Pitt Varsity Letter Club Honors Eight Former Pitt Letterwinners

PITTSBURGH - The University of Pittsburgh Varsity Letter Club honored a notable group of eight former Pitt letterwinners Friday, Oct. 13 at the 57^th Annual VLC Awards Dinner at the Petersen Events Center.

The 2017 Awardees of Distinction are Laura Barber Getchell (Women's Swimming & Diving), Charles Gennaula (Men's Track & Field), Don Hahnfeldt (Men's Swimming & Diving), Paul Killian (Football), Rebecca Maziarz (Women's Basketball), John Morahan (Men's Soccer), Calvin Sheffield (Men's Basketball) and Carl Wooten (Men's Track & Field).

To be eligible, a nominee must have earned a varsity letter in intercollegiate athletics from the University 25 or more years ago.

Since 1961, the Pitt Varsity Letter Club has honored members who have distinguished themselves in their profession or community and who, by their accomplishments, have enhanced the value of the intercollegiate athletics programs at the University of Pittsburgh.

Laura Barber Getchell l Women's Swimming & Diving l Class of 1985

Four-time NCAA qualifier in the backstroke
Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in information science
Participated in the 1977, 1981 and 1985 Deaf Olympics … won 14 golds, two silvers and two bronze medals
Worked for Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford, Conn., before becoming a teacher … currently teaching fifth grade at The Reading Edge Academy in Debary, Fla.

Charles Gennaula l Men's Track & Field l Class of 1987 l Class of 1991

Competed on the track and field team in the hammer throw and 35-lb. weight toss earning Big East All-Academic Team honors as a senior
Graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry in 1987 … was a Carson Graduate Fellowship award winner
Continued his education at Pitt earning a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1991
Completed his medical residency in neurology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center before establishing the Western PA Neurology, PC
Currently the chief of neurology at the Jefferson Regional Medical Center and the Monongahela Valley Hospital

Don Hahnfeldt l Men's Swimming & Diving l Class of 1966

Co-captain of the Pitt swimming & diving team, while competing in ECAC and NCAA events
Entered U.S. Navy submarine service during the Vietnam War, rising to rank of captain over a 32-year career … commanded two nuclear subs and Commodore of Pacific strategic subs … distinguished four times with the Navy's highest peace-time award, the Legion of Merit, plus seven battle-efficiency E's and multiple Best in Fleet awards
Went on to a distinguished political career, currently serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives
Also involved in a solving a decades-long problem of nuclear waste containment, working with the Ukraine Shelter Project and encapsulating the most radioactive fuel-containing mass under failed reactor Number 4 at Chernobyl

Paul Killian l Football l Class of 1968

Four-year letterwinner on the football team, leading the team in tackles and interceptions as a senior
Graduated cum laude in 1968 and entered Pitt Medical School, where he was awarded the Owens Fellowship
Returned to Pittsburgh in 1980 and established Arthritis and Rheumatic Disease Associates, the largest private practice in Pittsburgh dedicated to the treatment of arthritis
Career included appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Pitt and at Temple, Clinical Instructor of Medicine with Georgetown and Chief of Rheumatology at Western Pa. hospital
Remains a board member of the arthritis foundation

Rebecca Maziarz l Women's Basketball l Class of 1985

Four-year letterwinner helping the Panthers to the Big East regular season championship as a junior
Graduated from Pitt with a Bachelor of Science degree in health information management in 1985 … her senior project was recognized as the best oral and written senior project
Worked in the health care field as director of medical information management in West Virgina and Pennsylvania from 1985-2001
Received her J.D. from Duquesne School of Law in 2001 where she was a member of the Appellate Moot Court Honor Society
Currently a shareholder of Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote, P.C. as well as an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences teaching Health Care Law … also an emeritus member of the Board of Directors for HEARTH

John Morahan l Men's Soccer l Class of 1976 l Class of 1986

Recruited by Pitt as a soccer walk-on after competing at Mt. Lebanon and with the Beadling club program
Graduated magna cum laude in 1976 before going on to earn an MPA from Penn State in 1979 and a master's in Health Administration from Pitt's Graduate School of Public Health in 1986
Career began in managed care development before becoming part of senior management with UHCP, now known as UPMC
Currently oversees the city of Reading's largest outpatient facility, which is described as a model of inner city patient care
A Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), he also has served in board officer roles for the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Catholic Health Association, and the American Hospital Association's Regional Policy Board.

Calvin Sheffield l Men's Basketball l Class of 1964

The second African-American player to receive a full scholarship in program history
Led the team in scoring as a sophomore (18.5 ppg. – 1961-62) and as a senior (16.3 ppg. – 1963-64)
Reached the 1,000-point plateau in 64 games – tied for the fifth-fastest mark in program history
Served as head basketball coach at CCAC South Campus from 1967-70 before going on to a 43-year career as a high school and college basketball referee
Graduated magna cum laude from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science in 1967 … opened the Calvin L. Sheffield Funeral Home in the Manchester neighborhood of Pittsburgh in 1977
Was elected the first African-American president of the Allegheny County FDA in 1993

Carl Wooten l Men's Track & Field l Class of 1969

Two-year letterwinner in sprints and high jump … team captain and student liaison for Coach Jim Banner's recruiting efforts in 1969
Graduated with a B.A. in history … returned to school to earn an executive MBA from Fairleigh Dickenson in 1981
Joined the Wall Street Journal's advertising sales staff – only the second minority member to work in the department – in 1971 … moved on to the Philadelphia office to assume responsibility of sales in Delaware, southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania
Returned to New York on a senior level assignment responsible for northern New Jersey and Fortune 500 companies in New York … his assignment became the WSJ's second-largest advertising revenue producer
Career with the WSJ journal continued through 1995 when he became associate publisher of The Atlanta Business Chronicle … became ACBJ's new product development executive in 1998

University of Pittsburgh Athletics

Pitt Varsity Letter Club Honors Eight Former Pitt Letterwinners

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