Bethany inducts three and undefeated basketball team into Hall of Fame

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

BETHANY, W.Va. (Sept. 29) – Three individuals and an undefeated basketball team comprised Bethany College's 39th Athletic Hall of Fame class inducted at the College's Hall of Fame dinner Friday evening.

The 2017 inductees were Stuart Bracher, Class of 2002 (men's soccer); Paul Krusey, Class of 1971 (football); Megan Warden Stearman, Class of 1999 (women's soccer, swimming & diving); and the 1963-64 men's basketball team.

The members of the 2017 class will also be recognized at Bison Stadium tomorrow, Saturday, September 30 prior to the 2 p.m. kickoff of the football game against Carnegie Mellon University.

Stuart Bracher, class of 2002 (Galston, Scotland/Loudoun Academy), was a four-time First Team All-PAC selection from 1998-01 on the men's soccer team.

During his four years on campus, Bethany compiled a 60-23-3 record. The Bison won four-straight Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championships and earned a berth into the NCAA Tournament in all four seasons he was a member of the team.   

Bracher concluded his career with 78 goals and 185 points – both school records – and ranks third and fourth on the single-season record list with 21 goals as a sophomore and 20 goals as a senior. He was also named to the PAC's 60th Anniversary Men's Soccer team in 2015.

He currently resides in Scotland and works as a support worker for Quarriers, which is a social care charity which provides support and care for people with disability, children and families, young people, young homeless people and people with epilepsy. In 2015, Bracher was honored with the Wider Achievement Award from the Community Planning Counsel in East Ayrshire, Scotland.

Paul Krusey, Class of 1971, was a four-year football standout on special teams from 1967-70.

A 1968 All-PAC selection and co-captain his senior year, Krusey holds the all-time Bethany record with 772 career punt return yards. He totaled five punt return touchdowns in his career and ranks second and fourth in Bethany history for single-season punt return yards.

Krusey was named to the "Outstanding College Athletes of America" in 1969 and participated in the 1970 Pennsylvania Dutch Bowl.

Krusey has owned and operated Gaylord Supply, a motor vehicle supply store in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, since 1985.

Megan Warden-Stearman, Class of 1999 (Pittsburgh, Pa./South Park High School), was a four-year letter winner for the women's swimming & diving and women's soccer teams from 1995-99.

In the pool, Stearman was the winner of six individual PAC diving championships and an eight-time All-PAC selection. She was a three-time PAC Champion in both the one-meter and three-meter diving events and was named to the PAC's 60th Anniversary Swimming & Diving Team in 2015.

Her record scores in the three-meter, one-meter and the three-meter 11 dive in 1998 stood for 11 years.

Stearman was also a standout women's soccer player for the Bison, earning All-PAC Second-Team honors in 1998.

She currently serves as a marketing manager for Oxford Development Company and is the owner of Turtle Moon Sleep Consulting.  

The 1963-64 men's basketball team, coached by Bethany College Hall of Famer Harold E. Martin, was the first and only team in school history to achieve a perfect regular season with an 18-0 mark. The 1963-64 Bison concluded the season ranked in the College Division Top 25 poll and received an invitation to play in the 1964 Division II (then-College Division) NCAA Tournament.

The team scored over 95 points seven times, including 100 twice, and averaged 88 points per game. Defensively, the Bison held opponents to 66 ppg. and ranked among the nation's best in scoring margin during the 1963-64 season.

Bethany was led that season by Hall of Famers Phil Harrison and Rick Cipullo, who were each named to the 1963-64 PAC All-Conference Team. Both would later be named to the PAC's 60thAnniversary Men's Basketball team in 2015.

In addition to Harrison and Cipullo, members of the team included: Bard Hickman, Charles Coss, Thomas Lash, Rudy Horvat, Harry Bolen, Edward Blundon, Edmund Rollo, Fred Gardini, Edward Kidd, Larry Deitch, and Howard Hoffman. Coach Martin was assisted by Joseph M. Kurey, a member of the Hall of Fame who served as a long-time Vice President at Bethany.

Bethany College inducted its first hall of fame class in 1977 and have added a class each year since, with the lone exception occurring in 1986, when no inductions occurred.