2024 Hall of Honor Inductees: 1994 Men's Swim and Dive Team

ROCHESTER, Mich. - The 1994 Men's Swim and Dive Team has been inducted into the Hollie L. Lepley Hall of Honor as part of the class of 2024. With a perfect 9-0 record, the team was GLIAC and NCAA Division II National Champions, carrying on a streak of 20 consecutive conference championships and were the first of four straight NCAA Division II Championship titles that were brought back to Oakland.

At the 1994 National Championship, the then Pioneers took home first place in six different individual events and two relays. Morgan Bailey took home the gold in the 50m Freestyle, while David Paxton placed first in the 500m and 1,650m Freestyle races. Dario Difazio dominated on the diving board, placing atop the leaderboards in the one and three meter springboard events. As a team, James Collins, Ken Ehlen, Sean Peters, and Morgan Bailey pushed Oakland into first in the 400m Freestyle, while Adric Arndt and Chris Zoltak joined Peters and Bailey to win the 200m Medley relays.

The team was overwhelming top dogs in the GLIAC. During their historic sweep of the conference, they won every event at the conference championship with the exception of the 200m Breaststroke, with names like Joe Snyder, Ken Ehlen, Arturo Albiero, Chris Knoche, David Dykstra, Josh Goldberg, and many more helping Oakland win the conference.

"The '94 team was special in a number of ways, and special to everyone in their own way. For me, it was the culmination of striving to win a championship," said Head Swim Coach of the 1994 team Pete Hovland. "Winning a championship was important to us, and it was my first one as a head coach. It was important because we had some outstanding teams in the late 80s and early 90s and we came up short a couple of times, so winning in '94 was something really special".

Team Roster
Adric Arndt Ph.D
Thomas Arndt Ph.D
Morgan Bailey
Sam Castillo
James Collins
Dario Difazio
David Dykstra
Kenneth Ehlen
Kevin Everett
Isaac Farnsworth
Jeremy Fox
Josh Goldberg
Aaron Heilbrun
Robert Holdridge
Jonathan Jiancristoforo
Jay Judson
Christopher Knoche
Jens Kristensen
Eric Newton
David Paxton
Sean Peters
Joe Snyder
Bryan Stafford
Kenneth Tabacchi
Bill Wood
Christopher Zoltak
Head Men's Swim Coach: Peter Hovland
Asst. Men's Swim Coach: Chuck McClune
Dive Coach: Nicole Kelsey

The team will be honored at halftime during the Men's Basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 1 p.m. against Cleveland State. This year's induction ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. after the game at the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester, MI.

Tickets for the ceremony can be purchased for $100 per person by clicking HERE.

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