Florida Southern's Smeltzly, Rollins’ Parker Nominated for NCAA Division II Gold Award
MELBOURNE, Fla. - Florida Southern College's Hal Smeltzly and Rollins College's Pennie Parker have been nominated for the 2023 NCAA Division II Gold Award by the Sunshine State Conference. Smeltzly spent 50 years providing excellence in the FSC community as a student, coach, athletic director, and trustee. Parker, the current Associate Vice president for Athletics at Rollins, has devoted her career to improving the Tar student-athlete experience on-campus, in the SSC, and nationally.
The Gold Award is part of Division II's year-long 50th-anniversary celebration. It will recognize two individuals, one male and one female, who have positively impacted Division II. The NCAA Division II Management Council Identity Subcommittee will review the finalists and select the two overall winners who will be recognized at the 2024 NCAA Convention in Phoenix.
About the SSC Nominees
Hal Smeltzly, Florida Southern College - The Minnesota native first stepped on FSC's campus in 1950 as a student and would spend the next five-plus decades serving his alma mater. After playing baseball and basketball for the Moccasins, Smeltzly signed a professional baseball contract before the United States Army drafted him in 1953.
Following his military service, Smeltzly returned to the baseball diamond and continued his education at Florida Southern, graduating in 1957. He was hired as the head baseball coach in 1958, building the Moccasins into a perennial national powerhouse. Smeltzly led FSC to NCAA Division II National Championships in 1971, 1972, and 1975, as well as six regional titles.
After retiring from coaching in 1976, he served as the Director of Athletics from 1978-2000 and helped transform Florida Southern into one of the premier athletic programs in the country. Under his guidance, the Moccasins claimed 22 national championships and finished as high as fourth in the Learfield Directors' Cup standings on two occasions. He also served as a member of the FSC Board of Trustees after retiring from the athletic department.
Smeltlzy was instrumental in adding women's athletics to the college in 1976 and was one of the founding members of the Sunshine State Conference. A two-time national Coach of the Year on the baseball diamond, Smeltzly also served as an NCAA Division II Rules Committee member for nearly two decades and was heavily involved with USA Baseball. He was instrumental in adding baseball as a medal sport in the Olympics and coached Team USA to second-place finishes at the 1972 World Amateur Tournament and 1975 Pan-Am Games.
A member of seven different Halls of Fame, Smeltzly was inducted into the Florida Southern College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002 and was named the NCAA Division II All-Time Coach on the 30th anniversary of DII baseball in 1997. He is also a member of the SSC Hall of Fame (1997) and the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1980). His uniform, number 7, is one of eight to be retired at Florida Southern.
Pennie Parker, Rollins College - During her 21 years at Rollins, she has devoted her career to improving the Tar student-athlete experience at Rollins, in the Sunshine State Conference (SSC), and through service on several national committees. Her work on national committees impacted Division II student-athletes and current and future athletics administration leaders.
Parker's introduction to Division II was in compliance and SAAC oversight during her first four years at Rollins. Those early years led to being named Director of Athletics in 2006 and, in 2022, promoted to Associate Vice President of Athletics.
Parker's national influence on Division II began in 2015 when she was selected to serve on the Management Council and was named chair in 2018. As a Women Leaders in College Sport board member, Parker represented Division II as secretary (2016-17) and treasurer (2017-18). She just completed service on the NCAA Division II Legislation Committee after five years.
As the division's representative for NACDA, she served as a member of the NACDA Executive Committee (summer 2015) and currently serves as the secretary of NACDA since 2021. Other Division II service includes appointment to the Athletic Director's Association (ADA) Board of Directors in 2011. She later served as president of the association in 2016-17. During her tenure on the ADA board, she was the liaison to the NCAA mentoring program for many years. Her passion for mentoring has continued throughout her career, and she currently serves as the Division II liaison for the distinguished NCAA Pathway Program.
Parker has utilized the NCAA Division II Diversity Grant program twice to add an assistant coach for women's basketball, and most recently, with the hiring of Rollins' first sports psychologist this summer. Parker's athletic department consistently has student-athletes nominated and attending the NCAA Career in Sports Program, the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Program, and the Apple Institute, to name a few. Athletics staff are provided opportunities to attend professional organizations' conventions/conferences.
Parker's efforts were recognized by her peers in 2013 and 2017, as she was named Under Armour Division II Athletics Director of the Year. In 2020, she was selected as the Nike Administrator of the Year by Women Leaders in College Sport.
During Parker's tenure, Rollins has been recognized with the Division II President's Awards for Academic Excellence for 12 consecutive years. The Tars' Academic Success Rate has led the SSC since the NCAA began calculating ASR in 2006. Additionally, two student-athletes have won the prestigious Elite 90 award, and 10 have been named valedictorian.
Under Parker's leadership, Rollins has won three NCAA Division II National Championships, 22 Sunshine State Conference titles, 13 SSC Tournaments, and five SSC Mayor's Cup All-Sport trophies.
SEE ALSO: DII names 45 finalists for 50th Anniversary Gold Award