13 Athenas and Stags Inducted into Ted Ducey CMS Hall of Fame
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CLAREMONT, Calif. – Claremont-Mudd-Scripps athletics is celebrating its “Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics” during the 2021-22 academic year and as part of the year-long celebration, CMS has announced its Class of 2022.
The Ted Ducey CMS Hall of Fame Class of 2022 consists of 13 Athenas and Stags, making it the largest Hall of Fame class ever. The 13 inductees for the Class of 2022 are: Chris Blees (CMC ’11 - Basketball), Felicia Davis (CMC ’01 – Basketball), Sarah Dick (CMC ’11 - Lacrosse), Donovan Jones (CMC ’84 – Tennis), Chris Noyes (CMC ’92 – Tennis), Annie Perizzolo (CMC ’11 – Swimming), Jason Reed (CMC ’01 – Swimming), Matthew Roberson (CMC ’06 – Track & Field), RJ Romero (CMC ’89 - Soccer), Lisal Smith Moran (CMC ’07 - Swimming), Ken Stevens (HMC ’61 - Football), Ryan Teeples (CMC ’91 - Swimming) and Louise (Tench) Willard (SC ’97 – Track & Field and Cross Country).
The Hall of Fame ceremony has been rescheduled for Saturday, March 26, 2022, at Roberts Pavilion on the campus of Claremont McKenna College.
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“In a year that we are celebrating our ‘Great Moments from 75 Year of Athletics,’ we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome these 13 Athenas and Stags to the CMS Hall of Fame. It is an incredible class filled with team captains, NCAA and SCIAC Champions, SCIAC Athlete of the Year honorees and All-Americans,” Erica Perkins Jasper, CMS Director of Athletics, Physical Education & Recreation said. “I am looking forward to celebrating all of these scholar-leader-athletes with their coaches, teammates, families, and friends.”
List of the Class of 2022 Hall of Fame inductees (listed alphabetically by last name)
Chris Blees (CMC ’11)
Basketball
Blees, a three-time SCIAC Player of the Year at forward, helped lead the Stags to three SCIAC regular season championships, SCIAC Tournament titles and NCAA Division III playoff appearances, beginning with his sophomore season. He twice was selected second team All-West Region and served as team captain for two seasons. After missing his senior season due to an injury, Blees returned for his final season as a graduate student and earned first team All-West Region and third team All-American accolades. Blees is fifth all-time on CMS’ career records list in points (1,546) and field goals (581) and is second in free-throws made (244) and rebounds (754).
Felicia Davis (CMC ’01)
Basketball
The first Athena basketball player to ever be named first team All-SCIAC in each of her four seasons, Davis helped lead the Athenas to the SCIAC championship during her senior season and an NCAA Tournament appearance. As a senior, Davis earned Academic All-American, Preseason All-American, Division III News Third Team All-American and SCIAC Player of the Year honors. Known for her leadership and competitive nature, Davis was a three-year team captain, Team MVP and the go-to player when the game was on the line.
Sarah Dick (CMC ’11)
Lacrosse
During her four seasons with CMS, the Athenas made four trips to the NCAA Division III Championships and won the program’s first two SCIAC championships. As an attacker, Dick was a prolific scorer, graduating as the Athenas’ all-time leader in goals (203) and single-season leader in points (98). She also is in the top-5 in career assists (65), career points (268), ground balls (268) and single-season goals (75 and 67). Dick was a three time All-Region and All-American selection. In addition, during her senior season she was selected as team captain, Team MVP, National Offensive Player of the Week by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association and SCIAC Player of the Year while leading a squad that won the SCIAC championship and was ranked No. 1 in the West Region and No. 16 nationally.
Donovan Jones (CMC ’84)
Tennis
Jones was a member of the 1981 NCAA Division III national championship team which carries the distinction as the first-ever NCAA team championship for a CMS team. That year as a freshman, Jones won the NCAA individual singles title, defeating senior Bud Schultz of Bates in the final in three sets. He also earned All-SCIAC and All-American (singles) accolades and he also was the SCIAC “C-flight” doubles champion with teammate Bill Konya. In his second and final season in 1983, the Stags were SCIAC and NCAA Division III runner-ups. Jones was an NCAA All-American (singles and doubles), All-SCIAC and an NCAA quarterfinalist in singles along with doubles, where he partnered with Steve Poorman. He also finished as the SCIAC Tournament A-flight singles runner-up and B-flight doubles runner-up with Poorman.
Chris Noyes (CMC ’92)
Tennis
Noyes helped lead the Stags to three SCIAC championship teams and four top-10 finishes at Nationals (10th, 4th, 3rd, 3rd) during his career and he won an NCAA Division III doubles national championship with partner Ryan McKee. He graduated with 83 career singles wins (currently 14th all-time). As a junior, Noyes garnered All-SCIAC accolades and was the SCIAC “B” singles champion along with the SCIAC “B” doubles champion with partner Scott Stokdyk. He capped off his career with a tremendous senior season where – along with the doubles national championship - he was an NCAA Division III All-American (singles and doubles) and All-SCIAC as the conference singles champion. As a senior, he also set the single-season wins record (30) in singles which was a record he held for 22 years.
Annie Perizzolo (CMC ’11)
Swimming
Perizzolo was the Athenas’ first multiple event NCAA champion, winning the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke events at the 2010 NCAA Division III Championships at the University of Minnesota while leading the team to a program-best fifth place finish. She also had the fastest 50 breast and 100 breast relay splits at the same meet, helping the Athena 200 and 400-yard medley relay teams to second place finishes. At the time of graduation, Perizzolo held the SCIAC meet and overall records in the 100 breast and 200 breast and was also was a member of the record-holding 200 and 400 medley relays. She was undefeated in SCIAC breaststroke and medley relay races throughout her 3-year career. The Athenas won the SCIAC championship in each of her three seasons and were 21-0 in SCIAC dual meets. Some of her other honors include earning All-America honors 13 times (6 individual events and 7 relays), SCIAC Female Swimmer of the Year and three-time CMC Female Athlete of the Year.
Jason Reed (CMC ’01)
Swimming
Reed won the NCAA Division III national championship in the 100-yard butterfly as a senior, capping a tremendous career that saw him win 11 individual SCIAC championships (100 and 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard backstroke) to go along with SCIAC championships on 8 relay teams (400 medley, 800 free, 200 medley) and 11 All-American honors in individual events and 8 relays. As a three-time team captain, Reed helped lead the Stags to three SCIAC team championships and a pair of top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships including a fourth place finish during the 1997-98 season. He was named SCIAC Swimmer of the Year for the 1998-99 season.
Matthew Roberson (CMC ’06)
Track & Field
A two-time NCAA Division III national champion in the decathlon and a three-time All-American, Roberson ended his CMS career as the only two-time national champion in program history. Roberson added another program-first to his resume as a senior in 2006 when the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association selected Roberson as its Field Athlete of the Year. Also as a senior, Roberson was selected as the SCIAC’s Most Valuable Athlete and the CMC Male Athlete of the Year. The four-time SCIAC individual event champion and Scholar Athlete helped lead the Stags to SCIAC team championships in each of his four seasons. Roberson set a school record in the 400 hurdles as a freshman. He also broke the 50-plus-year-old school record in the long jump and is the current decathlon record holder.
RJ Romero (CMC ’89)
Soccer
In each of his four seasons, the Stags were SCIAC champions or co-champions. Along the way, Romero earned first team All-Far West Division III (1987, 1988), second team All-Far West Division III (1986), SCIAC Player of the Year (1988) and first team All-SCIAC (1986, 1987, 1988) honors. As a senior, he was the team’s co-captain. He graduated 6th all-time at CMS in career assists (20), tied for fourth in career goals (40) and tied for fifth in single-season assists (10).
Lisal Smith Moran (CMC ’07)
Swimming
As part of an Athena squad that went 28-0 in SCIAC meets – a first in program history - and won four-straight SCIAC championships, Smith captured the second individual NCAA Division III national championship in Athenas’ history (400 individual medley – 2004). She was a 16-time All-American (7 individual events and 9 relays), 16-time SCIAC champion, four-year Academic All-American and SCIAC Female Athlete of the Year (2004), to go along with a number of other individual accolades. Along the way, she set individual CMS and SCIAC records in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 400 IM and was a part of record setting relay teams in the 200 freestyle relay 400 free relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay. In the spring, Smith transitioned to water polo and also excelled there where she was a two-time first team All-SCIAC (2004 and 2007) selection, a second team All-American (2007), second team All-SCIAC (2006) and an honorable mention All-American (2004).
Ken Stevens (HMC ’61)
Football
Stevens joined the combined Pomona-Claremont-Harvey Mudd freshman football team as one of three Harvey Mudd students on the team in 1957. His leadership, hard running and fierce tackling won the respect of his teammates as a key contributor on offense, defense and special teams. Stevens was voted as the team’s game captain several times in each of his three varsity seasons. Stevens holds the distinction of scoring the first-ever Stags touchdown - a 15-yard run vs Chino Institute in that inaugural season of 1958. That year, Stevens was named to the Chemical and Engineering News All-America honor roll. In 1960, Stevens provided the margin of victory in the Stags' first-ever win over Pomona, scoring a touchdown and kicking 2 PATs in a hard fought 14-12 Stags win. He played both offense and defense in addition to kicking. Being a new team in the SCIAC, the Stags were not recognized with an All-Conference selection until 1960. That year, Stevens along with teammate Vern Eppley (CMC ‘61) became the first CHM Stags selected to the SCIAC All Conference Team. Stevens is being inducted into the Hall of Fame posthumously, having passed away in 2016.
Ryan Teeples (CMC ’91)
Swimming
Teeples won the 1991 NCAA Division III national championship in the 400-yard individual medley and was a key performer on Stag teams that won four SCIAC championships and placed in the top-10 at NCAAs (2nd, 3rd, 10th, 2nd) in each of his four seasons. He won 12 SCIAC individual championships (200-yard breaststroke, 200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke and 400-yard individual medley) and eight relay titles (200 and 400 medley relays and 200 freestyle) and was an 8-time individual event finalist (top-8) at the NCAAs including three finishes in the top-3. In addition to swimming, Teeples was a four-year member of the varsity water polo team. In 1991, Teeples was CMC’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Louise Tench Willard (SC ’97)
Track & Field and Cross Country
Tench excelled as a two-sport athlete and distance runner for the Athena cross country and track & field teams. In cross country, Tench was a three-time All-West Region runner (1994, 1995, 1996), two-time All-American (1995, 1996) and two-time SCIAC Runner of the Year (1995 and 1996). She was first team All-SCIAC twice (1995 and 1996) and second team All-SCIAC once (1994). As a senior in 1996, Tench won the SCIAC and West Region championships. The Athena cross country team won three SCIAC championships, two West Region championships and had the program’s highest finish ever at the NCAA Division III Championships – 4th place – while Tench was on the team. In the spring, Tench transitioned to track & field and was a standout there as well, earning NCAA Division III All-America honors in the 3,000 meters, with fifth (1996) and fourth place (1997) finishes. She ranked in the top-5 all-time at CMS in the 3k, with a time of 10:00.21 which she ran during the 1997 season.