Athletics Hall of Fame honorees named

University of Detroit Mercy has announced its Hall Of Fame Class of 2023 with 13 outstanding individuals and one team that will be remembered forever in Titan history.
Detroit Mercy established its Sports Hall of Fame in 1977 to honor the student-athletes, coaches and administrators who have helped develop the successful tradition of Titan Athletics. With the addition of this class, the Hall of Fame now has 158 all-time greats.
The Hall of Fame induction will take place on campus on Feb. 18 and the class will also be honored the following day at the men’s basketball game.
Below are the 2023 inductees.

1928 University of Detroit Football Team

• The Titans finished the year at 9-0 and were recognized as a co-national champion of 1928 by Parke H. Davis and the NCAA
• Shutout seven of its nine opponents and outscored opponents by a combined total of 267 to 27
• Head coached by College Football Hall of Famer Gus Dorais
• Led by halfback Lloyd Brazil, who was selected by Grantland Rice as the first-team utility back on the College Football All-America Team as he set a new NCAA major college record with 997 passing yards

Tim Blackwell, Men’s Soccer 1993-96

• 1996 MCC Player of the Year
• Twice Named All-League and was First Team as a senior
• Graduated as the school’s all-time leader in points (79) and assists (39) and fourth in goals (20) and still holds the record in assists and is fourth in points
• Holds three of the top five single-season assists marks
• Helped the Titans to a school record 16 wins as a freshman and a Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC) championship and the lone NCAA team appearance in school history as a senior
• 1997 President’s Award winner

Aaron Byrd, Men’s Soccer 1999-02

• All-Horizon League First Team as a senior as well as named to the All-Newcomer Team as a freshman
• Tabbed a CoSIDA Academic All-District as a senior
• Played in 72 games in his four years and was a three-time captain
• Tallied 56 career points on 19 goals and 18 assists and ranks 11th in points and assists and tied for 15th in goals
• Played pro for nearly 10 seasons with Windsor and Waza
• Operates Next Level Training and has trained a number of professionals as they have come up through club soccer and helps current students to their potential in all clubs

David Byrne, Men’s Golf 2007-10

• Named All-Horizon League in all four seasons
• Tabbed the HL Newcomer of the Year as a freshman and the Player of the Year as a senior
• Three-time Horizon League All-Tournament and was the conference’s medalist in 2007
• Selected a GCAA All-America Scholar twice and was a Detroit Mercy President’s Award winner as a senior
• Helped the Titans capture two Horizon League titles in 2007 and 2010, sending the red, white and blue to a pair of NCAA Regional Championships
• All-time leader in career average at 73.56 and posted three wins
• Won the Golf Channel’s reality television show Big Break Indian Wells in 2011, which gave him an automatic exemption to the 2012 Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Paul Caraballo, Men’s Track & Field 1995-98

• Earned All-American in the high jump in 1997, just the second Titan All-American in school history
• Was the Horizon League Outstanding Running Performer in 1995 and 1996
• Won the 1995 and 1996 MCC indoor high jump title
• Claimed the 1996 MCC long and triple jump championships
• Graduated as the school record holder in the high jump (7’3″ – 2.21m) and triple jump (46′ 11″ – 14.30m) and second in the long jump (22′ 6.5” – 6.87m) and still ranks first in the high jump
• Helped the team to the 1996 indoor championship

Ruthie (Cook) Thill, Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country 1998-2002

• Selected the Horizon League Outstanding Running Performer for indoor track and field in 2001 and 2002
• Tallied seven total indoor league titles in track in the mile, 800m, 1,000m, 4×400 and distance medley relay
• Still holds the conference record in the indoor 800-meters with a time of 2:12.30
• Won three total outdoor league titles in the 1,500 meters as well as twice on the 4×400-meter relay
• Helped the Titans to four conference track and field titles, two in outdoor (1999, 2002) and two in outdoor (1999, 2000)
• Earned Cross Country All-League honors twice, finishing in the top 10 as a junior and senior
• Claimed top 100 at the NCAA Regionals, including 26th at the 2001 meet, at the time the best-ever finish in school history and the second best still today
• 2002 President’s Award winner

Allison (Epple) Hodgins, Women’s Soccer 2002-05

• A Four-Time First Team All-Horizon League selection as a defender
• Two-Time All-Tournament and the Horizon League Championship MVP in 2004
• Tabbed HL All-Academic as a senior
• Helped the Titans to a Horizon League Championship and to the NCAA Tournament with a first-round victory over Michigan in 2004
• Tallied 32 points on 14 goals and four assists, including the game-winning goal in the 2004 1-0 triumph over Milwaukee in the championship game and scored the first goal over U-M in the NCAA Tournament
• Earned a spot on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Team as a senior

Jordan Houtby, Men’s Lacrosse 2010-13

• Three-time MAAC LSM of the Year
• Tabbed an Honorable Mention All-American by Inside Lacrosse as a senior
• Helped lead a defense that finished in the top three in the nation in caused turnovers all four of his years
• Graduated as the NCAA’s all-time leader in caused turnovers with 158
• The school record holder with 289 career ground balls and scored 14 points with nine goals in his career
• Helped the Titans reach the MAAC Championship in 2011 and win the title in 2013, advancing to the NCAA Tournament
• Scored the game-winning goal in the 2011 MAAC semifinals sending the Titans to the title game
• The first Titan to earn USILA Scholar All-American and now the first men’s lacrosse player in the school Hall of Fame

Monica Kaltreider, Women’s Soccer 1995-98

• A Three-Time First Team All-MCC League honoree
• The MCC Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year as a senior
• Also tabbed a Third Team All-Great Lakes Region member as a senior
• Still ranks as the program leader in assists (43), second all-time in points (121) and fourth in goals (39)
• Her 14 assists in 1995 are tied for first in school history, while her 18 goals and 45 points in 1996 are second in the school record book
• Helped the team to a 1995 MCC Championship, the first in school history, and the top two winningest season with 15 total victories in 1995 and 1996

Lindsey Lammers, Women’s Golf 2010-14

• Two-time Horizon League Player of the Year (2013, 2014), just the fourth golfer in league history to win two Player of the Year accolades
• Also won two individual HL titles (2012, 2014) – one of three players in league history to win at least two individual championships – and was an All-Tournament Team selection three times
• Posted eight wins, 29 top-20 finishes and 25 top-10 efforts in 39 career events, with her eight wins the most in conference history and tied for 34th in the NCAA record book
• School record holder with a 77.7 career average and twice recorded the Titan single-season average record at 76.2 (2013, 2014)
• Three-time All-American Scholar by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association
• Helped the team to two Horizon League titles and two runner-up appearances, with both conference championships sending the Titans to the NCAA Regional Championships
• 2014 President’s Award winner

Autumn Rademacher, Women’s Basketball 1993-97

• Three-Time All-MCC, including twice on the First Team, once on the Second Team and a member of the All-Newcomer Team as a freshman
• Ranks fourth in points in school history (1,686), fifth in assists (439), fourth in 3-pointers (201) and total field goals (626)
• Led her squad to a MCC Championship title and only NCAA appearance as a senior
• Would later coach the Titans and led the team to a pair of wins over ranked programs, a school-record 101 wins, a WNIT appearance (2012) and a WBI championship (2013)
• 1997 President’s Award winner

Ryan Raymond, Baseball 1988-91

• The MCC Player of the Year as a junior
• A Three-Time All-League selection, including twice as a First-Team honoree
• Two-time All-Tournament pick
• Ended his career hitting .334 with nine home runs, 106 RBI, 192 hits, 127 walks and 267 total bases
• Graduated third in school history in hits, fourth in walks and fifth in total bases
• Led the team in hitting at .352 along with 57 total hits and 33 runs scored as a junior and .338 with 39 runs and a .487-on-base percentage as a sophomore
• On the mound, he was 13-9 with three saves, appearing in 36 games with 22 starts tallying 167.0 innings and striking out 82
• As a senior, he was 7-2 with a 3.51 ERA
• The Titans won 111 games in his four years and advanced to the MCC Championship game twice, while capturing the MCC North Division in 1989

Lawrence Scheffer, Baseball 1992-95

• Three-time All-MCC, including First Team as a junior and senior
• Also tabbed All-Region as a senior
• Tied for first in school history in doubles (50) and third in home runs (33), third in RBI (154) and fourth in total bases (348)
• Tallied single-season records include slugging percentage (.792), home runs (18), total bases (137) and third in RBI (58) as a junior and fourth in doubles (17) as a sophomore
• Hit over .320 in each of his last three seasons, including .30 with those 18 homers and 58 RBI as a senior
• The Titans posted 101 wins and won the MCC East Division in 1995
• Played independent ball after college in the Pioneer and Frontier Leagues

Katy (James) Snyder, Women’s Fencing 1986-89

• Tallied over 100 career wins
• Registered 52 victories as a senior, one away from the school record
• Claimed ninth in the foil at the Midwest Fencing Championships as a senior
• Currently the dean for the College of Engineering & Science at Detroit Mercy and has served as interim dean and associate dean of Academic Affairs for the College of Engineering & Science, the director of the seven-year Dental program and chair of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department
• Helped orchestrate a $300,000 grant from Ford Motor Company for a Ford Mobility App project, and for the ReBUILDetroit grant, a $21.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health
• The first women’s fencer to be inducted into the Titan Hall Of Fame
• 1989 President’s Award winner