Ram Report Spring 2011

Two more All-American wrestlers

Two wrestlers—Senior Kevin Donahue and Junior Timothy Hood—won All-American honors at the NCAA Division III National Championships, leading the Rams to a 17th-place finish. It was the fourth consecutive year Cornell’s wrestling team notched a top-20 team finish and crowned multiple all-Americans. Donahue placed fourth at 141 pounds, while Hood placed eighth at 125 pounds.

Donahue, a two-time Iowa Conference champion, concluded his career ninth on the school’s all-time wins list with a 109–41 record. He is the program’s seventh three-time all-American, and the third under head coach Mike Duroe.

Donahue joins Nick Nothern ’10 (2008–10), Chris Heilman ’08 (2006–08), current assistant coach Shawn Voigt ’90 (1987–90), Rodger Snook ’50 (1947, 1949–50), Lowell Lange ’50 (1947, 1949–50) and Lyle Morford ’32 (1930–32) as the only Rams to garner all-America honors at least three times in a career.

All-American miler

Senior Kirkwood Donavin of Salt Lake City, Utah, set a pair of records in the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships preliminaries and won a third-place all-America finish in the men’s mile.

Donavin ran 4:11.02 in the preliminary heat, finishing more than two seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. He broke his own school record and established a new record in the Capital Center Track in Columbus, Ohio. Donavin shattered the old arena mark of 4:19.14.

He is Cornell’s 11th track and field all-American in coach Lonnie Speidel’s 11 seasons.

DeVries in Hall of Fame

In March longtime coach and kinesiology professor Steve DeVries was inducted in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Hall of Fame. DeVries, the winningest wrestling coach in Cornell history, was honored for his contributions to the sport.

DeVries compiled a 130–122–3 dual record as head coach from 1982–2000. Under his guidance, the Rams won 10 Midwest Conference team championships.
A professor in Cornell’s kinesiology department (formerly physical education) since 1982, he currently serves as a faculty athletics representative.

DeVries is the third Cornellian to be inducted in the NWCA Division III Hall of Fame, joining former coach Barron Bremner and four-time all-American Shawn Voigt ’90, now head assistant wrestling coach.