DATE: June 24, 2002

10 Inducted Into National Lacrosse Hall Of Fame

Baltimore — US Lacrosse has announced the selection of the 45th class for the National Hall of Fame. The class includes a group of 10 individuals who have made significant contributions to the sport as players, coaches, officials and administrators.

The 10 new inductees are: Nancy Vadner Chance, Zack Colburn, Heather Dow, Del Dressel, Eleanor Kay Hess, Sandra Kay Hoody, Roddy Marino, George McGeeney, Bill Tierney, Julie R. Williams. There are now 293 inductees to the National Hall of Fame.

The 2002 class will be honored Saturday, Oct. 12, at a formal induction ceremony at The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Md. Their plaques will be located in the Lacrosse Museum and National Hall of Fame at the US Lacrosse headquarters in Baltimore.

Candidates must have been out of college for 15 years and are nominated through a questionnaire. The top candidates are included on a national ballot sent to a random sampling of current Hall of Fame members, coaches, officials, reporters, US Lacrosse Board of Directors and chapter presidents. The men's and women's nominating committees use the votes from that sampling to determine a final slate of nominees to submit to the Board of Directors. The Board approved the current class at its June 15 meeting.

US Lacrosse, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization, is the national governing body of men's and women's lacrosse. More about each inductee:

Nancy Vadner Chance had a distinguished career as a player, coach and official. Chance was a member of the U.S. touring teams in 1951 and 1954 while playing with the Philadelphia and Baltimore Lacrosse Associations where she was a four-time club all-star. She served as a head coach at Swarthmore, Baltimore and Goucher and was a nationally-rated umpire for more than a decade. Chance served as the United States Women's Lacrosse Association treasurer and was honored in 1994 with the establishment of the Nancy Chance Service Award. She was inducted into the Greater Baltimore Hall of Fame and currently resides in Timonium, Md.

Zack Colburn was a standout defenseman at the University of Pennsylvania, helping the Quakers to Ivy League championships in 1983 and 1984. He earned second team All-America honors in 1984 and then went on to a stellar career at the international and post-collegiate club levels. Colburn was selected to the U.S. men's lacrosse team three times, helping the U.S. to International Lacrosse Federation world championships in 1990, 1994 and 1998. He earned All-United States Club Lacrosse Association honors seven times and received the USCLA's Krongard Award in 1995. He was inducted into the Philadelphia Chapter Hall of Fame and currently resides in Schwenksville, Pa.

Heather Dow was an outstanding goalie at the University of Virginia from 1978 to 1982 and played for the United States' World Cup teams in 1986 and 1989. Dow has also served as an assistant coach at James Madison, Old Dominion and Virginia and served as an assistant coach for the winning World Cup teams in 1993, 1997 and 2001. She was named the top goaltender on Lacrosse Magazine's All-Century team in 1999. Dow served on the board of the Lacrosse Foundation and the United States Women's Lacrosse Association. She was inducted into the Virginia Lacrosse Hall of Fame and currently resides in Ruckersville, Va.

Delvern (Del) Dressel is one of only three players in collegiate lacrosse history to earn first team All-America honors four times. The midfielder helped Johns Hopkins University to NCAA championships in 1984 and 1985. He received the Lt. Donald MacLaughlin Award as the nation's top midfielder in 1984 and 1985 as well. Dressel finished his career with 174 points (99 goals, 75 assists) and is the highest scoring midfielder in Hopkins history. Dressel was inducted into the Greater Baltimore Hall of Fame and currently resides in Towson, Md.

Eleanor (Pete) Kay Hess has been an integral figure in women's lacrosse for decades. She played in the Philadelphia Women's Lacrosse Association (PWLA) and had a long and distinguished coaching career. She started the program at the George School and then coached at Swarthmore College, where she also served as the athletics director, for nearly 30 years. She was also a nationally-rated umpire for more than 30 years and served in a variety of leadership roles, including president, for the PWLA. She was inducted into the Philadelphia Lacrosse Hall of Fame and currently resides in Wellingford, Pa.

Sandra Kay Hoody is one of the best goalies the sport of lacrosse has ever seen. Hoody played at Towson University from 1971 to 1974 and then played more than 20 years of club lacrosse in the Baltimore Women's Lacrosse Association. She played on the United States teams in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, earning all-world honors in 1982. She has been a coach at the high school and collegiate levels for nearly 30 years and was active in the BWLA, serving as president from 1975 to 1980. She was inducted into the Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame and currently resides in Baltimore.

Gerard (Roddy) Marino was a star attackman for the University of Virginia and went on to achieve great success with the U.S. team. Marino received the Turnbull Award as the nation's top attackman in 1986 when he earned first team All-America honors. He also earned second team honors in 1985 and honorable mention honors in 1984. Marino was named the top attackman at the 1986 International Lacrosse Federation World Championship and earned All-World honors after helping the U.S. to the championship in both 1986 and 1990. He served as a captain for the 1990 team and was also a five-time all-club honoree in the United States Club Lacrosse Association. Marino was inducted into the New England Chapter Hall of Fame, the Long Island Chapter Hall of Fame and currently resides in Villanova, Pa.

George McGeeney was a top defenseman for the Univerity of Maryland-Baltimore County and also achieved success on the international level. McGeeney was a first-team All-American in 1982 when he received the Schmeisser Award as the defenseman of the year. He helped the Retrievers to the NCAA Division II championship in 1980. McGeeney played on the U.S. team in 1986 and 1990, helping the team to two International Lacrosse Federation world championships and served as a captain for the 1990 team. McGeeney earned all-club honors from 1983 to 1990. He was inducted into the Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame and currently resides in Highlands Ranch, Colo.

William (Bill) Tierney is one of the sport's most successful coaches ever. Through the 2002 season he has compiled a career record of 204-60, including a 173-50 mark at Princeton, which he has guided to six national championships since 1992. His career winning percentage of 77.2 ranks among the best in the sport's history. Tierney also played on a national championship team at Cortland State (1973) and was an assistant coach for two national championship teams at Johns Hopkins (1985 and 1987). In 1998, Tierney coached the United States to the International Lacrosse Federation world championship. Tierney was inducted into the Long Island Chapter Hall of Fame, the New Jersey Chapter Hall of Fame and currently resides in Princeton, N.J.

Julie R. Williams achieved great success on the lacrosse fields as a player and coach. Williams was a two-time All-American as a defender at the University of Virginia in 1985 and 1986 and played on the winning United States' World Cup teams in 1989 and 1993. She became the head coach at Penn State in 1989 and coached the Nittany Lions until 1999, leading the school to three semifinal appearances in the NCAA championships. Her sister, Betsy Dougherty, a former Penn State standout, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000. Williams resides in Philadelphia.

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