Team Physician Miller Headlines Group Representing Seven Sports
By John Painter
(Hamilton, NY – May 7, 2013) Six inductees representing seven sports make up the latest class of the Colgate Athletics Hall of Honor. This year’s honorees will be recognized during induction ceremonies in conjunction with the Sept. 21 football home weekend against Yale.
This year’s class consists of Larry Cabrelli ’41, who starred for the Raiders in football but also played basketball; Dave Conte ’71 from men’s ice hockey’s; team physician Dr. Merrill Miller; Elizabeth Montaigne ’83 of women’s lacrosse and field hockey; Jane Savage (Riley) ’78 from women’s lacrosse, basketball and field hockey; along with golf’s Eli Zackheim ’01.
“This year’s selection class is a clear example of the level of prestige associated with the Hall of Honor,” said Victoria M. Chun, Colgate’s director of athletics and a 1999 Hall of Honor inductee. “These individuals truly represent the spirit that is Colgate.”
Cabrelli was named All-East Football his senior year. He lettered three seasons in football at right end and two in basketball before going on to a professional football career. Cabrelli was a seven-year starter for the Philadelphia Eagles, including back-to-back NFL championship teams in 1948 and 1949. He later served as an assistant coach for both the Washington Redskins and Canadian football’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Cabrelli died June 6, 1974, at age 57.
Conte was named Colgate’s team MVP during his senior campaign of 1970-71, when he also was an alternate captain. The center graduated as the Raiders’ second all-time scorer with 66 goals and 85 assists for 151 points in 73 games. Conte played five professional seasons in Europe and just completed his 29th season in the New Jersey Devils’ organization, where he is the team’s executive vice president for hockey operations and director of scouting. In 2008, Conte received Colgate’s Silver Puck Award.
Miller is in her 32nd season as Colgate’s team doctor. She was the first and only female head physician on the NCAA Division I level. Miller graduated from Cornell University before earning her medical degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Among Miller honors from Colgate are the John LeFevre Athletic Appreciation Award, Maroon Council Award, Senior Class Award and Maroon Citation. She serves as director of health services for Colgate, is past president of Community Memorial Hospital and also hosts and produces a weekly campus radio program on health related topics.
Montaigne played the attack position for both her lacrosse and field hockey squads. She lettered all four seasons in lacrosse and her first two years in field hockey. Nicknamed “Wiz,” Montaigne’s goal tally by season went from just seven as a first-year, to 18 to 29 and finally to 25 as a senior for a total of 79 goals. She added 33 career assists for 112 all-time lacrosse points.
Savage earned seven varsity letters over a combined seven seasons, including all four years of field hockey. She was the captain of her field hockey and lacrosse squads, and earned lacrosse team MVP honors during her captain’s season of 1978. Savage was a two-year co-captain in field hockey, and also earned the Sandy Baur Award as Colgate’s outstanding female student-athlete. After graduation, Savage was invited to the U.S. lacrosse Olympic team trials.
Zackheim graduated with the lowest scoring average in Colgate golf history, a 75.60 mark that still ranks second all-time. His senior season average of 73.26 remains nearly one full stroke lower than the next-closest average. Three times Zackheim was named the Patriot League’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as well as team MVP. He was ECAC medalist in 1998 and 1999, the only repeat winner in 40 years of the competition. Zackheim was an All-District selection in 2001 and twice was team co-captain.
2013 Hall of Honor Class
Larry Cabrelli ’41 Football, Basketball
Dave Conte ’71 Men’s Ice Hockey
Dr. Merrill Miller Sports Medicine
Elizabeth Montaigne ’83 Women’s Lacrosse, Field Hockey
Jane Savage (Riley) ’78 Field Hockey, Women’s Lacrosse, Women’s Basketball
Eli Zackheim ’01 Golf