2008 Inductees

Student-Athlete Category

Carrie Bennett ‘99 (Swimming)

With 10 college records (6 individual, 4 relay team), Carrie Bennett ’99 elevated Skidmore women’s swimming to national recognition.
Team captain during her senior year, Bennett was named MVP in 1997, 1998, 1999. She remains Skidmore’s best ever in the 50 and 100 Freestyle, 100 Butterfly, and in 200 Free Relay team competition. As a sophomore, her top finishes and times in the 100 Butterfly (1st), 50 Freestyle (2nd), and 100 Freestyle (3rd) at the New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association Championships earned her a spot at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Championships (1997). Bennett also broke pool records in the 500 Freestyle at SUNY Oswego and SUNY Plattsburgh.
She is the former head coach for the Shaker High School Girls Varsity Swimming and Diving Team and the Niskayuna High School Varsity Girls and Boys Teams. She also served as the head coach for the Schenectady Jewish Community Center Summer League Swim Team. Bennett currently coaches the modified Swim Team at Ballston Spa.
The education major was a Periclean Scholar.
Bennett is the Coordinator of Gifted and Talented programs at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake School district, where she also teaches elementary school students.  

Lacey French ‘01 (Field Hockey)

Lacey French ’01 catapulted Skidmore field hockey to the national stage during her outstanding career. A three-time All-American (1998, 1999, 2000), she was a member of two National Collegiate Athletic Associations Division III tournament teams (1998, 1999). The 1999 team finished 18-2, won the program’s first Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association title, and advanced to the NCAA III Elite Eight.
Ranked 5th in career scoring with 120 points (45 goals, 30 assists), French was a two-time captain (1999, 2000), UCAA All Conference (1998, 1999, 2000), and a North-South Senior All-Star player in 2000.
Skidmore was 58-16 in her four years as All-American and the 1999 team became the first NCAA Division III team to score 100 goals in a season. That team outscored opponents 103 to 27.  
French’s arrival on campus coincided with the start of the highest-scoring era in Skidmore history. Her teams scored 341 goals in four seasons, more then the Skidmore program had scored in the previous 17 seasons combined.
She played for England’s Doncaster Field Hockey Club and moved on to serve as assistant field hockey coach at Middlebury College.  As head coach for the Union College Dutchwomen, she is credited with leading the team to conference playoffs (2005, 2007) and achieving the program’s best season in 19 years (2007).

Brian McCawley ‘02 (Lacrosse)

Brian McCawley ’02 was a two-time All American midfielder who helped lead Skidmore lacrosse to the program’s first Eastern College Athletic Conference playoff appearance and one of the most successful seasons in team history. He is credited with helping elevate the Thoroughbreds to their first National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III top-25 national ranking and first-ever wins over Union, Rensselaer, and Williams. 
McCawley was dominant on face-offs, winning 60 percent over the course of his career. The first United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All American honors player in Skidmore lacrosse history (honorable mention 2001, 2002), he was also the first Thoroughbred to become a USILA Scholar All American (2002).  He was an UCAA All Star (2000, 2001, 2002) and earned UCAA All Academic honors (2000, 2001, 2002).  As a senior captain, he was selected to play in the Division II-III North vs. South senior all-star game and was the recipient of the 2002 Skidmore Male Senior Athlete Award.
Off the field, McCawley graduated Magna Cum Laude, was a member of the Periclean Honor Society and Omicron Delta Epsilon International Honor Society in Economics. Recipient of the 2002 Seymour and Sylvia Goldman Memorial Award for accomplishments in the business major throughout his undergraduate career, he earned the Emerson Scholarship for scholastic achievement.

Andrew Simon ‘02 (Soccer)

Andrew Simon ’02 is one of the most influential players in the history of Skidmore soccer.  The all-time leading scorer with 113 career points (48 goal and 17 assists), he holds the season record for goals (15) and points (33).
Team captain from 2000 to 2001, Simon began his remarkable roster of achievements as Rookie of the Year in 1998.  Named Team MVP in 1999, 2000, and 2001, he earned a place on National Soccer Coaches Association of America Regional All American 3rd team and Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association All Conference 2nd team (1999), following up with NSCAA Scholar All American (2000), NSCAA Regional All American 1st team (2000, 2001) and UCAA All Conference 1st team  (2000, 2001).  He was selected Skidmore soccer’s first Verizon Academic All-American First-Team team member in 2001.
Simon was honored with the Tim Brown Senior Scholar Athlete Award in 2001 and graduated as a member of the Omicron Delta Epsilon economic honor society.
Credited with helping elevate men’s soccer to national status, he also served as ambassador for the program off the field.  He helped recruit talented players and was instrumental in assisting then Athletic Director Tim Brown in the selection of Coach Ron McEachen, who developed men’s soccer into a regional powerhouse.


Team  Category

1999 Equestrian Team

The Skidmore College Equestrian Team won the 1999 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championship held at Cazenovia College.  This marked the fifth National Championship of the decade won by Skidmore Equestrian Teams.
The Cacchione Cup was won by Zone II/Region 2 High Point Open Rider and team captain Lindsey Phibbs ’02. 

National Team:
Lindsey Phibbs ’02, Captain
Charlotte Harwood ’01
Caroline McKenzie ’02
Kelly Sullivan ’02
Catherine Tai ’01
Jennifer Thomas ’01
 
Special Recognition Category

Jim Ricker (Hamilton ’68) and Joyce Benedict Ricker ’69 are arguably the “Most Valuable Parents” in the history of Skidmore Athletics. Not only did they enthusiastically support sons Jason ’91, Justin ’96, and Evan ’97 in their college athletics careers, the Rickers spearheaded a successful campaign to save men’s hockey from budget cuts undertaken by the College in 2003. Rallying hockey alumni and parents, they helped raise an unprecedented amount of financial support for athletics in just two months and graciously partnered with newly installed President Philip A. Glotzbach and other college administrators to revive the Friends of Skidmore Athletics initiative and significantly expand its scope. FOSA engages alumni, parents, students, faculty, and staff in an effort to ensure the on-going robust health of all athletic programs and facilities.
As co-chairs of FOSA from its inception in 2003 to 2007, the Rickers helped promote the establishment of the Skidmore Athletics Hall of Fame (donated by Lee Peyser ’81 and Cathy Peyser) in the Sports and Recreation Center, the Annual Friends of Skidmore Athletics Benefit and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, and the Thoroughbred Cup Golf and Tennis Tournament. In 2007, they were presented with the FOSA MVP Award in recognition of their commitment to enhance the Skidmore athletic experience and promote excellence across all programs. This year, Jim is a FOSA representative on the Athletics Committee on Facilities (ACF), a body that helps ensure the growth and enhancement of athletic facilities needed to attract top-notch student athletes to the College.
Joyce Ricker continues her long career serving the College on multiple fronts. Class president and co-chair of her 40th reunion, she has also accepted a three-year term on the Alumni Association Board of Directors as nominating chair.