Aug. 11, 2005 

NYIT Inducts Five into Athletics Hall of Fame

Old Westbury, N.Y., August 10, 2005: Harry Mahlstedt (men’s lacrosse, B.S. ’77), Clitos Papadopoulous (men’s soccer, B.S. ’85), Doris Switzer (women’s track and field, B.S. ’86), Jim O’Connor (baseball, B.S. ’91) and Peter Zinno (men’s and women’s track and field coach) are the latest inductees to the New York Institute of Technology’s Athletics Hall of Fame. The college recently hosted the seventh annual Hall of Fame dinner at NYIT’s de Seversky Center, Old Westbury campus, to honor these individuals for their dedication and commitment to NYIT athletics.

Established in 1998, NYIT’s Athletics Hall of Fame honors outstanding performances by NYIT alumni athletes on the fields of play, as well as those who have distinguished themselves as model coaches and administrators. To date, 53 members have been inducted into NYIT’s Hall of Fame, representing athletes, coaches and administrators from 13 intercollegiate sports.

Harry Mahlstedt

During his career at NYIT, Harry Mahlstedt played on both the football and lacrosse teams for four seasons. As an attackman on the lacrosse team, he led the team in scoring for three seasons and currently ranks ninth on NYIT’s all-time goals scored list. As a senior, he earned the NYIT P.W. Gentile Award for sportsmanship. Mahlstedt resides in Hillsborough, N.J., with his wife, Patricia, and their four children, Ryan, Brent, Patrick and Kyle.

Clitos Papadopoulous

From the moment Clitos Papadopoulous stepped onto the NYIT soccer field in 1981, he made his presence known, setting a school record for most goals in a freshman season with 19. He now holds NYIT career soccer records in goals (60), assists (40), and games played (74). Papadopoulous earned First Team All-Conference honors all four years and First Team All-State honors as a sophomore, junior and senior. In 1985, he earned the NYIT P.W. Gentile Award for sportsmanship. Papadopoulous resides in Bethpage, N.Y., with his wife, Foteini, and their two children, Leonidas and Anthony.

Doris Switzer

In four track and field seasons at NYIT, Doris Switzer set three records that still stand. In 1983, she set the long jump record with a distance of 19-7, and in 1986 set the record in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 8.2 seconds, and was a member of the sprint medley relay team that set the NYIT record with a time 32.2 seconds. Switzer was an integral member of the 1985 women’s track and field team that finished second at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She resides in the Bronx, N.Y., with her husband, Steven, and two children, Sapphire and Steven.

Jim O’Connor

One the great all-time pitchers in NYIT baseball history, Jim O’Connor earned Diamond Conference All-Star honors in 1989, ECAC All-Star honors in 1990 and 1991, the Most Outstanding Performance Award in 1990 and the Athletic Achievement Award for the class of 1991. He set and still holds many NYIT career baseball records, including most innings pitched (306.2), most wins (24), most complete games (18), and most starts (51). He set the school’s single season record in 1990 for most innings pitched (97) and the least walks per inning (17/97). In 1991 he set the lowest single-season ERA record with 1.98, which ranked 11th in all of Division I. In addition, O’Connor pitched NYIT’s only no-hitter in 1989. He resides in Massapequa, N.Y., with his wife, Lisa, and three children, Krista, Cynthia and Danielle.

Peter Zinno

Over his 30-year career, Peter Zinno established himself as one of the premier track and field coaches in the nation. Hired by NYIT in 1973 as an adjunct professor for political science and as head track and field coach, he saw 27 of his athletes win individual Division II NCAA championships and 350 student-athletes earn NCAA All-American honors. In 1979, Zinno was responsible for developing NYIT’s women’s track and field program. Over his career, he was a seven-time NCAA Division II District II Coach of the Year, three-time ECAC Women’s Coach of the Year and the Nassau County Sports Commission Coach of the Year in 2002. Zinno resides in Rockville Centre, N.Y., with his wife, Barbara, and four children, Allison, Jessica, Gina, and JoAnne.

About NYIT

NYIT is the college of choice for more than 12,000 students currently enrolled in more than 100 courses of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees from eight schools, including engineering, architecture, business, communication arts and medicine. A private, independent college, NYIT embraces an educational philosophy of career-oriented, professional education for all qualified students, and supports applications-oriented research to benefit the greater global community. Students attend classes at NYIT’s Manhattan and Long Island campuses, as well as online and in a number of programs throughout the world. To date, more than 66,000 alumni have earned degrees at NYIT. For additional information visit www.nyit.edu.

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