Thomas Hoebbel Hall of Fame inductees Bob Graham '59, Penny Curtis '70, Megan Collins-Heiar '94, M.S. '95, Dan Uhteg '93, Lindsay-Leigh Bartyzel Consolati '96, Debra Smith '90, and Joe Sottolano '90 at the awards ceremony during Homecoming 2006

On Friday, September 15, during Homecoming weekend, 10 Ithacans were inducted into the Ithaca College Athletics Hall of Fame:

The basketball teams coached by Leslie “Les” Barton ’39 won 17 league titles, 10 county championships, and six Section I crowns. His Pine Plains (New York) High School teams went 370-89 between 1939 and 1966 and set a state record with 62 straight wins. Barton also coached football for 14 years, posting six undefeated seasons. Les played baseball, football, and basketball at Ithaca College. His son, David Barton ’67, played the same sports (and was team captain for all three) at IC and is also a member of the Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame. This award was given to Barton posthumously; he passed away on January 4, 2003.

Six-time all-American gymnast Lindsay-Leigh Bartyzel Consolati ’96 won the 1994 NCGA individual national championship in the all-around. Winner of Ithaca’s Iris Carnell Award as the top female athlete of the senior class, Bartyzel also won five individual ECAC titles (a Bombers record), two in 1994 and three in 1995, She was the first Ithaca gymnast to record six all-America finishes.

A member of two successive Ithaca College NCAA national championship women’s soccer teams, Megan Collins-Heiar ’94, M.S. ’95, earned first-team all-America honors as a senior. A back, she was a three-time all-conference, three-time all-state, and two-time all-region pick. She was named the defensive most valuable player of the 1991 NCAA final four. Collins scored 24 points in 91 games as the Bombers posted a four-year record of 69-10-12.

Quadruple threat Penny Curtis ’70 competed in basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, and swimming and diving. A member of Ithaca’s inaugural varsity teams in field hockey and lacrosse, she won the Iris Carnell Award as the top female athlete of her senior class. Curtis went on to spend 20 years as the volleyball coach at Mount Holyoke College, leading her teams to the NCAA playoffs in 1982, 1983, and 1984. She was elected vice president of the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1993. Currently, she is a self-employed yoga instructor.

Jeff Geller ’94 is one of five Ithaca baseball players to earn all-America honors twice. A second-team all-America selection at center field as a junior and senior, he finished his career with a .350 batting average and holds a number of career records. He ranks second in the Ithaca record books with 28 home runs and 200 hits, and his 131 career RBIs rank fifth. A three-time all-conference selection, he was the league’s player of the year as a senior.

As a pitcher for the IC baseball team, Bob Graham ’59 compiled a 16-1 record that included a win over Pittsburgh in the NCAA playoffs. For two years he was also a starting forward on the IC basketball team. After graduation, Graham signed and spent four years with the Chicago Cubs. He then coached baseball at the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (New York) central school for 23 years, winning two Section III titles and 12 league championships; he also coached varsity soccer and basketball. His son, Steve Graham ’89, was a starter on Ithaca’s 1988 national championship baseball team.

The 1996 Ben Light Award winner as the top male athlete of his senior class, Colin Herlihy ’96 was a two-time national winner at the NCAA men’s swimming and diving championships and an all-American in 1995. After breaking two school records and one NCAA record in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke at the 1996 NCAA championships, Herlihy was named swimmer of the meet. In 1995 and 1996 he was named the Upstate New York State Collegiate Swimming Association swimmer of the year.

A two-time all-American field hockey player, Debra Smith ’90 is one of just two Ithacans to have twice earned first-team honors. She was a three-time first-team all-region selection and was named the team’s defensive MVP as a sophomore, junior, and senior. A sweeper, Smith collected 14 career assists. She also played third base for the softball team, compiling 52 hits and 36 runs scored in her four-year career.

Baseball pitcher Joe Sottolano ’90 was named the most outstanding player at the 1988 NCAA Men’s College World Series after leading the IC team to the title. A two-time ECAC all-star and one-time all-region player, he was one of 36 baseball players in the nation to be invited to try out for the Olympic team in 1988. Head coach at the U.S. Military Academy since 2000, Sottolano has led Army to the only three NCAA playoff appearances in the program’s 117 years of competition.

After transferring from Niagara County Community College, where he was a national champion wrestler, Dan Uhteg ’93 earned all-America honors with the Ithaca wrestling team in 1992, placing fourth at 190 pounds. During his first season with the Bombers he was 30-9 with nine pins, leading the team in wins and pins; the following year, he served as a student assistant coach.