Eight Comprise Hall of Fame Class of 2010

Seven  former St. Lawrence University athletes and a retired coach will comprise the Class of 2010 for the St. Lawrence University Athletic Hall of Fame when induction ceremonies are held Oct. 2-3.

The annual Hall of Fame induction will be part of a busy weekend on the St. Lawrence campus as the dedication of Hall-Leet Stadium, the Saints' refurbished field hockey and lacrosse venue, will take place on Friday following a field hockey game against Hamilton College and the dedication of the new Stratford Football Locker Room will take place Saturday morning at 9:30 prior to Hall of Fame activities which begin with a buffet luncheon at noon.

The luncheon and following induction is open to the public. Luncheon tickets are $25 and reservations are requested. Reservations may be made by calling Cheryl Kennedy at 315-229-5418 or through email : ckennedy@stlawu.edu.

The 2010 Hall of Fame inductees include former Saint swim coach Bob Northrop, former football player and Rhodes Scholar Howard McKinley '49, basketball and tennis star Gene Simonsen '63, soccer star John Prokos '80, baseball and football standout Steve Owens '87, alpine skier and lacrosse star Suzanne Sargent Jones '87, women's lacrosse goaltender Nikki Williams '91 and track and field All America Reili Liiva Cantu '98.  

The 2010 induction will be the 32^nd in the history of the St. Lawrence Athletic Hall of Fame which began in 1979 with the induction of former athlete, coach and athletic director Ron Burkman as the sole inductee in the first year. It has since grown to include 194 individuals and 11 teams.

Northrop, who retired after a 19-year career as Saint swim coach in 2000, coached nine athletes who are members of the Hall of Fame and led his 1980 and 1982 men's teams to third place finishes in the NCAA Division III Championships. He took the women's program from its formative years to establish a strong collegiate program which included over 40 All America finishes and  16 relay All America finishes during his tenure. His men's teams produced six national event titles in addition to 54 combined individual and relay All America finishes.

McKinley, who will be inducted posthumously, was the epitome of a student-athlete during his St. Lawrence career. He entered St. Lawrence in 1946 after serving as an infantry officer in World War II. A starting tackle on the football team and the manager for the tennis team, he was a Phi Beta Kappa student and the only Rhodes Scholar in St. Lawrence history, earning that honor in 1949 and earning his BA at Oxford in 1951.

Simonsen, a global investment manager who won an international tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain in 1973, was 20-5 in three seasons of tennis, leading the 1961 team which was undefeated. He also captained the basketball team and set single season records for rebounding and career records for rebounds and points scored during his SLU career. He earned a master's degree from the University of Arkansas following his graduation from St. Lawrence. 

Prokos, now a financial planner, was a two-time All State and All Conference soccer player who played on three league championship teams, the first Saint team to make the NCAA Division III playoffs and back-to-back ECAC championship teams during his career. He ranks fourth on the all-time Saint scoring list in soccer with 30 goals and 19 assists for 79 points and played on teams which won 46 games, lost 10 and tied five during his career.

Owens, named the head baseball coach at Bryant University earlier this year, has compiled an outstanding record as a collegiate baseball coach both on the Division I and Division III levels after starring in both football and baseball as a Saint undergraduate. He was the leading rusher and scorer in football as a senior as a tailback and was also outstanding at kick returns and was a four-year starter in the infield in baseball, finishing among the leading hitters and run producers in each of his four seasons. He was signed by the Chicago Cubs and played in that organization before beginning his collegiate coaching career. He led Cortland to four Division III World Series appearances and has had 13 30-or-more win seasons in his 19-year career which includes three NCAA Division I tournament appearances at LeMoyne.

Jones, a Physician's Assistant and the mother of two, was a four-year member of the alpine ski team and the women's lacrosse team.  She was an NCAA qualifier in alpine skiing and a two-year captain of the alpine team. A consistent top-20 finisher in both slalom and giant slalom, she  was also alpine MVP. A prolific scorer in lacrosse, she was named All East in 1987 after scoring 27 goals and assisting on 11. She had three seasons of over 20 goals and had a career total of 93 goals and 39 assists.

Williams, now the head women's lacrosse coach at Agnes Scott College in Georgia, was an All State and Regional All America selection as a goaltender for the Saint women's lacrosse team and helped the team to the NCAA Division III championship game in 1990. The holder of the SLU records for saves and goals against average in a career and goals against average in a season, she made 17 saves in a victory over Johns Hopkins for SLU's first NCAA tournament win and was undefeated in the regular season, leading the team to its first NYSWCAA Championship in 1990. She coached at Hotchkiss, compiling a 67-10-2 record including an undefeated season, before moving to Georgia where she coached club teams prior to becoming coach at Agnes Scott. A lacrosse official as well as coach, she received the US Lacrosse Award for Excellence as Girls Youth Coach of the Year in 2009.

Cantu, an athletic director and counselor, had an outstanding career in track and field and was a three year captain and an all-league performer in each of her four seasons. She was a two-time All America in the heptathlon, twice was field event MVP in the state meet and is the Saint record holder in the 100 hurdles, heptathlon and part of the record-setting sprint medley relay team. She coached 22 Division II NCAA qualifiers including 12 All Americas in track at Texas A&M Kingsville.