CLEVELAND, Ohio – The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) announced the 2018 Hall of Fame class. Included in this year's list of inductees is former West Chester University director of athletics, Dr. Edward M. Matejkovic.
The list of inductees includes:
Warner Alford, University of Mississippi;
Ron Case, Rowan College at Gloucester County;
Deborah Chin, University of New Haven;
Ed Farrington, Western Connecticut State University;
Mike Jacobsen, Utah Valley University;
Ed Matejkovic, West Chester University;
Steve McCarty, Stephen F. Austin State University and
Brian Quinn, Cal State Fullerton.
The honorees will receive their awards on Saturday, June 30 at NACDA's 53rd Annual Convention at the Learfield Directors' Cup Luncheon, located at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
Matejkovic, the longest tenured AD in West Chester University history, served for 22 years as the director of athletics, building the Golden Rams' program into one of the most successful in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), as well as the NCAA Atlantic Region. He spent 47 years overall as an educator.
West Chester University's athletics program won three Eugene F. Dixon Trophy titles, handed out to the top overall athletics program in the PSAC, while earning six national championships, 24 NCAA regional crowns, and an astounding 63 PSAC titles over Matejkovic's 22-year reign. Add to that 27 more PSAC Eastern Division crowns, five conference titles in women's rugby's 13-year history and a pair of Atlantic 10 Field Hockey regular-season titles and an ECAC Division II Men's Lacrosse championship, and one can see why the trophy cases on South Campus are crowded with hardware.
West Chester's athletics program took home at least one conference title in each of Matejkovic's 22 years, including back-to-back seasons with five PSAC crowns (2006-07 and 2007-08 campaigns) that also contained a national championship (women's lacrosse in 2008).
However, Matejkovic's more than two decades as AD will also be remembered for the student-athlete's success in the classroom. West Chester University's student-athletes continually posted a cumulative grade-point average higher than that of WCU's student body. Of the nearly 575 student-athletes at West Chester University, more than 350 made the AD Academic Honor Roll each semester dating back to 2010.
Matejkovic spearheaded a facility upgrade movement at the university that has resulted in the construction of Vonnie Gros Field with new lighting and bleachers, along with the installation of Hockey Gold surface by FieldTurf – the first such installation of the state-of-the-art elliptical fiber product in North America.
