Bryant's Jim Hallett, Roman Pavlik, and Leon Drury Inducted Into Northeast-10 Conference Hall of Fame Ceremony

June 2, 2006  

South Easton, Mass. -The Northeast-10 Conference inducted the first-ever class to the Northeast-10 Hall of Fame last night at the Harvard Club in Boston, Massachusetts. The 25 members of the 2006 class of the Northeast-10 Hall of Fame were honored at this year's inaugural ceremony in conjunction with the Northeast-10 Conference's year long celebration highlighting 25 years as a league.

Dick Lipe, Leon Drury, Andrew Laska, Al Shields and Bob Burke (photo courtesy of NE-10)

The 2006 induction class includes 15 student-athletes, the seven founding fathers of the league, the first conference commissioner, the first conference information director and one coach. All 25 inductees were chosen by a vote of the Northeast-10 Hall of Fame committee.

The president of the NCAA Dr. Myles Brand and NCAA vice president and overseer of Division II Mike Racey were both in attendance last night, as well as former Boston Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman. In addition, Wendi Nix of 7News (WHDH-TV, Boston), a weekend sports anchor and highly esteemed sports reporter, was the master of ceremonies.

"The first-ever Northeast-10 Conference Hall of Fame dinner was a huge success," Northeast-10 commissioner David Brunk said. "Furthermore, this ceremony marked the culmination of a year long celebration of the 25 outstanding years of success in honoring the inductees and their families. With the conclusion of this silver anniversary year and inaugural Hall of Fame class, we can look onto the future with an appreciation and anticipation fo many more great things to unfold in the next 25 years."

The Northeast-10 Conference, now entering its 26th year of competition on the courts and fields, was built from the ground up because of the talents, hard work and commitment of these 25 inductees.

The former student athletes inducted were Mario Elie (Basketball: 1981-1985) of American International College, Bob Reitz (Basketball: 1979-1983) of Stonehill College, Alison Fay (Basketball: 1980-1984) of Bentley College, Kim Penwell (Basketball: 1989-1993) of Bentley, Michelle Doonan (Basketball: 1991-1995) of Stonehill, Jim Hallet (Golf: 1980-1983) of Bryant University, Maria Vicens (Volleyball: 1986-1989) of Bentley, Kim Page (Softball: 1991-1994) of Merrimack College, Mike O'Keefe (Baseball: 1988-1993) of Assumption College, Ron Lombardi (Cross Country: 1983-1986) of Springfield College, Martha Grinnell (Cross Country: 1986-1989) of Springfield, Angel Schofield (Soccer: 1989-1992) of Springfield, Junior Salmon (Soccer: 1978-1981) of the University of Hartford, Roman Pavlik (Tennis: 1992-1996) of Bryant, and Kristen Coker (Tennis: 1991-1995) of Assumption.

Other inductees of the inaugural class included the Northeast-7 Founding Fathers, including of Al Shields of Bentley, Tom Folliard of Stonehill, Leon Drury of Bryant, Andrew Laska of Assumption, Ed Steitz of Springfield, Gordon McCullough of Hartford and Milt Piepul of American International. Robert Burke will be inducted as a former conference commissioner. Burke recently announced his retirement as the Director of Athletics of American International, a post he held for 19 years. Dick Lipe, who is the Director of Sports Information at Bentley, was inducted as the first Conference Information Director. Paula Sullivan was inducted for her service as the women's basketball coach at Stonehill. Sullivan currently serves as the Director of Athletics at Stonehill.

In addition, Assumption College president Dr. Thomas R. Plough received a special award from the Northeast-10 conference in recognition for his service to the league as the chairman of the President's Council.

The Northeast-10 Conference, which was established in 1980 as the Northeast-7 Conference, found instant credibility in its membership and that credibility led to a slow but continued expansion through the years. The admittance of Saint Anselm in 1981 created the Northeast-8. In 1984, Hartford joined the ECAC Division I North Atlantic Conference but was immediately replaced by Merrimack.

The "Northeast-10" name came about when Saint Michael's and Quinnipiac joined the league in 1987. The conference remained stable until 1995 when Springfield left for Division III. The league stayed at 10 members as Le Moyne joined the league in 1996 from the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) and briefly expanded to 11 when Pace joined in 1998 from the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference (NYCAC). Quinnipiac elevated to the Division I Northeast Conference (NEC) to again return to the foundation of 10 until the last major expansion took place prior to 2000 when five new schools joined the fold. Franklin Pierce, Southern New Hampshire University (formerly New Hampshire College), the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Southern Connecticut State University and The College of Saint Rose gave the NE-10 the 15 members it has today.

The Northeast-10 is one of the largest and is the most diverse NCAA Division II playing conference in the nation. It sponsors 23 championship sports including baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, football, field hockey, men's golf, men's ice hockey, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, men's soccer, women's soccer, men's indoor track and field, women's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field, women's outdoor track and field, men's tennis, women's tennis, softball, women's volleyball, men's swimming and diving, and women's swimming and diving.

Current members of the Northeast-10 include American International College, Assumption College, Bentley College, Bryant University, Franklin Pierce, Le Moyne College, The University of Massachusetts Lowell, Merrimack College, Pace University, Saint Anselm College, Saint Michael's College, The College of Saint Rose, Southern Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Stonehill College.