NEW LONDON, Conn. — The Connecticut College Athletics Hall of Fame will welcome two classes and a total of eight inductees in a special ceremony held on Friday, September 26 in the 1962 Room of the College Center at Crozier-Williams.
The Class of 2024 includes three former student-athletes and one coach/administrator – Basil Donnelly ’86 (men’s rowing), Isabella Franz ’17 (women’s cross country/track & field), Nicolle Jasbon ’15 (women’s water polo) and Fran Shields P’14 (retired athletics director, men’s lacrosse coach). The makeup is the same for the Class of 2025, which is composed of James Butler P’10 (retired men’s cross country/track & field coach), Astrid Kempainen ’15 (women’s soccer), Benjamin Parens ’18 (men’s lacrosse) and Valerie Urban ’17 (women’s swimming).
The evening includes a cocktail reception starting at 6:30 p.m., followed by a formal dinner and induction ceremony at 7:00 p.m. to celebrate the honorees. A limited amount of tickets is available and can be purchased by CLICKING HERE.
Jasbon is the inaugural water polo athlete (male or female) to join the Connecticut College Athletics Hall of Fame.
Currently a teacher along with head water polo and swimming coach at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, N.J., she claimed Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America honors three times during her intercollegiate career with Second (2015, 2014) and Third (2013) Team honors.
The native of Greenacres, Fla., and graduate of Saint Andrews High School, was the centerpiece of Camels squads which claimed three consecutive Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championships from 2013-to-2015 along with a Third Place mark in 2012.
A three-time CWPA Division III Most Valuable Player (MVP) and First Team All-Conference selection (2013, 2014, 2015), she notched CWPA Division III Championship All-Tournament First Team honors in 2013, 2014 and 2015 to accompany a pair of championship MVP laurels (2013, 2014) as Connecticut recorded a 57-38 record during four-year tenure in New London (2012: 11-5; 2013: 17-7; 2014: 15-10; 2015: 18-16).
She graduated as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 222 goals, 128 assists and 253 steals.
Away from the pool, she was honored as the co-recipient of the 2015 Anita L. DeFrantz ’74 Award – an accolade given annually to the male and female members of the graduating class whose athletic ability, leadership and sportsmanship best exemplify the qualities of Olympic medalist Anita L. DeFrantz ’74.
The Connecticut College Athletics Hall of Fame was created to honor those who have brought distinction to themselves and Connecticut College through their achievement, commitment, sportsmanship and leadership in athletics. Hall of Fame inductees may include alumni, coaches, faculty, administrators, or friends of the Connecticut College community, as well as teams that are exceptionally distinguished through outstanding achievement or significant accomplishment. A total of 120 individuals and two teams have been enshrined since 1989.
