Class of 2008
Five years ago, two two-sport stars led a class of five Hall of Fame inductees.
Christine Huber – Women’s Basketball/Women’s Soccer
Christine Huber is the definition of a two-sport star, playing for the UNH women's basketball and soccer teams from 1996-2000. Huber was a four-time all-conference selection and is second all-time in scoring for the women's soccer program with 63 goals and 144 points. In her freshman year, the former high school all-American burst onto the scene with 20 goals and 45 points en route to one of her two First Team All-NECC awards, and she led the program to a No. 6 ranking in the New England region in just the third season of competition. Huber still holds school records for goals (5) and points (10) in a single game. She later played professionally in the W-League in 2002 and 2003.
Equally adept in basketball, Huber was a three-time all-conference selection and still ranks eighth in career scoring (1,453 points) and ninth in career rebounding (764). She played in 107 games, averaging 13.6 points and 7.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game for her career. UNH advanced to the NECC tournament all four years she played, including a title game appearance during her senior campaign. Huber later served as a volunteer assistant coach for the UNH women's basketball team.
Cazzie Kosciolek – Football
Cazzie Kosciolek quarterbacked the UNH football team to new heights in 1997, helping bring UNH into the national spotlight by leading the Chargers to the NCAA championship game in his only season in the blue and gold. UNH became the first school from the State of Connecticut to play in a college football title game and was at that time the smallest school in terms of enrollment to play for the national title. Cazzie stayed on as an assistant coach for the Chargers from 1998 to 2001, later coached at Division I Hofstra University and the College of the Holy Cross.
In 1997, Kosciolek finished third in the voting for the Harlon Hill Trophy - Division II's version of the Heisman - after passing for 3,232 yards and 32 touchdowns to lead the NCAA's highest-scoring offense (43.3 points per game). Cazzie amassed 905 yards and nine touchdown passes in the playoffs, and UNH finished that season 12-2 overall as the national runners-up. Kosciolek was named to the Associated Press Small College All-America Team and was also an All-New England and All-ECAC selection. Despite playing just the one season, Cazzie's passing numbers put him in the career top 10 at UNH in completions, yardage and touchdowns.
Joseph Maher – Men’s Soccer
Guilford, Conn. native Joseph Maher was the Chargers' head men's soccer coach from 1981-90 and led some of the most successful teams in UNH history. He still ranks second all-time in program history with 108 victories in 10 seasons.
Coach Maher guided UNH to an NCAA Final Four berth in 1984, the third and most recent Final Four appearance in school history, and also led UNH to a pair of trips to the NCAA Elite Eight (1981, 1983). Maher led the team to a school-record six consecutive seasons with ten or more wins from 1981-86, including a school-record 17 victories in 1983. The team was ranked in the top 20 of the final national poll on four occasions, including an all-time high of 7th in the 1984 voting. That season's team established a school record with 95 goals in 21 games (over 4.5 per game), while Maher's '81 squad still holds the UNH record for allowing the fewest number of goals (10 in 20 contests). Maher becomes the 12th men's soccer inductee to the Athletics Hall of Fame, joining a pair of former student-athletes that he coached (Keith Russo and Nick Sakiewicz).
Kim Schmidt – Softball/Women’s Volleyball
Kim Schmidt was a standout in both softball and women's volleyball for UNH from 1984-88. As a catcher in softball, Schmidt was a four-time all-conference selection and earned all-region honors as a senior. Kim earned First Team All-NECC honors three times and was a Second Team pick as a junior. Schmidt hit .388 as a sophomore and .333 overall, logging 70 RBIs and scoring 82 runs in 163 games. She still ranks among the program's all-time leaders in seven different hitting categories and is the program's career leader with 15 triples. She is in the UNH career top 10 in at-bats, hits, runs, doubles, RBIs and stolen bases, and helped lead the team to a 97-66 record and three ECAC playoff appearances in her four seasons (1985-88).
The Wallingford, Conn. native was a defensive specialist for the women's volleyball team, playing three seasons (1984-86) under then-head coach Deborah Chin. Schmidt helped UNH to a combined 107-21 record during that time for an astounding .836 winning percentage, playing in the back row as the Chargers made a pair of NCAA Elite Eight appearances and one Sweet Sixteen berth.
Robert Skinnon – Baseball
Robert Skinnon, a native of Southington, Conn., was a four-year standout for the UNH baseball program from 1998-2001 and is still among the program's all-time leaders in base hits with 233. Skinnon batted exactly .400 during his career, including a personal-best .479 average en route to New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Player of the Year honors as a junior in 2000.
As a freshman second baseman, Skinnon helped UNH make its most recent run to the College World Series in 1998, batting .353 with 26 RBI as UNH finished as Northeast Region champions and ranked 22nd in the final national poll. Overall, the team was 103-45-1 during his four seasons under then-head coach Frank "Porky" Vieira, with two appearances in the NCAA tournament. Skinnon led the nation in runs scored as a sophomore in 1999, scoring 59 that season and 175 overall in four seasons. He drove in 113 runs during his career, with 44 doubles, 7 triples and 17 home runs. Skinnon is among the program's all-time leaders in batting average, doubles, walks and RBI. After graduation, Skinnon went on to play professionally, including a two-year stint in Italy, before taking up a career at ESPN.
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