BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Michael Abbate '02; Stephen Brandafi '40; Beresford "Ozzie" Brown '10; Anna Heim Hilton '10; Elizabeth Paly '08; Stephanie Seaman Kennedy '06 and Nathaniel Tussey '08 make up the class of 2020 that will be inducted into the Moravian College Athletic Hall of Fame. The 2007-08 men and women's track & field teams will also be inducted while Jon Otis '79 will receive the Robert Martin Herbstman Award.
Michael Abbate, who graduated in 2002, had an outstanding two-sport career at Moravian, earning All-Conference honors on both the football gridiron and baseball diamond. As a wide receiver, Abbate was selected to the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth League Second Team as a junior in 2000. Over his career, Abbate caught 114 passes for 1,619 yards, which still both rank in the top ten in program history, and he also had 13 receiving touchdowns and 19 total touchdowns. Abbate also returned 81 punts for 680 yards, which are both still second in school history, to go with 148 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. As an outfielder, Abbate was named to the All-MAC Commonwealth First Team as a senior in 2002 after finishing his career with school records of 133 games played, 422 at-bats, 118 runs scored, 27 doubles, 39 stolen bases, a .446 on-base percentage and 96 walks, which is still the Moravian record. Abbate collected 118 career hits, and he was named Moravian's Outstanding Senior Male Athlete in 2002.
Stephen Brandafi, a 1940 Moravian graduate, competed on the football, men's basketball and baseball teams during his career with the Greyhounds. He was the team captain for the 1939-40 men's basketball squad that was 15-2 with an 11-game winning streak and tied for first in the East Penn Collegiate League. Brandafi was named to the All-Pennsylvania State Honorable Mention Basketball Team in 1940, and he also served as the secretary of Moravian's Athletic Association as a student. Following a stint with the United States Navy during World War II, Brandafi founded and owned Superior Hotel and Bar Supply Company for more than 30 years.
Beresford "Ozzie" Brown, who completed his degree in 2010, is one of the most decorated track & field athletes in school history. Brown won a pair of NCAA Division III National Championships, capturing the 2008 title indoors in the long jump and the 2008 outdoor championship in the decathlon with 7,192 points, still the tenth highest total in NCAA Division III history. Brown was a four-time All-American, adding a third-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles indoors in 2008 and a fourth-place finish in the event in 2007 to his two national titles. Brown competed at the NCAA Division III Championships in 12 events during his four seasons, and he captured a total of 30 conference individual and relay titles including 13 in one year competing in the Landmark Conference and the other 13 in the Middle Atlantic Conference. He won conference titles in the long jump, high jump, 55-meter dash, 55-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash, 4x200-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay indoors and the long jump, 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 110-meter high hurdles, 4x100-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay outdoors. Brown added five ECAC Division III individual and relay titles and four times he was honored as the Most Outstanding Performer at a championship meet and twice as Rookie of the Year. Brown, who was Moravian's Outstanding Senior Male Athlete in 2008, had nine school records when his career ended, and he still holds four of those records.
Anna Heim Hilton, a 2010 Moravian graduate, was a two-time NCAA Division III Champion in the pole vault, winning both the indoor and outdoor title as a senior, while setting meet records at both championship events. Heim's indoor mark of 4.16 meters is still fifth in NCAA Division III history while her outdoor mark of 4.17 meters is sixth in NCAA history. Heim went to the NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor Championships in each of her four seasons and ended up being a six-time All-American with six top-eight finishes. Heim was a versatile student-athlete, competing in the 400-meter hurdles, the long jump, the javelin, the 400-meter dash and the 4x400-meter relay. Heim captured 12 conference individual and relay titles in her career including 10 Landmark Conference titles, and she also captured three ECAC Division III titles in the pole vault. Heim capped her career by being honored as Moravian's Outstanding Senior Female Athlete in 2010.
Elizabeth Paly, who graduated in 2008, was a four-year standout on the softball field for the Greyhounds. Paly, an infielder, was honored as the Landmark Conference Player of the Year as a senior in 2008 while the Commonwealth Conference selected her as the Rookie of the Year in 2005. Paly was a three-time All-Conference First Team honoree, once in the Landmark Conference and twice in the Commonwealth Conference, and she was also a three-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III All-East Region honoree, making the First Team in 2007 and 2008 and the Second Team in 2005. Paly finished her career with 190 hits, 532 at-bats, 94 RBIs, 34 doubles, 256 total bases and a .357 batting average, all in the top 10 in program history when she finished her career including being tied for second all-time in hits. Paly was named Moravian Outstanding Senior Female Athlete in 2008.
Stephanie Seaman Kennedy, a 2006 Moravian graduate, was a three-year starter and four-year letterwinner for the women's basketball squad. Seaman, a forward, was honored as an Honorable Mention Kodak All-American by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association as a junior in 2005 after earning All-Region honors, and she was the three-time Commonwealth All-Conference selection with First Team honors in 2004 and 2005, and a Second Team in 2006. Seaman finished her career with 1,255 points, which was eighth all-time when she finished playing, and 792 rebounds, which was third at the time. She also had 184 steals, 155 assists, 61 blocked shots and 41 three-pointers in her career while helping the Greyhounds to an 84-31 record, four Commonwealth Conference runner-up finishes, three ECAC Division III South Tournament appearances and a berth in the 2006 NCAA Division III Tournament.
Nathaniel Tussey, who graduated in 2008, was a standout on the men's indoor and outdoor track & field teams for four years. He was an eight-time NCAA qualifier, earning All-America honors three times with fifth place finishes in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles outdoors in 2008 and an eighth place in the 55-meter hurdles indoors in 2006. Tussey was an eight-time conference champion, winning the Middle Atlantic Conference titles in the 55-meter hurdles indoors in 2005 and 2006, the 110-meter hurdles outdoors in 2006 and the 400-meter hurdles in 2006 and 2007 and capturing Landmark Conference titles in the 400-meter dash, 400-meter hurdles and 4x400-meter relay in 2008. Tussey, who was honored as the Moravian Blue & Grey Senior Scholar-Athlete in 2008, was the Landmark Conference runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles outdoors in 2008, and he still holds the school record in the 400-meter hurdles outdoors.
The 2007-08 men's and women's track & field teams swept the inaugural Landmark Conference Championships both indoors and outdoors that year as well as dealing with the passing of long time Head Coach Doug Pollard, a member of the Moravian and Middle Atlantic Conference Halls of Fame, as the season was beginning. The men's squad won the indoor title by 15 points with Brown selected as the Male Field Athlete of the Year, and the team hosted and captured the outdoor championship by 33.5 points as Brown was named the Make Track Athlete of the Year. The women's program took the indoor title by 84 points and the outdoor championship by 103.5 points at Rocco Calvo Field.
Jon Otis, a 1979 Moravian graduate, participated on the men's basketball and baseball teams during his career. The Robert M. Herbstman Award recognizes an alumnus or alumna whose qualities of teamwork, leadership, and selflessness exemplify the spirit of Moravian College athletics. Otis saw action in eight games on the mound in two seasons with the Greyhounds, and he had nine strikeouts in 16.2 innings of work.
At this time, Moravian plans to hold its annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Friday, October 9 in Johnston Hall. However, if the event is unable to be held due to COVID-19, the Class of 2020 and the Robert Martin Herbstman Award will be presented during the fall of 2021.