Moravian Inducts 2015 Hall of Fame Class
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The 2015 Moravian College Athletic Hall of Fame Class that was inducted on Friday, November 6 in Johnson Hall honored Heather Bortz ’05; Stephanie Rickards Corrigan ’99; Christina Scherwin ’05 and James Van Natta ’59 as Moravian’s 28th Hall of Fame Class. The 1995 Greyhound Women’s Cross Country team was inducted last night.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The 2015 Moravian College Athletic Hall of Fame Class that was inducted on Friday, November 6 in Johnson Hall honored Heather Bortz '05; Stephanie Rickards Corrigan '99; Christina Scherwin '05 and James Van Natta '59 as Moravian's 28th Hall of Fame Class. The 1995 Greyhound Women's Cross Country team was inducted last night.
Click here for a photo gallery of the event.
Heather Bortz, a 2005 Moravian graduate, was a four-year letterwinner on the softball squad. She was a four-year starter at shortstop and was the Greyhounds' first National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American when she was named to the Second Team in 2003. Heather would go on to be a three-time All-American earning a spot on the First Team in 2004 as the Hounds reached the National Championship game that year and a Second Team selection in 2005. Heather set eight school records during her career and still holds four today including at-bats in a career with 567, hits in a season with 74, hits in a career with 253 and career batting average at .446. During the end of her sophomore season and into her junior year, Heather had a 44-game hitting streak which is still the collegiate softball record for all divisions of the NCAA. In addition to her All-American accolades, Heather was a four-time Commonwealth All-Conference First Team selection, a three-time Commonwealth Player of the Year, the 2002 Commonwealth Rookie of the Year, a three-time NFCA All-East Region First Team honoree, a two-time ECAC Division III South Player of the Year and three-time ECAC Division III South First Team All-Star.
Stephanie Rickards Corrigan, who graduated from Moravian in 1999, was a four-year member of both women's volleyball and women's basketball teams. On the volleyball court, Stephanie set 13 records, nine of which are still school records including blocks in a career with 518 and career hitting percentage at .337. Stephanie is the only player in school history with more than 1,000 kills and 500 blocks as she added a then school record 1,422 kills in her career. She was a three-time Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth League All-Star selection, and she twice made the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Mid-Atlantic Region team and helped lead her team to NCAA Division III Tournament appearances in both 1997 and 1998. Each fall once Stephanie finished her volleyball season, she moved directly into her basketball season and was an integral part of the Greyhounds basketball team for four years. On the basketball court, she contributed 433 points and 363 rebounds for her career. Stephani's excellence on the court was matched, even exceeded, by her excellence in the classroom, finishing her degree at Moravian with a 4.0 and being a finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. She was honored in 1998 as the GTE/CoSIDA College Division Academic All-American of the Year, the top volleyball student-athlete in Division II, Division III and the NAIA. Stephanie was a two-time GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American in volleyball, making the Second Team in 1997 and the First Team in 1998, and she was honored on the MAC All-Academic Team six times in her career between both sports.
Christina Scherwin, who graduated in 2005, was a three-year standout on Greyhound women's track & field squad. Not only was she a two-time NCAA Division III National Champion in the javelin at Moravian, Christina competed in both the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece and the 2008 Olympic in Beijing, China for her native Denmark. She was 29th in the javelin in 2004 and 44th in 2008. During her international career, Christina finished as high as fourth at the 2005 World Championships. At Moravian, Christina won the NCAA title in the javelin in 2002 and 2003, missing the 2001 meet due to an injury and the 2004 championships while training for the Olympics. In addition to setting what is still the NCAA Division III meet record in 2003 with a toss of 55.34 meters (181-7), Christina also earned All-America honors in the shot put both indoors and outdoors in 2003 and she competed in the event outdoors in 2002 with a ninth place finish. Christina captured seven Middle Atlantic Conference titles in just four meets, winning the shot put both indoors and outdoors in 2002 and 2003, the javelin both years and the discus outdoors in 2003. She also finished as the runner-up in the high jump at the MAC indoor meet in 2003 and was third in the long jump in the same meet. Christina was a two-time winner of the College Women's Javelin Throw at the prestigious Penn Relays.
James Van Natta, a 1959 Moravian graduate, was a two-year letterwinner on the baseball team before signing a professional contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization after his sophomore season in 1957. James had a 14-4 record in just two years on the mound for the Greyhounds including identical 7-2 marks in 1956 and 1957. He helped the 1956 squad open the season with 11 straight wins including a 7-4 victory over Lafayette College in his collegiate debut; that team finished the year at 15-2. James played four years in minor league baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations. While at San Angelo with the Pirates organization, Van Natta was 12-7 while pitching to his brother John Van Natta, who was a catcher for San Angelo. Following the season, Jim Van Natta was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He would spend three seasons in the Dodgers organization including a spring training that saw him room with future Major League Baseball Hall of Famers Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax for two weeks. Jim Van Natta's career would end after an injury during batting practice when two-time MLB All-Star Carl Furillo hit a line drive off of his shoulder.
The 1995 Women's Cross Country Team finished third in the NCAA Division III national championship meet hosted by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. This marked the Greyhounds' third straight top 10 finish at the DIII Championships and matched the 1993 squad with a program-best third place finish. The 1995 season marked the third straight year that the Lady Harriers captured the Middle Atlantic Conference title, and the team had a second place finish at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional. Two members of this squad are Greyhound Hall of Famers – Tracy Wartman '96 and Tara Wartman McClimon '98.
The other five runners who helped the team to their third place finish were Kasie Hornberger Seymour '98, Kristie Reccek Fach '99, Becky Page Hillary '98, Amy Zimmerman Conley '99 and Justine Johnson '96. Other members of the team included Jocelyn Bellew '99, Amy Cavanaugh Balash '99, Amy Gugger Ford, Tina Mabey Weikart '98, Jen Makem '97, Shannon McDonald DiSora '96, Denise Pierantozzi Mapes '99, Monica Shutte, Kristin Smith'99, Angie Stetler Shepherd '98 and Kathy Stiely Frank '97. The squad was coached by Mark Will-Weber and assisted by Richard Ollman in 1995.
