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Hall of Fame Logo 2018

General Bob Shreve, Sports Information Director

Nine New Members to Highlight Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2019

EDINBORO, Pa. – The Edinboro University Athletic Department has announced the selection of nine new inductees for the Edinboro Athletic Hall of Fame. The 38th Annual Hall of Fame Ceremony will take place on Friday, September 27 at 7 p.m. The ceremony moves to the Pogue Center after previously being held in McComb Fieldhouse or Van Houten Dining Hall.
 
"We have decided it would be in the best interests of everyone who wants to partake in the many festivities associated with Homecoming Weekend to split up the dates," related Hall of Fame Chairman Bruce Baumgartner. "We like the move to the fall, but now the Hall of Fame will have its own entity. This is another outstanding class of inductees and we look forward to a great day to celebrate their inductions." 
 
The event will once again feature the induction of some outstanding former student-athletes. The inductees include former football standouts Chris Amico and Chris Avery; former wrestling standouts Alex Clemsen and Deonte Penn; former cross country and track & field standout Gabriela Hnilkova; former volleyball standout Jenna Newman; former swimming standout Gregg Sarbak; and former softball standout Dana Webb. In addition, Ed Mailliard will be inducted as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.  
 
Here is a synopsis of the ten inductees, in alphabetical order:
 
Chris Amico ('07) was a standout for the football team from 2003-07, helping lead the Fighting Scots to PSAC West co-championships in 2004 and '05 and a 30-14 record in four playing seasons. In addition, Edinboro made the NCAA Division II Playoffs in 2004, advancing to the regional semifinal. While dominating the line of scrimmage from his defensive tackle position, he earned All-American honors his final three years and was a four-time All-PSAC West selection. He enjoyed his top season in 2005, when he was named the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year as Edinboro finished with an 8-2 record. In addition, he was a first team Football Gazette All-American and second team Daktronics All-American after finishing the year with 49 tackles, 14.5 for losses and a team-leading 8.5 sacks. He ranked 18th in Division II and second in the PSAC in sacks, and was 34th nationally in tackles for losses. He once again earned All-American honors in 2006 while gaining first team All-PSAC West accolades for the second straight year and being named to the first team Football Gazette All-American squad for the second consecutive season. Amico started all 11 games, finishing with 61 tackles, with 9.5 tackles for losses and 4.5 sacks. After redshirting in 2003, he joined the starting lineup in 2004 at defensive tackle, starting all 12 games and leading the linemen with 53 tackles. That included a team-leading 12 tackles for losses and 4.5 sacks. He wrapped up his career in 2007 by once again being named a first team All-PSAC West selection, along with honorable mention Football Gazette All-American accolades and Daktronics All-Northeast Region honors for the second time. He totaled a career-best 64 tackles, with while leading the team in both tackles for losses (16.5) and sacks (6.5). Amico concluded his career starting all 44 games and totaling 227 tackles, with 52.5 tackles for losses and 24 sacks. The latter two figures rank among Edinboro's career leaders.  Amico graduated from Edinboro in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in Speech Communication. He is currently employed by the Irondequoit (N.Y.) Department of Public Works, where he resides with his wife Ashley Marie and two children, Christopher James and Savannah Marie.   
 
Chris Avery ('07) is known as one of the top defensive backs in Edinboro history, and held the career record for interceptions until late in the 2018 season. He was named to Edinboro's All-Time Team while starting 36 of 38 career games. Competing from 2002-05, he was a three-time All-PSAC West honoree, earning first team accolades as a senior and second team the previous two years. He capped his career with Football Gazette, D2Football.com, and Daktronics All-American honors as a senior. He helped Edinboro to PSAC West co-championships in 2003, 2004, and 2005, with 9-3 finishes in 2003 and 2004. Both of those teams qualified for the NCAA Division II Playoffs, with the 2004 team reaching the Super Region One semifinals. Add in an 8-2 finish in 2005, and the Fighting Scots were 31-14 during his four seasons. Avery capped his career in 2005 with second team D2Football.com and Daktronics All-American honors, along with third team Football Gazette and CollegeSportsReport.com recognition. He only had 10 tackles, but finished with 7 interceptions for 196 yards, including a 99-yard touchdown return against California(Pa.). He also recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown vs. Indiana(Pa.), and even made one of two extra points. Avery earned a starting job three games into his freshman season but was shelved due to an injury midway through the year. While playing in four games, he had 16 tackles. In 2003, he started all 12 games, finishing with 24 tackles. He was second on the team with 7 interceptions for 78 yards, ranking 22nd in Division II and third in the PSAC in pickoffs. He also broke up 6 passes while being accorded second team All-PSAC West honors. He ranked second on the team in interceptions in 2004, as well, with 6, good for sixth in the PSAC and 27th in Division II, while adding 6 passes broken up. He was a second team All-PSAC West honoree for the second straight year. He scored a pair of touchdowns on a blocked punt against WVU Tech and a 31-yard interception return vs. Kutztown. Avery finished his career with 20 career interceptions, which stood until Zuril Hendrick intercepted his 21st pass in the 2018 season finale. His 7 interceptions in 2003 and 2005 is tied for fifth in a season, while the 6 pickoffs in 2004 is tied for tenth. He also competed in track & field and men's basketball as a Fighting Scot.  Avery resides in Medina, Ohio and is a realtor for Keller Williams Greater Cleveland. He has one son, Mason.    
  
Alex Clemsen ('07) was a standout on the Edinboro wrestling team from 2002-07 while competing at 184 lbs. Despite battling injuries, he was a four-time national qualifier who earned All-American honors as a senior. He also won one Eastern Wrestling League title and became just the 14th wrestler at the time to win four PSAC championships. He was also a three-time place winner at the Southern Scuffle. Clemsen concluded his career with a 121-35 record, currently ranking 14th in career victories. As a senior in 2006-07, he qualified for Nationals for the fourth straight year and went on to finish fourth at 184 lbs. to earn All-American honors for the first time. He helped Edinboro finish ninth at the NCAA Division I National Championships, while posting a 17-1 record, tied for the most wins in school history. He ended the year with a 37-4 record. After entering Nationals as the fifth seed, Clemsen reached the quarterfinals before dropping a 5-2 decision to second-seeded Roger Kish of Minnesota. He registered three more wins in the wrestlebacks to reach the third place match before falling to Kish in a 3-2 decision. He won his first EWL title to qualify for Nationals, and also won his fourth straight PSAC crown earlier in the year, along with a third place showing at the Southern Scuffle. An outstanding student, Clemsen capped his senior campaign by earning CoSIDA University Division All-America Men's At-Large Second Team honors, and was also a PSAC Winter Top Ten choice for the third time. He qualified for Nationals as a true freshman in 2002-03 thanks to a third place finish at the EWL Tournament. He finished the year at 28-15, including his first PSAC championship. In 2003-04, he placed second at the EWL Tournament to earn a second straight trip to the national championships. He ended the year with a 22-6 record, including a third place finish at the Southern Scuffle, despite missing six weeks following early season knee surgery. He won his second PSAC crown and was also named to the PSAC Winter Top Ten. After redshirting in 2004-05, Clemsen finished with a 34-10 record in 2005-06, helping Edinboro finish eighth at Nationals. He fell one win shy of earning All-American honors, going 3-2 at Nationals. He was second at the EWL Tournament and won his third of four PSAC championships. Clemsen earned his bachelor's degree in Finance and Marketing in 2007, graduating with the highest GPA ever by an Edinboro wrestler. Since that time he has embarked on a rising coaching career. Renowned as an outstanding recruiter, he has served as an assistant coach at Oregon State, Virginia, and Missouri before being named the head coach at Maryland in April 2019. He and his wife Lindsay have two children, Payten and Porter.     
 
Gabriela Hnilkova ('00) was a standout runner on the cross country and track & field teams from 1998-2000.  A native of the Czech Republic, she transferred to Edinboro in the fall of 1998 after competing for NAIA Oklahoma Baptist for two years. She would go on to earn All-American honors three times as a Fighting Scot, including twice in cross country. She also earned All-PSAC and All-East Region accolades both years in cross country. She earned All-American honors for the first time the fall of 1998, finishing 20th at the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships while helping Edinboro place fifth as a team. That came after she finished fourth at the PSAC Championships and also earned All-East Region honors. The following year, she led Edinboro to a third place finish at Nationals, the second-highest showing ever by the Fighting Scots. She was the first Boro harrier to cross the finish line, coming in eighth, the second-highest finish ever by an Edinboro runner. She was the individual champion at the East Regional along with placing fifth at the PSAC Championships. Hnilkova was named the 1999 NCAA Division II East Region Runner of the Year and PSAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Year. In her one complete season of track & field in 1999, she earned All-American honors in the 10,000-meter run while placing fourth at the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships. She previously won the 3,000-meter run at the PSAC Outdoor Championships. She began the 2000 track season with a second place finish in the 10,000-meter run at the Duke Invitational, but then the NCAA ruled her track & field eligibility had expired. Hnilkova was also an outstanding student who was a USTFCCCA Scholar-Athlete in both cross country and track & field. Following graduation in 2000 with her bachelor's degree in Education, she moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and became a duathlete, where she won her age group at the World Long Course in Austria in 2000. In 2007, she finished ninth overall and was the second American runner to finish at the World Championships.  She currently resides in Moriarty, New Mexico with her daughter Zosia Hnilkova Jenks. She earned her master's degree in Special Education with an emphasis on Students with Severe Disabilities from the Univ. of New Mexico in 2008. She has served as a special education teacher for the last 19 years, with 18 years in the Albuquerque Public Schools, and currently with the Estancia Municipal School District. She took a break from teaching in 2008 and entered the Albuquerque Police Academy and became a police officer. She returned to teaching in 2009.
 
Ed Mailliard ('79) is being inducted as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. A native of Meadville, Pa., he earned his bachelor's degree in photojournalism from Edinboro in 1979, completing his degree as a non-traditional student after leaving following his junior year to accept a position as a sportswriter at the Meadville Tribune. While a student at Edinboro, he worked as a manager for the basketball team, wrote for the Spectator, the student newspaper, and was a student on the staff of sports information director Paul Newman. He worked at the Meadville Tribune for over 40 years – for 10 years as a sportswriter, chief photographer for 10 years, and as city editor and later as nighttime managing editor for more than 20 years. He retired from the Tribune in 2013 to concentrate on sports photography. He continues to work as a photographer for Topps baseball and football cards after being added to their staff in 1981, as well as shooting for several area colleges. Mailliard estimates he has produced the photography for more than 15,000 baseball and football cards. In 2015 he was inducted into major league baseball's Cactus League Hall of Fame. He has served as temporary faculty member at Edinboro for photojournalism in the English and Theatre Arts Department. Mailliard's awards include The Associated Press Member of the Year for News Photography (presented to the Meadville Tribune for news photo contributions), and the Norm Sundstrom Friend of Athletics Award, presented in 2016 by Allegheny College in honor of the former Allegheny Director of Athletics.
  
Jenna Newman ('15) was a standout in volleyball from 2004-07. She is one of only two Edinboro players to earn AVCA All-American honors, being named to the honorable mention team in 2007. In addition, she was selected the PSAC West Player of the Year as a senior in 2007 and was a third team Daktronics All-American. The middle hitter was a first team All-PSAC West selection for the second straight year and was also a two-time AVCA All-Atlantic Region selection, earning the honor as a junior and senior. She paced the team in kills three of her four seasons, finishing second the other year, and also was the team leader in blocks three of four years. Success from a team standpoint followed, as well. She led Edinboro to two appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament, including a 26-16 finish in 2005 and a 28-11 record in 2007. As a senior, she led the Fighting Scots to the championship game of the Atlantic Regional. She finished with 616 kills, the second-highest season total and just 18 shy of the school record, while setting the school record for total attempts with 1,287. She tied for the team lead in hitting percentage (.313) while pacing the Scots in block solos (32), block assists (102), and total blocks (134). The total blocks ranks ninth in a season. In 2006, Newman was an All-PSAC and All-Atlantic Region selection after finishing second in the PSAC in hitting percentage (.353), ranking 24th in Division II, and fourth in kills with a team-high 470. The hitting percentage ranks tenth in a season. She also led the team in total blocks (85). The 2005 campaign marked the only season Newman did not lead the team in kills and blocks, finishing second with 481 and 109, respectively. She ranked ninth in the PSAC in kills per game and seventh in hitting percentage (.326). Despite her freshman status in 2004, she was the team leader in kills (332) and total blocks (141), the latter figure sixth all-time at Edinboro. In addition to ranking second in career kills, Newman holds the school record for total attempts (4,017), is sixth in career hitting percentage (.313), second in total blocks (467), and third in block solos (88) and block assists (379). She also ranks highly in numerous game categories. Newman completed work on her bachelor's degree in Communications, with a minor in History, in 2009. She currently resides in Sierra Vista, Ariz. and works in operations at Teleperformance.         
 
Deonte Penn ('17) joins fellow inductee Alex Clemsen as a standout for the Edinboro wrestling program. In fact, the two were teammates together, competing from 2002-07. Penn began his career at 149 lbs. before eventually moving up to 165 lbs. and enjoying great success. He was a three-time national qualifier who earned All-American honors as a junior and senior. In addition, he won two Eastern Wrestling League and two PSAC titles. He finished his career with a 114-43 record and set school records for pins in a career with 53, now ranking second. He began his career as the starter at 149 lbs. as a true freshman in 2002-03, posting a 17-15 record with seven falls. In 2003-04, he improved to 27-13 while tying for the team lead with 12 falls. He would win the EWL title at 149 lbs. to earn his first trip to Nationals. In addition, he placed second at the PSAC Championships and was sixth at the Southern Scuffle. Penn redshirted the following year, then moved up to 165 lbs. to compete in 2005-06. He would earn All-American accolades for the first time, finishing fourth after going in unseeded. He was one of the biggest stories at the NCAA Division I National Championships while helping Edinboro finish eighth as a team. He ended the year with a 33-11 record and 14 falls, the latter figure tied for 11th in a season. He won twice by fall at Nationals and upset the sixth and 10th seeds. He reached the third place match thanks to a 15-10 decision over Joey Bracamonte of Oregon State, but a rib injury forced him to withdraw from the match. He was named to InterMat's All-Effort Team after finishing third at the EWL Tournament and winning his first PSAC title. He would earn All-American honors for a second time in 2006-07 thanks to a seventh place showing, capping a 37-4 season that included a school-record 20 falls. Edinboro finished ninth as a team and tied the school record for wins while going 17-1. Seeded seventh at 165 lbs., he would once again reach the quarterfinals. Appropriately, he won his final match by fall over Central Michigan's Mike Miller to place seventh. Penn was named the Outstanding Wrestler at the EWL Tournament after winning all three of his matches by fall. He also won his second PSAC crown and came in first at the Southern Scuffle. Penn currently resides in Las Vegas, Nev. Along with his wife, Vanessa, and daughters Mariah and Makayla and son Deonte. He completed work on his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2017. He is the Human Resource Director of the family-run business, Visiting Angels Senior Homecare.        
 
Gregg Sarbak ('96) was a standout on the swimming team from 1992-95, and would finish as a nine-time All-American while competing alongside Edinboro Hall of Fame members Jon Grafious and Dave Lechler. He is a member of Edinboro's all-time swimming team. As a freshman he competed at NCAA Division I Nebraska before transferring for his final three seasons. He helped Edinboro to the best showing in school history at the NCAA Division II National Championships in 1994, as the Fighting Scots finished fourth. The 1995 team followed that up with a seventh place showing. Edinboro finished second at the 1994 PSAC Championships, tying the highest finish in school history. He earned All-American honors once in 1992-93 while competing on the 400-yard Medley Relay. The following year, he was a five-time All-American, coming in fourth in the 200-yard Medley Relay, fifth in the 400-yard Medley Relay (school-record 100-yard backstroke leg), fifth in the 200-yard Backstroke with a school-record time, seventh in the 200-yard Freestyle Relay, and 15th in the 100-yard Backstroke. As a senior in 1994-95, he was a three-time All-American with a fourth place finish in the 200-yard Medley Relay, fifth in the 400-yard Medley Relay, and 15th in the 100-yard Backstroke.  He held five school records during his career. Sarbak has since gone on the enjoy a successful coaching career, including stops at Edinboro, Allegheny, William & Mary, and Gannon, along with nine years coaching the San Clemente Aquatics Team in san Clemente, California. He has also served as the Director of Competitive Swimming at Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio from 2011-15. He trained an international Olympian, United States Olympic Trial qualifier, two World Championship qualifiers in 2013, a pair of AT&T National Championship qualifiers in 2012, and a breaststroke semifinalist at the 2012 Junior National Championships. On August 21, 1995, Sarbak became the fifth person to swim across Lake Erie. He has also bicycled from Erie to Tampa. After serving as the head coach at Gannon for two years at one time, he returned as an assistant coach in 2018-19. He graduated from Edinboro with a bachelor's degree in Natural Sciences and Mathematics. He was named an NCAA Division II Academic All-American during his collegiate career. 
 
Dana Webb('09) may just be the top softball to ever don the uniform at Edinboro. While playing for the Fighting Scots from 2006-09, she became Edinboro's first NFCA All-American, earning third team NFCA Division II All-American accolades in 2009 as a senior. She was selected as a second baseman after capping an incredible career, not to mention a record-setting season. Webb would hit .448 with 17 home runs and 59 RBIs, all school records at the time. She also set school records for runs (39), hits (60), doubles (12), and bases on balls (19), and her 16 stolen bases ranked sixth in a season. She also excelled in the field, making just three errors for a .984 fielding percentage. She led the Fighting Scots to a 26-19 record, the most wins in school history, along with a berth in the PSAC Tournament. In addition to the NFCA All-American honors, Webb was accorded first team Daktronics All-American honors that year, and was a first team All-Atlantic Region selection by both organizations. All told, she was a three-time All-PSAC selection, earning first team honors in 2008 and 2009, and second team in 2007, while playing second base. She was a three-time NFCA All-Atlantic Region honoree, as well, with first team recognition in 2007, '08, and '09. Webb still holds numerous career records, including home runs (33), RBIs (135), doubles (34), and games played (160), along with being tied for first in triples (16). She is sixth in career batting average (.370), second in at bats (484) and hits (179), third in runs (96), and fourth in base on balls (46). She never hit lower than .333 in her four seasons, beginning her career as a freshman in 2006 hitting .333 with 3 home runs and 18 RBIs. In 2007, she helped the Fighting Scots reach the PSAC Tournament and earn a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament, hitting .344 with 5 home runs and 27 RBIs. In 2008, she hit .342 with 8 home runs and 31 RBIs. While ranking in numerous season top ten categories, her 8 home runs in 2008 are tied for third, and the 31 RBIs are tied for sixth. Webb graduated from Edinboro in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in Health & Physical Education, and earned her master's degree from Edinboro in Rehabilitation Counseling in 2011. She is currently employed as a vocational rehabilitation counselor at the Department of Labor and Industry in the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. She has also previously served as an assistant coach at both Mercyhurst and California(Pa.) since her graduation.           
 
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