June 27, 2000

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -Former University of Virginia Associate Athletic Media Relations Director Doyle Smith is one of 10 individuals selected to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Members of the 43rd class of inductees have contributed to the sport as players, coaches, officials and administrators.

Smith, who served at UVa from 1968 until his retirement last year, is one of the nation's foremost authorities on the sport as his name is synonymous with the game's history and record keeping.

His involvement with the sport began as a student at Johns Hopkins in the 1960s where he served as team manager and statistician. A 1966 Phi Beta Kappa graduate with a major in history, he continued to serve the Hopkins program as a graduate student for two more years before earning a master's degree in American History. He enrolled at UVa for graduate in the fall of 1968 and worked with the Cavalier program until his retirement.

In addition, Smith served as the information director compiling the weekly rankings and statistics for the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) from 1973-95. The USILA's annual media award is named in his honor. He has been named the USILA Man of the Year twice (1984 and 1993) and has received both the USILA's Service Award and the General Gelston Award from HERO'S, Inc. He served as the coordinator of official statistics for the semifinal and championship games of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament for many years, and was one of the first 10 individuals selected to the Virginia Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1995.

Smith's contributions to lacrosse, and college athletics in general, have garnered him many accolades. The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) gave him the prestigious Lifetime Membership Award for his many years of service in athletic publicity. Earlier this month the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association honored him with the VaSID Distinguished Service Award. He is also the only two-time recipient of the Bus Male Service Award for his untiring and devoted service to UVa athletics.

Joining Smith in the class of 2000 are: Michael A. Buzzell, Navy 1980, Ann O. Coakley, Boston Women's Lacrosse, Kevin A. Cook, Cornell 1984, Susan Delaney-Scheetz, West Chester 1969, Betsy Williams Dougherty, Penn State 1984, Janice Rensimer Kuklick, West Chester State, John Wesley Patterson, Springfield 1951, Lawrence J. Quinn, Johns Hopkins 1985, and Linda Swartz Roth, West Chester. The group includes the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame's youngest male (Quinn) and female (Dougherty) members. It also features three West Chester graduates (Delaney-Scheetz, Kuklick and Roth) and an inductee (Delaney-Scheetz) who coached one of the other inductees (Dougherty) at Penn State.

This class brings the total number of men and women inducted in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame to 273. Each inductee was selected from a pool of more than 200 nominees. Candidates are nominated through a questionnaire, filled out either by the nominee or someone on his or her behalf. The qualifications of the men's and women's nominating committees' top 30 choices are put to a national popular ballot and voted upon by a random selection of current hall of fame members, coaches, officials, reporters and board members. The votes are compiled by the nominating committees and are used as a guide in the selection of the top 10 candidates. The committees present a final slate of nominees to the US Lacrosse Board of Directors for approval at their meeting in June.

The 2000 class will be honored Oct. 27 at a formal induction ceremony and dinner at The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Md.