April 21, 2017 – SF Athletics
Gainesville, FL – The Santa Fe College Athletics Department will honor six individuals and one team as a part of the 2017 Hall of Fame Class during the annual Induction Ceremony on April 22, 2017. They will join 37 other inductees who have been honored since 2012. The ceremony will take place at the Fine Arts Hall on the Northwest Campus at 10:30 a.m.
This year’s class includes players that span three different decades and four different sports.
Ryan Mathews, the most recent student athlete to play from this class, spent just one year as a Saint, but made a significant impact. He was a member of the 2009 FCSAA Championship and NJCAA Runner-up baseball team. He hit .356 with 15 homeruns, 16 doubles, and was named to the Mid-Florida Conference First Team and the FCSAA Tournament Team. In Colorado at the World Series, he hit .462 with three doubles, four homeruns and 12 RBI.
At the conclusion of his SF career he went on to play for two seasons at North Carolina State University. As a senior he was named Atlantic Coast Conference First Team. Following his stellar senior season he was drafted in the 27th round by the Oakland Athletics and played four years in their minor league organization.
Alfred Bell, a member of the 1996-98 men’s basketball team, wrapped up his two-year career at SF fourth all time in scoring with 1,077 points, one of just six players in school history with 1,000 or more points. He finished his career 10th all time in rebounding with 437 boards. The Saints won two Mid-Florida Conference titles with Bell, and he was named the conference player of the year in 1997-98.
He went on attend and play for Georgetown College in Kentucky. There he was named Mid-South Conference in 2000-01. His team finished runner-up at the NAIA National Tournament in 2000, falling in the championship game by just two points.
Kym Howard, a women’s basketball player from 1996-98, was a specialist from behind the three-point line. She made 231, still the most in school history, and scored the second most points ever with 940, trailing just 2012 Hall of Fame inductee Laura Johnson. Her 16.2 points per game are sixth best and she is the second best free throw shooter in Santa Fe College history at 80.1 percent. On Dec. 3, 1996, she made nine three pointers in a single game, a record that still stands, and her 116 in a single season in 1996-97 also still stands.
She was a part of the 1997-98 team that made the Saints first FCSAA Tournament appearance since the 1980s breaking a drought of eight years.
Albert Peacock, a member of the 1983 men’s indoor track team, won the NJCAA National Championship in the long jump and finished third in the high jump at the 1983 championships. He continued his career at the University of Alabama where he finished his collegiate career and won fifth place in the long jump at the 1984 SEC Championships.
Almetha Rowland, a member of the 1982 Women’s Indoor Track and Field team was the NJCAA National Champion in the 440 hurdles, and second in the 60-yard high hurdles. She went on to compete for Florida State University, where she finished 13th in the 400 meter hurdles at the AIAW National Championships in 1981.
Sylvia Smith, a member of the 1980-82 women’s basketball team, finished her SF career as one of the greatest all-around players in school history. Smith played for the Saints for two seasons from 1980-82, contributing to some of the best teams in school history, including the 1981-82 team that was inducted into the SF Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013. The 1981-82 Saints finished with a record of 27-5, won the team’s first State Championship, the Mid-Florida Conference Championship, Region VIII Championship, finished first in the nation in scoring average (83.6 ppg), and finished ninth at the national tournament. 2012 Hall of Fame inductees Laura Johnson and Head Coach Paula Edney were also a part of the 1981-82 team.
As a freshman in 1980-81, she helped lead the Saints to their first ever Mid-Florida Conference title and a #8 ranking in the state.
She remains in the top 10 in the following SF women’s basketball career stats: Fourth in career points with 868; Ninth in defensive rebounds with 311; Fifth highest scoring average – 16.4 ppg.
Following her Santa Fe College career, she went on to graduate with honors from Enterprise/Ozark Community College and Ashford University.
The 1983 Men’s Cross-Country team is the team representative in 2017. The ’83 team finished the regular season undefeated and went on to win the FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII Championship and compete at the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. Members of the team are: Paul Marmaro, Ernie McKee, Ocky Clark, Mike Hamilton, Al Dennis and David Hall.
The Santa Fe College Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony will also recognize 2015 inductee Rodney Rush who played for the men’s basketball team from 1985-87. Rush is one of just six players to score 1,000 points in their career, finishing with exactly 1,000. He is also fifth in rebounds all time with 472. The 1985-86 team was 23-9 and finished in the final eight teams at the FCSAA Tournament.
Following his career at Santa Fe College, Rush continued his education and playing career at the University of Alaska Southeast.
For complete schedules, stats, and more information please visit www.santafesaints.com.