Mount St. Mary's University has inducted five new members into the Mount St. Mary's Sports Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees included Susan A. Janowiak, C’81; Susie Rowlyk, C’95; Fran Smith, C’56; James Stevenson, C’95 and Michael Watson, C’95.

Susan Janowiak, C’81 excelled in both basketball and track & field as a student athlete at the Mount. A forward on the women’s basketball team from 1978 – 1981, Janowiak made 513 rebounds and scored more than 800 points during her career and, in 1981, was the fifth all-time scorer in Mount history. She also competed during the women’s track and field program inaugural years and is still listed in the Mount’s all-time rankings in the high jump, long jump, shot and javelin.  Janowiak is still the 5th all time best in the high jump with a jump of 5’6”.  Described as the “Ironwoman of Mount Athletics,” always giving 110% to both her athletic and academic career, she was awarded the Monsignor Sheridan Award in 1981 for outstanding student athlete.

Susie Rowlyk, C’95 made her mark as one of the best players in Mount women’s basketball history. Named the Northeast Conference Player of the Year in both 1993-94 and 1994-95, Rowlyk also earned a NEC tournament MVP nod in 1993-94. She was named to the All-NEC squad twice; the All-Rookie team as a freshman; and a three-time member of NEC all-tournament teams. In 2000, she was one of five former Northeast Conference players selected to the NEC’s 20th Anniversary team. During her Mount career, the team’s overall record was 93-21, with a Northeast Conference record of 64 wins and 6 losses from 1991-95. The women’s basketball team also won three Northeast Conference championships and earned two trips to the NCAA tournament during this time. An outstanding scholar as well as athlete, Rowlyk was a two-time NEC Scholar Athlete award winner, the recipient of the Mount’s Monsignor Sheridan Award for outstanding student athlete, and received an NCAA Post-graduate scholarship in 1995.

Rowlyk holds the Mount program record for made free throws (425) and attempted free throws (616), while ranking sixth in points (1,502), seventh in rebounds (766) and 10th in made field goals (538).

Fran Smith,C’56  dominated the Mount basketball back court for four years.  A native of New Jersey, Smith was a part of Coach Phelan’s first championship team, and played ball for the Mount for four years, serving  as team captain his junior and senior year. Known for stepping up in the big games, he was one of the major reasons the Mountaineers won three consecutive Mason Dixon Conference Championships. Smith was named to the All Tournament team his senior year. He averaged over 10 points per game as sixth man and often drew the assignment of guarding one of the opposition’s top scorers.  As a junior, he scored 33 points against the Quantico Marines.  Pridwin, the Mount year book described him as an inspired player who often put on an impressive defensive show.  His outstanding credentials as a student athlete remain a source of pride to the Mount and its athletic program.  He finished his athletic career at the Mount by being named the “Outstanding Senior Athlete” by the Monogram Club in 1956.   

James Stevenson,C’95, a NCAA Division I All-American decathlete, was the 1992 World Junior and British Olympic Trial / United Kingdom Championship silver medalist.  Words like “first place” and “record breaking” dominate any account of Stevenson’s track career.  He placed first in the pentathlon at his first Mount competition, the George Mason Father Diamond Invitational. Stevenson also placed first in the 400 meter at the NEC Indoor Championships, and was a member of the first place 4 x 400 relay team—all during his freshman year. Also of note is his third place overall finish  in the 1993 IC4A Championship, setting the collegiate record in the 1,000 meter and the world best for the pentathlon.  He placed fourth in the decathlon at the 1993 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, earning All American Status.  Stevenson also played soccer and in 1993 was named to the All Tournament team at the Holiday Inn Soccer Classic, a tournament the  Mount won. He received the  Mount’s Monsignor Sheridan Award for outstanding student athlete in 1995.

Michael Watson, C’95, completed his Mount basketball career ranked 21st in all-time points and 2nd in blocked shots.  In 1995, he earned the Mount career record for field goal percent with 58.8.  Watson demonstrated significant leadership on the Mount’s 1994 – 1995 NEC Championship team and contributed to the Mount’s berth in the NCAA Division I Tournament, earning All-Conference and All NEC Second team honors. The only non-starter in the conference to average double-figure points as a sophomore, Watson came off the bench his junior year to score over 14 points per game.  The 1994 -1995 men’s basketball season is now described as a turning point in Mount basketball history. Watson made steady and spectacular contributions to the success of the team. 

Established in 1971 and sponsored by the National Alumni Association, the Mount St. Mary's Sports Hall of Fame acknowledges past athletes who "have exhibited athletic prowess of an outstanding nature in an intercollegiate sport." Inductees over the past years have included former members of the basketball, football, baseball, cross country, boxing, soccer, track, tennis, lacrosse, decathlon, field hockey, softball, and golf teams, as well as coaches and individuals who have contributed to the Mount's athletic program.

The late Monsignor John L. Sheridan, former president of the Mount, had the distinction of being the first athlete elected to membership into the Hall of Fame. A versatile athlete, Monsignor Sheridan was captain of the Mount basketball team and an all-Maryland football player. He graduated from the College in 1917 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1921.