Drexel University Athletics
Drexel Athletics Inducts 2017 Hall of Fame Class Thursday Night
3/31/2017 10:00:00 AM | Drexel Athletics
PHILADELPHIA – Drexel Athletics inducted five individuals and one team into its Hall of Fame on Thursday night. Jack Childs (wrestling), Mikki Miller ('00 women's basketball), Robin Orosz ('93 field hockey/women's lacrosse), Jeff Parke ('03 men's soccer), Lori Swanson ('01 softball) and the 1998 men's soccer team were formally announced as the class of 2017. In addition, former university administrator and longtime basketball scoreboard operator Dave Clawson ('75) received the Athletic Director's Legacy Award.
Here's more on the Class of 2017 inductees:
JACK CHILDS – WRESTLING, 1976-2011
Childs guided the wrestling program over the course of a storied 35-year career (1976-2011). He retired as the active Division I leader in career coaching wins (421) and led the Dragons to the 1985 ECWA championship. While on the bench in University City, Childs posted 25 seasons in which his teams secured 10 or more wins. He is a four-time recipient of the East Coast Wrestling Association Coach of the Year award, earning the distinction in 1980, 1985, 1994, and 1999. Childs was also named Colonial Athletic Association Co-Coach of the Year in 2002, the first season in which the Dragons competed in the conference. He was president of the National Wrestling Coaches Association from 1991 to 1993 and served on the NWCA Executive Board for four years. Over the course of his career, Childs amassed more than 500 wins at all levels of NCAA competition while coaching at both Stevens Tech and Drexel. Childs has also been inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Northeastern Region Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, the East Stroudsburg Athletic Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the Athens (Pa.) Area High School Hall of Fame. He volunteers at the Drexel/Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, as well as on the EIWA Hall of Fame Board and the East Stroudsburg University Alumni Board of Directors.
MIKKI MILLER – WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, 1997-2000
Miller was named to the Drexel University All-Millennium team in 2000. She was a two-time team co-MVP and the 1998 team's most improved player. A two-time America East Conference Third Team selection, she was the 11th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. At the time of her graduation, she ranked 10th in all-time scoring with 1,050 points in 106 career games. She also ranked 10th in career field goals (283) and fifth in career field-goal percentage (.455) when she finished her Drexel playing career in 2000. As of her induction year, she still actively sits seventh in rebounds per game (7.7), ninth in career rebounds (813), 10th in free throws made (284) and 10th in free throw attempts (391) in program history.
ROBIN OROSZ (SEAGREAVES) – FIELD HOCKEY, 1989-92 & WOMEN'S LACROSSE, 1990-93
Orosz was a standout two-sport athlete in field hockey and women's lacrosse in the early 1990s. On the field hockey field, Orosz ranks fifth in program history in both career points with 77 and career goals with 34 and was the active leader upon her graduation. She led the team in goals in three of her four seasons. Orosz was named All-East Coast Conference in 1990 and Second Team All-Mid-Atlantic Region in 1992. She was also named a 1992 NFHCA Senior All-Star, a 1989 PAIAW All-Star and Drexel's 1992 Helen Callas Reiner Team MVP. During the spring, Orosz made her presence felt on the lacrosse field. After scoring the third-most goals her freshman year, she made the switch to goalie for her final three seasons as a Dragon. She holds the Drexel single-season record for save percentage, posting a .687 mark in 1992. She also led the team in saves three-straight years from 1991-93. During her senior campaign, she led the nation three different times in save percentage. Orosz was named to the IWLCA All-America Third Team and the IWLCA Regional All-America First Team in 1993. She and her husband, Sean, have three sons: Derek, Evan and Jason.
JEFF PARKE – MEN'S SOCCER, 2000-2003
Parke played his way to a decorated collegiate career for Drexel from 2000-03 before going on to play 10 seasons in Major League Soccer. He was an All-North Atlantic/America East First Team selection in 2000 and chosen Second Team All-Region in 2002. A 2000 All-North Atlantic/America East Rookie Team selection, Parke was also a two-time Philadelphia Soccer Seven All-Star and the 2003 Donald Yonker Team MVP award recipient. Parke was a sixth-round selection by the N.Y./N.J. Metrostars in the 2003 MLS Draft. Over the course of 10 years, he played 254 games with the New York Red Bulls, Seattle Sounders, Philadelphia Union and D.C. United. He also made an appearance for the United States National Team against Panama, helping the U.S. to a 1-0 victory on Jan. 25, 2012. Currently, Parke has started an environmental abatement and construction management company, RC Group, Inc. He and his wife, Jen, has two daughters and another on the way. They live in Wayne, Pa.
LORI SWANSON – SOFTBALL, 1997-2001
Swanson was one of the best pitchers in Drexel softball history. A first team All-America East Conference selection in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2001, Swanson was named the AEC Rookie of the Year in 1997, the AEC Pitcher of the Year in 1999 and AEC Scholar-Athlete in 2001. She holds the school record for strikeouts in a game, in a season and in a career. Swanson's 11 shutouts in one year tied the school mark. She also stands in the top four in career wins (58), ERA (1.52), complete games (79), shutouts (28) and no-hitters (3). She picked up additional honors along the way, including Verizon Academic All-America Third Team in 2001, Verizon Academic All-District II First Team in 1999, 2000 and 2001, NFCA Second Team All-Region in 2001, NAC/AEC All-Championship Team in 1997, 1999 and 2001 and ECAC Division I All-Star Honorable Mention in 2001.
1998 DREXEL MEN'S SOCCER TEAM
The 1998 men's soccer team, coached by Lew Meehl, was crowned the America East Conference champions and came within one play-in game victory of an NCAA Tournament berth. The No. 3-seeded Dragons won the America East title by defeating top-seeded Towson in the championship game, 2-1, at the University of Vermont after beating second-seeded Boston University in the semifinals, 2-0. Drexel went 13-6-2 (5-3-1 America East) in 1998, tying the program record for most wins in a season.
DAVE CLAWSON – ATHLETIC DIRECTOR'S LEGACY AWARD
Clawson, a Class of 1975 graduate, has been the scoreboard operator and timekeeper for Drexel men's basketball games since 1986, taking over the duty at women's basketball games in the mid-1990s. As a student, he served as a representative on the university's athletics committee, as a student manager of the baseball team, as a building supervisor at the DAC upon graduation and worked game management for men's basketball prior to taking on scoreboard and timekeeping duties. Clawson worked in Drexel's alumni records office after graduation for two years before moving to the registrar's office where he would work until 1988. He currently is employed as University Registrar at Thomas Jefferson University. Dave is married to the former Kathy Rogers, a Cass of 1977 graduate.
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