Allegheny College Athletics

1970-79: Becoming a Powerhouse
 
Sprague Stars 
While many Allegheny teams enjoyed a plethora of success upon joining the PAC in 1959, the men’s cross country squad was not one of them, as the Gators never finished higher than fourth between 1959 and 1969.  However, the fortunes began to change in 1970, as Allegheny finished second at the PAC championship.  The Gators were led by Vermont native Chuck Sprague, who was a First Team All-PAC performer after a sixth-place finish at the conference championship, and became the first runner in Allegheny history to qualify for the NCAA Championships.  At the NCAA meet, he finished in the middle of the 375-runner pack in the five-mile race, despite having competed at strictly four-mile meets over the course of the season. His time of 27:30 was the fastest ever by a PAC runner at the National Championships up to that point.
 
Sundstrom Authors Quick Turnaround
After finishing under .500 for 16 consecutive seasons, the Allegheny basketball team’s fortunes changed in 1970 with the hiring of Norm Sundstrom as head coach, who enjoyed a successful tenure as head coach at Meadville High School.  In the 1970-71 season-opener, the Gators defeated John Carroll 71-66 to avenge four straight losses at the hands of the Blue Streaks dating back to the 1966-67 campaign.  It signified the start of good things to come for the Gators, who ended the season 10-9 overall and 9-4 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, clinching a share of the conference title with a 63-59 victory over Thiel in the season finale.  The 9-4 record in the PAC was the best in program history up to that point, while the 10 overall victories were the Gators’ most since the 1954-55 squad finished 13-7.

Super 70's 
Between 1970 and '76, Allegheny wins six of seven Presidents’ Athletic Conference baseball championships and sees a pair of players sign professional contracts.  Third baseman Steve Lanier inked a deal with the Kansas City Royals in 1973, as shortstop Peter Maropis signed a deal with the Chicago Cubs in 1975.  The 1975 year was a standout season for the Allegheny program, as the team posted an 18-6 record while placing a PAC-record six players on the All-PAC First Team listing.

For Pete's Sake
Through the course of Allegheny athletic history, the school has churned out its fair share of two-sport standouts.  One of the most prolific was 1976 graduate Peter Maropis, who starred in both baseball and football.  On the gridiron, Maropis was a three-year starter at defensive back and kicker, and two-time All-PAC honoree, while additionally being named All-District and All-State by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. As a sophomore in 1973, Maropis led the Gators in tackles and interceptions, while a season later, he set what was then a PAC record with a 43-yard field goal. Under head coach Sam Timer, the Gators went a combined 18-8 during Maropis' three-year career, winning the 1974 conference title.

On the baseball field, Maropis was a First Team All-PAC honoree in all three seasons.  Beginning his career as a freshman in centerfield, he moved to shortstop for his sophomore and junior campaigns.  After leading the PAC in batting average as a freshman, he put together a remarkable campaign in 1975, hitting safely in every game en-route to finishing with a .550 average.  In his three seasons, Maropis hit safely in 27 of 31 games played against PAC competition.  He was drafted in the 15th round by the Chicago White Sox following his junior campaign of 1975, and went on to play three seasons in the minor leagues.  Named the 1976 Allegheny Athlete of the Year, he was inducted into the Allegheny Hall of Fame in 1989.

Lange Makes a Historic Splash
Joan Lange Pfinsgraff, a 1988 Allegheny Hall of Fame inductee, earned four varsity letters as a member of the men’s swimming and diving team between 1973-76, and was named team captain of the men’s program during her Gator career.  Lange was one of the first two women to ever earn an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, compared to 862 men who had earned the honor previously, all of which came six years before the NCAA began sponsoring competition for women. In her freshman campaign, Lange finished sixth at the 1973 PAC Championships, making her the first woman in the history of the PAC to score at the meet.  Despite the program sponsoring a women’s team in 1974, Lange elected to remain with the men’s program, scoring in the PAC Championships in all four years of her career.

The First Golden Era
From 1974-77, Allegheny football enjoyed its most prolific period up to that point in program history, combining to go 24-8 overall, and 22-6 against Presidents’ Athletic Conference opposition under head coach Sam Timer.  In 1974, led by the three-headed offensive monster of quarterbcak Robyn Small and running backs Mark Matlak and Tibor Solymosi, the Gators won their third PAC championship, going 7-1 overall.  For the first time in team history, two players were named AP All-America, including Small and defensive back/return specialist Ed Pinkham.  Pinkham scored a program-record three return touchdowns (two kickoff, one punt), Solymosi gained 871 yards and ran for nine touchdowns, while Matlak scored 10 touchdowns.  The Gators led the PAC and placed in the NCAA in every major statistical category, including total offense (376.6 yds/g), total defense (181 yds/gm), scoring (31.3 pts/gm) interceptions (15), and rushing defense (82.5).
 
In 1975, Solymosi earned his first of two straight AP All-America honors after rushing for 853 yards and nine touchdowns, and was joined on the All-America squad by offensive lineman Charles Slater.  The Gators tied atop the PAC standings with a 5-2 record, but were ruled ineligible after the conference office deemed that they played an illegal preseason scrimmage a season before.  The controversial decision, which Allegheny argued for over six months, was not finalized by the conference until late September.
 
The 1976 Gators won their second PAC title in three years, finishing 6-2 overall and 6-1 in the PAC.  One of the major highlights of the season came in week six against Carnegie Mellon, when the Gators defeated the Tartans, ranked third in the region, 24-22.  The Gators jumped out to a 24-0 lead in the third quarter, then held off a furious CMU rally.  Matlak scored twice and Solymosi once, as the Gators gained 265 rushing yards and 369 yards of total offense against a defense that had given up an average of just 148 yards per game.  Solymosi again earned All-America honors, running for 875 yards and 10 touchdowns, while the Gator defense held opponents to just 10.8 points and 199 yards per game.
 
In 1977, the Gators again finished 5-2 in the PAC and were led by Matlak, who was named the PAC Offensive Player of the Year after running for 744 yards and eight touchdowns in seven games.  Twin brother Matt Matlak led the conference with 182 tackles from the linebacker spot, which remains a school-record, highlighted by a phenomenal 37-tackle performance against Carnegie Mellon in week seven.

Taking the Next Step
After finishing at or above .500 in three of the first four seasons in the 1970’s under head coach Norm Sundstrom, the Gator men's basketball team took the next step in 1974-75.  Led by the All-PAC duo of Marty Orzechowski and Bob Del Greco, the Gators captured their first outright conference title with a 13-1 mark against PAC foes, and advanced to the NCAA Division III playoffs for the first time in team history, dropping a 75-67 decision to Marietta, who would eventually advance to the Elite Eight.  In addition to the all-conference laurels for Orzechowski and Del Greco, Sundstrom earned his first career PAC Coach of the Year honor.

First National Champ
On March 20, 1975, Allegheny’s Jeff Gordon became the first athlete in school history to win NCAA gold, as the senior captured the national championship in the 1-meter dive after tallying a score of 394.92.  One of the most decorated divers in the long history of the Allegheny program, Gordon was a four-year letterwinner and two-time All-American (1975, 1976), and was presented with the Richard Fischer Outstanding Swimmer/Diver Award in 1975.  He was inducted into the Allegheny Hall of Fame in 1987.
 
Back on Top
After a number of lean years, the 1975-76 Allegheny men’s golf team returned to the top of the PAC, capturing its first conference championship in 11 years.  Under head coach Norm Sundstrom, the Gators carried that momentum into the 1976-77 campaign, when they dominated their competition.  The Gators won their second straight PAC championship, blistering the competition by a whopping 62 strokes.  Each of the first four finishers in the tourney were Gators, led by the duo of John Jones and Bill Watt, who tied for medalist honors with two-day totals of 146, while Tom Hantke finished third (154) and Greg Stone fourth (155).  The team then made its first appearance in the NCAA Division III National Championship, finishing fourth in a 20-team field with a four-round team total of 1,229, just seven strokes out of first place.

Storming the Court
1976-77 marked the first reported season for women’s tennis, as Susie Fain served as head coach.  With 21 players on the team’s roster, the squad went 9-3 overall with an 8-0 record in conference play, winning the Women’s Keystone Conference (WKC) Championship in their first year of existence.  In their first match in program history, the Gators defeated Gannon, 5-2.  The Gators posted a pair of shutouts on the year, blanking Mercyhurst and Clarion during the course of the season.

Gator Aces Set the Future
Joining a slew of new programs established and recognized by the NCAA in 1977, the Allegheny volleyball program began with Cathy Knight serving as head coach.  Beginning their program history as members of the Women’s Keystone Conference (WKC), the Gators saw Ronda Seagraves, who also coached the Allegheny women’s basketball team, assume the reigns as the squad entered the 1980s.  

Allegheny Swimming Evolves as Women Join the Fray
Although Gator student-athletes competed for the men’s program prior to 1977 (SEE “LANGE MAKES A HISTORIC SPLASH”), the Allegheny women’s swimming and diving program entered their first collegiate season alongside several other women’s programs as a NCAA-recognized program.  Boasting a 17-member roster and led by captain Robin Sury, the Gators faced a difficult schedule, which included a clash with Bowling Green.
 
The First All-American
Bill Hartz was the first true track and field superstar for the Gators, putting together an incredibly star-studded four-year career as a hurdler between 1976-79.  At the conference level, Hartz was a four-time PAC champion in the 400-meter hurdles and three-time 110-meter champ, while earning PAC MVP honors as both a junior in 1978 and a senior in ‘79.  He also enjoyed great success on the national level, becoming the Gators’ first track and field All-American when he finished fifth at the 1978 Division-III championships in the 110 hurdles, before taking third in the 400 hurdles a year later.
 
Hartz also took part in a memorable race at the 1977 Division III championships.  In the same heat as Morehead State’s Edwin Moses, Hartz was originally declared the winner of the heat after Moses was whistled for committing a lane violation.  However, the decision was reversed, and Moses went on to win the national title as part of an 11-year span in which he won 122 consecutive races, including a pair of Olympic gold medals.
 
Almost four decades after graduating, Hartz remains the Allegheny team record holder in both the 110 meter (14.64 seconds) and 400 meter (52.34 seconds) hurdles.  He was inducted into the Allegheny Hall of Fame in 1992.
 
Diamond Debut
Following the monumental Title IX ruling in 1972, the popularity of women’s athletics at the college level exploded in the mid 1970’s.  Softball was introduced as a varsity sport at Allegheny in 1977, with the Gators competing in the Women’s Keystone Conference.  Under head coach Lee Eschenheimer, and with team tri-captains Linda Weber, Arlie Sears, and Beth Giese, the team finished 6-4.  Stacy Lyon threw the first no-hitter in program history in an April 16-0 victory over Villa Maria.

In an Unblemished Season, Nelson Makes History
In 1978, the Gator men' soccer team closed out the season with a 10-0-1 record, posting five shutouts while outscoring opponents by a combined score of 37-7.  A key component of this illustrious run was Dave Nelson, a 1978 Allegheny graduate, who closed out his illustrious career with three consecutive All-PAC honors.  Nelson, who was inducted into the Allegheny Hall of Fame in 1991, scored 17 goals in 1977, which is still a program record, while netting 50 goals and collecting 118 points over his career, both of which remain program records.

Almost There
A season after making its first appearance at the NCAA championship, the 1977-78 Gator golf squad was just as impressive, again blistering the PAC tournament for a 51-stroke victory.  The team returned to the D-III Championship, and finished second overall behind three-time defending national champ Cal State-Stanislaus.  Inducted into the Allegheny Hall of Fame in 1997, the 1977-78 Gator squad had an unprecedented three players named All-America, in Bill Watt, Greg Stone, and Jim Allen, who also earned his first of two consecutive PAC Player of the Year awards, as well.

Going Out on a High Note
The Gators captured their second outright PAC title in 1978-79, in what would turn out to be Norm Sundstrom’s final year on the bench.  Before stepping aside to focus on his duties as athletic director and men’s golf coach, Sundstrom led the Gators to a 15-9 mark and a 10-4 conference record in earning their second outright PAC championship and a trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round by Wittenberg in a tough one-point decision.  The high-scoring duo of Eric Lindberg and Jim Wheeler were each named First Team All-PAC, while Sundstrom earned his second conference Coach of the Year honor.

Top Billing
Both the Allegheny men's swimming and golf teams rose to prominence in the 1970's, and a key figure in the ascension of both teams was 1980 graduate Bill Watt.  On the golf course, Watt helped lead the Gators to four straight Presidents' Athletic Conference titles.  As a freshman in 1977, Watt was named the PAC's Co-Player of the Year, sharing the honors with teammate John Jones as the two tied atop the leaderboard at the conference championships, each totaling 146 in the two-round tournament.  A season later, Watt again was named the Player of the Year, after again taking home medalist honors at the conference tourney.  On the national stage, he was a three-time All-American (1977, '78, '80), and helped the Gators place in the top four at the NCAA Championships four times, highlighted by a second-place finish in 1978.

In the pool, Watt specialized in the breaststroke and medley, earning a total of 20 All-American honors to remain the most highly-decorated men's swimmer in program history.  As a freshman in 1977, Watt earned an astonishing six All-America plaudits, doing so in the 200 breast, 200 individual medley, and 400 individual medley, as well as a part of the 400 free, 800 free, and 400 medley relays.  For his career, he earned a total of four All-America honors each in the 200 and 400 individual medley, and as a part of the Gators' 400 free, 800 free, 200 I.M., and 400 I.M. relays, while he was a two-time All-America in both the 200 breast and 400 medley relay.  The 1980 Allegheny Athlete of the Year, Watt was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1990.

Not Missing a Beat
After Norm Sundstrom stepped down as head men’s basketball coach following the 1979 season to focus on his duties as athletic director, his first hire was that of his successor.  John Reynders, who was a solid player for the Gators in the early part of the 1970’s, was named the 15th head coach in program history, and the hiring paid immediate dividends.  Taking over a squad loaded with talent, highlighted by a pair of 1,000-point scorers in Jim Wheeler and Eric Lindberg, Reynders guided his first team to a school-record 20 wins, and its third outright PAC title, going 12-2 in conference play.  The team again qualified for the NCAA Division III playoffs, earning their first win ever on the national stage with a 103-80 drubbing of Washington & Lee in the consolation round.  Lindberg and Wheeler graduated one-two on the team’s all-time scoring list, with the former totaling 1,289 points and the latter 1,282, while Lindberg remains the program’s all-time record holder in career rebounds with 961.

Gold Medal Highlights Decorated Career
Three years after Jeff Gordon captured Allegheny's first national championship, his former teammate, James Johannes, followed suit.  As a junior in 1979, Johannes won the NCAA Division III title in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:43.62.  During a star-studded four-year career, Johnannes was a 23-time All-American in the pool, and graduated as the program record holder in six different events.  In addition to swimming, Johannes was also a two-year letterman on the Allegheny baseball team, while serving as president of the Allegheny Inter-Fraternity Council.  He was inducted into the Allegheny Hall of Fame in 1990.

Back On Top of the PAC
In what remains the closest cross country competition in Presidents’ Athletic Conference history, Allegheny came out on top of the 1979 championships, edging second place Case by three points, and third-place Carnegie Mellon by four.  Under second-year head coach Fiore Bergamasaco, three Gators placed in the top 10 at the PAC championship, with Tom Held taking third, Mike Benedict fifth, and John Cannon 10th.  Held finished first or second in seven different meets, with four wins, as the Gators went a perfect 11-0 in dual meets on the season.  Cannon won a pair of meets on the season, while Benedict led the Gators at the Mideast regional championship by taking 42nd.