2023 Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame class induction graphic

General 6/30/2023 8:09:00 AM

2023 Gallaudet University Athletics Hall of Fame Class announced

WASHINGTON - Six former student-athletes and one honorary administrator will be enshrined into the Gallaudet University Athletics Hall of Fame on Sunday, October 22, during Homecoming 2023.

The Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2023 includes Hume Le Prince Battiste, 1913 (Baseball, Football, Men's Basketball, Track and Field), Patrick Deas, '00 (Men's Track and Field), Alicia Johnson, '14 (Softball), Pia Marie Paulone, '07 (Women's Volleyball), Alexandra Polivanchuk, '15 (Women's Swimming), Rohan Smith, '91 (Men's Track and Field) and Michael Weinstock, '81 & G-'94 (Athletic Director).

The Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame Induction is one of the premier events of the year for the GU Athletics Department. The special event recognizes the individuals, past and present, whose contributions to Gallaudet University Athletics have been deemed worthy of induction into the Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame.

To be considered for the Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame one must be a former Bison student-athlete, coach and/or contributor that is five years removed from the University. One must be nominated in writing and submitted to the Gallaudet University Athletics Department during an open nomination period. Inductees can be deaf, hard of hearing or hearing. All nominations are then screened and reviewed by the Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame committee.

The ceremony will be held in the Peikoff Alumni House ("Ole Jim") on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 11 a.m.

A brief description of the Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2023 inductees:

Hume Le Prince Battiste, 1913 (Baseball, Football, Men's Basketball, Track and Field) was a true trailblazer as Gallaudet's first black person to play sports at Kendall Green. Battiste was a four-sport standout as he participated in baseball, football, men's basketball and men's track and field. He played four seasons on the baseball, football and men's basketball teams and three years on the track and field team. He served as a team captain on baseball (1911) and football (1911). Battiste played quarterback and running back on the gridiron and was recorded making long runs and touchdowns. On the hardwood, Battiste was a center down low where he helped to lead Gallaudet to several impressive wins, including a 54-27 win over the Maryland Agriculture College, now known as the University of Maryland. On the track, he broke a school record in the 1-mile relay and in 1911 the GU relay team placed second at the famed Penn Relays in Philadelphia.

Patrick Deas, '00 (Men's Track and Field) was a highly decorated men's track and field sprinter and hurdler for the buff and blue from 1995 to 1998. Deas was a two-time Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Player of the Year (1996, '97), a feat that has only happened four times in the 29-year history of the CAC, which is now known as Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C). Deas and Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Famer Wayne Langbein, '96, are two of the four to earn back-to-back CAC Player of the Year awards. Langbein was honored in 1992 and '93. The duo were Gallaudet's only selections to the CAC Silver Anniversary Team in 2014-15. Deas earned eight individual all-conference honors in his four years (1995-98) which included five first-team honors. Deas was back-to-back CAC champion in the 400-meter hurdles (1996, '97).

Alicia Johnson, '14 (Softball) was a four-year letterwinner as a member of the Gallaudet softball team (2010-13). The San Jose, Calif., native was a three-time North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) South Division honoree (2011-13), the latter two years on the first team. In four seasons, Johnson accumulated a .362 batting average, 137 hits, 28 doubles, five triples, five home runs, 87 RBI, 44 walks and 23 stolen bases in 137 games played and 32 wins. In the circle, Johnson made 38 appearances, logged 20 complete games, threw 146.1 innings, recorded 116 strikeouts and picked up five wins. In the circle, Johnson made 38 appearances, logged 20 complete games, threw 146.1 innings, recorded 116 strikeouts and picked up five wins. Johnson's best season at the plate came her junior year (2012) as the Bison posted a .420 batting average (42-for-100) and drove in 32 RBI and swiped 14 bases.

Pia Marie Paulone, '07 (Women's Volleyball) is the all-time assists leader in Gallaudet women's volleyball history with 4,840 assists (10.43 assists per set) accumulated from 2003-06. The three-time all-conference honoree helped guide Gallaudet to 90 wins in four years as the Bison made multiple appearances in the NCAA tournament. In 2006, she tallied a career best 1,578 assists in the season (12.52 assists per set), which ranks second all-time in CAC, now known as the C2C, rankings while her 4,840 assists is the most in CAC history. Paulone finished the 2005 season with 1,478 assists (11.92 assists per set), which ranks sixth in CAC history, as she landed on the 2005 All-CAC First Team. Paulone was an all-conference second team selection in 2004 and '06.

Alexandra Polivanchuk, '15 (Women's Swimming) was an accomplished women's swimmer for the Bison program from 2011 until 2014. The Orebro, Sweden, native, was named 2012 NEAC Swimmer of the Year. The three-year letterwinner, was named NEAC Swimmer of the Week five times and earned 15 all-conference honors (11 first-team honors). During the 2013-14 season she was a member of the 400-yard freestyle relay team that broke a 23-year-old Gallaudet record. Polivanchuk still holds four individual (50- and 100-breaststroke, 50-butterfly and 200-IM) and four relay (200- and 400-freestyle, 200- and 400-medley) program records. She served as a student-assistant coach during the fall of 2014.

Rohan Smith, '91 (Men's Track and Field) was a four-year letterwinner and record-setting sprinter on the Gallaudet men's track and field team from 1987-90. Smith set several school records that stood around for over three decades before they were recently broke in the past few years. Smith held Gallaudet's 100-meter dash outdoor record of 10.50 seconds set April 11, 1987, at the Messiah Invitational until Eric Gregory broke the mark on May 8, 2022, with a new time of 10.42 seconds. Smith and his teammates; Robert Clyde, Rodd Gatewood and Edward Harrison still hold the 4x200 meter relay record with a time of 1:33.6 which was set March 31, 1990 at the Battleground Relays in Fredericksburg, Va. Smith participated in the 1987 NCAA track and field championships and finished in the Top 10 of the 100-meter dash but did not earn All-American honors, reserved for top-eight finishers.

Michael Weinstock, '81 & G-'94 (Athletic Director) was the architect that transformed the Gallaudet Athletics Department into what it is today after serving as its Athletic Director (AD) for 11 years (2007-18). Gallaudet's athletic department went from five full-time staff members when Weinstock started as AD to 19, and introduced the use of graduate assistants to help bolster team-coaching staffs and give experience to many deaf and hard of hearing students. Weinstock helped to overhaul Gallaudet's athletic facilities and helped the athletic teams find a home in the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) in 2009 and joined the NEAC, a year later, in 2010 after being a founding member of the CAC. During its time in the NEAC, Gallaudet won 11 combined conference championships in women's volleyball (7), men's swimming (3) and women's swimming (1) to go along with several NEAC regular-season championships. Gallaudet's football team won the 2013 ECFC championship and became the first GU men's team in school history to reach the NCAA tournament. Bison athletic teams made nine NCAA tournament appearances while several individuals made NCAA tournament appearances in track and field. Gallaudet garnered hundreds of all-conference awards during Weinstock's tenure to go along with NEAC Player, Rookie and Coach of the Year honors and other Academic All-American and All-American honors and a ton of national media press.

2023 Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame Class Individual Stories

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