Challenge - Winter 2007/2008 - Tiffin University

KIM (Novotny)
SCHWARTZ
Kim (Novotny) Schwartz was one of
a number of two-sport athletes that
flourished for Tiffin University in the
1990s. The difference now is that
Schwartz joins only Dana (Kuhlman)
Sendelbach and Lisa (Lucius) Beeker
as Hall of Fame inductees who excelled
at both volleyball and softball.
JEFF NUNN
The images that normally jump to
mind when talking about the 1993
and 1994 Tiffin University football
team usually revolve the offense
- running backs Brian Diliberto and
Kerrick Franklin, quarterbacks Sean
McKinney and Matt Dasher, or offensive
linemen like Chris Deal and Craig
Derr.
While sharing setter duties with Sendelbach,
Schwartz managed to garner two Mid-Ohio Conference
honors. She also is fourth in career assists and holds the season
record for most aces. While playing for the Dragons, the team
compiled a 115-51 overall record, the best string of success in
the program’s history.
Schwartz’s excellence, though, was even more evident on the
softball diamond. She garnered three more All-Conference honors
for the softball team and was a mainstay of two championship
squads.
But it should be noted that those
teams played great defense as well. Jeff Nunn was the premier
member of the linebacking corps on those squads.
Over Nunn’s four seasons with the Dragons, he earned NAIA All-
American honors while leading the team to national rankings and
recognition. While also earning All-District 22 and Mid-States Football
Association accolades, Jeff registered 229 tackles during the
1993 and 1994 seasons. Not coincidentally, the Dragons reached
the NAIA Tournament during those years, including reaching the
Elite Eight in 1994.
In her sophomore season, the Dragons won the Mid-Ohio Conference
Championship. She followed this up in her senior season
by leading the Dragons to the Bi-District Championship, sending
the Dragons to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time
in school history. It was the first National Tournament trip for any
women’s athletic program at TU.
“It was a special season in 1993,” Schwartz said. “We played at
Highland Park, which was a very different experience than what
the current players enjoy. There were so many great athletes on
those teams, not just Sendelbach and Beeker, but players like
Angie (Shardo) Nunn and Jenny Kane. I’ll never forget the fact that
due to the playoffs there were five of us that missed our commencement
in 1993. The school did a special commencement
ceremony in the courtyard just for us. It had music, flowers, and
the procession, everything like a normal commencement. It was
very unique for the five of us to have that opportunity. Things like
that made those years very special.”
Among his unforgettable moments were the Dragons victory over
the University of Findlay in 1993 and a heartbreaking last second
loss on a Hail Mary pass play against Westminster in 1994, a
game the Dragons lost after coming back in the final minutes to
retake the lead.
“Those were special teams,” Nunn said. “We achieved things that
can never be duplicated in the same way ever again. We helped to
get the team noticed in the nation for the first time.”
DEAN JOSEPH
Men’s soccer was the first Tiffin University
sport to garner the university
national attention at the NAIA level.
The list of standout men’s soccer players
that have been inducted to the Tiffin
University Hall of Fame reads like
a roadmap of the program’s history.
Dean Joseph’s sterling playing career
adds another chapter to that storied
history.
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