Three Barnard Alumnae Inducted into the Inaugural Class of Columbia's Athletics Hall of Fame
Basketball player Ula Lysniak '87, fencer Lisa Piazza '85 and diver Tina Steck '80 were inducted into the Columbia Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, February 18, 2006. They were among a group of seven women inducted into the inaugural class, which included 27 individual athletes, one team, one coach and one special category individual.
The Barnard-Columbia Athletic Consortium is the nation's only athletic consortium of its kind in NCAA Division I, where Columbia and Barnard women compete together on 14 intercollegiate teams (archery, basketball, crew, cross-country, fencing, field hockey, indoor track and field, lacrosse, outdoor track and field, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball).
Ula Lysniak
In her junior year alone, Lysniak led the Barnard-Columbia women's basketball team in winning three tournament championships, including the New York State Crown. She was the first Barnard-Columbia woman to score 1,000 points in her college career, finishing with a total of 1,447 points, which still stands as the record.
Lysniak became the first Barnard-Columbia women's basketball player to play professionally when she accepted an offer from Union Basketball Club (UBBC) of Salzburg, Austria. She helped UBBC Salzburg to second place in the National Cup, leading the team in scoring, rebounding, shooting percentage and blocked shots. She also played in Luxembourg, where she again was the pacesetter in scoring, rebounding and shooting percentage for BC Mess and Spain.
Today, Lysniak is Professor of Exercise Science and Physical Education at Brooklyn College while nearing completion of her doctorate at Teachers College. The Manhattan resident remains active in Columbia athletics as president of the Varsity C Club and chair of the Women's Basketball Alumnae Advisory Committee.
Lisa Piazza
Lisa Piazza is one of the finest fencers in the annals of both Barnard and Columbia, spanning the period between Barnard's intercollegiate athletics program and the Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium for which today's female student-athletes compete.
Entering Barnard in 1981, Piazza placed second in foil in the individual competition at the national championships to earn All-America honors. She also competed for Barnard in 1982-83, when she earned a spot on the U.S. Junior World Championship Team.
In 1983-84, this time as part of the Barnard-Columbia team, she again made All-American, finishing fourth in the NCAA Championships. She was sixth in the 1984-85 NCAAs, her senior season, again earning All-American honors. She was an All-Ivy League selection as a sophomore, junior and senior.
She captained the Lions as a junior and senior, and in 1985 received the NCAA Scholar-Athlete Award.
Piazza continued to fence for the next seven years, much of it on a limited basis while attending medical school. She was a member of the 1985 U.S. World Championship Team and was first alternate for the U.S. team at the 1988 Olympics.
Christina Steck
In 1977, Christina "Tina" Steck won the three-meter title in the Eastern Women's Swimming League meet (the forerunner of today's Ivy Championships) with a score of 507.45, a score so high that no one scored 500 or better in the meet for 22 years.
Steck also won the meet title in 1977, making All-Ivy League both years, won the 1978 Eastern championship, and was a Division I All-American. Undefeated in college dual-meet competition, she is still remembered through the Tina Steck Award, awarded to the women's swimming and diving team member who has the strongest impact on the success of her team.
Prior to entering Barnard, she was a Prep School All-American for two years and a YMCA National Champion. She has been inducted into her prep school's (Newark Academy) hall of fame with her brother, Paul, an All-American and four-time Eastern diving champion for Cornell.
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Lysniak, Steck and Piazza are in good company in the Columbia Athletics Hall of Fame. The class boasts professional and college sport Hall of Famers, an NFL Pro Bowl player, NCAA champions, Olympians and legends including baseballer Lou Gehrig and Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer Cristina Teuscher.
The Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame was founded to honor, pay tribute and perpetuate the memory of those individuals who, either through participation, support or interest, have made outstanding contributions in the field of intercollegiate athletics and who have helped bring recognition, honor, distinction and excellence to Columbia University. Nominees for the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame were submitted by the general public from July-September 2005. More than 200 nominations were submitted for consideration.
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