SCHENECTADY, NY – Seven distinguished individuals joined the Union College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007. In addition, a new "Team of Distinction" category has been added and the inaugural Team of Distinction indcuted is the 1971-72 Men's Basketball Team. The Individual Class of 2007 consists of Steve Baker '84, Gretchen (Voegler) Belanger '96, Harold Enstice '48, John Keller '91, Marco Lainez '93, Bob Ridings and Kevin Scheuer ''79.
The seven new members and team wiere inducted at the sixth annual Induction Ceremony, Saturday, November 3 at the Viniar Athletic Center. These new inductees joined 31 members in the Hall of Fame, which was first instituted in 2002.
The inaugural "Team of Distinction" is the 1971-72 Men's Basketball squad. The Dutchmen were 19-3 that year, setting a school record for victories, and had a 15-game winning streak. Union was coached by Gary Walters (later a Div. I head coach and this year's NCAA Selection Committee Chair) and the assistant coach was Bill Scanlon, who later became Union's winningest coach in the program's history and is currently the Associate Director of Athletics/Facilities. Union defeated Hartwick, the defending NCAA regional champion, but was not allowed to participate in NCAA due to NESCAC rules. The Dutchmen, who were ranked #2 in the New York State small college poll, featured star player (and later Hall inductee) Jim Tedisco. Also on the team was Bill Carmody, who later became the Princeton and Northwestern coach. This was the highest scoring team in Union history at that time. The last game of the season featured 4,000 fans at the Field House, and it was a game broadcast live locally while the New York Knicks game was a delayed broadcast due to this Union contest.
Steve Baker was the first Union ice hockey player ever to play in the NHL and played for the United States National Team during the 1981 Canada Cup (team finished fourth). He played in Stanley Cup Semifinals with New York Rangers and his mask is in the Hockey Hall of Fame as one of the first masks ever to be painted with a design. Baker lost only one of his first 10 NHL starts and was named NHL Player of the Week in March, 1981. He was 20-20-11 with three shutouts and a 3.70 GAA in 57 games with Rangers, 1979-83. He played on the AHL Champion New Haven Nighthawks. In his Union career, Steve was 27-5-1, with a 3.28 goals against average. He is currently Vice President of Sales for Fox Sports in Boston.
Gretchen Belanger led the Dutchwomen volleyball team to a 75-47 record (.615) in her career, 1993-96. She led Union to back-to-back New York State Tournament bids for the first time ever. The 1994 team set a record with 24 wins and was the captain in '95 and '96. She led Union to second place finish in UCAA in 1995 and the team was fifth in the 1996 NYSWCAA tournament, Union's best finish ever. Belanger is Union all-time career leader in blocks (973), blocks/game (2.88), hitting % (.289) and is the first Dutchwoman to record 1,000 digs & 1,000 kills (only one other player has done that since). She ranks fifth in aces (253), second in aces/game (.75) and is second all-time for digs in a match (36), and first in match total blocks (21).
Harold Enstice played baseball, basketball and football. He is considered one of Union's "Big Four" in the backfield and stories called him "one of the best players in Union football history." He was a key star of the 1942 team. He earned a Bronze Star, five battle stars, and a Purple Heart in World War II in March, 1945, and returned to Union after the war. Enstice signed a contract with Detroit Lions in 1948 and was named to the UPI All-Upstate Football All-Star Team. He played basketball in 1942-43, and baseball in 1946-48, and batted .400 in 1946, receiving contract offers from the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs, but was forbidden from playing other sports after signing with the Lions. He was named the Clarence "Citizen of the Year' in 1979.
John Keller played lacrosse from 1988 through 1991 and was a three-time All-American. He was the Most Valuable Player in the 1990 and 1991 seasons and captain of the '91 squad. Keller is Union's all-time career leader with 238 points and ranks first in career assists with 89 and second in goals with 149. A William A. Pike Award winner, Keller was also named Junior Male Athlete of the Year. He was selected to play in the 1991 North-South All-Star Game and played professionally with the Boston Blazers, in 1991-92. Keller also played on the USA select team for the National Championships in Australia in 1995. For three seasons (1989-91), he was in the top five in NCAA in scoring, and earned All-Capital land Attack MVP honors in 1990-91.
Marco Lainez is Union football's career tackles leader with 306, and has the third most tackles in a season (111 in 1992). He had 180 assisted tackles and 126 solo in his career. Lainez, who was named All-American in 1993 as well as All-East Region, was the first Union football player to be a Gagliardi Award Finalist for the "Division III Heisman." In Union's history, only one other has been so honored. During his career, the Dutchmen went to the playoffs in three of his four seasons and the team was 9-1 in his senior year when he served as captain. Coach John Audino called him "the best linebacker I have seen in my coaching career at Union."
From 1956-91, Athletic Equipment Manager Bob Ridings dressed as the Dutchman to assist in cheerleading at home football and basketball games and to salute Union touchdowns by firing a small cannon. He is memorialized with a plaque at "The Cage" in Alumni Gym. On the plaque, the inscription reads "A very special person and a valued member of the Union College Athletic Staff for 48 years. Bob enhanced the lives of Union students, faculty, staff and alumni with his wit, warm personality, and love for people of all ages. Bob will always be remembered in the hearts and minds of the "Union Family" who had the privilege to know him." He received Union's Alumni Award for Meritorious Service in 1975.
A National Champion in the 1500 meters in outdoor track in 1979, Kevin Scheuer set a Union record in that event with a time of 3:46.8. He is still tied for the Union record in the 800 meters with a time of 1:50.7, set in 1979, and set the Union record in the mile at 4:13.3 that year. Scheuer placed third in the IC4A Championships, featuring top programs from all divisions in the East, including Villanova, Seton Hall, Manhattan, Maryland and all Ivy League schools.
The purpose of the Union Athletics Hall of Fame is to honor former student-athletes, coaches, administrators and alumna/alumnus for outstanding contributions to Union College Athletics while contributing to the welfare of the college community, the Department and their profession, reflecting the philosophy of the college and the ideals of sportsmanship.
