Muskingum announces newest inductees to Athletic Hall of Fame

NEW CONCORD, OHIO, September 30, 2011 - The Muskingum University Athletic Hall of Fame will admit four new members at its annual induction ceremony on Saturday, October 22 at the M-Club Breakfast. The event will be held in the Walter K. Chess Student Center on campus as part of Muskingum's 90th Homecoming Weekend. Joining the Hall of Fame will be Donna Newberry (posthumous), Erica Hoyt '06, James Grandey '99 and Kevin Woods '87. [2011 Homecoming schedule of events]

The honorees will also be recognized during halftime at the Homecoming football game against Otterbein University, which kicks off in McConagha Stadium at 1:30 p.m. They will join 145 other Muskies who have been selected for this prestigious honor in the last 31 years.

Donna Newberry (posthumous) - Softball/Women’s Basketball - Special Category
Coach Newberry was an extraordinary champion – a coach and educator who truly claimed a prominent place in the history of sports in America. She was the only coach in the history of our nation to be named National Coach of the Year in two sports – softball and basketball – and was the first coach in NCAA Division III history to achieve 900 victories in softball.

She led Muskingum to its first-ever NCAA national championship, winning the 2001 softball title. Her softball team perennially ranked in the national top-25, and she coached Muskingum to 18 OAC Championships, 18 NCAA Regional appearances and to eight NCAA Division III World Series appearances. She was one of the first Division III coaches ever to be inducted into the National Fastpitch Softball Hall of Fame. Newberry was named OAC Coach of the Year 10 times and she and her staff were named Regional Coaching Staff of the Year seven times.

As Muskingum’s women’s basketball coach, Coach Newberry earned 403 victories and three OAC championships. She led her 1991 team to a second-place national finish.

Erica Hoyt '06 - Softball
Hoyt ended her illustrious pitching career with an overall mark of 120-14 and an Ohio Athletic Conference record 814 strikeouts, which ranks seventh in Division III history. She started 138 games throughout her career, which ranks second in Division III. Hoyt etched her name in the Muskingum record book for lowest career ERA (1.08) and fewest losses (14).

She was a 10-time OAC Pitcher of the Week, two-time John Wells OAC Pitcher of the Year, two-time Gayle Lauth OAC Player of the Year, four-time first team All-OAC performer and was named NFCA/Louisville Slugger Division III National Player of the Week in 2004.

Hoyt led Division III in wins as a sophomore (37) and junior (38) and was a four-time All-Central Region honoree. She was awarded Muskingum's William F. Lange Outstanding Freshman Female Athlete Award and concluded her Muskie tenure with the Barbara Steiner Outstanding Senior Female Athlete Award.

She helped lead Muskingum to a 173-25 overall record, which included four straight Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles, four straight NCAA Regional titles and four consecutive appearances in the Division III World Series.

Hoyt garnered All-American honors four times in her career (2002 - National Fastpitch Coaches Association First Team, 2003 - National Fastpitch Coaches Association First Team, 2004 - ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Softball Third Team).

James Grandey '99 - Baseball/Football
Grandey was a two-year Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference selection in football and was named first team All-OAC in football his senior year.

On the baseball field, Grandey was named first team GTE/CoSida Academic All-American and first team All-Mideast Region. He was a three-year Academic All-OAC honoree and two-time first team All-OAC selection. He ranks seventh all-time at Muskingum with 23 home runs, eighth with a career .367 batting average, 10th with 109 RBIs and 16th with 155 career hits. Grandey ranks fourth all-time for a single season with 66 hits in 1999, fourth in total bases with 116 in 1999, fourth in home runs with 11 in 1998 and 1999 and fifth in doubles with 15 in 1999.

He was named the William F. Lange Outstanding Freshman Male Athlete and ended his tenure with the William G. Moore Outstanding Senior Male Athlete Award and was the Muskingum male OAC Clyde Lamb nominee.

Kevin Woods - Football '87
Woods was a Pizza Hut All-American, Football News All-American and Associated Press All-American. He was a two-time first team All-Ohio Athletic Conference honoree and is the all-time career sacks leader at Muskingum with 20.

Woods was honored for his outstanding play in 1986 with the Ohio Athletic Conference Paul Hoernemann Award, which recognizes the league’s top defensive lineman. He holds the Muskingum record for most sacks in a game with four and ranks second for most sacks in a single season with 12 and eighth for most sacks in a single season with eight.

He was a captain of the 1986 team that ended the season ranked 10th in the nation in the Football News Top 25 poll.