Rider Inducting Five in Athletics Hall of Fame on January 20, 2007 / '67 Baseball Team Also Being Honored

Rider Athletics Hall of Fame to Induct Five in 2007
’67 Baseball Team Honored

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ--Five outstanding athletes from five different sports spanning three decades will be inducted into the Rider University Athletics Hall of Fame January 20, 2007.

Basketball player Greg Burston ’99, Ken Lehman ’84 from the track & field team, wrestler Jason Nase ’97, baseball player Bob O’Connor ‘84, and swimmer Jen O’Reilly ’01 will be inducted at a ceremony this winter. 

“This year’s inductees were chosen from a very competitive group of nominees by the Hall of Fame committee,” said Don Harnum, Rider’s Director of Athletics. “All of them have brought great honor to themselves, the Athletics Department, and to Rider University.”

Also being honored that day with the Outstanding Team Achievement Award will be the 1967 baseball team that finished fifth in the nation at the College World Series.

“The 1967 baseball team that had a great run in the College World Series is truly deserving of the second presentation of the Outstanding Team Achievement Award,” said Harnum.

Burston graduated sixth at Rider in career points with 1,472 points, twice leading the team in scoring and twice earning All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference honors. As a junior he led the Broncs to the National Invitation Tournament, and as a freshman was on the Northeast Conference All-Newcomer team.

Lehman was the first Bronc scorer in an ICAAAA Track Championship, and Rider's first East Coast Conference Champion, winning the 880 indoor (1:54.91).  Lehman still holds Rider records that have stood since 1982, the 1500 meters outdoors (3:46) and the indoor 1000 yards (2:14.10).

Nase earned All-America honors by placing eighth in his weight class at the NCAA Wrestling Nationals, and led Rider to a team national ranking of seventh. As a freshman Nase was named a Freshman All-American, and finished his career as one of just four Broncs to ever compile 100 career wins.

O’Connor played either shortstop or second base in every Rider baseball game for three consecutive years before signing a professional contract with the San Francisco Giants. A two-time team MVP, O’Connor set team single-season records for double plays, runs scored, doubles and runs batted in, and left as the Rider career leader in hits (132 in 104 games), batting average (.338) and RBI (93), and was second in career runs (93).

O’Reilly was twice the Rider female Athlete of the Year, was a three-time Andrew J. Rider Scholar, and was named one of the top 25 Performers in the 25-year history of the MAAC. She graduated with 24 MAAC gold medals, including four straight 100 freestyle MAAC Championships, eight team records, four Rider pool relay records and two MAAC relay records.  O’Reilly became Rider’s first-ever Barry Goldwater Scholarship Award recipient, a national academic honor.

-RU-