Jim Hunter, who is a broadcaster for the Baltimore Orioles, will headline a group of former Brookdale Community College athletes and coaches who will be inducted into the college’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will be held on Feb. 9 during a dinner at the Radisson Hotel in Freehold. The event will begin at 6 p.m.
Hunter is entering his 21st year as a part of the broadcast team for the Orioles. He has also covered the Olympic Games, the Super Bowl and Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series throughout his nearly 40-year career.
Hunter, who was graduated from Saint John Vianney High School in 1977, began his career as a Brookdale student covering the school’s athletic teams for Brookdale Public Radio and as a broadcaster for WJLK Radio in Asbury Park.
The 2018 induction class also includes Keith Weinkofsky, who was a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Player of the Year and first-team All-American baseball player; Jay Ham, who was the 1991-92 national scoring leader in men’s basketball; and national champion dual-sport athlete Skye Rubel Tiplady.
Also to be inducted are Jeannie Morris Cotta, who was a pioneer in women’s soccer at the college; Glenn Gargan, who was a star defensive men’s soccer player; and baseball standout Tracey Pancoski, who was drafted by the Orioles in 1986.
Doug Welsh will also be enshrined for his combined 35 years of coaching at Brookdale. He served as the coach of the men’s soccer and golf teams. Welsh coached the men’s soccer team to its first NJCAA national tournament in 1983. That team that made its first trip ever finished fifth in the national tournament and ended the season with a 17-3-1 record.
The longest-tenured men’s soccer coach and golf coach in Brookdale history, Welsh coached numerous All-America players in both sports between 1977 and 2014.
Welsh’s 1983 men’s soccer team will also be inducted in recognition of its groundbreaking success, which included an NJCAA Region XIX championship over the defending national champion, Mercer County College.
The inductees, nominated by their peers and local community members, will officially join the hall during an awards dinner beginning at 6 p.m. on Feb. 9 at the Radisson Hotel in Freehold.
For tickets to the ceremony or more information, visit www.brookdaleathletics.com.
