Four athletes were recently selected to the 27th annual class of the Malone University Athletics Hall of Fame and will be officially inducted at a banquet on the University's campus on February 11, 2011 (in the Johnson Center – dinner at 6:15 p.m., program at 7:30 p.m.). The inductees will also be recognized at halftime of the Malone vs. Notre Dame (OH) College men's basketball game earlier that day (tipoff at 4:00 p.m. in Osborne Hall).
The newest Hall of Fame inductees include
Josh Anderson ('01, men's golf),
Angela (Lockhart) Watson ('00, volleyball),
Tom Pukys ('90, men's tennis) and
Moses Sherman ('98, football). With the addition of the four newest members, the current total of inductees now stands at 101.
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 five or more years (a current coach must have served the University ten or more years). In 2007, a 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.
Josh Anderson, a 2001 Malone graduate (Business Administration), was a four-year letterman on the Pioneer men's golf team. He is also a 1997 graduate of Tree of Life Christian School in Columbus, Ohio.
During his four years in the Malone men's golf program, Anderson never missed playing on the “A” team and he is one of only two players in the history of the program whose score was used in every tournament.
Anderson was a First Team NAIA All-American in 2001. He posted a career average of 74.7 and a W-L-T record of 144-36-11, both of which rank second all-time in Malone men's golf history, and he also holds the second-best 18-hole score, at 66, for the program. Anderson won six collegiate tournaments while at Malone, was a two-year captain and also played on Malone's 2000 NAIA National Championship Team. He earned First Team NAIA All-America honors in 2001 by placing third overall at the NAIA national tournament and finished no worse than 25th in four NAIA national tourney appearances. In addition, he was a three-time Malone MVP and was twice named conference Player of the Year, First Team NCCAA All-American, NAIA Scholar Athlete and NCCAA Scholar Athlete.
Anderson works for the State of Ohio as a Medicaid Administrator in the Department of Developmental Disabilities. He resides in Sunbury, Ohio.
Angela (Lockhart) Watson, a 2000 graduate of Malone (Social Work), was a four-year letter winner on the Pioneer volleyball team. She is also a 1996 graduate of Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron.
During her four years on the Malone team, the program's record during that span was an impressive 90-60 with records of 31-12 and 29-11 her last two years. Watson, a middle hitter, currently ranks second all-time in career kills for Malone volleyball (with 2153; only one other player has reached 2000), second all-time in career kills per set at 3.97 (only one Malone volleyball player is above a 4.00 on the career listing) and first all-time in career attack percentage at .310 (next closest player on career list is .282). In addition, she currently ranks first all-time in career total blocks (579), second all-time in career solo blocks (317), third in career block assists (262) and second in career blocks per set (1.07). She also holds numerous “top three” rankings in season records at Malone for the above categories including a first-place ranking in “attack percentage for a season” in 1999 (.374). Watson earned First Team All-MOC Freshmen Team recognition and was one of only a few Pioneer volleyball players to have been a four-time First Team All-Conference selection as well. She was also a three-time First Team All NCCAA East Region recipient. In addition, as a senior, she was also named to the All-NAIA Region IX First Team and the NCCAA All-American Second Team while also earning the AMC Conference Player of the Year award.
Watson is a kindergarten teacher at Silver Lake Elementary School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. She and her husband, Chris, a 2001 Malone graduate and current head athletic trainer at Malone, and their three children Amber (4), Kalie (3) and Bryce (1), reside in Green, Ohio.
Tom Pukys, a 1990 Malone graduate (Business Administration and Accounting), was a four-year letterman on the Pioneer men's tennis team. He is also a 1986 graduate of Perry High School.
Pukys helped the Malone teams to impressive records during his tenure at Malone, including a 17-4 overall mark in 1988 when nearly half of the team's matches that year were against NCAA Div. I teams. During that sophomore season, he posted a 16-6 record in both singles and doubles and helped his team to a district team title and a berth in the NAIA national tournament. Pukys made it to the second round of singles in that year's NAIA national event. As a junior, he and teammate Olle Sundell won the conference doubles title, notched an incredible undefeated 19-0 record-season doubles mark and eventually lost in the fifth round of the NAIA national tournament to finish with a 23-1 doubles record for the year. The duo earned NAIA All-America honors for the feat which, other than the 1987 NAIA All-America singles honor for Sundell, are the only NAIA All-America accolades in Malone men's tennis history. As a senior, Pukys posted an impressive 21-2 singles record and an equally stellar 19-3 doubles record with teammate Dave Drummond. He and Drummond went on to win the district doubles title and competed in the NAIA national tournament.
Pukys is the President of the Alliance Area Development Foundation. He and his wife, Jane, and their six children, Samantha (17), Jacob (14), Kayla (12), Ryan (10) and twins Owen and Diana (8), reside in Louisville.
Moses Sherman, a 1998 graduate of Malone (Psychology), was a four-year letterman on the Pioneer football team. He is also a 1993 graduate of Urbana High School.
Sherman, who played at the nose tackle position, was a member of the first-ever Malone football team as a freshman in the fall of 1993 and quickly became one of the squad's dominant defensive players. After aiding the Malone program through the growing pains of that first season, he helped lift the team to records of 7-2, 10-1-1 and 8-2 in the following three years, respectively. During his four years, the Pioneers won the Mid-States Football Association Mideast League title in both 1995 and 1996 (three-way tie that year). In only its third year of intercollegiate football (1995), Malone qualified for the NAIA playoffs, an extremely rare feat for a third-year program. Sherman was a three-time MSFA First Team selection and, as a junior, earned the NAIA Second Team All-America honor. As a senior, he claimed the NAIA First Team All-America accolade, becoming the first in the program to pocket the First Team award. He is one of only six Malone football players to have earned the NAIA All-America honor and, of those six, is one of just three to have earned the honor twice. In addition, he is one of only three First Team NAIA All-Americans in the history of the program. Sherman ranks second in career sacks at Malone with 30.5 and he is tops all-time for the program in career blocked kicks with 13. He still ranks third all-time for tackles in a single game with 20 and amassed 322 total tackles during his career.
Sherman is the Branch Director of Sales for First Preferred Mortgage Company (Michigan). He and his wife, Heather, and their two sons, Brock (6) and Brody (1), reside in Copley.
Malone University, a Christian university for the arts, sciences, and professions in the liberal arts tradition, affiliated with the Evangelical Friends Church, awards both undergraduate and graduate degrees in more than 100 academic programs. Malone is recognized by the prestigious Templeton Foundation as a leader in character development, named an NAIA Champions of Character Five Star Award winner, and is ranked among the top colleges and universities in the Midwest under the category Regional Universities according to U.S.News & World Report's America's Best Colleges 2011.
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