Four athletes were recently selected to the 26th annual class of the Malone University Athletics Hall of Fame and will be officially inducted at a banquet on the University's campus on January 22, 2011 (in the Johnson Center – dinner at 6:00 p.m., program at 7:15 p.m.). The inductees will also be recognized at halftime of the Malone vs. Daemen (NY) College men's basketball game earlier that day (tipoff at 4:00 p.m. in Osborne Hall).
The newest Hall of Fame inductees include Kevin Hammons ('88, baseball), Julie (Harrison) Varner ('97, women's cross country and track & field), Olle Sundell ('89, men's tennis) and Jason Wallick ('99, football). With the addition of the four newest members, the current total of inductees now stands at 97.
Established in 1985, the Malone University Athletics Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have distinguished themselves in athletics while at the University. To qualify, athlete inductees must be graduates of Malone, must have graduated at least ten years prior to selection, must exemplify the highest ideals of intercollegiate athletics, and must have earned two letters in one or more sports. As a coach, they must have served the University athletics department ten or more years. In 2007, a new provision was established to allow athletics administrators or other support personnel to become eligible, again with a minimum of 10 years of athletics service to the University.
Kevin Hammons, a 1988 Malone graduate (Accounting), was a four-year letterman in baseball at Malone. He was also a 1984 graduate of Barberton High School.
Hammons, a four-year starter on the Pioneer pitching staff, was among the best to have ever played the position in the 47-year history of the Malone baseball program. For his career, he posted an outstanding 28-12 record with a 3.67 earned run average. As a senior, Hammons posted an incredible 13-1 record on the mound, a win total that still stands today as the most wins in a single season by a Pioneer pitcher. In addition, it was also the most wins by a pitcher in the NAIA that season. He also had a team-best 1.74 ERA that season and had 99 strikeouts in leading Malone to a 30-16 record. As a junior, he again had a team-best record of 7-4 and a team-best ERA of 2.92 to go along with 54 strikeouts. Hammons was a multiple All-NAIA District 22 and All-MOC Team recipient and was also named an NAIA Scholar Athlete.
Hammons is a CPA and Vice President of Financial Reporting for Community Health Systems and has been with the company for 13 years. He and his wife, Darla, reside in Franklin, Tennessee.
Julie (Harrison) Varner, a 1997 Malone graduate (Math), was a four-year letterwinner in both cross country and track & field at Malone. A 1993 graduate of Lakota High School, she also went on to earn a Master of Arts in Education degree (Curriculum & Instruction) from Malone in 2003.
Varner competed in three seasons of cross country ('93, '94, '96) for Malone before earning her undergraduate degree but then returned for one final cross country season in 1999. In the fall of 1993, she became the first Malone freshman women's cross country runner to earn the NAIA All-America accolade. After earning an incredible three straight NAIA All-America honors in cross country in her first three seasons, she posted the clean sweep in the sport in 1999 by becoming the first (and still only) four-time NAIA All-American in the history of Malone women's cross country. In addition, in that 1999 cross country season, she led Malone women's cross country to its first (and still only) NAIA national championship. That NAIA national title is also still the only one for any Malone women's sport. Incredibly, she also matched the four-time NAIA All-America feat by earning four NCCAA All-America honors as well. Varner also competed four seasons on the Pioneer track & field team and was a multiple qualifier to the NAIA indoor and outdoor national championships and the NCCAA national meets. In addition, she was a two-time NAIA Scholar Athlete in both cross country and track & field.
Varner is currently employed as a math teacher for Triway High School (for 10 years). She and her husband, Matt, who is also a Malone graduate and former cross country and track & field athlete for the Pioneers, have three sons (J.J., 6, and twin boys, Jackson and Jaydon, 2) and they reside in Applecreek, Ohio.
Olle Sundell, a 1989 Malone graduate (Business Administration) was a three-year letterman on the Pioneer men's tennis team.
Sundell is currently one of only two Malone men's tennis athletes to have ever earned the NAIA All-America honor and is the only two-time winner of the award (1987 and 1989). In 1987, he earned the honor in singles and, in 1989, he earned the honor in doubles with teammate Tom Pukys. He had a final NAIA individual national ranking of 10th at the end of the 1987 season. In the 1989 season, he and Pukys went undefeated in the regular season in doubles that year at 19-0 and did not lose until the fifth round of the NAIA national tournament. He lost to the eventual NAIA national singles champion in the fourth round of the 1989 NAIA national tourney. In 1988, he came up just short of the All-America honor in singles (by just one round at the NAIA national event) and earned Honorable Mention accolades. Sundell was a four-time conference champion in both singles and doubles, including his first collegiate season at Wilmington College. He posted an incredible career singles record of 79-7 at Malone and a 64-5 doubles record (with various players). His single-season records in singles were 28-1 (1987), in which his only loss was at NAIA nationals, 23-4 in 1988 and 22-1 in 1989. During Sundell's tenure at Malone, the program played numerous NCAA Div. I teams with over half of the 1988 squad's schedule being against Div. I opponents (team record was 17-4 that year).
Sundell is currently employed as a stocktrader (10 years) for Erik Penser Securities in Stockholm, Sweden. He and his three children, Alex (13), Simoni (11) and Gabriela (8), reside in Tyreso, Sweden, which is 10 miles southeast of Stockholm.
Jason Wallick, a 1999 Malone graduate (Elementary Education), was a four-year letterman on the Pioneer football team. He was also a 1994 graduate of Dover High School.
One of the greatest linebackers to ever put on a Pioneer uniform, Wallick is one of only six Malone football players to ever earn the NAIA All-America honor and of those six, he is one of just three to have earned the honor twice, having earned Second Team accolades as a junior and a senior. He is a four-time All-MSFA Mideast Team recipient having earned the First Team honor three times and the Second Team award once. Wallick easily led the team in sacks in each of his four years (Fr.-15, So.-17, Jr.-21.5, Sr.-19.5) and is also, by far, the current career sacks leader for Malone with an incredible 73 sacks. He also currently holds the school record for tackles for loss in a game with eight (during the 1997 season), in a season with 33 and for a career with 81. He is tied for most fumble recoveries in a season (4; tied with two others) and is tied for second in career fumble recoveries (6). In addition, all four of the Malone teams he was on ('94 thru '97) are currently ranked in Malone's top five for “average points allowed per game in a season”. He was a member of the 1995 and 1996 teams that won MSFA league titles and a member of the first-ever Pioneer team (1995) to qualify for the NAIA playoffs. The combined record of the Malone teams during his four years as a Pioneer was 30-11-1 (including a 10-1-1 mark in 1995).
Wallick is currently employed as a seventh grade Language Arts teacher (12 years) and head football coach (10 years) at Garaway High School. He and his wife, Kelly, and their children, Emmerson (9), Laiken (6), Jayce (4), reside in Dover, Ohio.
