Jersey City – The Saint Peter’s College Athletics Department will induct seven alumni and the 2003 Men’s Soccer Team into its Athletics Hall of Fame in a ceremony that will take place on Saturday, December 12, 2009, as part of Hall of Fame Day at the College. The inductees, known as the 2009 Hall of Fame Class, will be honored at halftime during the Saint Peter’s men’s basketball game against Wagner College at the Yanitelli Recreational Life Center on the Jersey City campus. Tip-off for the men’s basketball game will be at 2:00 p.m., with the full induction ceremony scheduled to take place on campus immediately following the game.
The seven alumni of Saint Peter’s College Athletics who will be inducted in to the Saint Peter’s College Hall of Fame include:
Tonia Collier ’96, Women’s Basketball
Ms. Collier was a four-year member of the women’s basketball team, helping to lead the Peahens to the 1992 and 1993 MAAC Championships and NCAA Tournament. She ranks 7th on Saint Peter’s all-time scoring list with a total of 1,284 points, 14th in points per game, 4th in free throws, 19th in assists and 15th in steals.
Jeran Crawford, ’02, Football
Mr. Crawford led the College’s football team to hold a 10-1 record in 2001, and he ranks 9th on Saint Peter’s all-time scoring list in total tackles and 6th in unassisted tackles. Mr. Crawford is also the all-time leader in tackles for loss, in yards for tackles for loss, in sacks, as well as in yards for sacks. Additionally, he was the leader of Saint Peter’s defense that led the nation in total defense, passing defense and scoring defense. In 2001, Mr. Crawford led the NCAA in forced fumbles. Following the 2001 season, Crawford was named to the AP I-AA All-America 2nd Team and to the American Football Coaches Association I-AA All-America 2nd Team.
Kelly Crampton ’04, Women’s Swimming
Ms. Crampton was a four-year member of the swimming team at Saint Peter’s. She holds 10 of the 19 women’s swimming records at the College. Additionally, she is the holder of six individual records, including the 200-yard freestyle, the 500-yard freestyle, the 1000-yard freestyle, the 100-yard butterfly, the 200-yard butterfly and the 400-yard individual medley (IM). Ms. Crampton also led relay teams that hold records in four events, including the 200-yard medley relay, the 400-yard medley relay, the 400-yard free relay and the 800-yard free relay.
Jesse Lewandowski ’03, Baseball
Mr. Lewandowski is ranked in the top 10 players of the nine baseball all-time categories at Saint Peter’s, including the all-time leader in hits and total bases. He also ranks 3rd in at-bats and RBI’s. Mr. Lewandowski batted over .300 and knocked in over 20 runs in three of his four seasons at Saint Peter’s. Additionally, he stole 58 bases in 66 attempts throughout his baseball career.
Special Achievement Inductee – Dr. Julian E. DeLia, M.D. ’68, FACOG, FACS
Dr. Julian E. DeLia, M.D., FACOG, FACS, is a native of Newark, N.J., who now practices obstetrics and gynecology in Milwaukee, Wis. He attended St. Benedict’s Preparatory in Newark, came to Saint Peter’s College in the fall of 1962 and graduated with a pre-med degree in 1968. During his time at Saint Peter’s, he participated on the swimming, water polo, soccer and club football teams. In 2005, Dr. DeLia delivered the 54th Annual Mendel Biology Lecture at Saint Peter’s, the longest running annual lecture series in the history of the College.
Upon graduating from Saint Peter’s in 1968, Dr. DeLia attended the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry (UMDNJ), and completed his OB/GYN training at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J. He entered academic medicine in 1978 when he joined the full-time faculty at the University of Utah, and continued on to the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1991 and the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1996. He later returned to Milwaukee to become the medical director of the International Institute for the Treatment of Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare – St. Joseph Hospital. Dr. DeLia was named by his peers as one of the pioneers of maternal-fetal surgery, and was recently recognized by the March of Dimes for more than 25 years of effort to reverse the high mortality and rate of brain damage seen in babies affected by TTTS. In 1988 he developed and performed for the first time intrauterine placenta laser surgery for TTTS, an operation now performed throughout the world.
Special Service Inductee – David Surrey, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Saint Peter’s College
David Surrey currently serves as the chair of the sociology/urban studies department, as well as a full professor. Over the last 27 years, he has served Saint Peter’s College in a variety of capacities, including professor of sociology, president of the Faculty Senate and interim assistant academic dean;. Additionally, throughout his time at Saint Peter’s, Dr. Surrey has taught and advised several student-athletes and was the faculty moderator for the women’s soccer team. His support for Saint Peter’s College Athletics has been evident by his participation in sporting events and his attendance at athletic contests throughout the years.
Dr. Surrey has served urban northern New Jersey in a variety of capacities, including director of the adult oriented Public Policy Program; coordinator of the Hudson County College Consortium; president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP); and director of the Institute for the Advancement of Urban Education, Research and Action. He has also successfully written and administrated over 20 grants.
Honorary Inductee – Connie Lorenzo, Athletics Department Secretary
Since becoming the athletics department secretary, Ms. Lorenzo has been instrumental in coordinating many of the department’s annual events, including the Hall of Fame Dinner, the William J. Murray All Sports Golf Outing, the Senior Student-Athlete Awards Dinner and the Toast to Life Reception. She received the College’s first ever Employee of the Month award and was given the Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam award by the student affairs department. Ms. Lorenzo began working at the College in 1997 in the Office of Institutional Research. In 1998, she continued her career with Saint Peter’s in its finance department before arriving in the athletics department a short time thereafter. Ms. Lorenzo is also a member of the string ensemble Paaralang Pilipino Rondalla and is very active in her church, Our Lady of Mercy in Jersey City.
2003 Men’s Soccer Team
In 2003, the Peacocks had the greatest season in Saint Peter’s men’s soccer history, winning the only MAAC Championship in program history and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The team, led by the 2003 MAAC Coach of the Year, Cesar Markovic, went 18-5-2 overall and 5-3-1 in the MAAC. The 2003 men’s soccer team includes Rinaldo Chambers, who was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2008; he was also the MAAC Tournament MVP and an All-MAAC First Team selection in 2003. Also receiving MAAC honors in the 2003 season were Pablo Orantes and Chris Megaloudis, who were named to the All-MAAC First Team and Sylvers Owusu, Danny Wheelan and Marco Orias, who were named to the All-MAAC Rookie Team.
The annual Hall of Fame Induction Dinner and Ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. on the Saint Peter’s College Jersey City campus. For more information on the Induction ceremony, please contact Connie Lorenzo at 201-761-7300 or clorenzo@spc.edu.
Saint Peter’s College is the Jesuit College of New Jersey. Founded in 1872, Saint Peter’s has an enrollment of approximately 3,000 students in undergraduate and graduate programs. The main campus is located in Jersey City with a branch campus in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, with courses at various corporate sites at the Jersey City waterfront and in South Amboy, NJ.