Madison, NJ - The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) hosted the annual MAC Awards Lunch on Tuesday, May 1, while simultaneously “kicking off” the celebration of the MAC 100—a year-long tribute to the 100
th year of the MAC to be held in 2012-13. The events were held on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham in Madison, N.J.
Among the awards presented, which included
recognitions made for Messiah's Jan Trapp, Kelsey Gorman, and Rachel Dirksen, was the announcement of the inaugural class of the MAC Hall of Fame. One well-known Falcon was included: former men's soccer coach Dave Brandt.
The MAC Hall of Fame, an initiative spurred by the MAC 100 celebration, was created to honor and recognize student-athletes, coaches, administration, faculty, and/or staff members from the MAC who have demonstrated success in athletics, academics, and the community. A total of 36 individuals (22 student-athletes and 17 staff and/or administrative members) were inducted into the inaugural class.
Brandt is a Messiah College Athletics legend due mainly to his historic success as the Falcons' men's soccer coach for 12 seasons. Also a former standout for the Falcons' soccer team, Brandt is arguably one of the most accomplished coaches of any sport in NCAA history. His teams won six NCAA Division III National Championships and eight Commonwealth Conference Championships. The Falcons made eight trips to the NCAA Division III Final Four during his tenure, and he was four-time NSCAA National Coach of the Year and six-time Commonwealth Conference Coach of the Year.
Brandt was honored by the Falcons in February of this year with an induction into the Messiah College Athletic Hall of Honor.
Click here to see the news release from that ceremony.
