GRANVILLE, Ohio (August 19, 2022) – Denison University's Varsity D Association has announced its 2022 Hall of Fame inductees. This year's eight honorees will be recognized during the university's annual Big Red Weekend festivities on Friday, September 30, 2022. The inductees are Sarah Ash '09 (soccer), Kristin Cobb '11 (tennis), Cliff Comfort '96 (lacrosse), A.J. Jezierski '06 (baseball), Shaina Kaiser '11 (basketball), Katie Navarre '11 (cross country and track & field), Olivia Zaleski '10 (swimming), and Ron Witchey '63 (track & field and football).

Sarah Ash '09 was a four-year letter winner and two-time NSCAA first-team All-American (2007, 2008) in women's soccer. She also was a two-time NCSCAA Scholar-All-American (2007, 2008), a two-time NSCAA first-team All-Region pick (2007, 2008), a four-time All-NCAC player, and a two-time first-team All-NCAC (2007, 2008) selection. Ash was named a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American as a senior in 2008, and in 2007, she was both the NCAC Offensive Player of the Year and the NCAA Division III Ohio Player of the Year. She scored 24 goals and accumulated 21 assists in her 89 career matches. Ash was a member of four straight NCAA Tournament teams that posted a record of 60-20-9 (.724 winning percentage) from 2005 through 2008, and was a first-year member of Denison's 2005 NCAA Quarterfinal (Elite 8) team. Ash later earned a spot on the NCAC's 30th Anniversary All-Decade Team.

Kristin Cobb '11 was a four-year letter winner in women's tennis and is Denison's career wins leader in singles (79) and doubles (92). She was a two-time ITA All-American in singles (2008, 2011) and was a four-time ITA All-American in doubles (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011). In 2011, Cobb won the prestigious national ITA Arthur Ashe Jr. Award, which is presented to top collegiate players who have exhibited outstanding sportsmanship, leadership, academic, and co-curricular achievements. Also in 2011, she was the NCAC Player of the Year after earning the conference's Newcomer of the Year award in 2008. Cobb was named first-team All-NCAC in both singles and doubles during all four years of her career.

As a first-year player, Cobb and her doubles partner, Marta Drane, advanced to the 2008 NCAA Championship match in doubles before finishing as the national runners-up. Cobb then followed that up with NCAA Doubles Semifinals appearances in both 2009 and 2010. As a team, Denison advanced to the NCAA Tournament during each of Cobb's four years and went on to earn the Big Red's first NCAA semifinals appearance and subsequent third-place win in school history in 2008. DU then advanced to the national quarterfinals again in each of the next three seasons. Cobb has since been named to the NCAC's 30th Anniversary All-Decade Team in both singles and doubles.

Cliff Comfort '96 was a three-year letter winner, three-time USILA All-American, and three-time All-NCAC men's lacrosse player for Denison. He earned second-team All-American and first-team All-NCAC honors in 1996. He also was an honorable mention All-American and first-team All-NCAC selection in 1995, and he earned honorable mention recognition in both categories in 1994. Comfort scored 44 goals and added 35 assists in his career as a midfielder for the Big Red.

A.J. Jezierski '06 was a four-year letter winner and three-time All-NCAC performer on the Denison baseball team. As a senior in 2006, he was selected as a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American, a first-team ABCA All-Mideast Region player, and an All-NCAC first-teamer. He was also a second-team All-NCAC pick in 2005 after earning his first of two career first-team All-NCAC honors in 2004. A four-year starting catcher for the Big Red who played in 145 games (130 starts) in his career, Jezierski batted .364 with 161 hits, 31 doubles, five home runs, 84 runs batted in, and a .468 on-base percentage. During Jezierski's four years with the team, the Big Red baseball squad won 107 games and posted a .677 winning percentage. Jezierski won the 2006 Denison Student Athletic Advisory Council Standout Award and was subsequently named to the NCAC's 30th Anniversary All-Decade Team as Catcher of the Decade.

Shaina Kaiser '11 was a four-year letter winner in women's basketball. As a senior in 2011, she was an honorable mention member of the WBCA All-American team and a fourth-team D3hoops.com All-American. Kaiser is the only Denison women's basketball player to earn two NCAC Player of the Year honors (2009, 2011). She was also a three-time first-team All-NCAC selection (2009, 2010, 2011), a two-time NCAC Tournament MVP (2010, 2011), and a three-time member of the NCAC All-Tournament Team (2008, 2010, 2011).

Kaiser ranks third on Denison's all-time scoring list with 1,482 career points, and she became just the third Denison player to reach 1,000 career points as a junior. Her Big Red teams went 86-26 for a .768 winning percentage from 2008 to 2011. Kaiser led the 2010-11 team to a perfect 28-0 season and helped her squad advance to the NCAA Tournament in three of her four years at Denison. She scored a career-high 32 points twice (versus College of Wooster on 1/2/2009 and Carnegie Mellon University on 11/29/2009), which is tied for the fifth-most points in a single game in program history. She ranks fifth at Denison in both career rebounds (648) and games played (113). She also is sixth in career assists (296) and seventh in steals (163). During the 2008-09 season, Kaiser set the current Denison single-season record in 3-point field goal percentage after making 38 of her 79 attempts (48.1 percent). After graduation, Kaiser earned a spot on the NCAC's 30th Anniversary All-Decade Team.

Katie Navarre '11 was a four-year letter winner in both cross country and track & field. In cross country, she was a two-time All-American (2008, 2009), a three-time All-Region selection (2008, 2009, 2010), and a three-time All-NCAC performer (2008, 2009, 2010). In 2008, she finished in second place (first-team All-Conference) at the NCAC Championship (21:14), third at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional (22:01.39), and ninth at the NCAA Division III Championship (21:17.30). Her best season came in 2009 when she went on to become both the NCAC Runner of the Year and the Great Lakes Region Runner of the Year after winning the NCAC Championship (22:09.9) and the Regional Championship (21:23.09), all before placing sixth at the 2009 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship (21:57.1), marking the highest finish ever at the national meet by a Denison runner. Lastly, as a senior in 2010, Navarre placed eighth (second-team All-Conference) at the NCAC Championship (23:30.9) and was 28th at the Great Lakes Regional (22:47.3).

On the track, Navarre was a two-time outdoor All-American in 2009 after placing fifth in the 5,000 meters (17:23.76) and sixth in the 10,000 meters (36:16.97) at the national meet. She was the 2009 NCAC Outdoor Middle Distance/Distance MVP after winning both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Navarre graduated from Denison with four indoor and outdoor track & field school records and is currently the school record holder in both the 5,000 meters (17:05.70) and the 10,000 meters (35:16.91) for outdoor track & field.

A two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American (first-team in 2011 and second-team in 2010), Navarre was a recipient of the President's Medal, the highest honor bestowed upon a Denison student. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude with a 3.95 GPA. She was a winner of the exclusive NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and was an NCAA Woman of the Year finalist. She also received the Women's Enhancement Postgraduate Scholarship from the NCAA. Navarre was named to the NCAC's 30th Anniversary All-Decade Team in both cross country and track & field.

Olivia Zaleski '10 is a four-year letter winner in women's swimming and diving. She was an eight-time national champion (two individual and six relay – 100 back, 2009, 2010; 200 medley relay, 2008, 2009, 2010; 400 medley relay, 2009, 2010; 400 free relay, 2009). In addition to being tied for the most national titles in program history, Zaleski is the program's only 28-time All-American (12 individual and 16 relay – 50 free, 2007, 2008, 2009; 100 fly, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010; 100 free, 2007, 2008; 100 back, 2009, 2010; 200 back, 2010; 200 free relay, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010; 400 free relay, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010; 200 medley relay, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010; 400 medley relay, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010), which is the maximum number of All-American honors any collegiate swimmer can earn.

At the conference level, Zaleski was a three-time NCAC Swimmer of the Year (2008, 2009, 2010) and was a 19-time NCAC event champion (seven individual and 12 relay), which was a program record at the time and is now the second-most in program history. She remains the Denison record holder in the 100 back (54.80) and the 100 fly (54.44), both of which have stood since 2009. At one point, she held NCAC records in the 50 free, 100 free, 100 back, and 200 medley relay. In 2008, Zaleski was named the National Swimmer of the Week and was featured in Sports Illustrated Faces in the Crowd.

Ron Witchey '63 was a four-year letter winner in both track & field and football at Denison. Named the Team MVP of the Denison track team in 1962 and 1963 during his last two years, Witchey became Denison's first Livingston Relays Champion in the 55 high hurdles (6.8 seconds), which was a Denison record. Witchey was a three-time OAC Indoor Champion. In indoor track & field, he won the 55 low hurdles and 55 high hurdles in 1963, was second in the 55 high hurdles and third in the 55 low hurdles in 1962, and won the 55 high hurdles and was second in the 55 low hurdles in 1961. In outdoor track & field, he was second in the 120 high hurdles and third in the 200 low hurdles in 1963, and third in the 120 high hurdles in 1962. As a team, Denison placed eighth at the outdoor conference championship and fifth in indoor in 1962 and then finished sixth in outdoor and third in indoor in 1963.

On the football field, Witchey played the positions of running back, wingback, and punter. He led the team with 17 receptions for 200 yards as a senior in 1962. In 1961, he had an 85-yard touchdown run against the College of Wooster. As a punter, he punted 142 times for 5,028 yards (35.4 yards per punt) and ranks third all-time in career punting at Denison.