Celebrating the Pioneers: College Honors Hall of Fame Inductees

President Emerita Jill Ker Conway is one of the remarkable women who will be inducted into the Smith Pioneers Hall of Fame on Saturday, Sept. 27.

The complete Hall of Fame class—the second group to be honored by Smith in this way—is:

• Sabra Kroll Aquadro ’86
• Agnes Rodgers Bixler ’29
• Jill Ker Conway
• Jeanne Eichelsdoerfer ’43
• Lisa Cook Ford ’95
• Lisa “Bella” Marlow ’83
• Phoebe Jacob Moore ’93
• Caryl Newhof ’51
• Carey Beth “CB” Sands-Bohrer ’83
• The 2004 Crew Varsity Eight

This year’s inductees will be honored at an enshrinement banquet at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, in the Carroll Room of the Campus Center. The event will be live streamed on the college’s Athletics website, http://www.smithpioneers.com/hofceremony.

The 2014 Hall of Fame class will also be recognized at halftime of the Pioneers’ field hockey match against Wheaton College, which begins at noon on September 27 on the athletic fields.

The Pioneers Hall of Fame honors those who have distinguished themselves with extraordinary contributions to athletics at Smith, which is a Division III member of the National College Athletic Association and the Eastern College Athletic Conference. Smith was a founding member of the New England Women’s 8 Conference, which in 1998 also began sponsoring championships in men’s sports and accordingly changed its name to the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference.

Information about the first Hall of Fame class, which was inducted in 2012, is online at http://www.smithpioneers.com/hof.aspx.

About This Year’s Hall of Fame Inductees

Sabra Kroll Aquadro ’86 was a six-time All-American diver for the Smith swimming and diving team. During her senior season, Aquadro won the one-meter (420.75) and three-meter (435.85) diving titles at the New England Championships with regional and program record dives in both.

Agnes Rodgers Bixler ’29 was a three-year member of the All-Smith field hockey team and a track and field star while at Smith. She was named to the U.S. field hockey team in 1928, 1929 and 1933.

As Smith’s first woman president, Jill Ker Conway was a staunch supporter of women in sport, spearheading the creation of an athletics department separate from physical education. During her tenure, from 1975 to 1985, Conway oversaw the conception and construction of many of Smith’s important athletic facilities, including the Indoor Track and Tennis Facility, the outdoor track and tennis courts, and the renovation of the equestrian indoor ring.

Jeanne Eichelsdoerfer ’43 has been a champion of Smith Equestrian since the 1970s. In addition to providing generous financial support, Eichelsdoerfer developed the “Horse Memoir Project,” which is housed in the Smith Archives, while also creating an alumnae newsletter and a website to provide a way to keep Smith riders connected to the program and to each other.

Lisa Cook Ford ’95 excelled in both field hockey and softball while at Smith, etching her name in the Smith record books for both sports. In field hockey, she remains in the top five for career goals (41) and points (95), as well as goals (24) and points (52) in a single season. In softball, she still holds the single-season record for batting average (.458) and on-base percentage (.544), and twice was honored as the NEWMAC Player of the Year.

Lisa “Bella” Marlow ’83 was a 16-time NCAA Swimming and Diving All-American while a Pioneer, winning multiple New England championships in the process. When she left Smith, Marlow held eight school records, and she still holds the school record in both the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:42.21) and the 800-yard freestyle relay (8:07.31).

Phoebe Jacob Moore ’93 played both basketball and softball at Smith, and she still holds the record for most career field goals made (564). A three-time NEW 8 All-Conference selection in basketball, Moore amassed 1,441 career points, which was then a school record.

Caryl Newhof ’51 had a profound impact on Smith Athletics for more than 40 years. Instrumental in the development of the intercollegiate athletics program, she was also Smith’s first varsity field hockey coach and served as the Pioneers squash coach.

Carey Sands-Bohrer ’83 was a three-year member of the Smith swimming and diving team—then, she took a rowing class on Paradise Pond and fell in love with the sport. After a junior season in which she was named Smith Athletics Rookie of the Year, Sands-Bohrer was the stroke in the varsity Lightweight Eight boat that captured the Eastern Sprints crown in 1983. The eight-time national team member went on to win the gold in double sculls at the Rowing World Championships in Nottingham, England, in 1986, becoming the first U.S. women’s sculler to do so.

The 2004 Crew Varsity Eight—Elizabeth Godshall ’05, Kristina Latta-Landefeld ’06, Anna Crary ’04, Katharine Seston ’05, Mary “Alex” Kennedy ’05, Leigh Eubank ’06, Elizabeth Higgins ’06, Elizabeth Niebur ’05 and Sarah Vorhies ’06—captured silver (7:00.9) and was just one tenth of a second behind champion Ithaca (7:00.8) at the 2004 NCAA Division III Women’s Rowing Championships. The group won the NEWMAC Championship, the New England Rowing Championships and the ECAC National Invitational Collegiate Regatta Championships that same year.

Members of the 2004 Varsity Crew, shown here after placing second at the 2004 NCAA Division III Championship, are among new inductees in the Smith Pioneers Hall of Fame.