Middlebury Athletics is excited to announce six members for its 2022 Hall of Fame. The eighth class represents eight sports and includes Matt Dunn '02, Sam Guarnaccia '30, Mark Spence '98, Tracey Thompson Turner '79, Alice Tower Knapp '81, and Ellie Wendell Reiter '02. 
 
The Panthers will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 5. 
 
Matt Dunn '02—Hockey, Lacrosse
Matt Dunn, a member of the Class of 2002, was a two-sport standout in hockey and lacrosse, earning All-American honors in both.
 
On the lacrosse field, Dunn was a part of two NESCAC and three NCAA Championships. He was a two-time All-NESCAC First-Team selection and earned All-American First-Team honors twice. In 2002, Dunn was named the NESCAC Player of the Year, the New England Player of the Year, the Division III Midfielder of the Year, and the USILA DIII National Player of the Year. He was a nominee that same year for the prestigious Tewaaraton Trophy. Dunn is third on Middlebury's single-season list with 82 points (2002) and is tied for sixth with 35 assists (2002).
 
On the ice, Dunn was a member of three conference crowns and helped lead the team to the NCAA Quarterfinals twice and the semifinals in his senior year. The defenseman tallied the third-most points on the team during the 2001–02 season with 33 (13 goals, 20 assists) and was tabbed to the All-American and All-NESCAC First Teams. 
 
Dunn was awarded with Middlebury's A. Bayard Russ '66 Memorial Athletic Award his senior year. 
 
Sam Guarnaccia '30—Football, Track & Field, Coach
The late Sam Guarnaccia, a member of the Class of 1930, was a two-way standout for the Panthers on the football field and was a program record holder in track and field. 

Guarnaccia played in both the offensive and defensive backfields, excelling on both sides of the ball. In his junior and senior seasons, he scored nine of the team's 11 touchdowns, including an 85-yard interception return against rival Vermont. That touchdown capped off a 19-0 win for the Panthers and earned them the state championship.

In track and field, Guarnaccia was a consistent scorer for the team in both the shot put and discus. In his final two seasons, he recorded nine first-place finishes and took second three times. At the end of his track and field career, Guarnaccia held the program records in both the discus (127'4") and the shot put (38'2").

After serving in the military, Guarnaccia eventually returned to the College in 1940 and held various roles until his retirement in 1976. During that time, he spent 22 years as the dean of the School of Spanish and 25 years on the sideline serving as a member of the football coaching staff.
 
Mark Spence '98—Ice Hockey, Track & Field
Mark Spence, a member of the Class of 1998, played on four men's hockey national championship teams and still ranks among the program leaders for goals. He was named the 1998 Sid Watson Award winner as the top Division III player and garnered All-American honors that same season. 

At the time, Spence finished his career as the all-time leader in goals (79) during the modern era and still ranks in the top five for scores in a single season with 26. In his first season, he netted the game-winning goal as the Panthers claimed their first national title. Spence went on to win three more titles and was a captain during his senior season. Over the course of his career, the team went an impressive 95-9-6 and set a school record for consecutive wins (14) and the longest unbeaten streak (29).

Spence ran two seasons of track, winning the 1995 NESCAC title in the 100-meter dash while earning All-Conference accolades in the 200m and the 4x100 relay. He also garnered All-New England honors in the 100m and the 4x100.

Following graduation, Spence played three seasons of minor league hockey and returned to Middlebury as an assistant coach for the 2002–03 season. 
 
Tracey Thompson Turner '79—Track & Field
Tracey Thompson Turner, a member of the Class of 1979, was one of the pioneers of the women's track and field program at Middlebury. 

When Thompson arrived at Middlebury in 1975, she trained with the men's track and field team until becoming a member of the first women's track and field roster in 1977–78 along with Karin Von Berg Noyes '81, a 2015 Middlebury Hall of Fame inductee. A sprinter on the track, Thompson still holds Middlebury's 100-meter dash record, which she set in 1979 at 11.9 seconds when the track surface was cinders. That time was also a NESCAC record for 37 years until it was broken in 2016. 
 
Thompson was named by the coaches as the Most Valuable Athlete at the Collegiate Track and Field Championships at the University of Vermont's Archie Post Field. She finished third in the 100m (12.5) and fourth in the 200m (26.2) at the Open New England Championships, where four of the top-six athletes in each race were from Division I schools.    
 
Thompson has remained active in track and field following graduation and started the girls' track team at the Putney School in Vermont. 
 
Alice Tower Knapp '81—Nordic Skiing, Cross Country
Alice Tower Knapp, a member of the Class of 1981, excelled in Nordic skiing and cross country. 

Tower was a three-time First-Team All-American and four-time All-East First-Team honoree for the Panther Nordic squad. She was a member of two AIAW National Championship teams and a pair of National Championship relay teams. Tower placed third and fourth, respectively, at the 1979 and 1980 championships. She was undefeated in Eastern carnival races in 1979 and 1980 and won four of the five carnivals during the 1979 season. Tower has scored more points in the modern era (1968–present) for her team than any skier in Middlebury's storied program. 
 
In cross country, Tower was the 1978 NESCAC runner-up. She was a consistent scorer in the lineup for the Panthers during the 1978 and 1979 seasons. 
 
Tower was selected as Middlebury's first Deborah Parton '76 Memorial Award winner in 1981. She was also honored as one of the John P. Stabile '40 Memorial Trophy award recipients that same year. 
 
She was named to the United States Ski Team in 1981. Tower is active in officiating for the Nordic Skiing Association in Anchorage and has coached skiing in Alaska Native Villages.
 
Ellie Wendell Reiter '02—Soccer
Ellie Wendell Reiter, a member of the Class of 2002, anchored the defensive unit of the women's soccer team during her time at Middlebury.
 
Wendell is the only Panther defender to earn All-American honors twice, receiving the laurels in 1999 and 2000. Over her final three seasons, she helped lead the Panthers to a 38-11-0 record. She earned All-NESCAC First-Team selections in each of those seasons. 
 
Wendell helped guide Middlebury to the inaugural conference crown in 2000, while advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history. That season, the team set a school record with 15 victories, which was tied twice before it was finally broken in 2017. The defender helped limit opponents to just 10 goals that season, ranking third in Middlebury's record books. Wendell, alongside her teammates, recorded 12 shutouts in 2000, ranking second in program history. 
 

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The Middlebury Athletics Hall of Fame is located in the Peterson Family Athletics Complex. The Hall of Fame inducted its first class in January 2015, in conjunction with the opening of Virtue Field House, and will induct up to 10 individuals a year. To be eligible, former student-athletes who are nominated for consideration must be at least 10 years removed from their final year of collegiate competition. Coaches, administrators, and staff must have served with distinction and be a minimum of five years removed from their employment with the College in order to receive consideration. Pre- and post-Middlebury accomplishments can factor into a nominee's candidacy as long as the accomplishments fall within the sphere of athletic achievement and bear some connection to the nominee's athletic career at Middlebury.

Nominations are now being accepted for the Class of 2023, which will be inducted in November of 2023. For information about the Middlebury Athletics Hall of Fame, including complete biographies of inductees and a link to the nomination form, click here.