’97 Men’s Lacrosse Team Inducted into NYIT Athletics Hall of Fame

Photo: The 1997 NYIT men's lacrosse team.

In February 1997, Jack Kaley, coach of the NYIT men’s lacrosse team, told The Campus Slate: “This year, we will prove that we are the best team in Division II.” His prediction at the start of the season was realized when the team won its first NCAA DII championship—the beginning of an 11-year run that resulted in three more national titles in 2003, 2005, and 2008.

The university celebrated the 20th anniversary of that historic season on July 10 at the 12th Athletics Outing and Hall of Fame Enshrinement Dinner, where the 1997 national championship team was inducted into the 14th class of the NYIT Athletics Hall of Fame. Christopher Briller (B.S. ’97, Baseball) and Rita Smith Hirschfield (M.S. ’83, Honorary Baseball) were also inducted.

NYIT alumnus and former baseball player, Christopher Briller, with his son, Braden.

The annual event was held at the Woodside Club in Muttontown and began with a golf event that included 31 foursomes. Among the VIPs in attendance was NYIT President Hank Foley, Ph.D., who stressed the importance of athletics at a university.

“As you’ve heard, I’ve been at some pretty good schools for athletics, and I know how important it is to a university, and how important it is to an alumni base, and how important it is to really getting the students fired up about their school,” Foley said. “So we’re going to work really hard to try to make athletics a part of the crown jewel, if you will, of New York Institute of Technology.”

NYIT alumni gathered for the 12th Athletics Outing and Hall of Fame Enshrinement Dinner at the Woodside Club in Muttontown.

About 300 guests gathered to celebrate NYIT Athletics and to reconnect with old friends and classmates.

“Being a part of a team is what I miss most about playing baseball,” said Briller. “You create a bond when you’re trying to achieve something great together. And it’s something very, very difficult to achieve outside of sports.”

Briller hit .408 during his senior year at NYIT in 1997 and went on to play three seasons of professional baseball for two independent leagues—the Frontier League and the Northern League. He then launched his own company, MerchantPro Express, a merchant services and cash advance provider that has grown to more than 500 employees.

In 1982, Rita Smith Hirschfield partnered with her husband and former NYIT baseball coach and inductee Bob Hirschfield to launch the New York Baseball Academy, a youth sports camp at NYIT. “It was a tremendous experience,” she said. “In those early years, we took chances.”

Rita Smith Hirschfield was inducted into the 14th class of the NYIT Athletics Hall of Fame. She is shown here with her husband, Bob HIrschfield.

There was a strong sense of pride and camaraderie that evening as many guests, most of whom were students during the 1990s, fondly looked back on their years at NYIT and reminisced about their time on and off the playing fields.

“I’d like our student-athletes to feel like they’re Division I student-athletes, and to really feel like we care about them—that what we’re doing matters and that they help to carry the banner of NYIT everywhere they go,” said Foley.