GRANTHAM, Pa. - On Friday, Feb. 2, 2024 the Messiah Athletics department inducted seven new members into the Messiah Hall of Honor as part of the Class of 2024. The seven-member class included, Dóri (Gyori) Komáromi '13 (women's basketball), Jansen Hein '10 (men's tennis), Dave Henninger '05 (baseball/men's basketball), Wendy Barrett Long '94 (softball), Jessica (Rhoads) Morret '12 (softball), Geoff Pezon '11 (men's soccer), and Jack Cole (administration).

See below for each of the complete words that their coaches and teammates submitted about the Class of 2023.

Dóri (Gyori) Komáromi '13 – Women's Basketball
 
- 2013 First Team All-American
- 2013 Mid-Atlantic Player of the Year
- 2013 Conference Player of the Year
- Four-time All-Conference
- Currently sits with the third-most points (1,577) and fourth most rebounds (970) in program history
- Started all 113 games during career, collecting 144 blocks, 159 steals, and 188 assists

From Jodi Noble:
"Dori is one of the most talented post players that I have coached.  Her footwork around the basket was incredible as she could find a way around her defender to get to the hoop.  She eagerly embraced instruction as her desire was to grow in her skills and abilities on the court.  There were moments during games where she would make a move in the post that I hadn't seen previously, surprising me.  Even with her success on the court, Dori's heart was to be "more like Jesus" and that was her most prominent focus."

From Mike Miller:
"Dori and her family have always been faithful to God's plan on their lives. To do this introduction justice, I must first give a little background.  Dori is from Hungary, I first met her as a 9^th grader when she came to camp as a friend of the Cook family.  Eli Cook Henninger was inducted last year.  Then she lived with my family as an exchange student for a year. 
 
Dori had the desire and passion to always be her best.  Dori brought with her a strong culture of commitment and desire for relationships and team success.  Dori was able to score as evidenced by her 1577 career points, but she had an unquenching desire to play defense and rebound. Dori came into the gym everyday to work and lead by example. Dori never wavered no matter what the resistance to her commitment might have been.
 
Dori had a strong faithfulness to God's plan for her.  Dori, Jodi, and I did not know from year to year if she would continue at Messiah because of finances.  God worked it out and so he blessed our program and the university for 4 great years."
 

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Jansen Hein '10 – Men's Tennis
 
From Adam Sheir:
"Jansen is a natural-born leader. He was the captain for two of my years on the Messiah men's tennis team and I couldn't imagine a better leader for our team. It was people like Jansen that made playing tennis at Messiah my favorite part of my college experience. I didn't come to college thinking that I would play tennis, but Jansen and others made the team such a welcoming environment that made it such a profound impact on my experience.
 
Jansen clearly has the wins and accolades to make it into the Hall of Honor, but behind the scenes there was no one else on the team that was a harder worker than Jansen."
 

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Dave Henninger '05 – Baseball/Men's Basketball
 
- 2004 Conference Pitcher of the Year
- Four-time All-Conference – twice in baseball and men's basketball
- Baseball program record holder for win percentage (.818, 18-4), strikeouts per nine (10.8), and hits per nine (6.3)
- Career record of 18-4 with a 2.30 ERA with 225 strikeouts in 187.2 innings pitched
- One of 10 players in men's basketball program history with over 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds - 1,106 points and 683 rebounds

From Peter Gordino:
"Dave came to Messiah as a floppy haired central PA kid. He brought his athletic gifts and his social and relational talents. He's one of the most talented individuals that I've ever met! His athletic talents are apparent as soon as you see him move on the basketball court or the baseball field. He's tall, strong, and coordinated. He also has a tenacious internal drive which allowed him to maximize all of his physical gifts and to be a fierce competitor. Dave could push himself to physical limits everyday and he actually enjoyed it.  In the weight room, on the track, in practice and in games, Dave continually raised the bar. Status quo was never accepted. His drive was contagious and he drove his teammates to higher standards of achievement.
 
Above Dave's athletic talents are his social and relational gifts. He has a great capacity for loving others and he's a strong Christian Leader. These were constantly on display at Messiah and have remained with Dave today. He's a man of integrity, unwavering in his convictions and he genuinely loves others. His passion and drive inspires everyone around him. He brings positive energy to his home, his relationships, his community and his work. He's still one of the best athletes that you'll ever meet, participating in triathlons and other athletic competitions. He's also one of the best friends you could have and a person you want in your life. Dave truly represents what a Messiah athlete should be on and off the field."

From Rick VanPelt:
"Dave Henninger embraced our motto of "ferociously competitive and genuinely humble".  On the court, and on the ball field, he was as pure of a competitor as I have coached – his passion, drive to win was simply a result of his love of competition.  Off the court he was kind, compassionate and always went out of his way to befriend someone who needed a friend.
 
A simple example of his love of competition occurred his senior year when two games into the season he broke his hand during practice, he was going to be out the remainder of the first semester and was unsure if he could return after Christmas break.
 
If my memory is correct, the very next practice Dave completed over 1,500 crunches and ran more sprints on the side than anyone cared to count.  He was like Forest Gump- when he got tired of crunches he was sprinting, when he got tired of sprinting he did crunches.  He did not do this because I told him – he just needed a challenge, some way to compete.  He finished the practice with a smile on his face, no long face over the set back – he loved it!  That's the Dave Henninger that I will always remember and be thankful that I had a chance to be his coach!"
 

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Wendy Barrett Long '94 – Softball
 
From Amy Weaver:
"I had the privilege of not only coaching Wendy for a couple years, but I also playing with her for a year.  Wendy is one of the all-time greatest centerfielders that Messiah has ever had. She was a true leader on and off the field. Her knowledge of the game, athletic ability, and speed made her unstoppable.  She was willing to run into and through fences and took her eye off the ball.  She never wanted the spotlight on her, it was all about the team with Wendy.  Wendy was no-nonsense and I always appreciated that about her. She led the team vocally from the outfield, but it's more about what she did day in and day out silently at every practice and game.  She led with poise, commitment, and hard work.  One of her teammates, Dana Randall is quoted as saying, "Her work ethic allowed for nothing less than 100% from herself and her teammates. Playing side-by-side with her forced you to be a better player.  It was an honor to play with her for four years."  Wendy was one of the first All-Americans at Messiah and truly blazed a trail for herself, her teammates and future Messiah players and teams to come.  I want to thank her for setting the bar high and putting Messiah softball on the college softball map.  But I also want to thank her for leading with Christian commitment and character and always putting her team before herself."
 

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Jessica (Rhoads) Morret '12 – Softball
 
- 2010 First Team All-American
- Two-time First Team All-Region – 2009 and 2010
- Two-time Conference Pitcher of the Year – 2009 and 2010
- Three-time First Team All-Conference – 2009, 2010, and 2011
- Holds nearly every single season and career pitching record in program history
- Finished career with a 71-6 record, a 0.52 ERA, 895 strikeouts, 52 complete games, 34 shutouts, seven saves, and a .113 batting average against
- Member of the 2009 National Championship team – first title in program history

From Alex Quigley:
"During Jess's time at Messiah, she was one of the most dominate pitcher's in the country. Her many records and accomplishments here at Messiah and the NCAA record book speak for themselves.  She is very deserving to be honored tonight for those things. 

As one of her coaches, I had the privilege to have a front row seat to watch her on the field, and how she conducted herself off the field.  On the field she was one of the most determined and driven players I have ever coached.  Off the field she was a humble leader, always talking about and looking for ways to put her teammates above herself by constantly talking about their successes and accomplishments ahead of her own.

During her time here, she embodied the Messiah motto of "Pursuing Athletic Excellence - Developing Christian Character" by her uplifting spirit of putting others first."

From Amy Weaver:
"Jess is hands down the greatest pitcher of all time at Messiah University and one of the greatest of all time in Division III softball without question.  Jess led this team to a National Championship in 2009.  What most people don't know is that it was through great adversity.  Jess transferred from a Division I school b/c her father was diagnosed with cancer and didn't have long to live.  Jess wanted to return home to be with him during his last year.  He in turn wanted what was best for Jess and wanted her to play softball, and Messiah seemed perfect as she lived 5 min. away and she could play and be close to home.  Her father passed in winter before the softball season started.  Jess took some time off but wanted to play out the season for her dad.  She dedicated that season to him and went all out.  There were days of tears and holding it together on the mound but she always persevered through it for him.  There was a thing about the  hawks that used to fly around - she and our pitching coach would talk about how it was their fathers coming around to check in on them. That season hawks came around almost every day and defintiely at every game where she knew he was close.  When we played at the 2009 National championship game - of course a hawk flew in close and circled the stadium.  In between the 6^th and 7^th innings Jess walked out of the dugout into the back to go cry - it was overwhelming at the moment.  But she was able to get it together and go out and finish the 7^th inning as she had wanted to do.   As you all know we went on to win the 2009 National Championship game behind her, but I will never forget Jess perseverance, determination, trust in God and love of her dad and family.  If you know Jess today - you know that her family comes First and she has a wonderful beautiful family!  She is truly an amazing woman that we were blessed to know and have a part of our team in those years."
 

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Geoff Pezon '11 – Men's Soccer
 
- 2010 NCAA Division III National Player of the Year
- Two-time First Team All-American – 2009 and 2010
- 2009 Conference Player of the Year
- Only member of the Messiah men's soccer 40-40 club – 54 goals, 46 assists
- Finished career with the game-winning goal of the 2010 National Championship

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