Hanover College Athletics

Panthers blanket all-conference gridiron team
Seniors Bobby Smart (Coral Springs, Fla.), Corry Stewart (Nashville, Tenn.) and Daniel Cornely (Palmetto Bay, Fla.), along with sophomore Daniel Passafiume (Louisville, Ky.), each earned first-team honors to lead a group of 10 Hanover College football players to earn all-conference recognition from the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Smart and Passafiume were among six members of Hanover's offensive unit to snag all-conference honors. In addition to the two receivers, sophomore quarterback C.J. Croft (Fort Campbell, Ky.), senior receiver Adam Miller (Franklin, Ind.) and senior lineman Joe Vormohr (Portland, Ind.) were each second-team honorees. Junior lineman Bruce Whitehead (Petersburg, Ind.) was an honorable mention selection.

Smart, a tight end and wide receiver, was named to the all-conference squad for the third time in his career. He had 27 receptions for 467 yards and five touchdowns. He also averaged 56 yards per kickoff and hit 2-of-3 point-after attempts in a part-time role as Hanover's kicker.

Passafiume, a wide receiver, is a two-time all-HCAC selection. He led the nation with 11.4 receptions per game - finishing the season with 114 catches for 1,054 yards and a team-leading 14 touchdowns. The total includes a NCAA all-divisions' record 25 catches in the Panthers' season-finale against Franklin.

Miller, a wide receiver, was second on the squad with 40 receptions for 482 yards and six touchdowns. He also led the team with nine punt returns and a team-best 21.8-yard average as a kick returner.

Croft, in his first full season as Hanover's quarterback, led the Heartland Conference in total offense with 304.4 yards per game. During the season, he completed 200-of-357 passes for 2,163 yards with 27 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He also led the Panthers with 577 rushing yards on 151 attempts with a pair of touchdowns.

Vormohr, who played both center and guard for the unit, earned all-conference honors for the second straight season. Whitehead completed his first full season as an offensive tackle after moving from the defensive line in the middle of last season.

Each players' blocking grade was higher than 90 percent for the season.

Stewart, a defensive back and punter, and Cornely, a linebacker, led four members of Hanover's defensive unit who earned all-Heartland Conference honors. Sophomore defensive back Rory Mannering (Walton, Ind.) was a second-team selection, while freshman linebacker Andy Dalton (Guilford, Ind.) received honorable mention recognition.

Stewart earned all-conference honors for the second consecutive season. He set a school single-season record with nine interceptions - for 138 yards and a touchdown. He also led the unit with seven pass deflections and ranked fourth on the team with 61 tackles, including 39 solo stops and 22 assists.

In addition, he averaged 38.1 yards per punt, including nine which covered more than 50 yards.

Cornely earned all-HCAC honors for the third time in his career. Despite missing the final two games of the season, he ranked second on the squad with 84 tackles, including 37 solo tackles, 47 assists, 3.5 tackles for loss and a pair of forced fumbles.

Mannering, a two-time all-league selection, led Hanover's defensive unit with 95 tackles, including a team-high 51 solo tackles and 44 assists. He added 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, three interceptions and five pass deflections.

Dalton earned a spot in the Panthers' lineup midway through the season and finished second on the squad with 84 tackles. He also chipped in four tackles for loss, one sack and a pair of interceptions.

Hanover ended the 2009 campaign with a 3-7 overall record. The Panthers were fifth in the HCAC standinds with a 3-4 mark.

2009 All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Honorees

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Passafiume's record earns HCAC honor
Fueled by a national record-breaking performance, Hanover College wide receiver Daniel Passafiume (Louisville, Ky.) has been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference's offensive player of the week.

Passafiume, a sophomore, set a NCAA all-divisions single-game record with 25 receptions (for 153 yards and two touchdowns) in the Panthers' Nov. 14 game against Franklin College. The effort surpasses the mark of 24 catches set by NFL hall-of-fame receiver Jerry Rice and Chas Gessner.

Rice had 24 catches for Mississippi Valley State University in a 1983 game against Southern University. Gessner collected 24 balls for Brown University in a 2002 game against the University of Rhode Island.

Passafiume's performance was featured on ESPN, ESPN News and television stations nationally, as well as being highlighted in newspapers such as USA today, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Orlando Sentinel.

Passafiume, who ranked among the top receivers in NCAA III all season, capped the 2009 campaign with 114 receptions for 1,054 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Hanover closed the season with a 3-7 overall record. The Panthers finished fifth in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference with a 3-4 mark.

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Hall of famer Lichtfuss to lead lacrosse program
National lacrosse hall of famer and former all-American athlete Skip Lichtfuss has been hired as the first head coach of Hanover College's men's lacrosse program. Lichtfuss, who was inducted into the U.S. Lacrosse National Hall of Fame in 1993, has been involved at every level of lacrosse in the U.S. for nearly 40 years.

Lichtfuss was an all-American player at Washington & Lee University (Va.) in the early 1970s. He also competed with the U.S. national team in the late 1970s, played in the United State Club Lacrosse Association (USCLA) until the mid-1980s and later played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL).

He was a three-time all-American and four-time all-South Atlantic Conference selection at Washington & Lee from 1971-74. He played in the USCLA from 1975-84, earning all-league honors five times while leading the Mount Washington (Md.) Lacrosse Club to three championships.

He played on the U.S. national team at the World Championships in Manchester, England, in 1978. He later came out of retirement to play for the MILL's Pittsburgh Bulls in 1990.

Lichtfuss has served as a coach at every level of play – from youth leagues to the national team. He served as a member of the U.S. national team's coaching staff for the World Championships in 1994. He guided Mount Washington for nearly 20 years, leading the squad to three USCLA titles as a coach while producing 11 national team players. He also served two seasons as general manager of the MILL's Pittsburgh Bulls and coached six all-pro players while leading the Baltimore Thunder for three seasons.

He served as a member of the U.S. Lacrosse Board of Directors from 2000-08 and has been a member of the organization's hall of fame selection committee since 1999. He is the only coach to be a member of the selection committee for every U.S. national team since 1986.

Lichtfuss is also a member of the Virginia Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Greater Baltimore Chapter of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Washington & Lee Athletic Hall of Fame.

He will recruit Hanover's first lacrosse squad during the current academic year. The Panthers are slated to begin intercollegiate competition during the spring season in 2011.

Hanover will join Trine University as only NCAA III colleges in Indiana to sponsor the sport. Hanover will be the second school in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference with lacrosse, joining the College of Mount St. Joseph (Ohio).

Hanover currently offers eight men's and eight women's varsity sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis and track & field. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

More than 40 percent of Hanover's student body participates in the intercollegiate athletics program.

The last intercollegiate sport added at Hanover was women's soccer, which appeared at the varsity level for the 1995 season.

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HCAC accepts Earlham College as member
The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference has announced that Earlham College will join the membership beginning in the 2010-11 academic year. Earlham, located in Richmond, Ind., will join the conference after spending the past 20 years affiliated with the North Coast Athletic Conference.

"We are very pleased to have Earlham join the Heartland Conference as our 10th member as they have a rich tradition of strong academic and intercollegiate athletic programs," said Christopher Ragsdale, commissioner of the HCAC. "Many of our conference members have already been competing in non-league contests with Earlham. They are centrally located to our other conference schools which make them a natural fit."

Earlham  is one of the nation's strongest academic liberal arts colleges and is an independent, four-year, coeducational, residential institution founded in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends. The Quakers provide 16 varsity athletic programs for their enrollment of more than 1,100 students.

The addition of Earlham marks the first change in membership for the HCAC since Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology joined the league in 2006. The conference also includes Anderson University, Bluffton University, Defiance College, Franklin College, Hanover College, Manchester College, the College of Mount St. Joseph, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and Transylvania University.

"I am extremely excited that Earlham has been invited to join the Heartland Conference," says Douglas C. Bennett, Earlham's president. "In joining the Heartland, we are rejoining a number of colleges and universities that have been institutions with which Earlham has competed for many decades. We are delighted to now be in a conference with them."

The HCAC currently sponsors 16 championships in men's and women's athletics. Beginning in the 2010-11 academic year, Earlham will be competing in 13 of 16 sports in the HCAC, excluding men's and women's golf and softball.

"Games against HCAC members permeate throughout Earlham's athletic history, with rivalries that began years before formal conference affiliations," stated Frank Carr, Earlham's athletic director. "We believe that renewing this relationship will be a winning situation for all involved."

"When it comes to intercollegiate athletics, Earlham shares a similar vision with current HCAC members who value the intercollegiate experience as an integral part of the overall educational experience for their student-athletes," added Ragsdale.

Courtesy Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

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