ALFRED, NY -- Alfred University will welcome four new members to its Athletic Hall of Fame at induction ceremonies the evening of Oct. 4, held as part of Homecoming Weekend.

New members inducted will be former AU men’s lacrosse coach Al Brown, former men’s swimming standout Eric Winkky ’90, former women’s soccer player Val DiFlorio ’91, and former record-setting men’s lacrosse goalie Peter McClean ’92.

Brown coached the AU men’s lacrosse team for seven seasons (1989-95), with the Saxons putting together an 85-25 record during that time. His teams competed in the NCAA Division III championship tournament four times and the ECAC championships twice (winning the ECAC Upstate title in 1995, his final season). Brown’s 1990 team won a school single-season record 15 games. He was named national Division III Coach of the Year that season.

Winkky was named an All-American in three of his four seasons at AU. He earned All-American certification two times in individual events and five times on relays, earning First Team honors with his eight-place in the 100-yard backstroke at the 1990 NCAA meet. At the time of his graduation, he held school records in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard and 400-yard individual medley.

DiFlorio was a standout goalie for the women’s soccer team for four years (1986-89), helping lead AU to four postseason tournaments (New York State, 1986 and 1988; NCAAs in 1988; ECAC in 1989). She ranks second in career saves (436) and shutouts (20) at AU, behind only 2006 Hall of Fame inductee Julie Francis, and holds the AU single-season record for saves (190, 1986).

McClean holds several major men’s lacrosse goaltending records. He played two seasons at Alfred (1990 and 1991), helping to lead the Saxons to their first-ever NCAA Division III championship tournament in 1990, when AU went 15-3, with the 15 wins being a school single-season record. An honorable mention All-American in 1990 and EAA/ICAC Player of the Year in 1991, he holds AU records for career save percentage (.708), single-season save percentage (.733, 1990), career goals against average (5.38) and single-season goals against average (4.73, 1990).

Also during the banquet, the University will present its first Athletics Award of Distinction, which recognizes long-term exceptional service to, and involvement in, the athletic programs at Alfred University. Mark O’Meara, ’74, is the first recipient of this award. O’Meara is a fixture at the AU Homecoming football games, where he can be seen leading supportive cheers from the Saxons faithful. He has attended every Homecoming game since 1972 and from his freshman year he attended every AU football game — home or way — except one for 12 seasons.

O’Meara was a four-year member of the AU track and field team and also played one season of football and freshman basketball. He and fellow student Rick Vaughn, who were vice presidents of the Delta Sig and Lambda Chi fraternities, respectively, are credited with starting Hot Dog Day in the spring of 1972. While at Alfred he was sports editor of the yearbook and was the first disc jockey on air for WALF, the student radio station, in 1970, his freshman year.

After graduation, O’Meara owned and operated the Alfred Sub Shop, a popular local eatery, from 1974-82. In 1979, he started the AU women’s soccer team as a club sport and was the team’s first coach when it became a varsity sport the following year. In his one season as coach, he guided the Lady Saxons to a 5-4 record. He left Alfred in 1982 to work in the alumni office at Columbia University, where, coincidentally, he also launched the women’s soccer program.

O’Meara left Columbia in 1986 to take the position of Director of Annual Giving in the AU alumni office, a position he held until 1990. Today, he lives in Fairfax, VA, and is owner of University Mall Theaters.

Each year, Alfred University honors a team or teams as part of the Hall of Fame banquet ceremonies. This year, AU will honor the Al Brown’s men’s lacrosse teams. The group includes four AU Hall of Fame members, 14 All-Americans, and most of the program’s career and single-season leaders in goals, assists and points. The top six years for single-season victories came during Brown’s coaching tenure. The only team that did not win at least 12 games was the 1989 squad (Brown’s first year), which went 7-6 and competed in the ECAC Upstate Championship game.