Five Named to 2017 Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame Class
Five exemplary individuals have been named to the 2017 class for the Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame and will be inducted on the evening of Friday, Oct. 6, during the College's annual Garnet Homecoming and Family Weekend celebration.
The sixth class to enter the Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame consists of Steve Brown '84 (tennis), Madeline Fraser Cook '95 (soccer, lacrosse), Gil Kemp '72 (cross country, track & field), Katie Robinson '04 (basketball), and athletic trainer Doug Weiss.
Established in 2012, the Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame honors the student-athletes and administrators who have contributed to the College's success. The 2017 class was chosen from more than 200 nominations by a selection committee of administrators, coaches, and alumni for their significant and distinctive impact on Swarthmore College athletics and the College itself.
2017 Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame Class
was a five-time All-American and member of the 1981 NCAA men's championship tennis team. Despite being only 5'5", the Cincinnati, Ohio, native was known for his serve-and-volley attacking style and quickness at the net. As a freshman, Brown and David Bronkema '83 reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Tournament. As a sophomore, he reached the quarterfinals of the singles draw. In his senior year, Brown went undefeated against Division III opponents and was seeded first in the NCAA singles tournament. He reached the semifinals and ended the year ranked No. 2 in the nation. That year, the NCAA Division III coaches honored Brown with the Arthur Ashe Award, given to one player in each division who embodied Ashe's qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, and humanitarian concern. Now living in Amherst, Mass., with his wife and has two daughters, he is a clinical psychologist and directs an international training program for organizations serving trauma survivors.
was a two-sport star for the Garnet in soccer and lacrosse. At the time of her graduation, Fraser Cook held the women's soccer program records for career goals and points with 26 and 65, respectively, which both remained unbroken until 2010. In her junior year, she totaled 13 goals, including four in one game, and five assists for a total of 31 points and made the All-Centennial Conference First Team. Fraser Cook led Swarthmore in scoring as a senior with 21 points behind eight goals and five assists en route to a repeat selection to the first team. In lacrosse, Fraser Cook anchored the backline as an All-Conference First Team defender for the 1994 team, which finished 12-4 and was ranked 13th nationally in the year-end poll. Swarthmore entered the 1995 season as the 10th-ranked squad in Division III and went 13-4 as Fraser Cook again received All-Conference First-Team recognition and third-team All-America honors from the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association. Fraser is a project manager for TDA Consulting, focusing on
integrating sustainability into housing and economic development.
held the College record in the mile for 45 years and captained two cross country squads that won Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) titles. In 1969, Kemp was Swarthmore's first or second finisher at every meet as the Garnet placed second at the MAC Championships. That spring, he won the mile at six meets and etched his name in the record books with the fastest time in program history, a mark of 4:15.5 that stood until 2015. With Kemp leading the way, Swarthmore captured the MAC cross country title in 1970 and 1971 with a perfect 8-0 mark in each season. Currently, Kemp remains the program record-holder in the three-mile run and ranks second all-time in the two-mile event. In 1990, he founded Home Decorators Collection, which was later acquired by The Home Depot, and has supported the College through his continued philanthropy and generosity. Kemp currently serves on Swarthmore's Board of Managers, which he chaired from 2012 to 2015.
Women's basketball standout Katie Robinson '04 was one of the best two-way players in program history. The Medfield, Mass., native made her mark on both ends of the floor, averaging 15.7 points and 3.9 steals per game from 2000 to 2004. Her career free throw percentage of 86.7 is best all-time in the Centennial Conference and ranks in the top 10 in NCAA Division III history. Robinson also shares the Centennial single-game scoring record of 40 points and recorded the only triple-double in league history with 10 or more steals. In her first season, she started all 28 games as the Garnet finished 23-5, captured their first Centennial title and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. She received All-America Honorable Mention and Conference Player of the Year laurels as a sophomore and junior before capping off her stellar career as a D3hoops.com First Team All-American in 2004. Robinson is a math teacher at the Westford Academy in Westford, Mass.
Athletic trainer Doug Weiss arrived at Swarthmore in 1968 and treated generations of students with warmth, patience, and understanding until his retirement in 2002. Prior to Swarthmore, he served with the Marine Corps before working as a trainer for the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Eagles. Although he originally intended to stay at Swarthmore for only three years, Weiss fell in love with the College through his interactions with its students. At the beginning of his tenure, female students did not have access to training facilities, but Weiss treated them regardless. He pushed the administration for equal access and by 1977, Swarthmore was one of the first academic institutions with co-ed facilities. In 1989, a Doug Weiss Residency in Sports Medicine was established to create a full-time assistant trainer position at Swarthmore and in 2001, West Chester University endowed a scholarship in his name as well. After his passing on September 25, 2006, the department dedicated its athletic training room in his honor.
