Titan Sports Hall of Fame Inductees

Carswell Dafler Badgujar Zavora

Pontius Fee Szakacs

7 Titans join Hall of Fame

Seven former Westminster athletic standouts joined the Titan Sports Hall of Fame in September. The Class of 2022 members were formally inducted at a ceremony on Sept. 9 and recognized during halftime of the Westminster vs. Bethany football game on Sept. 10.

Adam Carswell ’13, Men's Track & Field—

Carswell was one of the leaders who helped the men’s track and field program claim three consecutive Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championships. A 400-meter specialist, Carswell was a three-time PAC Champion in the outdoor 400 and was a part of the PAC Champion 4x400 relay team in 2010. Carswell, the only Westminster runner to be the PAC Champion in the 400, is one of two Titan track athletes to win an individual event at PACs three times in a career. Carswell was also a key member of three-straight PAC Outdoor Championship teams (2011, 2012, 2013). James Dafler, Director of Athletics & Men’s Basketball Coach—Dafler was a member of the Titan Athletics staff for 32 years, including 22 as director of athletics. Dafler, who retired in 2021, helped lead the construction and renovations of several athletic facilities—the UPMC Sports Complex, new baseball and softball fields and the Bill Rankin Indoor Golf Center—and oversaw several renovations and improvements to Harold Burry Stadium and Memorial Field House. Women’s golf, women’s track and field and men’s and women’s lacrosse were added under his tenure, and the diving team was reestablished. He assisted in the transition of the College’s move from NAIA to NCAA Division II to NCAA Division III. Hired in 1989 as an assistant basketball coach, he was later promoted to head coach. He helped Westminster win five Keystone-Empire Collegiate Conference (KECC) titles and earn two NAIA Division I National Playoff appearances.

Rebecca Giles Badgujar ’08, Women’s Swimming—Badgujar was a four-time First Team All-PAC selection and a key member of the 2006 and 2007 PAC Championship teams. She holds four top 10 times in school history: third in the 200 individual medley (IM), fifth in the 200 fly, sixth in the 200 back and seventh in the 100 breast. She was the PAC Champion in the 400 IM in 2006 and a member of two relay teams that claimed conference titles—400 medley in 2007 and 800 free in 2005. She qualified for the 2007 NCAA Championships (400 IM, 200 IM and 200 backstroke). She is a member of the PAC 60th Anniversary Team.

Caitlin Hosler Zavora ’14, Women’s Tennis—Zavora, the only PAC Player of the Year in the women’s tennis program’s history, was an All-PAC selection all four years, including All-PAC First Team in three seasons. She was a key member of back-to-back PAC Championship teams (2012, 2013). She holds the school records in both singles and doubles wins. In her PAC MVP season, she was 20-1 in No. 1 singles and helped lead Westminster to a PAC Championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Her 20 wins in 2013 are tied for the second-most singles victories in a season in school history and are the most by a No. 1 singles player all-time. She won No. 1 singles at the 2013 PAC Championship, the only No. 1 singles player in program history to win an individual PAC Title. With Alex Bailey ’13 at No. 1 doubles, they became the school’s only undefeated pair with a 20-0 record. In 2011, they were 20-1 overall in No. 1 doubles, tying for the most doubles wins in program history.

Ryan Pontius ’98, Men’s Golf (posthumous)—Pontius was a three-time NAIA All-American. Named Team MVP, Pontius is the only player in program history to have the season lowest average score on the team all four years. His 76.5 average during his senior campaign ranks fifth all-time in school history. Pontius is tied for first in school history for a 36-hole total with a 142 and fifth in program history for most rounds of par or better. He helped lead the team to four-straight NAIA Northeast Regional Championships. An all-region honoree, he was a back-to-back NAIA Northeast Regional individual medalist and tied for first as a senior. He passed away in 2020.

Elisabeth Schulz Fee ’11, Softball—Fee was a four-time All-PAC selection, including First Team in both 2010 and 2011. A member of the PAC 60th Anniversary Team, Fee was an All-Region selection in 2010, one of two pitchers in program history to be named All-Region. Fee, the Team MVP as a senior, compiled a 2.39 earned run average (second on the team), tied for the team-lead with nine victories, and her 70 strikeouts also tied for teamlead in 2011.

Jessie Szakacs ’12, Volleyball—Szakacs is a three-time All-PAC First Team selection. A member of the PAC 60th Anniversary Team, Szakacs has the second-most assists in program history with 3,309 - only the third Titan ever to have dished out over 3,000 career assists. A three-year starter, Szakacs finished inside the top four in the PAC in assists in each of her last three seasons. Szakacs was third on the team in service aces three of her four seasons, including second-best in 2009.

Front from left, Caitlin Hosler Zavora '14, Rebecca Giles Badgujar '08 and Elizabeth Schulz Fee '11. Standing are Jim Dafler, left, and Adam Carswell '13.

Beard earns national DIIICA award

Ryan Beard '22 was one of two inaugural recipients of the Division III Commissioner's Association (DIIICA) Student-Athlete of the Year awards in August.

Beard and Eliza Beaudin from Elmira College (N.Y.) emerged as the national winners from an elite pool of 20 regional honorees. Selection criteria included academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.

Beard, who graduated summa cum laude with a degree in accounting, earned College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America honors after completing a three-year accelerated undergraduate degree in accounting and posting a 4.0 cumulative GPA.

At the 2022 Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in May—where he and his relay team became the first NCAA All-American relay team in school history—Beard became the first Westminster student-athlete to receive the prestigious NCAA's Elite 90 award, given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 championships.

Named Westminster's most outstanding accounting student, he received the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) Outstanding Senior Award. He also received an Elks National Foundation Legacy Scholarship. In 2021 he was one of 10 interns from Deloitte's Pittsburgh office selected to attend the Deloitte National Leadership Conference. Beard earned First Team All-PAC honors as a part of the winning 4x100 and 4x400 relays last spring.