Nine new stars added to UD Hall of Fame

Nine former Fightin’ Blue Hens were inducted into the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame during ceremonies held in November at the Bob Carpenter Center. This is the 10th induction class and brings the total number of UD Athletics Hall of Fame members to 86.

The 2006 inductees are high jumper Candy Cashell Yorio, CHS ’86, field hockey and lacrosse forward Sue Daddona Aoki, AS ’95, basketball center Spencer Dunkley, CHS ’95, football standout and UD football and track coach Jimmy Flynn, CHS ’56, three-sport standout Jules “Ace” Hoffstein, CHEP ’50, lacrosse goalkeeper Kim Jackson, CHS ’84, swimming champion Lee Martin, BE ’90, football quarterback Don Miller CHS ’55, CHEP ’57M, and basketball forward Dave Sysko, EG ’64, BE ’76M.

“We are once again proud to present such an accomplished group of Blue Hen stars from the past,” UD Director of Athletics Edgar N. Johnson says. “What makes this year’s group stand out is the fact that so many of them excelled in more than one sport. We have 11 of our 23 sports represented and more than 50 years of service to UD athletics.”

Cassandra M. “Candy” Cashell Yorio

After transferring from Utah State University, Yorio starred for the track and field and basketball teams, becoming one of the most accomplished high jumpers in UD history. She finished sixth in the high jump at the 1986 NCAA championships, the highest national finish ever by a UD athlete in track and field, earned All-America honors, won East Coast Conference and Eastern College Athletic Conference titles indoors and outdoors and still holds school records in the indoor and outdoor high jumps. In her only season with the UD women’s basketball team, she averaged 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for a team that went 19-9 and finished second in the ECC standings. She and her husband, Jerry Yorio, live in Summit, N.J., with their five children. She has worked the last 13 years as a technical director at a cardiology practice.

Susan L. Daddona Aoki

Aoki had an outstanding two-sport career at UD, serving as a captain in both field hockey and lacrosse and being named the 1994-95 Outstanding Senior Female Athlete of the Year. She was named second team Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association All-America and first team All-Colonial Athletic Association as a midfielder in 1995, when she ranked third in the nation in scoring with 56 goals and 72 points and led the Hens to a second place in the conference tournament. She ranks 10th all time with 112 career goals. In field hockey, she scored 17 career goals and set a school record with 21 assists. She was a first-team All-North Atlantic Conference forward in 1994 and led the team in scoring her final two seasons. She and her husband, Mikio Aoki, the head baseball coach at Boston College, live in Framingham, Mass., with their son, Kai. She coached field hockey at Dartmouth College for three years after graduation and has served the last two years as a grants administrator for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Spencer E. Dunkley

Dunkley, a 6-foot 11-inch native of Wolverhampton, England, was one of the finest true centers in the history of UD men’s basketball, dominating the North Atlantic Conference as an intimidating shot-blocker, tenacious rebounder and dependable scorer. He led the Hens to a four-year record of 81-38 and back-to-back NAC titles and NCAA tournament appearances in 1992 and 1993. He earned first team All-NAC and second team All-East honors as a senior in 1993, when he averaged 19.2 points and 12.2 rebounds per game, and was selected in the second round of the NBA draft later that year by the Indiana Pacers. Dunkley enjoyed a 10-year professional basketball career in Israel, Italy, Spain, France and Russia. He lives in Odessa, Del., with his wife, Denise, and their three children and owns the Hungry Student Athletes Moving and Storage Co. in New Castle, Del.

James E. Flynn

Flynn was a standout football player and track sprinter and a longtime member of the UD coaching staff. He was a four-year letter winner as a running back for Coach Dave Nelson and led the 1954 Refrigerator Bowl team in rushing (705 yards) and scoring (60 points) to earn All-Middle Atlantic Six football honors. Flynn also was a four-year letter winner in track and set the school indoor record in the 50 meters (5.3) in 1954. He later served as a physical education instructor at UD, as an assistant football coach and head freshman coach under Coach Nelson and Tubby Raymond for 19 years and as head coach of the track and field team from 1961-79. He posted a dual meet record of 92-28 and led UD track teams to three conference titles. Flynn and his late wife, Frances, have six children and nine grandchildren. He lives in Newark, Del., and is a winter resident of Naples, Fla.

Jules D. “Ace” Hoffstein

A three-sport standout at UD, Hoffstein earned nine letters in basketball, soccer and baseball during the late 1940s and was an all-conference performer. He was a four-year letter winner in soccer and basketball, playing midfield in soccer and guard in basketball, where he was part of three winning teams while scoring 282 career points. Hoffstein later gained fame as the “Shot Doctor,” writing books and instructing thousands of high school, college and professional basketball players on proper shooting techniques. He also coached basketball teams at the high school and college levels and professionally with the Wilmington Blue Bombers. He was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 2005. He has one child and two grandchildren and lives in Tucson, Ariz.

Kimberly A. Jackson

One of the top goalkeepers in NCAA women’s lacrosse history, Jackson led UD to three national lacrosse titles in the early 1980s under Coach Janet Smith. Jackson played every minute of all 70 games during her career and helped lead the Hens to a four-year record of 60-9-1. The Hens won Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national titles in 1981 and 1982 and an NCAA Division I title in 1983. Jackson earned All-America and All-NCAA Tournament honors in 1982 and was a member of the U.S. national lacrosse team. She still holds six school records, including saves in a season (264) and career (925), save percentage in a season (.724) and career (.678) and goals allowed average in a career (6.18). She lives in Malvern, Pa., and teaches physical education at West Chester (Pa.) Henderson High School, where she has served as head coach of the field hockey and lacrosse teams.

Lee S. Martin

Martin was one of the top swimmers in UD history, capturing 10 East Coast Conference championships from 1985-89. He helped lead the Hens to conference team titles in 1988 and 1989 and was named UD’s Outstanding Senior Male Athlete of the Year in 1988-89. He won four events and was named the outstanding competitor at the 1989 ECC championship meet, finished seventh in the 100 breaststroke at the 1989 Eastern Seaboard championships, and became the first UD swimmer to qualify for the U.S. Senior Nationals. He lost just one breaststroke dual race in his career and established UD records in the 100 breaststroke (57.14), 200 breaststroke (2:05.86), 200 medley relay (1:34.52) and 400 medley relay (3:26.66). He and his wife, Amy, live in Addison, Texas, with their two sons. Martin is a vice president with Bank of America.

Donald G. Miller

One of the top UD athletes of the 1950s, Miller starred in football and basketball for the Hens and was named the Outstanding Senior Male Athlete of the Year in 1954-55. In football, he began a run of top-notch quarterbacks when he started as a freshman in 1951 and led Coach Dave Nelson’s teams to a four-year record of 24-10 and a 1954 Refrigerator Bowl victory. He established virtually every passing record in UD history, throwing for 3,108 yards and 36 touchdowns. He earned All-America honors twice, including first team honors in 1954, and was a two-time All-East selection. A two-year starting guard in basketball, Miller averaged 5.7 points per game in 54 career games and captained the 1954-55 squad. Miller moved on to a successful career as head football coach at NCAA Division III Trinity College, where he led the team for 32 years and compiled 174 victories before retiring in 1999. He and his wife, Joan, live in Wethersfield, Conn., and have three children and seven grandchildren.

David L. Sysko

]Sysko was one of the most prolific scorers in UD men’s basketball history and helped lead the Hens to a three-year mark of 45-23, including what was then a school-record 18 wins in 1961-62. A three-year starter, he led the Middle Atlantic Conference as a senior in 1963-64, when he scored 23.9 points per game and was named honorable mention All-America and first team All-MAC. Sysko still holds UD’s modern single game record for most points in a game, 45 against Lafayette in 1964. Sysko has been the president of C.F. Kettering Inc. for the last 12 years and executive director of the Laffey-McHugh Foundation for the last seven years. Active in the community, Sysko was co-founder of the Future Stars program, an academic program for promising young basketball players in Wilmington and New Castle County, Del.,and he helped found the Public Allies leadership program with his daughter, Suzanne Sysko, and Tony Allen in 1995.

He and his wife, Patrice, live in Wilmington, Del., and have two children and two grandchildren.