The Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame Class of
2011.
BOSTON -- Former Harvard standouts Gregory
Chang '96, Kate Felsen DiPietro '88, Michael Eckert
'96, Amy Reinhard '96 and Vanya Desai '93 were
inducted into the Varsity Club Hall of Fame May 6.
The 45th Annual Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame induction
ceremony was held at the Harvard Club of Boston, and Mike Giardi
'94 served as master of ceremonies.
Chang, an All-American and All-Ivy League fencer in the
men's foil, was an NCAA finalist in 1996 and competed with
the U.S. national team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens,
becoming the first Harvard fencer to represent the United State
since John G. Hurd '34 in 1936. A two-time All-Ivy and
All-America choice, Chang was the recipient of the George Breed
Award, which goes to the fencer who has contributed the most to the
team. Chang garnered Academic All-Ivy and GTE/Verizon-CoSIDA
Academic All-America nods and remained in Boston after graduation,
attending Harvard Medical School.
A four-time Major H recipient (1985-88), Felsen helped lead the
Crimson women's lacrosse team to three Ivy League titles and
a trip to the NCAA tournament semifinals, the farthest the team had
ever gone to that point in program history. She became the eighth
Harvard women's lacrosse player to earn Ivy League Player of
the Year honors (1988) and earned all-region and All-Ivy first-team
accolades that season.
A four-time All-Ivy recipient, Felsen led the Crimson in 1987 with
31 goals and 17 assists and was also a member of the U.S. national
lacrosse squad. She completed her Harvard career with 122 goals,
good for sixth in program history, and currently ranks fourth in
career assists (53) and fifth in career points (175). In addition
to her success in lacrosse, she also was a four-year member of the
Harvard field hockey team and served as team captain during her
senior year.
Eckert, a captain of the 1996 Harvard men's lacrosse team,
guided the Crimson to one of its best finishes in program history
that spring. A four-year letterwinner, Eckert was tabbed Ivy
Co-Player of the Year and was named to the All-Ivy first team while
amassing 47 assists and 72 points. He earned a spot on the United
States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-America
second team in 1996 after receiving All-America honorable mention
as a junior in 1995.
Eckert received All-Ivy accolades all four years and was recognized
on the All-New England team in three separate seasons. He was also
honored as the All-New England Player of the Year in 1996. Several
of Eckert's records with the Crimson still stand, as he ranks
fifth in assists (152) and points (243) in program history. In
addition, his 12 points against Penn in 1995 is a Harvard
single-game record. During his senior season, Eckert helped the
Crimson to the NCAA quarterfinals, beating Hofstra, 15-12, in the
first round, as the Crimson finished 12-3 overall and 5-1 in the
Ivy League.
Harvard's first softball player to be inducted into the Hall
of Fame, Reinhard was a four-year starter at shortstop. A four-time
All-Ivy selection, including two first-team nods in 1995 and 1996,
she set a single-season record in hits (53) and stolen bases (15)
in 1994. In the following spring, Reinhard led the Ivy League with
25 stolen bases and garnered three Ivy Player of the Week honors
throughout the year.
Reinhard completed her softball career in 1996 as the
school's all-time leader in hits (180), runs (115), RBIs (70)
and stolen bases (56). She still ranks in the top ten of thirteen
different offensive categories including batting average, slugging
percentage, on base percentage, runs scored, hits and RBIs. She was
nominated for 1996 NCAA Woman of the Year and was awarded an NCA
postgraduate scholarship. She earned regional all-academic honors
in 1995 and was named to the All-America third team in the same
year. Reinhard also served as a guard on Harvard's first NCAA
tournament women's basketball team.
The WISA individual national champion in 1993, Desai helped anchor
one of the most successful college squash teams in the nation
during her time in Cambridge. She became Harvard's sixth
female individual national champion and the last All-American in
“hardball” squash. A three-time All-American, Desai
also garnered three All-Ivy honors and was the Ancient Eight Player
of the Year in 1993. Desai was tabbed to the Harvard University
Women's Silver Anniversary Team and helped the Crimson to two
Ivy League titles and two WISA team championships in 1992 and 1993.
Harvard also claimed the Howe Cup national championship in her
final year with the program. Harvard won 96 of 99 matches that
season, as the Crimson finished the year undefeated as a team.
Desai did not drop a single match, winning all of her games through
the individual national championship bracket as well.
The Harvard Varsity Club has been instrumental to the success of
Harvard Athletics since it was founded in 1886. The Varsity Club
preserves the traditions, fosters the ideals, and advances the
interests of Harvard Athletics through a wide range of activities
for our 20,000+ members. The selection and induction of
Harvard's finest athletes into the prestigious Hall of Fame
is one example of the many functions provided by the Varsity
Club.