and 110 all-state swimmers. 
  
Stan Swank wrapped up his 26^th season as Edinboro's women's basketball coach this year.  He ranks as the winningest coach in women's basketball history, showing a 466-268 record, with 20 winning seasons in 26 years.  Including four years as the head coach at Parkland Junior College, he has 570 career wins.  Swank entered the 2012-13 campaign ranked 14^th among active Division II coaches in wins, along with 15^th in winning percentage (.630).  He ranks as the all-time PSAC leader in wins.  All told, Swank has led the Fighting Scots to eighteen PSAC Tournaments, three PSAC championships (1990, 2011, 2012) and nine NCAA Tournament appearances.  That includes Edinboro's lone trip to the Elite Eight, that coming in 1997 when the Fighting Scots defeated High Point, 70-68, to win the East Regional title.  They would fall to North
Dakota in the quarterfinals.  A year ago the Fighting Scots also reached the Atlantic Regional final before falling to eventual national champion Shaw.  Swank's teams have posted nine 20-win seasons, including each of the last three years.  In fact, his teams have enjoyed particular success in the last three seasons, showing an incredible 78-12 record, with PSAC championships in 2011 and '12, plus three straight trips to the Atlantic Regional.  Swank guided the 2011-12 team to a 30-2 finish, a school-record for wins in a season, with the Fighting Scots climbing as high as second in the national rankings before ending the year ninth.  The 1989-90 squad finished with a 27-3 ledger, the second-highest win total, while his 2010-11 edition was 26-4.  Swank was named the 2012 WBCA Division II Atlantic Region Coach of the Year and was also the Division II Bulletin Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.  He has been recognized as the PSAC Coach of the Year six times – 1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2011 and 2012.  He has also been honored as Edinboro's Coach of the Year in four occasions.  Swank has coached nine WBCA All-Americans and 54 All-PSAC performers.      
 
George Shimpeno is the final inductee as the Lifetime Achievement Award winner.  He was inducted posthumously after passing away on December 15, 2011.  He revived the men's soccer program at Edinboro, serving as the head coach from 1969 until the program was discontinued in the mid-80's.  He produced Edinboro's first winning season in 1972 with a 5-4-3 ledger.  His 1974 and '76 squads finished with 6-5-1 records.  Shimpeno would lead the Fighting Scots to District 18 and Western Pennsylvania Athletic Conference titles.   He was a noted soccer player at the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned NSCAA All-Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey honors.  He still remains tied for fourth in career points (59) and goals (24) at Pittsburgh, along with tied for tenth in assists with 11.  He led the Panthers in scoring in 1963 and '64, and helped Pitt to the NCAA quarterfinals in 1962.  Shimpeno began his coaching career at his alma mater, Springdale High School, and quickly developed championship caliber teams that captured league titles in 1966 and 1967.   He was also a member of the Association of Tennis Professionals and coached tennis at General McLane High School.   In his later years he competed for Team Pittsburgh in the Transplant Games, winning several medals.  Most notably, he served as an Associate Professor of Physical Education for 34 years, touching many lives both as a teacher and coach.