Huntingdon Athletic Hall of Fame inducts sixMontgomery, Ala.—The Huntingdon College Department of College and Alumni
Relations and Department of Athletics will induct six new members into
the College's Athletic Hall of Fame during a special ceremony to be held
Saturday, September 29, at 9:45 a.m. in Roland Arena, Roland Student
Center on the Huntingdon campus. The group includes the first
volleyball and football student-athletes to be inducted into the Hall of
Fame: Mark Colson, Class of 2007, football, Montgomery, Alabama; Kate Brown Kalnes, Class of 2002, volleyball, Evanston, Illinois; Romeo Leisher, Class of 2000, soccer, Boca Raton, Florida; Steve Shiflett, Class of 1972, basketball, Montgomery, Alabama; Debbie Sonnenberg, Class of 1994, softball, Woodstock, Georgia; and Will Wilson, Class of 1990, sportsmanship, Montgomery, Alabama.
Mark Colson was recruited in 2003 to serve as the first
quarterback of the brand new Huntingdon Hawks NCAA-Division III football
team. Later, he became the first Hawks receiver or running back to
eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in a single season, with 75 catches and
1,028 yards receiving. As an undergraduate Colson held an internship
with the Business Council of Alabama (BCA) and was hired full-time
following graduation. He serves as chief of staff and executive director
of ProgressPAC and represents Alabama’s business community at the
highest levels of government in Montgomery and Washington, D.C. Colson
has been the driving force behind the creation of the Hawks Football
Alumni Association, and because of his efforts and leadership the
percentage of football alumni participating in annual giving to the
College exceeds any other cohort group. Colson holds a master’s degree
in business administration from Troy University.
Kate Brown Kalnes was an All-American volleyball player at
Huntingdon College and is the first volleyball player inducted into the
Huntingdon College Athletic Hall of Fame. A human performance and
kinesiology graduate, Kalnes served as the assistant director of
recreation at Huntingdon College. She earned her graduate degree in
exercise and health studies from Miami University of Ohio, where she
interned in the strength and conditioning program and trained athletes
of all sports in Miami’s Division I program. Kalnes earned professional
certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association
and the United States Weightlifting Federation. She is the co-owner of
Police Kinesiology Company in Evanston, Illinois, and serves as the
company’s technical director. She is an instructor for North East Multi
Regional Training, a regional police training academy in Illinois, and
has co-authored seven police performance training courses.
Romeo Leisher came to Huntingdon from Johannesburg, South Africa,
and was simultaneously a full-time student, full-time collegiate
athlete, and worked 25–30 hours a week in the campus mailroom and the
campus maintenance department so that he could be the first in his
family to earn a college degree. He was a 4-year team captain for the
varsity soccer squad, honored with the Best Defensive Player team award
as a freshman, received the Most Valuable Player team award in his three
final years (Best Offensive Player as a junior), and finished 17th in
the nation for the 2000 season for goals scored and assists per game.
Leisher was an All-Region Tournament Team nominee as a sophomore, NAIA
2nd Team All-South Region as a junior, and an NSCAA All-Region
Scholar-Athlete as a senior. He was honored with inclusion in Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities
in 2000 and was on the dean’s list for four semesters while attending
Huntingdon. He works as a new business development manager for a
healthcare staffing company in Boca Raton, Florida.
Steve Shiflett was an All-State standout at Sidney Lanier High
School in Montgomery, Alabama, before joining the Huntingdon basketball
team in 1968. He was a 4-year letterman, earning a starting position in
his junior and senior years. During his senior year as a Hawk,
Shiflett averaged 15 points per game with a career high 32 points in a
game against Birmingham-Southern. He was elected to the All-Conference
Team that year. After graduating from Huntingdon, Shiflett earned a
master’s degree from Troy State University in 1974 and went on to become
athletic director and head basketball coach at Trinity Presbyterian
School in Montgomery. Five years and one state championship later,
Shiflet hung up his high school whistle and moved to Birmingham to join
the ranks of the college coaching world at Southeastern Bible College,
where he led SBC to their only conference championship. Since moving
back to Montgomery in 1981, Shiflett has started and sold numerous
medical supply businesses and is now retired.
Debbie Sonnenberg was a four-time All-American at Huntingdon
College and still holds the NAIA record for most wins and strikeouts for
a season and a career. She was a key member of the 1996 Canadian
Olympic Team, five Canadian National Champion teams, and two New Zealand
National Champion teams. She also competed in the World Championships
and Pan-Am Games as a pitcher and was a seven-time All-Canadian
performer pitching back-to-back perfect games in the 1993 Canadian
National Championship Series. Sonnenberg has coached for Delta State
(Mississippi), Auburn University, Kennesaw State University and Mercer
University. She is an instructor at the Cherokee Batting Range in
Woodstock, Georgia, and is the coach of the Georgia Trouble Softball
Organization.
Will Wilson, a native of Montgomery, graduated from Huntingdon
College with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and
serves as president of Jim Wilson & Associates, LLC, where he is
responsible for development activities and investment projects. Wilson
has supported the College and the Huntingdon athletic program as a
member of the Huntingdon Board of Trustees. He provided valuable counsel
to assist Huntingdon’s efforts to become a member of an NCAA-Division
III athletic conference, which has led to the College’s recent
invitation to join the USA South Athletic Conference. He has also
provided support to the Huntingdon College golf program by providing use
of the Wynlakes Golf and Country Club facilities for team practice and
tournament play. In addition to his service on the Huntingdon Board of
Trustees, Wilson is a member of the boards of directors of The
Montgomery Academy, the Wynlakes Golf and Country Club and the
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. He served previously on the boards of
directors of the Montgomery Humane Society and the American Red Cross of
Central Alabama.
A reception beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the lobby of Roland Student Center will precede the induction ceremony.
Huntingdon
College, grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition of the United
Methodist Church, is committed to nurturing growth in faith,
wisdom, and service and to graduating individuals prepared to
succeed in a rapidly changing world. Founded in 1854, Huntingdon
is a coeducational liberal arts college. The College motto, "Enter
to grow in wisdom; go forth to apply wisdom in service," is
inscribed in stone above the front door of John Jefferson Flowers
Hall. Ranked in the top tier of regional colleges by U.S.
News and World Report and consistently listed in the Princeton
Review's "The Best Colleges: Region by Region," Huntingdon
has for two years been recognized on the President's Higher
Education Community Service Honor Roll and is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. Washington
Monthly, which ranks colleges on the basis of their
contribution to the public good, places Huntingdon in the top 20% of
352 Baccalaureate colleges. |