Olympic gold medals. World records. All-America honors. U.S. and world championships.

The individuals being honored tonight were the acme of athletes and coaches everywhere - they outran the fastest, they out-hustled the grittiest, and they out-smarted the brightest. To applaud tonight's honorees solely on their athletic merit, however, would not be enough; the people being inducted tonight into the University of Pennsylvania Athletic Hall of Fame are more than just competitors. They are individuals committed to the world of athletics, people who stayed committed to the University, their sports and their country long past graduation, people who were truly noble Pennsylvanians.

One common thread weaving among many of these outstanding individuals is that graduation did not end their athletic careers; many of these athletes furthered their commitment to their trade by teaching it to future generations. Howie Dallmar exemplified this enthusiasm following his collegiate basketball career at Stanford and Penn. Dallmar went on to play professionally, but concurrent to his time competing for the Philadelphia Warriors, he came back to West Philadelphia to coach the Quakers' basketball and baseball teams to championships.

Bob Hays showed the same dedication, playing on the Penn golf team during his undergraduate years and coaching the sport after its revival for 30 years beginning in 1947. Charles Keinath returned to coach three Quakers' teams: football, baseball and basketball. A two-sport athlete herself, Ann Wetzel coached tennis and squash for a combined 13 years. Steve Baumann came off the professional circuit to coach Penn soccer in 1987, and Erv Antoni coached soccer on a national level, guiding the U.S. National Deaf soccer team.

Dave Micahnik went from world-renowned fencer to a world-renowned fencing coach. An Olympic bronze medallist and U.S. decathlon champion at the University of Michigan, Ken Doherty stayed true to his sport, coaching Penn track and directing the Penn Relays for several years. Squash All-American Ned Edwards took over for Al Molloy upon his retirement in 1990. Molloy spent 32 years coaching at Penn, and still works in the development and alumni relations arm of Penn Athletics.

Several other Red and Blue athletes found equal success coaching in other places. A 1982 graduate, Nancy Lock Kiley currently coaches a high school volleyball team and a girls' travel soccer squad. At the other extreme, many athletes in the second induction class of Hall-of-Famers also went on to coach professionally. Dave Wohl helped lead the Quakers' basketball team to a No. 3 ranking in 1971 then went on to coach the New Jersey Nets following his professional career. Chuck Daly never let go of his love of coaching basketball, as he still coaches in the National Basketball Association for the Orlando Magic. The famed inventor of the modern hurdling method and Penn's Olympic medal winner, Alvin Kraenzlein, went on to coach at Mercersberg Academy, the University of Michigan, the U.S. Olympic team, and he was even contracted by the Germans to coach their Olympic team. Also on the track, Fred Samara, Penn's top decathlon competitor of the 1970s, is in his 21st season coaching the Princeton men's track team.

Coaching is surely not the only way these athletes showed their devotion to the University of Pennsylvania, as several took positions in the athletic department as well as in academic departments following their graduation. A memorable basketball player, Steve Bilsky, held several posts in Penn's athletic administration before returning in July of 1994 to take over as Athletic Director. Fran Murray, who was equally talented on the gridiron and the hardcourt of The Palestra, became the University's first Athletic Director in 1950. Before the position of Athletic Director was established, it was the Dean of Physical Education that ran Penn's athletic department, and E. LeRoy Mercer held that position for several years. A man who went undefeated on the wrestling mat, Mike Dorizas also went "uncontested" in the classroom, as his geography class was very popular and he was voted "most popular professor" many times. John Wideman, a Rhodes scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, showed his dedication to the University as an assistant professor of English from 1967 until 1972.

Some of tonight's inductees made frequent appearances at the Penn Relays. Jim Tuppeny coached track and led the Penn Relays at the same time. In addition to those duties, he also arranged and hosted the NCAA championships and coached the U.S. team in the World University games. Frances Childs and John Haines have both spent several years as officials for the Penn Relays. Childs has also officiated at Olympic festival competitions and other top track and field competitions. Haines has been an official at the Relays for 38 years now, and he has served the last 11 as a Chief Umpire.

T. Truxtun Hare was dominating on the gridiron, and he continued to support the University of Pennsylvania athletic department as the chairman of the athletic advisory board. Dorothy Maloney was an athlete and a national championship coach who guided fellow inductee Jane Allison McCollister, before returning to Penn as a teaching fellow. Maloney has won the Alumni Award of Merit and five years ago, she was the Grand Marshall of the Alumni Day Parade. Gene Gisburne took the position of Vice President of Student Affairs, and track member Donald Lippincott helped create the Class of '15 Award and helped establish the football club dinner. Penny Teaf Goulding was treasurer of the Women's Athletic Association, a counselor at the University Camp, and has won several awards in her capacity as a high school guidance counselor.

Some of tonight's inductees showed their dedication to their sport until they no longer were physically able. For instance, track coach Mike Murphy trained and coached despite battling tuberculosis and other illnesses. He coached through the 1912 spring track season, and in the fall, he collapsed while trying to train the football team. He remained confined to his home until his death in 1913. Bill Carr ran until he could no longer; an automobile accident broke both of his legs, thus ending his career in 1933.

Murphy was a leader in the field of athletic training, writing several publications, as did some of tonight's other inductees. George Orton wrote The History of Athletics at the University of Pennsylvania, 1873-1896. Hare published Making the Freshman Team. Doherty also published several works, including Modern Track and Field, in 1953. Ted Meredith published Middle Distance and Relay Racing following his tour of duty in World War I.

Cynthia Johnson Crowley has been involved with Penn Athletics ever since she graduated from the College for Women in 1952. Among other contributions, she helped create the women's basketball Harschberger-Johnson-Brendel prize, donated the Ivy League softball trophy and was recently honored with a team room in her name in The Palestra. Jane Austin Stauffer was recognized locally and nationally for her racquet skills for decades after her graduation. Eddie Bell's commitment went beyond athletics - he and Bob Evans broke the color barrier on the Quakers' football team. J. Howard Berry served not only his school but also his nation as a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps and as a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. George Savitsky spent many years earning three degrees at Penn, but also was a World War II veteran of the Marines. More recently, Auretha Fleming served her country as a defense contractor with Lockheed Martin, and she was stationed abroad while her husband fought in the U.S. Army overseas.

Chris Flynn, who is busy competing in professional indoor lacrosse, made time in 1989 to be the color analyst for WXPN's coverage of Penn football. Douglas Stewart was not only a spectacular 30-year soccer coach, but also was responsible for taking the program for a minor sport to a spectator sport at the University of Pennsylvania. Walter Tewksbury came back to West Philadelphia to practice medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania before establishing his dental practice.

All of these dedicated individuals selflessly gave themselves to the University, to the world of athletics, and to their country; their devotion was not indicative of their athletic prowess, but of their sense of community. They were and are the penultimate believers in the team concept, and their commitment to others - following their lives participating in athletic competition - is why these 42 outstanding individuals comprise the second induction class of the Penn Athletic Hall of Fame.

Download: penn-hof-class2.pdf