On Saturday, the newest class of the Longwood Athletics Hall of Fame was inducted in a ceremony in the Nance Room of the Dorrill Dining Hall on campus.
The class includes 1991 graduate and women’s basketball player Carmille Barnette, 1987 graduate and wrestler Tim Fitzgerald, 1986 graduate and women’s lacrosse player Dr. Sue Groff and the 1979-80 men’s basketball team.
The event was one of the best attended since the first class was welcomed in 2005. After opening remarks from Director of Athletics Troy Austin and President W. Taylor Reveley IV, Barnette was the first to be inducted. Barnette’s No. 43 is retired in Willett Hall; Barnette was an All-American for her efforts in the 1989-90 season, where she averaged 28.4 points and 13.8 rebounds. She ranked third in the nation for scoring and fourth for rebounds that year.
Barnette owns four school records, including career scoring average (19.4), season points (596, 1989-90), season scoring average (28.4) and single-game points (43, tied). Barnette said, in part, “This honor for me wouldn't have been possible without my former coaches and they are with me today, and I thank you for being here, Shirley Duncan and Loretta Coughlin. “I would like to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to play here at Longwood and to be on the basketball team, and helping me excel in athletics over my career.”
Groff was next, being recognized mostly for her lacrosse accolades. A four-time All-American, Groff once scored 14 goals in one game, a school record for both goals and points in a game. She also holds a school record for goals in a season with 60. A four-time letter winner in field hockey as well, Groff played on the women’s national lacrosse team from 1986-88. She became emotional when speaking of her parents, who she noted would have been “tickled pink” to see her inducted into the Hall.
Fitzgerald, the third to be inducted, sits atop the all-time school list for wins with 84. His coach, Steve Nelson, introduced him by saying that he’d never coached someone who worked harder and that Fitzgerald had a tremendous heart and a lot of drive. Fitzgerald competed at the NCAA Division II Championship in Baltimore, finishing as the runner-up for the Southern Regional at 118 pounds. He called it a “humbling experience” to be inducted and talked very highly of Nelson, saying, “Coach is like a second father to me … from the day I got here, he told me I could.”
The wrestling program was discontinued at Longwood in the fall of 2000. Finally, the basketball team was inducted. That team shocked not only the school, but much of the country when they advanced to the Division III Final Four in 1980. In just their second year of NCAA competition, the Lancers made it to the national semifinal in Rock Island, Ill. with the best record in the country, 28-1. After wins over Framingham State, Clark and Potsdam State, two-time defending national champion North Park was next.
The Lancers lost that game 57-55 and the third-place game to Wittenberg 48-47. Team Captain Shack Leonard said, “Like most teams, we had a lot of different personalities, a lot of different skill levels, but our team was able to put all of that together to be beneficial. We had a lot of good times. We put all of our talents and worked hard together, and we accomplished something that none us probably thought we could. It's something that I guess we were destined to do. “There's only one regret: That we didn't win it all.”
