Moravian to Induct Five New Hall of Fame Members; Bechtel Receiving Herbstman Award & 1994 Golf Team to be Honored
Jessie Coughlin Milner; Jason Moran; Neil Pagotto; Harold Rice and David Griffith make up the class of 2011 that will be inducted into the Moravian College Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, November 4th in Johnston Hall. Also being honored at the 2011 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be Lisa Bechtel with the Robert Martin Herbstman Award and the 1994 golf team.
BETHLEHEM, PA --- Jessie Coughlin Milner (King of Prussia, Pa.); Jason Moran (Scranton, Pa.); Neil Pagotto (Bethlehem, Pa.); Harold Rice (Easton, Pa.) and David Griffith (deceased) make up the class of 2011 that will be inducted into the Moravian College Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, November 4th in Johnston Hall. Also being honored at the 2011 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be Lisa Bechtel (Hackettstown, N.J.) with the Robert Martin Herbstman Award and the 1994 golf team.
The evening will consist of a reception at 6:00 p.m., dinner at 7:00 p.m. and the induction ceremony at 8:00 p.m. The cost to attend is $35 and on-line registration is available here.
Milner, a 1999 Moravian graduate, was a four-year standout on the women's basketball and women's tennis teams. On the basketball court, Milner scored 1,137 career points, and she is ranked in the top five in school history with 346 assists, 322 steals and 166 three-pointers. She was a three-time Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth League All-Star including a two-time first team selection on the hardwood. On the tennis court, Milner set the school record with a .969 winning percentage after a 62-2 career singles mark, and she was second with a .950 doubles winning percentage in her career. Milner helped the Greyhounds to three straight MAC titles, and she was also a member of the 1999 GTE Academic All-America College Division Spring At-Large Third Team. Milner, who works for the UGI Corporation, lives in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania with her husband Scott Milner and their daughter Camryn (1).
Moran, who graduated from Moravian in 2000, was a four-year member of the men's basketball squad. Moran scored 1,501 points and added 781 rebounds and 151 blocked shots during his career for the Greyhounds. He was named the Most Valuable Player at the Greyhound Classic for four straight years and was a two-time MAC Commonwealth League All-Star. He was also Moravian's Most Outstanding Senior Male Athlete in 1999 and a member of the Lehigh Valley College Basketball Media Organization Team of the Year as a senior. Moran, who works in the Scranton Counseling Center, lives in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Pagotto, who graduated in 1992, was a four-year standout on both the football and baseball fields for the Greyhounds, and he was Moravian's Most Outstanding Senior Male Athlete in 1992. Pagotto was the 1992 Middle Atlantic Conference Player of the Year on the baseball diamond and a two-time MAC Southwest All-Star as a pitcher and designated hitter. Pagotto was a two-time baseball team MVP as well as captain of the 1992 MAC Southwest Championship Team and the 1990 MAC Championship squad. He had a career record of 15-8 with two saves, 67 strikeouts and a 2.56 ERA in 172.1 innings, and he also added 55 hits, 19 doubles and 27 RBIs. On the gridiron, Pagotto had 233 career tackles, seven sacks and four forced fumbles as a linebacker. He was one of the football team's captains in 1991 as well as a Preseason All-America, and he played on Moravian's 1988 MAC Championship and NCAA Playoff team. Pagotto works for Specialty Minerals, Inc, and he lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Rice, a member of the class of 1962, played both baseball and basketball while attending Moravian. Rice helped the Greyhound baseball program to the Middle Atlantic Conference title in 1960, and he scored 549 points on the basketball court. After graduation, Rice received an invitation to attend the San Francisco Giants Baseball School in 1962. Rice, who is a retired elementary and middle school guidance counselor in the Nazareth Area School district, lives in Easton, Pennsylvania with his wife Nancy Rice. They have two children, Jeffrey Paukovitch and Jill Gamble, and three grandchildren: Madison Maitland Gamble (4), Travis John Paukovitch (3) and Brooke Amelia Paukovitch (6 months).
Griffith was a three-sport standout at Moravian in football, basketball and baseball, and he was named to the 1942 Associated Press All-Pennsylvania Football Team. Griffith was a charter member of Moravian's Varsity "M" Club. Griffith became a second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, and he received a Purple Heart after being killed at Iwo Jima on March 8, 1945. Griffith, originally from Prospect Park, Pennsylvania, will be represented by his family at the induction ceremony in November.
Bechtel, a 1988 graduate, was a four-year letterwinner on the softball squad earning All-Conference honors, and she also competed for two years on the women's basketball squad and one year on the field hockey team at Moravian. Bechtel was named to the All-Middle Atlantic Conference Southwest Softball All-Star Team in 1985 and 1988 and was the team's captain as a junior and senior. During her basketball career, Bechtel played on a MAC Southern Championship squad. Off the court, Bechtel was a three-year class president, a student member of the Alumni Association for two years and the student speaker at the Fall Convocation at the start of her senior year. Bechtel is one of the most successful high school field hockey coaches in New Jersey at Newton High School where she works as a counselor. Bechtel works for the Newton Board of Education and lives in Hackettstown, New Jersey.
The 1994 men's golf team posted a 15-0 overall record, its second straight undefeated season. The squad, under the direction of head coach John Makuvek, won the Middle Atlantic Conference championship in 1994, the second of now four conference titles for the program.
