Rollins College names seven inductees to sports hall of fame

The Rollins College Athletic Department announces its Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2017, featuring seven of the best student-athletes in the Tars’ 122-years of tradition.

Tasi Purcell Batista ’07 (women’s tennis), Jennifer Beames Refrigeri ’03 (women’s golf), Vanessa Caddick ’04 (women’s tennis), Carlos Custodio ’04 ’07 MBA (men’s tennis), Joslyn Giles ’06 (women’s basketball) and Larissa McDonough Schmidt ’07 (women’s basketball) will each be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Professional golfer Rob Oppenheim ’02 will be honored with the Athletic Alumni Achievement Award as part of the ceremony.

The 2017 Rollins Sports Hall of Fame ceremony will take place Thursday, March 30, at 6:30 p.m. inside the Alfond Inn Ballroom. The event is set to kick off the full slate of events surrounding Rollins Alumni Weekend 2017.

Tasi Purcell Batista is one of the most decorated players in Rollins women’s tennis history. The Orlando native was a three-time ITA All-America selection and was named to the All-Sunshine State Conference teams all four years of her career. She was named the SSC Freshman Player of the Year to start her career and ended as the SSC Player of the Year her senior season. The ITA named her the 2007 National Senior Player of the Year. In 2006, Batista was the national recipient for the Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship, one of the top honors a collegiate tennis player can receive.

Jennifer Beames Refrigeri was a member of the Rollins women’s golf team in an era that serves as the foundation for its current run of unprecedented success and winning tradition. She is one of only a handful of college golfers to be named All-America after each of her four seasons. As a freshman, she earned SSC Player and Freshman of the Year honors as well as both WGCA National Player and Freshman of the Year awards, leading the Tars to a runner-up finish at the National Championship. She again led the Tars to second place finish at the Division II National Championship as a sophomore. Beames capped off her senior campaign by leading the Tars to the 2003 NCAA Division II National Championship and won SSC Golfer of the Year honors for the second time in her career.

Vanessa Caddick is a three-time ITA All-America selection and led Rollins to four-straight NCAA Division II South Region Tournament appearances. She finished her senior season as the fourth-ranked singles and doubles (with Tricia Gehret) in the nation and was named the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year. As a junior, Caddick completed the year ranked ninth nationally in singles and, along with Carla Prieto, eighth in doubles. She enjoyed a standout sophomore season and was ranked 14th in Division II singles. In addition to her national accolades, Caddick was a four-time First Team All-Sunshine State Conference honoree.

Carlos Custodio compiled a career 52-23 singles record and 6-19 doubles mark during his illustrious college career. He produced three ITA All-America seasons and was named All-Sunshine State Conference three times. In 2004, he finished the year as the second-ranked singles player in the nation and joined Mark Thompson to make up the third-ranked doubles team in Division II. Custodio was named the SSC Player of the Year that season. He finished his sophomore campaign sixth in the singles rankings and, again with Thompson, ranked sixth in doubles. He made an immediate splash in his first year with the Tars, earning the No. 6 national singles ranking and teaming with Matt Umbers to rank ninth in doubles.

Joslyn Giles played just three years with the Tars, but made an indelible mark on the record book. Her senior year was one of the best in Rollins history as she was named the 2006 Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year, First Team All-South Region and Honorable Mention Kodak All-America. Giles led Rollins to what is still the only undefeated regular season in SSC men’s and women’s basketball history. She started all but three games during her career and still ranks 19th all-time in scoring with 1,084 points, 14th in rebounds, seventh in blocks and seventh in average minutes per game. Her 212 free throws attempted in 2006 stands as a program record.

Larissa McDonough Schmidt was a four-year letter winner and led the Tars to a 102-23 record during her career. Rollins earned four NCAA South Region Tournament bids, won four Sunshine State Conference championships, two SSC Tournament titles and posted the only unbeaten regular season in conference history during Schmidt’s career. She was named 2007 Kodak and WBCA All-America, First Team All-South Region and First Team All-Sunshine State Conference. She also First Team All-SSC as a junior and Second Team as a sophomore. Schmidt ranks 11th all-time in program history in both points (1,243) and rebounds while sitting 10th with 72 career blocks.

Rob Oppenheim was a three-time First Team All-America selection and led the Tars to the 2002 NCAA Division II National Championship, rolling in a birdie on the final hole to beat Cal-State Stanislaus by one stroke. He was a four-time First Team All-Sunshine State Conference selection, winning the 1999 Freshman of the Year and 2002 Player of the Year awards. He then went onto the professional ranks, posting 11 top-10 finishes and one victory on the WEB.com Tour. In 2016, he earned his PGA Tour card, playing in 21 events highlighted by a 10th place finish at the Quicken Loans National.