Dr. Thomas Dompier, associate professor of athletic training, was among four keynote speakers for the recent Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Health and Safety Summit in Greensboro, N.C. He was joined by Dr. LaTisha Bader (Women’s Recovery in Dillon, Colo.), Dr. Doug Aukerman (Oregon State University), and Dr. Cameron Wolfe (Duke University School of Medicine) to host sessions on injury surveillance, drug testing, and suicide prevention, among others. Dr. Dompier presented, “Injury Surveillance and Athletic Trainers: A Practical Approach for Applying Data that Athletic Trainers Collect to Inform Clinical Practice and Prevent Injuries with Individual Institutions and Sports.”

Dr. Holly M. Wendt, director of creative writing and assistant professor of English, was published in Bodies Built for Game, The Prairie Schooner Anthology of Contemporary Sports Writing. The anthology, edited by MacArthur Fellow Natalie Diaz and Hannah Ensor, “brings together poems, essays, and stories that challenge our traditional ideas of sport and question the power structures that athletics enforce.” Wendt’s essay, “The Sum of Our Doing,” brings together their experiences on the Camino de Santiago, the nature of competition and pilgrimage, and issues of community and identity.

Former LVC men’s basketball star Sam Light ’18 is pursuing a dream of playing professional basketball after recently signing with Araberri of the Spanish professional league LEB Oro, one of the top pro leagues in the world. In a recent Lebanon Daily News article by Pat Huggins, Light thanked fellow grad Andy Panko ’99 for assistance and mentorship. Panko has played professionally throughout the world for two decades.

Ron Gassert ’78, who starred in football and track & field at LVC, was one of eight inductees into the Berks County Football Coaches Hall of Fame. He had NFL tryouts with the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles and was inducted into the LVC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.

Jimmy Unger, beloved LVC athletics greeter for many years, died in May at age 84. The Lebanon Daily News fondly noted that his “passing leaves a hole in the heart of LVC athletic community.” Jimmy received the Hot Dog Frank Athletic Service Award in 1999. 

Anthony Calabrese ’73, psychology, a three-sport star in high school and a football and lacrosse star at LVC, was inducted into the 2018 class of the Geneva Sports Hall of Fame. In 1989, he was inducted into the LVC Athletic Hall of Fame and in 2013 Calabrese was named to the Middle Atlantic Conference All-Century Lacrosse Team.

Lindsey Yeiser Hibshman ’01, elementary education, one of the greatest defenders in the history of LVC field hockey, was inducted into the Middle Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame. She was a three-time All-American and in 1999 was named MAC MVP.

Esports was the featured cover story in the Lancaster-area newspapers this week. Dave Shapiro ’99, senior director of information technology & chief information officer, and Ben Witmer ’19, digital communications, were interviewed in “Lebanon Valley College students line up to play school’s newest varsity sport – video gaming.” Shapiro and Witmer were interviewed about being part of the first-ever intercollegiate esports teams in history.

Nathaniel Gibbons ’18, an Allwein Scholar from Frederick, Md., was awarded a scholarship worth $7,500 from the National Collegiate Athletic Association to help pursue graduate studies this fall. A two-time College Sports Information Directors of America All-American, Gibbons, a defensive star on the men’s soccer team, is double majoring in physics and mathematics.

Garrett Santis ’19, an Allwein Scholar from Ijamsville, Md., earned all-academic honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. He is an ACS chemistry major with minors in mathematics and computer & data science.