Findlay, Ohio, Sept. 9, 2004 — The University of Findlay’s Athletic Hall of Fame will induct six individuals on Saturday, Sept. 25, beginning at 11:30 a.m. in the Alumni Memorial Union.

Tickets for the meal and induction ceremony are available for $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 6 to 12. Children five and under are admitted free. Tickets are available at the Office of Athletics at 419-434-4663.

This year’s inductees are Kris Alge ’85, Greg Denecker‘94, Maria Newcomer Gleason ’90, Tony King ’65, Eileen Kleinfelter ’79 and Demya Wimberly ‘94.

Two-sport athletes were prevalent in the 1980s at Findlay College. Among the best at the school during this time was Kris Alge. Alge excelled in both football and baseball at Findlay, following a stellar high school career at nearby Arlington High School.

On the football field, Alge was a four-year letter winner as a quarterback and punter. As quarterback, he was a two-year starter and threw 22 touchdowns and threw for more than 2,000 yards. He is still Findlay’s all-time pass completion percentage leader with a 57 percent for his career. He was 16-4 as a starting quarterback and was twice named all-Hoosier Buckeye Conference and District.

Despite his success as a quarterback, Alge’s future was in punting. He was a four-year starter as a punter at Findlay, and his 39.3 career average still holds Findlay’s record. He signed a free-agent contract with the Cleveland Browns in 1986 and another with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1987.

On the baseball diamond, Alge has the second most at bats at Findlay with 420, and he led the Hoosier Buckeye Conference in pitching with a 2.35 ERA in 1985. Alge lettered in baseball four times and was named all-conference in baseball as well.

Alge graduated from Findlay College in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in education.

He currently resides in Findlay with his wife, Kelly, and four children. He is currently the CBI coordinator and the head football coach and head track and field coach at McComb High School. He has been named the Blanchard Valley Conference Football Coach of the Year three times, en route to several BVC championships, and the McComb High School Teacher of the Year in 2000.

Findlay basketball had great success in the early 1990s with a pair of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Tournament appearances. The success of those teams can be credited in large part to the consistent effort by former standout center, Greg Denecker. The Blissfield, Mich., native had a blue-collar approach to the game and earned respect from fellow opponents and teammates for his effort and the numbers he put up each game.

Denecker’s career statistics are impressive. He is the fourth leading scorer in UF history with more than 1,800 points. He scored in double figures 99 times in his career. He started 106 straight games from 1990-94. He also finished his career as a top-10 rebounder at Findlay. He played a key role in many huge wins, none more impressive than Findlay’s 79-68 victory over Interstate 75 rival Bowling Green State University during the 1991-92 season.

Denecker was one of the most respected players in NAIA during his career. He was a four-year starter, a three-time NAIA District 22 selection and a two-time NAIA National Scholar Athlete. He remains UF’s only men’s basketball GTE Academic All-American. He earned this award, basketball’s highest honor, following the 1993-94 season as a second-team selection. On campus, in 1994, he was named the Social Science Student of the Year , and he also received the Mancuso Trophy as the student-athlete of the year.

Denecker and his wife Chris have two sons and reside in Bluffton, Ohio. He is currently the principal at Bluffton High School, a position he has held for the past five years.

Maria Newcomer Gleason came to Findlay College in the mid-1980s to embark on a college running career, and she graduated in 1990 from UF as arguably the University’s best distance runner.

Newcomer Gleason’s name is still commonplace in UF’s track/cross country record book. She still holds the school record time in the women’s 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs. She is second in the 3,000-meter run and third in the cross country 5,000-meter run. Those times helped make her an eight-time NAIA national qualifier – three in cross country, three in outdoor track and two in indoor track. She was also a two-time NAIA Indoor Track All-American in the three-mile run in 1989 and 1990 and the NAIA District 22 champion in the 5,000-meter run in 1989.

Academics did not take a back seat to Newcomer Gleason’s athletic achievements. She was named an NAIA Scholar-Athlete – twice in cross country and twice in track and field. At Findlay she was awarded the Mancuso Trophy by the athletic department in 1989 for her athletic, academic and community service achievements.

Newcomer Gleason graduated from UF in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in art, psychology and English. She currently resides in Findlay with her two sons and is a claims representative for the Social Security Administration.

In 1962, former Findlay College Football Coach Lou Juillerat recruited a young man from Alliance, Ohio, to help bring an NAIA football championship to Findlay. The national championship never materialized, but a great football player did.

Tony King played at Findlay from 1962-65. He was named all-conference three times during his career on both sides of the ball. He was voted the most outstanding defensive lineman at Findlay College. He helped lead the Oilers to the NAIA national playoffs in 1964 after a 9-1 regular season. Many UF followers consider him one of the greatest defensive ends to wear a Findlay uniform.

Following a successful college career, King was drafted into professional football by Dallas, then acquired by San Diego, finally finding a home with the Buffalo Bills in 1966. During the 1967 season, King joined forces with his brother, Charlie, to become the first black siblings to play in the NFL together on the same team. Tony played professional football for five years before turning to his next career – modeling and acting. He played parts in several prominent movies and television, most notably as the stable boy in “The Godfather” and with a part in “Magnum P.I.” While acting remains high on his list, most of his time today is spent as president of Global Security Agency, which provides security for top acts including the rap group Public Enemy.

King is a member of the Alliance High School Hall of Fame, the Canton, Ohio, Black Hall of Fame, and he has been honored with numerous professional awards both in and outside of the United States. King and his wife, Diana, are the parents of four children and reside in Los Angeles.

Female sports at UF had taken a back seat to men’s sports in terms of national accomplishments until Eileen Kleinfelter returned to her alma mater to turn the women’s basketball program into an NAIA national powerhouse.

Kleinfelter graduated from Findlay College in 1979 following a three-sport career in basketball, softball and tennis. Since then, she has embarked on a coaching career that has taken her to the highest level of collegiate sports. She spent time as the head women’s coach at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and was an assistant coach at five Division I schools. In 1994, she was hired by UF to lead the women’s basketball program. And lead she did.

Kleinfelter’s first year at Findlay turned into a coach’s dream season. The Oilers finished 32-2 in the 1994-95 season, which stands among UF’s best seasons. She went on to acquire a career mark of 172 wins and 46 losses during her seven-year stint as head coach at Findlay. During that time, she led the Lady Oilers to five NAIA national tournaments, including two NAIA final fours in 1998 and 2000. In addition, she won three Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South championships after UF made the leap to National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II status. In seven seasons at the helm, she recorded six 20-win seasons, coached 12 NAIA National Scholar-Athletes and was named the GLIAC Coach of the Year in 2000. She remains the wins leader as a women’s basketball coach at UF.

Following her coaching career at Findlay, she became the head coach at Central Michigan University in 2001, a position she presently holds. Kleinfelter holds a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from UF. She received her master’s degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1984. She currently resides in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Most great football teams are led by great quarterbacks. The resurgence of Findlay football in the early 1990s that resulted in the NAIA national title in 1992 can be directly linked to the arrival of a quarterback from Hollywood, Fla., named Demya Wimberly.

Wimberly was the starting quarterback at Findlay for four years, including 1992 when the Oilers captured the NAIA National Football Championship with a 26-13 victory over Linfield College. He was a four-year letterman, a four-year NAIA District 22 selection, a two-time Society Bank Team Offensive Most Valuable Player and the NAIA National Championship game MVP. Wimberly was the catalyst for the vaunted wishbone attack for which the Dick Strahm-coached teams were recognized. Wimberly was equally dangerous with his feet and arm. He ended his career as a starter with a record of 35-9-1. He is still second in the career total offense category with 5,321 total yards. He passed for 29 touchdowns and completed more than 50 percent of his passes. Equally adept at running, he ran for nearly 2,000 yards in his career. A great leader and example to his teammates, Wimberly found ways to win games in the toughest of situations.

Today, Wimberly is still the same leader he was on the football field. He is on the administrative staff at the Lucas County Youth Treatment Center as a supervisor.

Wimberly graduated from UF with a bachelor’s degree in sociology/criminal justice in 1994. He and his wife, Lisa, reside in Holland, Ohio, with their three children.