St. Bona's to Induct 3 Into Hall of Fame

The St. Bonaventure Department of Athletics announced that men's soccer great Jim Meicke '87, women's basketball coach Mary Jane Telford '75 and women's basketball standout Hilary Waltman will be inducted into the university's Athletics Hall of Fame in June.

Meicke, a Colts Neck, N.J. native, is arguably the best goalkeeper in program history, holding career the career records for wins (41) and saves (743). His 11 victories in both the 1984 and 1985 campaigns are tied for second most in the record books, while Meicke's 10-win season in 1986 ranks fourth. He turned aside 192 shots in both the 1985 and 1986 seasons to rank second in program history, while his 1.92 goals-against average is third-best in the career books.

Had St. Bonaventure fielded an NCAA Division I team for Meicke's entire four-year run as a member of the Brown and White – the Bonnies joined Division I in 1986 – his 743 saves would rank as the top mark in NCAA history. After graduating from St. Bonaventure in 1987, Meicke took an assistant coach position with the team while earning his MBA. He currently serves as a Commercial Lender at Amboy Bank in Old Bridge, N.J.

Telford, a Madison, Conn. native, guided the Bonnies to 201 victories – second only to men's coach Larry Weise in Bona basketball history - in her career on the sidelines. She developed a successful program that would move from DIII to DI status. A four-year starter from 1971 to 1975, she averaged 17 points per game. Telford was appointed head coach of the women's basketball team in July 1975, balancing those duties with her position as an admissions counselor for the University. Under her tutelage, partial scholarships were awarded for the first time in school history in 1977 when the team entered NCAA DII. The "Bonnettes," as they were called at the time, reached the Gannon College Women's Invitational Tournament in 1978, the program's first ever postseason appearance.

After taking a one-year break for the 1981-82 when she was promoted to Associate Director of Admissions, Telford returned to the sidelines for the 1982-83 campaign. Her 1980s her teams achieved Northeast regional rankings as she guided SBU to the 1986 Upstate Conference title and captured Coach of the Year honors.

In 1986, Telford was named the first full-time coach in St. Bonaventure history in any sport other than men's basketball and completed the transition to DI status in the highly-competitive Atlantic10 Conference. In only their second-ever Atlantic 10 game, the Bonnies knocked off Rhode Island 75-53 for the program's first A-10 conference victory in February 1987. Telford's squads won five of six Lady Bonnies Classic Tournament titles from 1988 to 1993. During her career, which concluded in 1993, Telford coached five Hall of Fame players and built the foundation for a successful women's basketball program.

Her post-coaching career included stints as a guidance counselor for Native Americans in the Salamanca school district, principal at Archbishop Walsh High School and director of constituent relations at St. Bonaventure. She is currently the Director of Volunteer Relations in the Admissions Office and in her 27th year at her alma mater.

Waltman, a Lancaster County, Pa. native, is the women's basketball program's all-time leading scorer with 2,106 career points and ranks at or near the top of nearly every category in the SBU record books. Former head coach Marti Whitmore considered Waltman "the most talented player I ever coached." Waltman is the only Bona player to be a two-time First Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference selection, as she earned those citations in her final two seasons after a Second Team honor as a sophomore.

Waltman is one of two players to average more than 20 points per game twice in a season and owns the career records for field goal percentage, steals, free throw attempts and free throws made. Additionally, Waltman ranks fifth with 669 rebounds and ninth in both assists (302) and blocks (42).

Waltman, a 2002 graduate of West Chester University, is currently an assistant women's basketball coach at Division III Elizabethtown College.

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