BIDDEFORD, Maine – University of New England Director of Athletics Heather Davis announced on Friday (May 1) the four individuals who will enter the UNE Varsity Club Athletics Hall of Fame later this year. The ceremony for the 16th class of inductees will take place on October 2 during Homecoming Weekend at the Harold Alfond Forum.

The Induction Class of 2020 includes former student-athletes Kelly Coleman UNE '15 DPT '18, Ashley (Gott) Haase UNE '12, and Aidan McParland UNE '15, as well as long-time UNE administrator and professor Dennis Leighton.

Coleman (Portland, Conn.) earned a bachelor's degree in applied exercise science in 2015, and continued on for a Doctorate of Physical Therapy degree in 2018. She played in all 118 games for the women's basketball squad during her time at UNE (2011-15), including three as a starting forward. Coleman amassed 1,508 points (12.8/game), 762 rebounds (6.5/game), and made 364 free throws (76.2%), which puts her fifth, eighth, and fifth, respectively, in the program's all-time totals. Following a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) first team honor as a sophomore (2012-13), she averaged a personal-best 17.7 points/game as a junior to land first team All-New England accolades on top of another CCC first team nod (also the 2013-14 Maine Player of the Year). Coleman's decorated career concluded with a fourth team All-America pick and the 2014-15 CCC Player of the Year (UNE's most-recent of five such awards, to-date), to go with her second all-region recognition, and third all-conference. The Nor'easters went 98-20 overall (67-5 CCC) in those four years, highlighted by CCC Championships in 2012-13, 2013-14, and 2014-15, along with the University's first at-large selection into an NCAA field (2011-12). While the program advanced to the second round of the national championship three times, Coleman recorded UNE's top two game scoring performances (32, 28) and the leading rebounding effort (14) during NCAA postseason competition.

Haase (Winterport, Maine), formerly Gott, graduated with a degree in applied exercise science in 2012. UNE's starting catcher on the softball team from 2009-12 remains as the known career leader in hits, with 201 over 158 games (.393 batting average). She also has the top spot in total bases (263), shares it in doubles (41), ranks sixth for runs batted in (77), and stands 10th in runs scored (93). Defensively, Haase had a .974 fielding percentage in 781 plays. After all-conference honorable mention picks in her first couple seasons (2009, 2010), she registered numerous personal highs as a junior (.450 average, 68 hits, 39 runs, 29 RBI) and netted a CCC first team selection (2011). Haase repeated that recognition as a senior, and added the 2012 CCC Player of the Year distinction (UNE's first of three such awards, to-date) to her list of accolades. Included in the 103-59-2 overall record (60-29-1 CCC) during those seasons was the team's second conference softball championship crown in 2012. She batted .533 through that four-game run, which featured a program tournament record four hits in the semifinal triumph over the No.1 seed. Hasse capped her career with an All-Tournament Team nod as the Nor'easters continued into NCAA regional championship action.

McParland (Brockville, Ontario) finished a bachelor's in medical biology in 2015. He was the starting goalkeeper for the men's soccer team from 2011-14, appearing in 62 of the squad's 68 contests. His career totals top the known program records: an .849 save percentage (and 426 saves), a 1.23 goals against average, 24 victories, and 15 shutouts. In addition to seven ties, he factored in 17 one-goal setbacks during his four years, with an offense that averaged 1.2 goals per outing. McParland saved his best for the senior campaign, as he backstopped the Nor'easters to a 9-7-2 mark with an .878 save percentage, 0.91 goals against, and six shutouts. He was named the 2014 CCC Defensive Player of the Year that season (UNE's only such award, to-date), landed his third all-conference first team nod (2012, 2013, 2014), and received second team All-New England status for a second time (2013, 2014). Also in 2014, McParland was UNE's first student-athlete honored as a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America® First Team selection. The first goalie of any sport into the Hall of Fame was also a Student Trustee for the University.

Leighton (Cumberland, Maine) has been the Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) at UNE since the fall of 1996, supporting and promoting the student-athlete experience. He is widely-respected in FARA ranks, which governs NCAA FAR activity on national, conference, and institutional levels. Leighton was on the Association's Executive Committee from 2003 to 2016, which included serving as the President in 2007 and ten years in the role of Secretary-Treasurer. He was chosen as the recipient of FARA's prestigious David Knight Award in 2017. Additionally, he served on the NCAA Division III Management Council, and is the UNE Chapter President of the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society. In 2016, Leighton was appointed as the University's Associate Provost for Student Success, shortly before concluding 24 years as an associate professor of Physical Therapy.

University of New England Varsity Club Athletics Hall of Fame

Established in 2005, the Athletics Hall of Fame honors the very best in the combined history of St. Francis College, Westbrook College, and UNE. Through 2019, 52 individuals and seven teams have been inducted.