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Women's Track & Field

Widener Boasts 20 on the MAC All-Century Track & Field Teams

Widener made a huge splash on the Middle Atlantic Conference All-Century Teams for track & field as 20 student-athletes were voted to the squads between the men's and women's units.
 
The 1962-73 men's class featured Richie Weaver, Ted Woolery and Rick Pfeffer.  The 1974-93 men's team included Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, Gibson Ivery, Mike Williams, Rich Grzeszkowiak, Jeff Williams, Jim Wardle, Ron Hodge and William Johnson.  The 1994-2012 squad consisted of Macharia Yuot, Tony Brown, Jerome Robinson, Michael Coleman and Mike Garrity.
 
The women's 1912-93 group had Debbie Smuda, the 1994-2003 class included Gina Gonzalez and the 2004-12 unit consisted of Lauren Lucci and Abby Schaffer.
 
Weaver made history by becoming the first individual NCAA champion in school history, winning the 440-meter hurdles in 1970.  He also was the MAC 120-meter high hurdles champion in 1970 as well as the 440-meter intermediate hurdles winner in 1970 and 1972.  Weaver was a two-sport All-America, winning in track & field in 1970 and 1972 as well as being an Honorable Mention Associated Press pick for football in 1971 as a running back.
 
Woolery was a five-time MAC gold medalist.  He took the 440-yard dash from 1967-69 as well as the 440-meter intermediate hurdles from 1968-69.  Pfeffer was a four-time MAC champion, grabbing the 100-yard and 220-yard dashes both in 1967 and 1968. 
 
Johnson was an All-American in 1974, graduating with school records in the 100 and 200-yard dashes.  But he is best known for his play on the football field, for which he also made the MAC All-Century Team.  He scored 62 career touchdowns, rushed for 3,737 yards and accounted for 5,404 all-purpose yards in being named All-American in 1972 and 1973 by both the American Football Coaches Association and the Associated Press.  Johnson also was part of the first class inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996 after a 15-year career in both the NFL and the CFL.
 
Ivery was an All-American in 1976 and 1977 as well as an Honorable Mention AP All-American at wide receiver in 1976.  He also was a four-time MAC champion, winning the 100-yard dash and the 220-yard dash both in 1976 and 1977.
 
Mike Williams grabbed the team's second individual national title by taking the triple jump in 1975.  He was an All-American in 1974 and 1975, a three-time MAC triple jump champion from 1973-75 and won the long jump crown in 1975.  Williams still holds the school's outdoor triple jump record and owned the indoor mark until sophomore Mike Recla (Bloomsburg, PA) broke it this spring.
 
Grzeszkowiak captured an NCAA title in the decathlon in 1980 and still holds the school record with 7,160 points.  He was a three-time All-America on the circuit from 1978-80, won the MAC triple jump crown all four years (1977-80) and was the long jump champion in 1979 and 1980.  Grzeszkowiak graduated with the second-best mark in the indoor triple jump in school history.
 
Jeff Williams was the MAC long jump champion in 1982 and 1985 as well as its 200-meter winner in 1982.  He graduated with the second-best mark in school history in both the indoor and outdoor long jump.  Wardle was the school's first indoor track & field All-American, achieving this in the triple jump in 1985.  He graduated with the second-best mark in the indoor triple jump, second in the indoor high jump, third in the outdoor long jump and second in the outdoor triple jump.
 
Hodge was an All-American in the 110-meter hurdles in 1976 and 1977, the MAC champion in the 120-meter hurdles from 1976-78 and the long jump winner in 1977.  He graduated with school records in the 55-meter hurdles, 110-meter hurdles and both the indoor and outdoor long jump.
 
Johnson captured both the MAC 100-yard and 200-yard championships in 1974.
 
Yout had one of the greatest careers and greatest paths to achievement in school history.  He was a six-time NCAA champion, grabbing the outdoor 5,000-meter run, the 10,000-meter run and the steeplechase all within a three-day period in 2006.  Yout also was two straight crowns in the 5,000-meter indoor run from 2005-06 and was the 2006 cross country champion.
 
The eight-time All-American also was the 2006 NCAA Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year, the 2005 Coaches Association Mideast Region Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year, the 2006 Coaches Association Mideast Region Men's Outdoor Track & Field Cross Country Athlete of the Year, a three-time NCAA Mideast Region Cross Country Champion and a four-time MAC Cross Country champion.
 
Yuot spent most of his childhood as a member of the “Lost Boys of the Sudan.” When he was 9, he fled his home in Sudan as a refugee from a two-decade-long religious civil war between the Muslims in the northern part of the country and the Christians in the south. Trekking nearly 1,000 miles on foot with limited food and drink, Yuot and the surviving Lost Boys arrived in Ethiopia in 1991 only to be chased not long after their arrival. Once again finding themselves homeless, the Lost Boys ate wild berries to survive. They eventually found their way to Kenya, where they lived in refugee camps. During his time in Kenya, Yuot received an education and studied Arabic, Swahili and English. He also played soccer.
 
In 2000, Yuot and 3,600 other Lost Boys were moved to the United States in one of the most ambitious relocation programs since Vietnam. Yuot was relocated to Penn­sylvania and, with the help of the Lutheran Church, was enrolled at West Philadelphia Catholic High School as a junior. At West Catholic, he played soccer and landed a spot on the track and field team where he caught the attention of the Widener coaching staff. After a close friend was accepted to Widener, Yuot took a look at the university and applied.
 
Brown was an NCAA champion in the 200-meter dash in 1999.  He closed his career as a three-time All-America, a four-time MAC champion in the 200-meter dash from 1997-2000 and a three-time winner in the 100-meter dash from 1998-2000.
 
Robinson was an All-American in the 4x100-meter relay in 1999, the indoor 55-meter dash in 2001 and the outdoor 100-meter dash in 2001.  He also claimed MAC titles in the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash in 2001.
 
Coleman was another gifted athlete, gaining All-America status in the outdoor triple jump in 2000 and the indoor triple jump in 2001.  He also was a third team All-American for football in 2000 and a second-team honoree in 2001.  Coleman won MAC titles in the triple jump in 2001 and the long jump in 1999.
 
Garrity became an All-American in the outdoor 1,500-meter run in 201 and also won the MAC steeplechase title that year.  He also graduated among the school's elite in the mile, the 3,000-meter run and the 5,000-meter run.
 
Smuda was an All-American in the indoor triple jump in 1991 and 1993 as well as the outdoor triple jump in 1993.  She was a third team Academic All-America in 1992 and a second team pick in 1993, becoming the first athlete in school history to be so honored more than once.  Smuda graduated first in school history in the 400-meter dash (indoor and outdoor), first in the long jump (indoor and outdoor) and first in the triple jump (indoor and outdoor).
 
Gonzalez claimed All-America honors in the 55-meter indoor hurdles in 1994, the 100-meter outdoor hurdles later that year and the outdoor long jump in 1995.  She still holds the school record in both hurdles races.  Gonzalez won the MAC 100-meter hurdles in 1994 and 1995, the long jump and the triple jump in 1995, and received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in 1995.
 
Lucci is Widener's only women's individual national champion to date, capturing the shot put at the 2008 outdoor championships.  She was a 16-time MAC champion, winning four times in the indoor shot put, outdoor shot put and the outdoor discus.  Lucci also was a three-time MAC champion in the indoor weight throw and won once in the outdoor hammer.  An assistant coach for the Pride, she still holds school records for the indoor shot put, the indoor weight throw, the outdoor shot put and the outdoor discus.
 
Schaffer was an All-American in both the indoor and outdoor pole vault in 2010, ending second indoors and fourth outdoors.  She also was the MAC champion both seasons and claimed the ECAC indoor crown.
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