Florida Tech To Induct Six Athletes Into Sports Hall of Fame Saturday

By  //  March 19, 2016

Florida-Tech-Hall-of-the-Fame-580-3
Six individuals will be inducted into the Florida Tech Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday at 6:45 p.m. in the Hartley Room of the Denius Student Center. The evening includes a 6 p.m. reception followed by a dinner and the program. (FIT Image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Six individuals will be inducted into the Florida Tech Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday at 6:45 p.m. in the Hartley Room of the Denius Student Center. The evening includes a 6 p.m. reception followed by a dinner and the program.

This year’s class includes former head softball coach Dr. Nancy Bottge, former men’s soccer player Mark Cartwright, former baseball player Steve Condotta, current basketball broadcaster Jim Mitchell, the first-ever women’s soccer inductee Teresa (Brantley) Moon and former men’s basketball player Brandon Palmer.

Bottge will be inducted posthumously as she passed away from a long illness in Aug. 2005.

She guided the Panthers to a record of 316-237-2 for a .571 winning percentage.

FIT never had a losing season during her tenure. In her second to last game of her career, she earned her 500th collegiate win. That victory helped the Panthers record a program best .688 winning percentage in the 2005 season. Prior to arriving at FIT, Bottge coached for 10 years at Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Bottge coached the softball team for 11 seasons from 1995-2005.

Cartwright was a three-year member of the men’s soccer team from 1991-93. He was the starting goalkeeper for the Panthers during the winningest period in program history, as Florida Tech went 56-5-2 with three consecutive Sunshine State Conference crowns, the 1991 NCAA Division II National Championship and the program’s only undefeated season in 1993 (19-0-1).

Cartwright ended his career as the most decorated keeper in program history and still owns five single-season program records and two career marks.

Condotta started all 187 games he played during his four-year career at Florida Tech from 2004-07. He finished as one of the best offensive shortstops in the baseball program’s history and still holds program marks for hits (257), runs scored (175), stolen bases (76) and at-bats (723).

In 2007, Condotta was named a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association First Team All-American and an American Baseball Coaches Association and Daktronics Third Team All-American after ranking sixth in NCAA Division II in steals (42) and among the best in the SSC in batting average (.431) and on-base percentage (.504).

Video Highlights: FIT Concludes Spring Ball With Annual Spring Game, Gray Squad Wins 20-17Related Story:
Video Highlights: FIT Concludes Spring Ball With Annual Spring Game, Gray Squad Wins 20-17

Following his playing days at FIT, he was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 12th Round of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft.

Mitchell has been a constant figure at Florida Tech basketball games over the past 37 years. Since he started broadcasting in 1979, he has done over 500 games, all as a volunteer. His voice detailed some of the most memorable moments in Panther basketball history, including victories over Dartmouth (1985), UMass (1989) and Boston College (1989), as well as a number of SSC Championship and NCAA Tournament games.

Moon, a four-year member of the women’s soccer team from 2006-09, ended her career as the most prolific scorer in program history with 38 career goals and 86 total points.

In 2009, she became the program’s first recipient of both the SSC Player of the Year and the SSC Offensive Player of the Year and is responsible for the first-ever hat trick in program history.

Also that year, she guided the Panthers to a school single-season record 15 wins, a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament and a final national ranking at No. 24 in the Division II poll.

VIDEO: Florida Tech Athletic Communications Director Ryan Jones Accepts NCAA PositionRelated Story:
VIDEO: Florida Tech Athletic Communications Director Ryan Jones Accepts NCAA Position

Palmer played two seasons on the men’s basketball team from 1997-99. He finished with a career average of 17.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting .475 from the field. From the charity stripe, he holds the program record for single-season free throw percentage (.917 in 1998-89) and career percentage (.879).

During the 1998-99 season, he paced the SSC with 18.9 points per game while his .917 free throw percentage ranked first in the SSC and second among all NCAA divisions.

That year, he was named the SSC Co-Player of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-American.

A live stream of the Sports Hall of Fame Banquet will be available at FloridaTechSports.com/live.