Sports Talk
By Brian DePasquale
UAlbany Enshrines Four in the Athletic Hall of Fame
The University at Albany will enshrine four former athletes into its Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, Sept. 29, at the 18th annual HOF Dinner and Induction Ceremony. A reception for the Athletic Hall of Fame inductees begins at 5 p.m., with the dinner and ceremony to follow in the Recreation and Convocation Center (RACC) on campus. The event is preceded by UAlbany’s Northeast Conference home football game with Stony Brook at 1 p.m.

The inductees and their sports are: Debbie August ’96, lacrosse; Don Mion ’75, football/wrestling; Lynda Nealis ’94, basketball; and Wilfredo Rodriguez ’00, track & field.

With this year’s class, there are 89 former athletes, coaches, and administrators who have been inducted into the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Debbie August (1993-96) -- One of the top attackers in the history of women’s lacrosse at UAlbany, August led the Great Danes to four winning seasons, a combined 32-17 record and two ECAC tournament appearances.

August finished her career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 164 points (132 goals, 32 assists), and is the only player to record back-to-back 60-point seasons. She scored 49 goals and 13 assists for 62 points in 1996, a UA single-season record.

As a senior, August placed among the NCAA Collegiate Lacrosse scoring leaders in rankings for both Division I and II players. She was sixth in both points per game (5.17) and goals per game (4.08) for an offense that ranked third nationally in scoring. August led the Great Danes to an 8-4 record and ECAC championship appearance in the program’s inaugural Division II campaign. She tallied a career-high seven goals against Le Moyne, and recorded four-plus goals in nine games. August was chosen as the 1995-96 University Female Athlete of the Year.

A native of Rye, N.Y. (Rye H.S.), August earned Brine/IWLCA Division III All-America honors, and was a second-team NYSWCAA all-star selection in 1995. At the time, she established single-season records with 50 goals and 10 assists for 60 points.August netted six goals in two contests, and scored five times against two opponents. Her squad posted a 9-4 record and reached the ECAC Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional.

August, who also played on the school’s first varsity field hockey squad in 1994, is still the UAlbany career leader with 132 goals. She is second in scoring, sixth in assists and is among the top-five with 227 ground balls.

August earned a B.S. in human biology, and then went on to receive her master’s degree in sports administration from Georgia State University. She is the director of alumni at Green Farms Academy in Westport, Conn. where she handles alumni relations and development.

August lives in Port Chester, N.Y., with her husband, Jean-Claude Doornick, who played lacrosse for the Great Danes in the early 1990s.

Don Mion (1972-75) -- Mion, a two-sport athlete in football and wrestling, is one of the school’s all-time tackles leaders, and was a member of the football program’s only undefeated squad in 1974.

A 6-foot, 200-pound linebacker, Mion totaled 140 tackles, five interceptions and three fumble recoveries as a senior. He was named to the Albany Times Union’s All-Metroland Team. The Great Danes’ 4-4 defense limited opponents to 9.6 points and 225.3 total yards per game en route to a perfect 9-0 season. Mion established a single-game record with 24 tackles in a 7-6 victory over Alfred on September 28 at University Field.

In 1973, Mion made 131 tackles and intercepted four passes, as Albany posted a 7-2 record in the program’s inaugural varsity campaign. He and his defensive mates allowed 8.5 points per game and 183.9 total yards.

A native of Colonie (Colonie Central H.S.), Mion ranks fifth on the school’s all-time tackles list with 271 and is tied for tenth in career interceptions (9). He also started at linebacker in 1972, when Albany competed at the club level and fashioned a 6-1-1 campaign.

Additionally, Mion wrestled for UAlbany Hall of Fame coach and former athletic director Joe Garcia. The Great Danes registered a pair of top-25 finishes at the NCAA Division III Championships in 1974 and 1975.

Mion is in his fifth season as a defensive line coach on Bob Ford’s Albany staff. He previously was a scholastic head coach for 11 years, and guided Shaker High School in Latham, N.Y. to four Section II playoff appearances. Prior to being installed as head coach in 1986, he was an assistant at Shaker for six years. In addition, Mion was a UAlbany graduate assistant in the mid-1970s and an assistant coach at both Syracuse and Mohonasen high schools. He also served as head wrestling coach at Syracuse and Shaker.

Mion received his B.A. in social studies with a minor in education from Albany in 1975, and went on to earn his master’s degree in the same discipline. He and his wife, Sharon, reside in Clifton Park with their three daughters, Katie (14), Sara (12) and Emily (7).

Lynda Nealis (1990-94) -- One of the top scorers in UAlbany history, Nealis led the basketball program to three winning seasons and an NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in 1992.

Nealis is one of six players in school history to score 1,000 or more points, and is currently fifth on the career chart with 1,071. She also ranks eighth in steals (195), 11th in assists (201) and 13th in rebounds with 423. She is among the all-time leaders with a career .712 free throw percentage.

As a senior co-captain, Nealis was named to the NYSWCAA All-State Team and received honorable mention All-America recognition by Basketball Gazette. She averaged 15.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 3.3 steals in leading the Great Danes to a 15-9 record and a New York State Tournament appearance. Nealis scored 20-plus points on four occasions, including 22 against both Union and Wilkes. For her efforts, she was voted the 1993-94 University Female Athlete of the Year.

Nealis averaged 12.4 points, 2.7 assists and 2.7 steals as a junior, when her team reached the state tournament. As a sophomore, she scored at a 10.2 clip, as the Great Danes posted a 22-5 record and reached the NCAA Division III Tournament’s East Regional.

A native of Kings Park, N.Y. (Kings Park H.S.), Nealis graduated cum laude with a B.S. in human biology. She later would earn an associate’s degree in nursing from Piedmont Community College in Roxboro, N.C. Nealis was a member of UAlbany’s Delta Zeta Sorority, and served on the Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory Board (IAAB).

Nealis, who was inducted into the Kings Park High School Hall of Fame in 1996, currently is employed by Stony Brook University Hospital in the Infection Control Department. She also works in a part-time nursing staff position with the emergency room, surgical intensive care unit and burn unit. From 1996-98, she was a medical surgical staff nurse at Long Beach Medical Center.

Wilfredo Rodriguez (1989-92) -- An All-America track and field athlete, Rodriguez won two national titles in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles and is one of the most decorated performers in the program’s history.

Rodriguez set a school record that still stands today when he sprinted 51.50 seconds to capture the 1990 NCAA Division III 400-hurdles championship in Naperville, Ill. He won his second consecutive outdoor national title the following year in Berea, Ohio, and placed second in the same event in 1992.

As a junior, Rodriguez also led the 4x400-meter relay to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA outdoor championships. UAlbany’s relay squad posted top-five finishes at the NCAA indoor meet in three consecutive years, including a third-place showing in 1990.

Rodriguez’s performances also helped UAlbany place in the top 10 at the NCAA outdoor championships twice, including seventh in 1991. The Great Danes also tied for sixth at the 1992 NCAA indoor national competition.

From 1989-92, Rodriguez won four New York State 400-meter hurdles titles, plus took sixth at the prestigious IC4A championships. He led his team to three outdoor New York State and three Collegiate Track Conference crowns, and was the 1990 CTC decathlon champion.

Rodriguez, who was both the ’89 Puerto Rican junior national champion and ’90 national champion in the 400-hurdles, also helped set an existing school standard in the indoor distance medley relay. The record time of 9:57.66 was established at the 1992 IC4A meet.

A native of Brentwood, N.Y. (Brentwood H.S.), Rodriguez graduated from UAlbany in the spring of 2000 with a degree in computer science and mathematics. He is pursuing a master’s in teaching at Plattsburgh State University, and has been a classroom instructor at Knolls Atomic Laboratory in West Milton, N.Y. since 1994. Rodriguez and his wife, Carrie, reside in Saratoga Springs with their sons, Wilfredo (6), Damien (5) and Therren (3).

Former UAlbany Basketball Captain Stephen Mulderry Remembered
A memorial service for former University at Albany basketball captain Stephen Mulderry, who is among the missing in the World Trade Center tragedy of September 11, was held September 22 at St. Teresa of Avila Church in Albany.

Mulderry, a Bishop Maginn High School graduate, was a co-captain on the 1989-90 UAlbany squad, which posted a 20-9 record and reached the NCAA Division III East Regional Tournament. He averaged 11.5 points, 5.7 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 steals as a senior. Mulderry, a two-year starter for head coach Richard “Doc” Sauers, also led the 1988-89 team to an ECAC Upstate New York championship and a 20-8 mark. As a junior, he contributed 8.0 points and 4.5 assists per game.

A backup guard in high school on Jerry Connelly’s Bishop Maginn clubs, Mulderry worked his way into the UAlbany starting lineup after trying out for the team as a freshman. He played on the junior varsity squad his first year, before seeing limited action off the bench at the varsity level as a sophomore. Mulderry, a self-made backcourt player, finished his college career seventh on the school’s all-time assists list with 325, and fourth in assist average at 4.27 per game.

Mulderry, who was popular among his teammates, and affectionately known as “Zipper,” graduated with a B.S. in economics in 1990. For the last five years, he worked as vice president of equity trading for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, an employee-owned investment banking firm.

He is survived by his parents, William and Anne of Albany; by four brothers -- Andrew of Boston, Peter of New York City, Daniel of San Francisco and Bill of Verona, N.J.; and by three sisters -- Amy of New York City, Nell of New York City and Darra of Cambridge, Mass.

The family has established a trust in memory of Stephen for educational scholarships and donations to inner-city athletic leagues. Contributions should be made payable to “The Stephen Mulderry Memorial Fund,” and sent to: The Stephen Mulderry Fund, c/o Andrew Mulderry, The Thomas H. Lee Company, 75 State Street, 26th Floor, Boston, MA 02109.

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