W Association Announces 2022 Hall of Fame Class

A class of eight College of Wooster greats have been selected for induction into the W Association Hall of Fame. Additionally, all women's athletes, women's athletic teams, and members of the Women's Athletic and Recreation Association (WARA) from the 1972-73 academic year were selected for this year's W Association Distinguished Award of Excellence. The W Association Hall of Fame induction ceremony is set for Saturday, September 17 at 7 p.m. at Sheide Music Center's Gault Recital Hall as part of the College's Black & Gold Weekend. A reception will follow the induction ceremony. Registration is required. A flat fee of $25.00 enables registrants an all-access pass for all Black & Gold Weekend events. You can register HERE.

Individuals chosen for induction are Amanda Artman '10, Brent Bizyak '89, Ian Franks '11, Marcy Hunt '94, Kurt Kapferer '06, Linda Paynter Rhein '83, Megan Sward '06, and Tiffany Rice O'Dell '06.

Artman, Wooster's lone four-time National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-American, is one of the top offensive players in NCAA Div. III field hockey history. She graduated as the fourth-highest scorer in Div. III history with 257 points and became the sixth player in Div. III to score 100 career goals, hitting that milestone on October 28, 2010. Artman ended up with 104 goals and 49 assists, and she is the North Coast Athletic Conference's record holder in all three major statistical categories. With Artman leading the way, Wooster won three NCAC titles, advanced to the NCAA Div. III Championships three times, and the Scots compiled a 64-24 record during her four full seasons.

Bizyak was a key piece of Wooster's rise to a national power in baseball. He earned first-team American Baseball Coaches Association All-America honors as a senior after helping the Scots to the program's first appearance in the Div. III "World Series." The two-time All-NCAC honoree ranked fifth in program history upon graduation with a .371 lifetime average (162-for-437). His 132 career runs were the fourth-most upon graduation and he had an impressive streak of 10 consecutive hits as a senior. Bizyak played on teams that made four appearances in the national championships, won a regional title and two conference titles, and the Scots compiled a 136-45 record during his career.

Franks, arguably Wooster's tradition-rich basketball program's biggest success story, went from jayvee player to two-time All-American. He played on the program's national runner-up team as a senior and dropped in 623 points, at the time the fourth-most in single-season program history. Franks' 1,696 points were the fifth-most in program history upon graduation and he is one of 12 in program history with a career scoring average of at least 15.1 points per game. An exceptional passer, Franks still holds a top-10 spot on the program's all-time assist leaderboard at 322. He played on four NCAC championship teams, three teams that won the NCAC Tournament, and Wooster teams that went 102-21.

Hunt helped key Wooster's rise as a NCAC power in women's soccer as part of the first two NCAC championship teams in program history, with those conference crowns coming in 1990 and 1991. She also played on the first team in program history to make the Div. III Championships and earned All-NCAC honors as a senior. In track and field, Hunt blossomed as a senior, earning four all-conference honors, including as part of Wooster's NCAC champion 4x400 relay (4:12.56) at the indoor conference meet. In soccer, Hunt played on teams that went 48-23-8, while in track and field, she was a national qualifier as a senior and was part of five top-three conference finishes.

Kapferer, Wooster's greatest power hitter, earned first-team ABCA All-America honors as a designated hitter in 2006 following a third straight all-region certificate, NCAC Player of the Year honors, and a fourth all-conference selection. He mashed a school-record 49 home runs during his career, a total that was the 10th-most in Div. III history upon graduation. Kapferer, who helped the Scots to a third-place finish at the Div. III "World Series" as a junior, had the fifth-most RBI (189) in program history upon graduation, and still holds the NCAC and Wooster records for longest hitting streak at 29 games. He played on Wooster teams that won one regional title, played in three regional tournaments, won three NCAC titles, and went 144-41.

Paynter Rhein was the starting goalkeeper for Wooster's 1981 field hockey team, which placed third at the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women/USA Field Hockey Championships, the national championship for the sport at the time. Paynter Rhein helped Wooster to its highest-ever national finish with a key penalty stroke save against State University of New York Brockport in a 2-1 Wooster win in the tournament's third-place game. Paynter Rhein had 326 saves for games available in Wooster's archives, and she played on teams that went 52-25-2.  

Rice O'Dell accumulated a school-record 1,750 kills, and she is the only Scot to post three 400-kill seasons. Her lifetime .334 attack percentage sits atop the program leaderboard and no Scot before or after Rice O'Dell has finished a career with at least a .300 attack percentage on a minimum of 1,000 attempts. The three-time All-NCAC selection was part of Wooster's 20-16 team in 2002, which marked the program's first 20-win season since 1984.

Sward earned third-team All-America honors from the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association as a sophomore and was a three-time all-region selection. She earned three All-NCAC certificates with first-team honors as a sophomore, junior, and senior. Sward played on teams that advanced to two national tournaments and won a pair of conference titles. Her 102 assists are still the second-most in program history.

The W Association board voted to recognize women's athletes and teams from the 1972-73 academic year with the 50th anniversary of Title IX being signed into law this past June. Wooster had six women's teams – basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, swimming and diving, tennis, and volleyball – at the time, plus a trio of standout track and field athletes were enrolled at the College. You can view the College's feature on the pioneer coaches and administrators in women's athletics at Wooster here. Additionally, learn more about the eras of sports and physical education offerings at Wooster for women, the facilities used by women in sport and physical education, more about key women physical education faculty and staff, more about the development, changes, and increase in sports for women at Wooster, and the key role the Women's Athletic and Recreation Association (WARA) played by viewing the Women in Sport and Physical Education at The College of Wooster digital exhibit by W Association Hall of Famer Brenda Meese '75, retired associated professor, assistant athletic director, and field hockey coach, and Julia Gustafson, retired research and outreach librarian at the College by clicking or tapping here.