Chesapeake College takes 7 into Hall of Fame


WYE MILLS – Chesapeake College’s Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2007, inducted Thursday night during a dinner in the Caroline College Center, represents several distinct eras.

Former three-sport star Myrle Butler Yoash and coaches Alleen Berkey Hawkins and Dr. Maurice Hickey all started their association with Chesapeake College during the 1970s. Four-sport standout Jen Benson attended Chesapeake during the 1990s, while former All-Americans J.R. Dobson and Cyril Djoukeng are the first inductees to have played for the Skipjacks in the new millennium.

Djoukeng, meanwhile, also earned the distinction of being the first Skipjack to be inducted in his very first year of eligibility.

While acknowledging the group’s diversity, Chesapeake College President Stuart M. Bounds emphasized the inductees’ similarities.

"All of the inductees made numerous and important contributions to Chesapeake College, both within and outside of the Athletic Department," said Dr. Bounds. "And all of them have continued to make significant contributions to their communities since leaving Chesapeake, which makes us particularly pleased to welcome them into the Hall of Fame."

In addition to the six individuals inducted, the Dave Haslup/Lou Gehrig Foundation became the second organization to be inducted. The 4-year-old Hall of Fame now includes 13 student athletes, five coaches, two athletic department staff members, two organizations, one team, and one individual benefactor.

Each presenter, selected by the individuals being inducted, highlighted the achievements that earned the inductees their respective spots in the Hall of Fame.

Djoukeng was both a men’s basketball all-American and an academic All-American while attending Chesapeake College from 2002 to 2004. He was also the recipient of the 2004 John T. Harrison Award, the college’s highest academic honor. Djoukeng was also an NCAA Academic All-American at Nicholls State University in Louisiana.
Yoash played volleyball, basketball and tennis while being selected Chesapeake College Outstanding Female Athlete in 1976-1977. She went on to play volleyball at Tarkio College, where she was named to the Heart of America Athletic Conference all-conference team. Yoash has been employed by the Caroline County Board of Education since 1980 and was a 2002 nominee for Caroline County Teacher of the Year.
Benson – currently the lead personal trainer at Body Watts in Easton – played basketball, softball, soccer and tennis while attending Chesapeake from 1997 to 1999, and at one time held all of the school’s records for three-point shooting – most in a game, season, and career. She won a state women’s doubles title with Laura Harrison while playing for the college’s club tennis program.
Dobson, a baseball all-American in 2001, holds the school’s career records in wins, innings pitched, and strikeouts, and was among the national leaders in strikeouts (second in 2000) and earned-run average (fifth in 2001). He is currently a sheriff’s deputy with the Talbot County Sheriff’s Department.
Berkey Hawkins, who coached the 1981 Chesapeake College women’s softball team to a Region XX championship, has won more than 700 games during a coaching career that has included stops at Furman University, the University of Georgia, and her present position at Erskine College. She was two-time Southern Conference Coach of the Year while leading Furman to a pair of regular-season conference championships and two conference tournament crowns.
Dr. Hickey, currently president of Clinton (N.Y.) Community College, was three-time NJCAA Region XX All-Star men’s soccer coach and the 1986 Maryland JuCo Co-Ed Tennis Coach of the Year while leading the Skipjacks to that year’s club co-ed tennis title. A former Chesapeake College athletic director who eventually served as vice president for academic services, he also coached baseball for the Skipjacks.
The Dave Haslup/Lou Gehrig Foundation – started by former Chesapeake College student athlete Dave Haslup, who entered the Hall of Fame as an individual as part of the 2003 inaugural class – provides athletic scholarships that allow local student athletes to attend Chesapeake. Haslup was diagnosed in 2000 with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which is better known as "Lou Gehrig’s Disease" for the baseball star who was struck with the disease in the 1930s.
Photo caption: Chesapeake College President Stuart M. Bounds, fourth from right, poses with the Chesapeake College Athletic Hall of Fame’s Class of 2007 (from left): Dr. Maurice Hickey, J.R. Dobson, Myrle Butler Yoash, Liz and Dave Haslup of the Haslup/Gehrig Foundation, Cyril Djoukeng, Jen Benson, and Alleen Berkey Hawkins. (Photo by Gloria Faulkner)