MCCC Athletic Hall of Fame Inducts Class of 2024

 

On June 1^st, Mercer inducted their fourth class into the MCCC Athletic Hall of Fame.  The Class of 2024 Inductees were: Kim Drager, Stu Foulks, Joe McKeown, John Pietrowski, Cynthia Soeffel, Kenya Taylor, the 1988 men’s soccer team and 2005 women’s tennis team.

 

Kim Drager was a three sport star at MCCC.  Drager was a member of the women’s basketball, soccer and softball team. Drager was an infielder on the softball team and became the sixth All-American in MCCC softball program history in 1989.  In her two years on the Vikings softball team, Drager led MCCC to a 63-11 record. Drager is 20^th in all-time scoring averages for MCCC women’s basketball. The Vikings women's soccer team had a 29-11-1 record in Drager's two years at MCCC.

 

Stu Foulks was a member of the 1980-81 MCCC baseball team.  In 1981, Foulks was drafted in the 14^th round by the Houston Astros in the MLB June Amateur Draft.  The following year, Foulks was drafted in 2^nd round of the 1982 MLB June-Secondary Draft out of Jacksonville University. Foulks played two seasons of Minor League baseball, one with the Little Falls Mets in Short Season A ball and one for the Columbia Mets of the South Atlantic League, a single A affiliation of the Mets.  The 1981 MCCC team that Foulks was a member of went 39-7 and was the first Viking baseball team to qualify for the NJCAA World Series.  Foulks had a 2.70 ERA with more than 100 strikeouts in his 1981 season at MCCC.

 

Stern John helped lead MCCC men’s soccer to the 1995 NJCAA National Championship and scored 27 goals, including one in the final, a 2-0 victory over Yavapai College. John planned to return to the Vikings for the 1996 season but in August was called to represent the Trinidadian national team at age 19. After an impressive showing with Trinidad and Tobago, Stern turned professional and made his pro debut for the Carolina Dynamo of the A-League, the second division of U.S. club soccer, in April 1997. John was traded to the New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers, where he scored 16 goals in 21 appearances and was named Rookie of the Year.

 

Following the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he scored two goals, John signed by the Columbus Crew and made his Major League Soccer (MLS) debut in 1998. He scored his first MLS goal in his fifth appearance and ended the match with a hat trick and an assist. John ended his rookie MLS season as the league scoring champion with 26 goals in 27 matches. John was the first MLS player to score three hat tricks in a single season, including 16 goals in a span of 12 matches.

 

John scored 18 goals in the 1999 season, tied for the MLS' scoring leaderboard, and ended his MLS career with 44 goals in 55 matches the second highest goals per game average in MLS history.  After the 1999 season with Columbus, John was acquired by Nottingham Forest of the English First Division. John scored 18 goals in 49 starts for Nottingham. John then moved to Birmingham in the English Premier League, generally regarded as the best professional league in the world.

 

John made 115 appearances for the Trinidadian national team, the second highest ever, while holding the honor of being their all-time leading scorer with 70 goals. John represented Trinidad and Tobago in its only World Cup appearance in 2006, starting all three of Trinidad’s World Cup matches vs Sweden, England and Paraguay.

 

John began his managerial/coaching career as the National Team Coach of Anguilla and is currently is the manager of the St. Lucia National Team.

 

Men’s basketball player Joe McKeown was a member of the 1973 National Championship team and was named the Junior College National Small Player of the Year following a 33-1 season.  After his two seasons at MCCC, McKeown transferred to Kent State, where he earned Honorable Mention All-Midland Conference honors.  McKeown holds the Kent State single game assist record of 15 that still stands today.

 

McKeown is the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Northwestern University.  McKeown became the sixth women’s head coach in Northwestern program history in June 2008. McKeown is fourth among active Big 10 coaches in total wins and has had winning seasons eight out of 13 years.  McKeown was one of five semifinalists for the Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year following a 26 win season in 2019-2020 and the Wildcats first Big 10 regular season title since 1989-1990.

 

In July 2015, McKeown was selected as Head Coach of the USA women’s representative to the World University Games held in Seoul, Korea.  McKeown led the USA to six wins at the World Games including the gold medal in a win over Canada.

 

Prior to Northwestern, McKeown was Head Women’s Basketball Coach at George Washington University for 19 years.  McKeown is the winningest coach in school history and in the Atlantic 10 Conference and went 441-154.  McKeown led George Washington to the Elite 8 in 1997 and advanced to the Sweet 16 three times (1995, 2007 and 2008).  McKeown was a five time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year and was nominated twice as National Coach of the Year while at GWU in 1995 and 1997.  McKeown was inducted into George Washington’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012.

 

McKeown was Head Women’s Basketball Coach at New Mexico State for three seasons before becoming Head Coach at GWU.  In three seasons at New Mexico State, McKeown went 68-20 and led the Aggies to two NCAA Tournament appearances.  McKeown also served as Assistant Women’s Coach at University of Oklahoma from 1983-1986 and one season as Assistant Women’s Coach at Kent State University, his alma mater.

 

In addition to his success on the basketball court, McKeown has done a great deal off the court, for a cause close to him and his family, autism.  McKeown’s youngest son, Joey was diagnosed with autism in the early 1990s.  McKeown helped to organize an annual Autism Awareness Day at a Northwestern basketball game for families traveling from Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan.  The game gives families a chance to see a college basketball game and also raise community awareness about autism.  McKeown is also very involved in the Autism Speaks Foundation, a national organization that raises awareness and money for autism.

 

One fixture on the sideline for Mercer men’s soccer has been Volunteer Assistant Coach John Pietrowski or as his players call him “Coach Pize.”  Pietrowski has been an Assistant for the Mercer men’s soccer program since 1994.  He has been a part of 430 wins and has not seen a losing season in 29 years.  Pietrowski has helped the MCCC men’s soccer program to three national titles (1995, 1996, 2004), 14 trips to the National Tournament and coached 27 All-Americans. 

 

In 2018, Pietrowski was inducted into the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Hall of Fame, the 11 ^th contributor to earn this honor.  Pietrowski was inducted to both the Mercer County Soccer Hall of Fame and the Northern Highlands Regional High School Hall of Fame in 2014.  Pietrowski coached at Northern Highlands for 27 years.  While at Northern Highlands, Pietrowski won four state sectional titles, 16 league championships and was named Suburban Coach of the Year four times.  In 1989, Pietrowski was inducted into the New Jersey Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame and named to the Bergen County Boys Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame.  At age 87, Pietrowski completed his season with the 2023 Vikings.

  

Cynthia Soffel played women’s soccer at MCCC in 1982 and 1983 and was on the first MCCC women’s soccer team to compete at the National Junior College Women’s Tournament in 1982.  1982 also marked the first full season as a collegiate team for MCCC women’s soccer.  The Vikings went 11-3 in their first collegiate season and finished fifth at the National Tournament.

 

In the 1982 season, Soffel had 25 goals and 28 assists.  In the Vikings consolation win at the National Tournament, Soffel had a hat trick in a 6-1 win vs Essex CC.  In the 1982 season, MCCC outscored their opponent 95-4. In 1983, MCCC reached the National Tournament semifinal thanks to two goals from Soffel. 

 

Soffel was a member of the first women’s soccer collegiate program at Rutgers University in 1984.  That team went 10-4-2 and earned a national ranking. In 1984, Soffel finished with 6 goals and 10 assists and followed that with 9 goals and 5 assists in the 1985 season at Rutgers. Soffel finished her career at Rutgers with 15 assists, which is ninth best in program history.  Soffel is also tied for fifth most assists in a season with 10 in 1984.  Soffel was also awarded the Women’s Soccer Scholar Athlete Award in 1984.

 

Soffel returned to MCCC to serve as an Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach from 2018-2022.

 

Kenya Taylor is Mercer women’s basketball only two time All-American, earning those honors in 1999 and 2000.  In the 1998-1999 season, Taylor averaged 17.3 points per game and went on to average 18.1 points per game for the 1999-2000 season. 

 

The 1999-2000 team Taylor was a member of has the best record in program MCCC women’s basketball history, going 28-3.  In the 1999-2000 season, Taylor led the Vikings in scoring, was second in rebounds per game, averaging 8.7 per game and had the highest free throw percentage on the team at 74%.  In two seasons at MCCC, Taylor scored 885 points and grabbed 451 rebounds. 

 

Mercer won the Region 19 Championship in 1999 and 2000.  In Taylor’s two seasons at MCCC, she helped lead the Vikings to a 48-11 record.  The 1998-1999 team reached the NJCAA Division II National Championship.

 

The Mercer County Community College 1988 National Championship men’s soccer team were National Champions. The Vikings returned eight starters from a team that went 23-1 in the previous year.  Mercer began the 1988 campaign winning the prestigious Ulster Classic and reeled off 14 consecutive victories before encountering a 1-1 draw at arch rival Essex (Md.), a team the Vikings had defeated in the opening round of the National Tournament in 1987.

 

The Vikings advanced to the National Championship against Massasoit and went on to defeat Massasoit 3-0. In the National Semifinals the Vikings defeated Andrew (GA) 6-0 to advance to the championship game against Pima (Az.) Mercer was able to hold on to the 1-0 victory, its sixth straight post season shutout, for the National Championship.

 

The 2005 women’s tennis team the last Mercer team to win a National Championship.  Members of the 2005 women’s tennis team were Caitlin Bagdonas, Siobhan Cahill, Natalia Dabrowska, Krystle Duay, Rachel Hendrickson, Monica Nichols and Silvina Wills.  The Vikings were coached by Marc Vecchiolla, assisted by Barb Pleva and Ralph Bencivengo.

 

That fall, the Vikings won their eighth straight Region 19 title.  Mercer won with 14 points, eight more than runner-up Brookdale.  At the NJCAA National Championship in the spring, the Vikings had five players named All-Americans as they won their fourth title in eight years.  Women’s tennis regular season and Region Championship were played in the fall and the National Championship was held in the spring of the following year.

 

In Singles flights, Duay was National Champion at 4^th Singles, Hendrickson National Champion at 5^th Singles and Cahill National Champion at 6^th Singles.  Duay and Hendrickson were also National Champions at 3^rd Doubles. 

 

Dabrowska finished as National Runner-Up at 3^rd Singles and Wills and Dabrowska were National Runner Ups at 2^nd Doubles.

 

The Vikings won the NJCAA National Championship in Arizona with 32.5 points, beating Runner-Up Broome CC who finished with 23 points.