Emory University will induct four new members into its Sports Hall of Fame with its Class of 2016 including: Sarah Byrd (cross country/track and field), Lindsey Hoffner Baron (women’s swimming and diving), Ted Karniewicz (baseball) and Mark Odgers (men’s tennis). The ceremony will take place on the evening of Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Miller-Ward Alumni House on the Emory campus.
The Emory Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1989 by the Association of Emory Alumni and the Department of Athletics and Recreation. A display honoring each member is maintained in the George Woodruff Physical Education Center on the Emory campus. Plaques honoring inductees who were influential in athletics on the Oxford campus are displayed in the Williams Gymnasium at Oxford College.
This year’s four additions bring the total number of inductees to 165.
The following are bullet-point sketches for Emory’s Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2016.
Sarah Byrd
Women’s Cross Country/Track and Field (1998-2002)
Hometown: Weldon, North Carolina
** 2002 NCAA Division III Champion in 3,000-meter steeplechase
** 2002 University Athletic Association Champion in 3,000-meter steeplechase
** 2002 University Athletic Association Champion in 5,000-meter run (Outdoor)
** 2002 University Athletic Association Most Outstanding Performer (Outdoor Track and Field)
** 2002 University Athletic Association Champion in 5,000 meters (Indoor)
** 2002 Drake Relays Steeplechase Champion
** 2002 Track & Field Team Most Valuable Performer
** 2001 NCAA Participant in 3,000 & 5,000 meters
** 2001 University Athletic Association Champion in 3,000 meters (Indoor)
** 2001 University Athletic Association Champion in 5,000 meters (Indoor)
** 2001 University Athletic Association Champion in 3,000 meters (Outdoor)
** 2001 University Athletic Association Champion in 5,000 meters (Outdoor)
** 2001 University Athletic Association Most Outstanding Performer (Indoor Track)
** 2001 Track & Field Team Most Valuable Performer
** Cross Country All-American in 2000 (22nd place) and 2001 (16th place)
** Just one of six women’s Emory cross country All-Americans and the only two-time honoree
** Three-Time Cross Country All-Region (1999, 2000, 2001)
** Cross Country Regional Champion in 2000 and 2001
** Cross Country Regional Athlete of the Year in 2001
** Clocked a school-record 5K time of 17:39 at 2001 NCAA Championships
** Closed out her cross country career with four of the top 5K times (still holds two of the top three)
** First Team All-UAA in Cross Country in 2000 and 2001
** UAA Cross Country Champion in 2001 (just one of two Emory runners to claim that distinction)
** Remains Emory record holder in the steeplechase (10:35.20), Indoor 5,000 meters (17:28.23) and Outdoor 3,000 meters (10:01.71)
** Member of Emory’s Cross Country and Track and Field All-Time Teams (released Sept. of 2010)
** Academic All-American
** NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
Lindsey Hoffner Baron
Women’s Swimming and Diving (1999-2003)
Hometown: Cumberland, ME
** One of Emory’s premiere distance swimmers during her career, she helped lay the groundwork for future standouts
** 2003 NCAA Champion in the 1650 Freestyle, the first Emory swimmer to win that event, and at the time, the sixth-ever Eagle to win an individual title
** Six-time All-American in the 500 and 1650 Freestyle
** Three-time All-American in the 1650 Freestyle
** Three-time All-American in the 500 Freestyle
** Helped Emory to third-place finishes at the 2002 and 2003 NCAA Championships, at the time tying the program’s best-ever showing
** Named the program’s Most Valuable Performer as a senior
** Member of the Emory Women’s Swimming and Diving All-Time Team (released Sept. 2010)
** During her career she was the program’s record holder in the 500, 1000 and 1650 Freestyle events
** Earned two All-America certificates in both 2000 and 2003
** Team’s highest-scoring freshman at the 2000 NCAA Championships
** Team’s Rookie of the Year in 1999-2000
** Seventh in the 500 Freestyle at the 2003 NCAA Championships
** Fourth in the 1650 Freestyle at the 2002 NCAA Championships
** Eighth in the 500 Freestyle at the 2001 NCAA Championships
** Sixth in the 500 Freestyle at the 2000 NCAA Championships
** Eighth in the 1650 Freestyle at the 2000 NCAA Championships
Ted Karniewicz
Baseball (1997-2000)
Hometown: Weston, FL
** Third Team All-American in 1999 and 2000
** Only two-time All-American in the history of the program
** First Team All-Region in 1999 and 2000; Second Team All-Region in 1998
** First Emory player to earn all-region honors three times
** First Team All-UAA in 1999 and 2000
** Compiled 70 multi-hit games during his career
** Captain of the 2000 team that won the South Region title, and that made the program’s first trip to the College World Series
** Still ranks as the school’s all-time leader with 34 home runs and 169 RBIs
** Closed out his career No. 1 all-time at Emory with 241 hits (currently second)
** Closed out his career in the No. 1 spot on the program’s all-time list with 59 doubles (currently tied for second)
** Closed out his career No. 3 all-time at Emory with a batting average of .416 (currently fourth)
** Closed out his career No. 2 all-time at Emory in slugging percentage of .705 (currently third)
** Closed out his career No. 4 all-time at Emory with 141 runs scored (currently ninth)
** As a senior, he led the team in hitting with a .432 mark (then the school’s No. 5 season mark, currently 6th) with his 83 hits in 192 plate appearances, then the second-highest seasonal mark in program history (currently tied for fourth)
** Recorded a school record 63 RBIs his final year of action (currently second highest total at Emory), and socked a team-leading 10 home runs, still fourth on the Eagles’ seasonal chart.
** Totaled 26 multi-hit contests in 2000
** As a junior, he hit a school record 15 home runs (a mark that still stands), which tied for ninth among all D-III players, and tied his own record with 53 RBIs.
** The 23 doubles that he stroked as a sophomore (1998), still remains the school’s season record
** Ended the 1998 season second on the team in hitting .402 and with eight home runs, while tying for the team lead with 53 RBIs which tied the program’s seasonal record.
** When he graduated, he held the program’s top three seasonal marks in RBIs.
** Member of Emory Baseball’s All-Time Team (released in Sept. 2010)
Mark Odgers
Men’s Tennis (2001-05)
Hometown: Gauteng, South Africa
** Singles and Doubles All-American all four years of competition, the men’s tennis program’s first eight-time All-American
** Played No. 1 singles and doubles all four years
** Closed out his career No. 1 all-time at Emory with 93 doubles victories (currently second)
** Career winning percentage of .762 (93-29) in doubles is No. 3 on the school’s all-time list
** Finished his career 10th all-time at Emory with 69 singles wins.
** ITA Regional Doubles Champion all four years
** Named by the ITA as the 2005 National Senior Player of the Year, the first representative from the program to earn that honor, and currently just one of three.
** Member of the men’s tennis program’s first-ever NCAA D-III National Championship in 2003
** Helped Emory to four NCAA D-III Championships semifinal-round appearances
** Member of four UAA Championship teams
** Competed in the NCAA D-III Singles and Doubles Championships all four years
** First Emory player to earn All-America honors in singles and doubles as a freshman
** Only Emory player to win four ITA Region doubles championships
** He and Alex Jacobs were Emory’s first doubles team to win back-back ITA South Region Championships
** Won 20 or more doubles matches in each of his four seasons
** Won a then school-record 27 doubles matches during the 2003-04 season (currently tied for fifth on the school’s seasonal chart)
** No. 3-ranked D-III singles player his senior year (2005), and with Alex Jacobs was the No. 4-ranked doubles tandem
** No. 11-ranked D-III singles player in 2004, and he and Jacobs were the No. 4-ranked doubles team
** No. 7-ranked D-III singles player in 2003, and he and Jacobs were the No. 3 doubles team
** No. 6-ranked D-III singles player in 2002, and he and Jacobs were No. 4 in doubles.
** Advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2003 NCAA D-III Singles Championships and competed in the semifinals of the doubles competition.
** No. 1 seed in the 2004 NCAA D-III Doubles Championships, reaching the quarterfinals
** No. 1 seed in the 2005 NCAA D-III Singles Championship and was the No. 2 seed in doubles, advancing to the Round of 16
** Four Time All-UAA First Team at No. 1 doubles
** Four Time All-UAA Second Team at No. 1 singles
** 2002 UAA Rookie of the Year
** Two-time recipient of the Emory Athletic Department’s McCord Award
** Member of Emory’s Men’s Tennis All-Time Team (released in Sept. 2010)