The Liberty League is celebrating its 25th anniversary during the 2019-2020 academic year. Originally founded as the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) in 1995, the conference was renamed the Liberty League during the summer of 2004. Each Thursday throughout the year, the Liberty League will be celebrating its silver anniversary by recognizing outstanding teams and individuals from its rich 25-year history.
In an era where young athletes are choosing to specialize in one sport, it is becoming increasingly rare to find an athlete excelling in two sports at the collegiate level. Three sports? That’s nearly unheard of.
The Eisenhut siblings, from Mohawk, New York – approximately an hour west of Schenectady – not only competed in multiple sports, but excelled at the highest levels in the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (now Liberty League) and Division III. Meredith Eisenhut, a 2002 graduate of St. Lawrence University, and Erika, a 2006 graduate of Union College, both participated in soccer, basketball and softball at their respective institutions. Meredith was inducted into the St. Lawrence Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012 while Erika joined the Union Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017. Sandwiched between the two sisters was Cliff, a 2004 Union graduate and a standout two-sport athlete in football and baseball. One of the top placekickers in Union football history, Cliff was an All-American on the gridiron.
One of the outstanding woman athletes in St. Lawrence history, Meredith still holds career scoring records in soccer and basketball and has the three best single-season batting averages and the career batting average lead in softball. She was a five-time UCAA Player of the Year in three sports and was the 2002 NCAA Division III Player of the Year and a first-team All-America in women's basketball. She holds or shares a total of 14 career records, 10 season records and five game records among her three sports. She was a four-time all-league selection in her four years of basketball and softball and was also all-conference in each of her four years of soccer. She earned Regional All-America honors three times in soccer, twice in softball and first team national All-America in women's basketball. She was UCAA Player of the Year in soccer, basketball and softball in the 2000-01 season.
Meredith finished her soccer career with a record 42 goals, 95 points and 12 game-winning goals. She is the all-time women's basketball scoring leader with 1,456 points and holds the career records for assists, steals and free throws and had a career batting average of over .500 in softball with a single season best of .561 in 2000. Also an outstanding student, she was ECAC-Robbins Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2002, the first St. Lawrence athlete to earn that award, the New York State Senior Scholar-Athlete in 2002, all-academic in all three of her sports.
More than their remarkable athletic accomplishments, their coaches remember the Eisenhuts for being great teammates and for the intangibles they brought to their programs.
“Obviously (Meredith’s) accolades speak for themselves,” said St. Lawrence associate athletic director Fran Grembowicz, who coached the Saints softball team from 1999 through 2012. “She was UCAA Player of the Year in all three sports in the same year, she was WBCA Division III Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, she was not only the St. Lawrence Senior Athlete but also the Scholar-Athlete Award Winner, she was a Phi Beta Kappa.
“And then, speaking of her other attributes,” Grembowicz added, “Meredith was a great teammate and a great leader, and she did that both verbally and as a role model as well. But she had a great sense of being serious, but being able to balance the fun. She had this incredible ability to lighten the mood when things got off the rails a little bit, which for her and the team seemed to bring everything together. It was that little giggle – she’d say something funny and everybody would calm down and put things back together.
“It was an amazing pleasure to coach her. I can’t imagine seeing another athlete like her in the future. I certainly hope that St. Lawrence is fortunate enough to be able to have another three-sport athlete like her. Her character, her drive, her personality, her athleticism and on top of all she was Phi Beta Kappa and just an incredibly wonderful person.”
Erika started in seven NCAA Championships combined in her three sports. The cumulative record of her 12 teams she played for was 333-53-6. On the basketball court, Eisenhut was the first Kodak/WBCA First Team All-American in Dutchwomen basketball history and an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American. She was a Josten's Trophy Finalist, the Liberty League Player of the Year and the D3Hoops.com All-East Player of the Year. She is third all-time in scoring with 1,328 points, and the all-time leader in four career categories. She also ranks second in career steals in softball.
Erika was a CoSIDA Academic All-American in all three sports in her senior season of 2005-06, including First Team in soccer, the only student-athlete ever at Union to receive that honor in three sports. Also a key contributor to the 2017 Team of Distinction inductee 2003 softball squad, Eisenhut was a Woody Hayes Division III National Scholar Athlete Award recipient in her final season. She was the ECAC Robbins Scholar Athlete in 2005 and 2006 and the NYSWCAA Scholar Athlete in 2006 and also received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and was an NCAA Woman of the Year Finalist.
“I was fortunate to coach Erika Eisenhut for four years,” said Union women’s basketball coach Mary Ellen Burt, who recently completed her 25th season as the college’s women’s basketball coach. “Erika transformed Union Women's Athletics into regional and national prominence with her athletic abilities and her competitive instincts in soccer, basketball and softball. While I’m sure you can read about all her accolades as an athlete, she was also an outstanding student majoring in Math and maintained a 3.8 GPA.
“But perhaps most important to her was being an outstanding teammate and friend,” Burt added. “She not only modeled the way with her outstanding work ethic, but she was a compelled athlete that reached out to help her teammates to get better as well. I consider myself extremely lucky and blessed to have had the opportunity to coach a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ player like Erika!”
While Meredith and Erika were starters in three sports over the course of their careers, Cliff joined a strong Union football team and waited for his opportunity behind one of the top placekickers in program history. When he got his opportunity as a junior, he didn’t disappoint. Sixteen years after his graduation, he currently ranks fourth in Dutchmen history with 27 career field goals while his single-season totals of 16 in 2003 and 11 in 2002 still rank as the second- and seventh-best totals in school history. During his senior season in the fall of 2003, Cliff connected on 16 of 21 field goal attempts and 18 of 19 point-after attempts to lead the Dutchmen in scoring for the second consecutive season. He was six of eight in field goals of 40 yards or longer, converting twice each at distances of 42 and 43 yards. He was named an AFCA, D3football.com and AP All-American and the UCAA Special Teams Player of the Year. Also an outstanding student, Cliff earned a spot on the UCAA All-Academic Team as a political science major.
While Cliff’s coaches have since departed Union, long-time assistant football coach and head baseball coach Gary Reynolds described Cliff in much the same way in a
2003 profile in the Union College News Archives:
“Cliff has made himself into a premier Division III placekicker,” said Reynolds. “We have had three or four quality kickers during my stay here at Union that have exceeded the norm at our level. Cliff is one of these kickers. Just like he had to replace big shoes, so will the next Union placekicker.” Cliff has impressed Reynolds on the baseball field as well – only more as a person than as a player. “Cliff has not had the impact as a position player in baseball that he has had in football,” Reynolds states. “However, as a person and a team member, he will take a personality from baseball that will be difficult to replace.”
25th Anniversary Spotlight Series:
10/24/2019 - 1999 St. Lawrence University Men's Soccer
10/31/2019 - Sara Artus, Clarkson University, Volleyball (2008-2011)
11/7/2019 - Ali Marpet, Hobart College, Football (2011-2015)
11/14/2019 - 1997 William Smith College Field Hockey
11/21/2019 - Grant O'Connor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Cross Country/Track & Field (2015-2019)
11/28/2019 - Andrew Franks, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Football (2011-2015)
12/5/2019 - 2013 William Smith College Women's Soccer
12/12/2019 - John Coleman, Clarkson University, Basketball and Baseball (2011-2015)
12/19/2019 - Nickie Griesemer, Ithaca College, Swimming & Diving (2013-2018)
1/2/2020 - Kelly Donnelly, Skidmore College, Women's Basketball (2014-2018)
1/9/2020 - Richie Bonney, Hobart College, Men's Basketball (2010-2014)
1/16/2020 - Taryn Cordani, Ithaca College, Cross Country/Track & Field (2014-2018)
1/30/2020 - Amr Khalifa, St. Lawrence University, Men's Squash (2012-2016)
2/6/2020 - Cydni Matsuoka, Vassar College, Women's Basketball (2010-2014)
2/13/2020 - Edvinas Rupkus, Skidmore College, Men's Basketball (2015-2019)
2/20/2020 - Kevin Makarowski, Union College, Men's Swimming & Diving (1993-1997)
2/27/2020 - Kyle Bartlett, University of Rochester, Women's Track & Field (2015-2019)
4/9/2020 - Heather Ingraham, Vassar College, Women's Track & Field (2012-2015)
4/16/2020 - Stephen Goodridge, University of Rochester, Men's Golf (2004-2008)
4/23/2020 - 1998 Skidmore College Women's Tennis