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ROCK HILL – Five former student-athletes, with twelve All-American honors between them, have been elected to The South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame.

Members of the South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame Class of 2005, from left, Daniel Colangelo, Elon Univeristy; Selena Wilkes, Catawba College; Pam Niles, Presbyterian College; Elizabeth Decker, Presbyterian College; and Natalie Daniel, Lenoir-Rhyne College.

The Class of 2004-05 includes Selena Wilkes, a three-sport athlete at Catawba College; Daniel Colangelo, a four-time tennis All-American from Elon University; Natalie Daniel, an All-American women’s soccer player from Lenoir-Rhyne College who holds several conference scoring records; Elizabeth Roe Decker, a women’s soccer player from Presbyterian College who was the first person in conference history to win both the SAC President’s Award and Athlete of the Year award; and Pam Deanhardt Niles, a two-time conference volleyball Player of the Year from Presbyterian College.

They will be inducted into the SAC Hall of Fame as part of the South Atlantic Conference Annual Meeting at in Asheville, N.C., on June 9. The banquet will be at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort with a reception at 6:15 p.m. and inductions and dinner at 7 p.m.

Wilkes played volleyball, basketball and softball while at Catawba. She excelled in volleyball, where she was a three-time All-Conference selection and the 1995 SAC Volleyball Player of the Year, as well as an Academic All-American. She ranks first in Catawba College history in career assists and career service aces. She played on the basketball team for two years, helping Catawba to the 1993 conference title and a trip to the NAIA national tournament. She also played on the softball team for one season, serving as a pitcher and utility player. Catawba honored her as the school’s female athlete of the year in 1996, while the North Carolina Council on Physical Fitness and Health named her the collegiate athlete of the year in 1995.

Wilkes was a standout athlete and student in spite of a severe hearing impairment. She lost most of her hearing from a viral infection as a young child and has worn two hearing aids most of her life.

After graduation, Wilkes returned to her high school alma mater and served as a health and physical education teacher and three-sport coach at Williamsport High School in Maryland. She also excelled in another sport – golf. She played for several years on the LPGA Futures Tour and advanced to the 2002 U.S. Open Women’s Open qualifier round stage two, where she was two strokes away from qualifying for the U.S. Open, and will compete in U.S. Open qualifiers this year. In October, she plans to compete in her first marathon. She currently is a Quality Inspector and an Environmental, Health and Safety Coordinator for Teleflex Motion Systems, Inc.

Colangelo was a four-time All-American, the only Elon athlete in any sport to have achieved that feat. He was named the SAC’s Men’s Tennis Player of the Year twice and the conference’s male Athlete of the Year in 1996. He helped lead Elon to the men’s tennis conference title all four years and was the school’s Athlete of the Year in 1995 and 1996. In the 1996 national team tournament, he defeated Rollins College’s Jon Goldfarb, the No. 2 ranked player in Division II. In the 1994 national singles tournament, he advanced to the final four, where he lost to eventual national champion Roberto Colvalcante from Hampton Institute.

After graduation, Colangelo has served as a tennis professional in North Carolina, Virgina, Germany and Houston, Texas, where he currently resides.

Daniel was a three-time women’s soccer First Team All-Conference pick and a First Team All-American in 1995. Her 33 goals in 1995 rank first in conference history and led the nation in Division II that year. Her 71 career goals rank first and 73 career points rank second in conference history. She has two of the top three records for goals in a single match and total scoring in a single match.

Daniel continues to stay active in the soccer community, serving as a coach for youth leagues and is Vice President and Operations Manager at the Soccer Academy in Lilburn, Ga.

Decker was another outstanding women’s soccer player, helping Presbyterian compile a 45-11-1 record and two conference titles and two tournament titles during her career. She was a dominating midfielder/defender, earning All-American honors for two years. She was the SAC’s women’s soccer Player of the Year and Athlete of the Year in 1996. She also excelled in the classroom, earning two Academic All-American honors and received the SAC President’s Award in 1996, becoming the first athlete to win both the President’s Award and Athlete of the Year award in the same year. She also received the Woody Hayes national scholar-athlete award.

After graduating summa cum laude from Presbyterian with a degree in chemistry, Decker received a Master’s of Sciece in Anesthesiology from Case Western Reserve University, and is currently an anesthesiologist assistant at Metro Health Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Her husband, John, is a former men’s soccer player at Presbyterian.

Niles is another former Blue Hose standout. She entered Presbyterian as a two-sport athlete, and led the basketball team in field goal percentage and rebounding as a freshman. She decided to concentrate on volleyball, and helped Presbyterian to a four-year record of 127-30 and the 1991 SAC championship and two appearances in the NAIA National Tournament.

She was a two-time SAC volleyball Player of the Year selection and was honorable mention All-American in both 1990 and 1991. She holds the Presbyterian record for hitting percentage in a season (.431 in 1991) and career hitting percentage (.427).

Her husband, Rob, is a former Presbyterian baseball player. She is a social studies teacher at Easley High School in Easley, S.C.

The class of 2004-05 joins the 40 current members in the SAC Hall of Fame:

Class on 1999-2000: Dr. Fred Bentley, Mars Hill; Dr. Ronald Christopher, Wingate; W.C. Clary, supervisor of football officials; Cally Gault, Presbyterian; Fred Herren, Newberry; Dr. Paul Jolly, Gardner-Webb; Dr. Robert Knott, Catawba; Dr. Cordell Maddox, Carson-Newman; Sam Moir, Catawba; Dr. Keith Ochs, Lenoir-Rhyne; Dr. Kenneth Orr, Presbyterian; Albert Sloan, Carson-Newman; Harvey Stratton, Catawba; Dr. Bill Walker, Mars Hill; Dr. Alan White, Elon.

Class of 2000-01: Lamont Jones, Mars Hill; Keith Henry, Catawba; Terence Steward, Lenoir-Rhyne; Direne Thomas, Wingate; Dick Williams, Catawba.

Class of 2001-02: Charlie Coles, Newberry; Ann Hancock, Wingate; Bill Morningstar, Elon; Allen Morris, Presbyterian; Tom Parham, Elon; Susie Hopson Shelton, Mars Hill.

Class of 2002-03: Allison Ankerson Makovec, Catawba; Vernon Buck, Wingate; Darren Hayes, Wingate; Todd Collins, Carson-Newman; Cedric Mansell, Mars Hill; Clyde Miller, Newberry and Gardner-Webb; Jimmy Skipper, Newberry.

Class of 2003-04: Steve Campbell, Mars Hill; Leonard Davis, Lenoir-Rhyne College; Kimberly Hampton, Presbyterian College; Bret Jones, Presbyterian College; Marvin Moore, Catawba; Shannon Myers, Lenoir-Rhyne; and Heather Randolph, Carson-Newman.