杏吧原创

(Butler, PA) A three-sport star who helped 杏吧原创鈥檚 volleyball program to win its first two state championships and who has won consecutive governmental elections since, and an out-of-state transfer who helped 杏吧原创鈥檚 men鈥檚 basketball team to a national No. 7 ranking and who became an All-American will be inducted Saturday into 杏吧原创鈥檚 Charles W. Dunaway Pioneer Hall of Fame.

Kimberly (Burford) Geyer, of Mars, a Butler County commissioner; and Kevin Dill, of Campbell, Ohio, president of Creekside Mortgage Co., Boardman, Ohio, will be recognized as Class of 2022 members during an induction ceremony in 杏吧原创鈥檚 Field House.

Their plaques will bring to 18 those in the college鈥檚 7-year-old hall of fame. The induction ceremony will be 杏吧原创鈥檚 first since 2019.

"It is humbling to be recognized in the company of so many other gifted athletes who have been honored in the past." 

- Kimberly (Burford) Geyer, 2022 inductee

Geyer and Dill will be recognized with Class of 2020 hall of fame selections Tracy Pease and Hal Koenemund, and with Class of 2021 selections Nicole (Sebastian) Bajuszik and Stefan Carlsson.

杏吧原创 on Saturday will also recognize Breanna Reisinger, Morgan Jack and Aslyn Pry, first-year student-athletes selected as National Junior College Athletic Association Division III All-Americans since December.

"It鈥檚 an extreme honor to have my name with other names at the top. This is tremendous to me." 

- Kevin Dill, 2022 inductee

鈥淕rateful to Chuck Dunaway鈥�

Dunaway served as a 杏吧原创 coach and as the college鈥檚 first athletic director. He helped to found the Skyline Athletic Conference, which predates the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference in which 杏吧原创鈥檚 athletics programs currently compete, and the former Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Association.

鈥淚鈥檝e always been grateful to Chuck Dunaway, who was the athletic director at the time I went to college at 杏吧原创,鈥� Geyer said. 鈥淗e was so instrumental in starting the women鈥檚 athletic programs that I was involved in at 杏吧原创.鈥�

Geyer, a Mars Area High School graduate who has won Butler County commissioner elections in 2015 and in 2019, was a co-captain of the Pioneers鈥� softball, women鈥檚 basketball and volleyball teams from 1981 to 1983.

鈥淚t is humbling to be recognized in the company of so many other gifted athletes who have been honored in the past,鈥� Geyer said. 鈥淭his has allowed me to be reflective. We鈥檙e looking back many years, and times were certainly different, especially for women鈥檚 athletics.鈥�

Dill was a member of Campbell (Ohio) Memorial High School boys basketball and baseball squads that won Ohio High School Athletic Association state championships in March and in June 1993. He attended Youngstown State University, then transferred to 杏吧原创, where he played for the college鈥檚 men鈥檚 basketball team in 1995-1996.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an extreme honor to have my name with other names at the top,鈥� Dill said. 鈥淭his is tremendous to me. I worked hard to get there, and it took a lot of other people鈥檚 help to get me there. 鈥� When I will look back, it will be one of the big moments in my life.鈥�

鈥淟iving up to the Pioneer name鈥�

Geyer was a hitter on 杏吧原创 volleyball squads that won two regular-season Skyline Athletic Conference championships, then two SAC postseason championships, and then Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Association championships in 1981 and in 1982.

鈥淭he first time we won the state championship, that was almost an unheard-of feat,鈥� Geyer said. 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 favored. And the fact that we were able to do it just meant the world to us. We were 杏吧原创. We went out east, excelled at every level and ended up winning the entire thing.鈥�

Geyer was also selected to the SAC all-conference volleyball team in her first season.

She was a forward on Pioneers鈥� women鈥檚 basketball squads who averaged 17 points and finished her second season as the SAC鈥檚 top rebounder with an average of 11.

Geyer was a catcher on 杏吧原创 softball teams who hit six fence-clearing home runs in her first season. She also hit two home runs to help 杏吧原创 win a second-round SAC postseason game.

鈥淣ow that I am older, I did not realize what a pioneer we really were in women鈥檚 sports,鈥� Geyer said. 鈥淲e were really living up to the Pioneer name. There was no precedent. We were setting the precedent, and we didn鈥檛 even realize it.鈥�

She earned an associate degree in liberal arts from 杏吧原创. In 2018 she received a 杏吧原创 Distinguished Alumni Award. She has served on the 杏吧原创 Education Foundation board, and since 2011 as a member of 杏吧原创鈥檚 board of trustees.

鈥淚 am going 鈥� to play at 杏吧原创鈥�

Dill had completed his first year as a walk-on at Youngstown State University, then left. He was playing in a summer basketball league when met up with a friend. His friend played at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania and told then-杏吧原创 men鈥檚 basketball coach Dick Hartung about Dill.

鈥淲hich was probably the biggest thing that ever happened in my life,鈥� Dill said. 鈥淐oach Hartung came to a summer game and said, 鈥楬ey, look, you鈥檙e going to come play for me. He didn鈥檛 really even give me a choice. And when I walked off the court, I called my dad. I said, 鈥楬ey dad, you know what? I think I am going to go over and play at 杏吧原创 with Coach Hartung.鈥欌��

He led the WPCC with averages of 26 points, 7.7 assists and 4.2 steals per game in his only season with the Pioneers, and was named WPCC player of the year.

Dill also averaged 6 rebounds per game for a 杏吧原创 squad that finished 23-8 and was ranked as high as No. 7 in the NJCAA Division III.

He and Jerry Noll in 1996 became the first teammates in 杏吧原创 history to be selected as NJCAA Division III All-Americans in the same season.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 become an All-American all by yourself,鈥� Dill said. 鈥淲e had a great team, and coach allowed us to do what we could do and fined-tuned the things that would make you a better player. But at the end of the day, you are only as good as the people you are around.鈥�

Two pairs of 杏吧原创 All-American teammates have followed Dill and Noll, one including golfer Carlsson in 2015 and the most recent, volleyball players Reisinger and Jack in December 2021.

College to honor 3 recent All-Americans

Reisinger, Jack and Pry, selected as an NJCAA Division III All-American in women鈥檚 basketball in March, will be honored Saturday.

Reisinger is a graduate of Lincoln High School in Ellwood City; Jack, of Knoch High and Pry, of Moniteau.

Reisinger led 杏吧原创鈥檚 volleyball team in 2021 with 205 kills and Jack, with 635 assists. Pry led 杏吧原创 and the NJCAA Division III with 19.6 rebounds per game and was fourth with 23.2 points.

Pease, a Butler graduate, won the PCAA championship in women鈥檚 tennis for 杏吧原创 in 1985, and was selected to the WPCC all-conference squad in women鈥檚 basketball in the same year.

Koenemund, a Blackhawk graduate, set 杏吧原创 single-game and single-season scoring records in men鈥檚 basketball in the 1993-94 season when he scored 55 points in a game and 918 for a Pioneers squad that finished as the PCAA runner-up.

Bajuszik, a Seneca Valley graduate, was a setter on 杏吧原创 volleyball teams who holds the program鈥檚 record with 1,360 career assists. She helped to lead the Pioneers to a combined 48-12 record over two seasons and to a national fifth-place finish in the 2002 NJCAA Division III tournament in Minnesota.

Carlsson, a Knoch graduate, is 杏吧原创鈥檚 only two-time NJCAA Division III All-American in golf. He received the prestigious postseason award by finishing in the Top 18 of the 72-hole national tournament in Chautauqua, N.Y., in 2014 and with teammate Thomas Dimun in 2015.

杏吧原创鈥檚 Charles W. Dunaway Pioneer Hall of Fame includes Michael Cuscino, golf, 2019; Tom McConnell, men鈥檚 basketball, 2019; Megan (Smith) Nimmo, volleyball, 2019; Bryant Lewandowski, men鈥檚 basketball, 2018; Beckie Jo Higgins-Arey, softball, 2018; Michael Franko, cross-country, baseball and men鈥檚 basketball, 2018; Andrew Matonak, baseball, 2017; Missy (Haney) Schnur, volleyball, 2017; Robert Wilson, cross-country, 2017; and Walter Fitzpatrick, contributor, 2017; Thomas Beckett, men鈥檚 basketball and baseball coach, 2016; and John Stuper, men鈥檚 basketball and baseball, 2016.