Courtesy: UMBC Athletics
BALTIMORE – UMBC Athletics will induct six new members into its Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023 as part of the university’s Homecoming 2023. The 23rd annual induction will take place at UMBC’s University Center Ballroom.
Tickets for the event will go on sale later this month.
The Class of 2023
- Cleopatra Borel, ’02 , Interdisciplinary Studies, Track & Field
- Cornelia Carapcea, ’09, Information Systems/Financial Economics, Tennis
- Pete Caringi III, ’15, Psychology, Men’s Soccer
- Carlee Cassidy Dewey, ’10, Media & Communication Studies/Sociology, Women’s Basketball
- Emily Escobedo, ’17, Psychology, Women’s Swimming & Diving
- Brian Hodges, ’07, Financial Economics, Men’s Basketball
Cleopatra Borel
After transferring to UMBC from Coppin State, Borel earned All-America honors (top eight) in the shot put both indoors and outdoors in the 2000-01 season. In her final season of eligibility, she became UMBC’s first national champion, winning the indoor shot put at the University of Arkansas on March 9, 2002.
She still holds the school record in both the indoor and outdoor shot put, the weight throw and the hammer throw.
Borel competed in the shot put for the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic team in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. She was a finalist in the shot put in 2016, finishing seventh with a throw of 18.37 meters in Rio. Borel is a five-time Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee Sports Woman of the Year.
Cornelia Carapcea
Carapcea earned Third Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All American honors after her junior campaign and a Second Team accolade after her senior campaign. She also earned UMBC’s Matt Skalsky Outstanding Scholar Athlete award in 2009.
Carapcea’s accomplishments on the tennis courts include 97 career match victories, All-Conference honors in 2007-08 and a perfect 8-0 record in America East Championship competition. The native of Romania completed a double major in information systems/financial economics, maintained a 4.00 grade-point average and was the university’s co-salutatorian.
She graduated with summa cum laude honors, was named to the America East Conference women’s tennis All-Academic team and earned the America East Scholar Athlete accolade for women’s tennis as a senior.
Pete Caringi III
The son of UMBC’s iconic head coach became the first-ever Retriever men’s soccer student-athlete to earn NSCAA First Team honors when he was honored in 2013.
The 2012 and 2013 America East Conference Striker of the Year, Caringi scored 27 goals over his last two seasons. The Baltimore native was named the Most Outstanding Player in the 2013 America East Championships and finished his career with 37 goals (currently fourth on the all-time list) and 91 points (fifth all-time).
Caringi was a semifinalist for the 2013 Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy, soccer’s version of the Heisman Trophy. He earned ECAC Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2012 and 2013 and was a three-time America East Conference First Team striker.
Carlee Cassidy Dewey
Cassidy Dewey was a three-year starter and four-year letterwinner with the Retrievers from 2006-10 and a key member of UMBC’s first America East Conference women’s basketball championship team in her freshman season. She still ranks second all-time in program history with 1,627 points and 347 free throws made – ranking first in both categories during the Retrievers’ Division I era – and still holds the school’s record for three-pointers (248).
Cassidy Dewey became the first Retriever women’s basketball student-athlete to earn America East All-Conference honors three times, receiving a spot on the second team as a junior and senior and garnering first team recognition as a sophomore.
The 5-9 guard earned America East All-Tournament Team honors during the 2007 conference championships after scoring a team-best 14 points to help UMBC stun top-seeded and defending champion Hartford in the championship game.
Escobedo completed her career as the most decorated swimmer to compete at UMBC. She swam in the NCAA Championships all four years, placing third nationally in the 200 breaststroke in both 2016 and 2017. She also earned Honorable Mention All American honors in the 200 individual medley.
Escobedo became the first America East swimmer to earn the league’s Swimmer of the Year award four times and she led the Retrievers to three consecutive league titles. She still holds five individual school records, a share of a sixth and is part of four relay UMBC top marks.
The New Rochelle, N.Y. native was also a two-time College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-American,
Escobedo became the first swimmer from UMBC to make the USA Swimming National Team won the 200 meter breaststroke at the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi.
Brian Hodges
The sharp-shooting Hodges earned a pair of America East Second Team selections and two All- Academic Team selections.
He amassed 1,474 points (currently 8th all-time) and 222 3-point field goals (7th), converted 78.6 percent of his free throws (8th) and competed in 116 games (9th). Hodges, arguably UMBC’s top sixth-man in men’s basketball history, averaged 12.9 points per game in his career, despite starting only 42 games and averaging 26.0 minutes per game.
He was a key member of the 2007-08 squad, UMBC’s first to win a conference championship and earn a spot in the NCAA Division I Championships.
Hodges earned his bachelor’s degree in three years, the first UMBC men’s basketball player to achieve that feat. He also was selected to the NACDA Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Team for two consecutive years.