MORROW, Ga. – With a Pro Football Hall of Famer in attendance, the Clayton State Athletics Hall of Fame added three new members as the Class of 2019 on Friday, February 15 and each overcame challenges to make the most of their opportunity and "make it to the top" as some of the most accomplished Lakers in the 29-year history of the program.
 
Joined by family, friends and teammates, and in the presence of current members of the Hall of Fame, the Class of 2019 consisted of women's tennis' Nathalia Collantes (2000-04), men's track & field's Eric Simmons (2003-08) and women's cross country and track & field student-athlete Joni Guffey. Each was inducted during a ceremony at the Harry S. Downs Center for Continuing Education.
 
Below are the stories of how the Class of 2019 battled their way to the highest honor that can be bestowed up a Laker – to be named to the Clayton State Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
AN ADDRESS FROM PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMER ELVIN BETHEA
Prior to the evening's inductions, 2003 Pro Football Hall of Famer Elvin Bethea was on hand to speak to the incoming Hall of Famers and those in attendance about what such an honor means.
 
"Hard work, determination, commitment and dedication," said Bethea. "I played 16 years in the National Football League, which is unheard of, and I always had to push myself to be the best. I went out there knowing I've done my job, I've worked hard – even when I wanted to quit. But I knew I'd be shorting myself if I did that."
 
"I look out here at these individuals being honored tonight and I know they've done the same thing, putting in their time when it was hard and maybe they didn't feel like it. My coaches would push me to the breaking point but they taught me to give all, not just some. It took sacrifice and this gold [Hall of Fame] jacket was something I earned."
 
"These individuals here tonight will always remember this night and what it means because they earned it. They made it to the top."
 
THE CLASS OF 2019 – BEYOND THE NUMBERS
NATHALIA COLLANTES (WOMEN'S TENNIS, 2000-04)
Presented by former Clayton State Director of Athletics Mason Barfield, Nathlia Collantes was an individual that helped turn Laker women's tennis into a national power.
 
"When I got here back in 1989 to start the program, I would go to the top of the one set of bleachers we had in the gym and look out at what it was and think about what I wanted it to be," said Barfield. "I look out there now and I see that it's finally happened and that's through the efforts of high quality people here that have made it happen."
 
"One of those people that helped our program was Nathalia Collantes. She was my cup of tea. She was a unique player to our program, bringing a maddening style that wore down her opponents like 'death by paper cut'. About four of five times during her career I would see one of her opponents, go sit down on the bench, frustrated, and start crying, saying 'I can't stand the way she plays' to her coach".
 
Barfield also shed light on one of the greatest wins in the history Laker women's tennis. In 2001, in the midst of 18 years of domination by Armstrong State, Clayton State pulled off the 5-4 upset over the Pirates – after moving to a rec center to finish the match due to darkness.
 
"I felt bad for their coach, who I knew, so I treated their team to dinner afterward," said Barfield. "Their coach said to me that it was like the New York Yankees getting beat by a little league team – so whenever I saw him again I made sure they remembered it. It was players like Nathalia that made that happen and started the program's great run."
 
Collantes, now 15 years removed from her last season of collegiate tennis, reflected back on how it all started.
 
"I was just trying to pay for school – and find one where I didn't have to share a bathroom," said the newly minted Hall of Famer. "I had a friend tape me and I ended up sending that to Mason. Coming to Clayton State transformed my life and made me a better person. Understanding, love, having fantastic people around me – it's all about them."
 
Her dedication and determination didn't stop with tennis as she also told of how her first weekend on campus saw her find her way to the library looking for an opportunity to work. There she found someone to give her that opportunity, who was in attendance on the evening, and helped shape her college experience.
 
Finally, to her two young children Benjamin and Ryan, she made sure to instill in them what she learned at Clayton State.
 
"I'm so proud that I get to be your Mom and you inspire me every day. It's not about the trophies or the championships – it's about service, generosity and love."  
 
Nathalia Collantes – Hall of Fame Bio
A tremendous talent, Nathalia Collantes (Yarri) was an integral part of elevating Clayton State women's tennis to a national power during her four years as a Laker from 2000-04.
 
Teaming with now fellow Hall of Famer Jackeline Nieto, Collantes helped lead Clayton State to a 17-3 overall record in 2001 and the team's second NCAA Division II Tournament appearance. That season they would advance to the Sweet 16 after earning what is still the program's only Peach Belt Conference Regular Season Championship.
 
At a perfect 10-0 in league play, that championship was the only outright title by a team other than Armstrong State in an 18-year period. To put in perspective the jump that Collantes helped the Lakers make in just the program's sixth season, they had never before surpassed 12 wins and finished the 2001 season with a No. 10 overall national ranking.
 
They would follow that up with another NCAA Tournament appearance in 2002, going 16-8 overall, a stellar 9-1 in the PBC and another No. 10 ranking. While the 2003 and 2004 seasons would not see the same lofty win totals, it would result in a third trip in four years to the postseason and final national rankings of No. 16 and No. 12, respectively.
 
In those two years she also achieved tremendous national recognition as, paired with Nieto, she was twice named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American in doubles. Along with those honors, Collantes was also named an All-PBC Selection six times, earning both singles and doubles recognition in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Additionally, she was named as an ITA "Player to Watch" in 2003.
 
During that season she and Nieto went an impressive 16-2 overall in doubles, winning their final 13 matches, and she was a perfect 16-0 in singles play, knocking off some of the top players in the country. The following season would see them go 12-2 together, including a win over Rollins' No. 4 doubles team.
 
Those performances and others like them throughout her career saw Collantes dominate the Laker record book. To this day she is still tied for the most singles wins in a season (23 in 2001 and 2004) and holds the highest singles winning percentage in program history at .815 (75-17). She and Nieto also hold down the season (20) and career (37) doubles victories marks and are second in overall doubles win percentage (.766, 72-22).
 
THE CLASS OF 2019 – BEYOND THE NUMBERS
JONI GUFFEY (WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY AND TRACK & FIELD, 1998-2002)
One of the most impressive runners in program history, and a trailblazer at that, Joni Guffey was the standard that others in the cross country and track & field programs would be judged by.
 
She was presented by her coach during her entire career, Mike Mead, who, beyond expressing the nervousness that stemmed from her trip to the NCAA Division II National Championships in 2002, delivered perhaps the line that best sums up Guffey.
 
"Of all the individuals I've coached, I would say that when you look at Joni Guffey, she is the prototypical student-athlete, "said Mead. "When you go looking, she's what you want to come back with."
 
A native of Frankfort, Kentucky, some six hours away by car, Guffey's career as a Laker started with a phone call from a coach in Georgia who thought she could run on the team and could probably get in the Honors Program. That coach would be Mike Mead and the call would kick off one of the great careers in the history of Clayton State Athletics.
 
"My Mom and Dad were worried about me going to school so far away but I guess Coach Mead won them over," said Guffey. "They saw I would be in good hands and that was certainly the case."
 
"If you didn't have someone to run with, Coach Mead would run with you – and push the pace, which I liked. He took care of his team. On a trip to Jacksonville he took the team to the beach. In St. Louis [Missouri] it was to see The Arch and many other trips of that nature."
 
It wasn't just Mead, however, that made Guffey, and so many other student-athlete's, experiences what they were.
 
"Coach T [Hugh Toro], I have so many memories of him, most of them funny," said Guffey. "Among those was when he would drive his car behind us when we were out on a run, windows down, blasting 'Eye of the Tiger' and pounding on the dashboard. He gave unselfishly of himself."
 
"I was so fortunate to have the coaching duo of Mead and Toro my entire career. I was injury free my entire time and progressed every year to where my senior year was my best."
 
Guffey closed with some poignant thoughts about her career and what coming to Clayton State meant to her.
 
"When I got here the University was on the cutting edge – when you walked on campus they gave you a Clayton State e-mail and a laptop. Back then that was at the forefront. I spent just as much time studying as I did training and I am humbled to receive this honor."
 
"Clayton State did far more for me than I can repay and I'll always be a Laker."
 
Joni Guffey – Hall of Fame Bio
The first female All-American in program history, Joni Guffey (Gruwell) produced one of the most impressive careers over the course of her four years as a member of the cross country and track & field programs.
 
In cross country she set multiple program records, resetting both the 5k and 6k records twice each during the 2001 season. The 6k marks are still the ninth and 10^th fastest in program history 17 years later. Additionally she won four meets during her career and was named the team's Most Valuable Runner in 1998, 2000 and 2001.
 
Team recognition was far from her only such cross country honors, however, as she earned NCAA Division II All-Region honors with a sixth place finish in 2001 and picked up a pair of All-PBC honors in 1999 and 2001. The latter would come off of a third place championship finish and a 14^th place outing in 1999.
 
She would be just as accomplished on the track, if not more so. A record setter, Guffey would establish the program mark in the 800-meters in 2002 and see it stand up until eventually being broken in 2015 and also held outdoor marks in the 800-meters, distance medley relay and 4x800-meter relay. All of the latter were set in 2002 and stood for at least a decade.
 
It would be performances like that from that season that would help her make history as on May 25, 2002 she became the first female student-athlete to earn All-American honors. She would accomplish that feat by placing sixth in the 1,500-meters at the NCAA Division II National Championships in San Angelo, Texas.
 
As her accomplishments mounted on the course and track, Guffey built up just as impressive an academic resume over the course of her career. She would be a three-time United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic selection (1999-2001), named as a Verizon Academic All-District III choice (2001) and be a two-time honoree of the Clayton State Barfield Academic Award (2001, 2002).
 
The latter, representing the highest qualifying GPA, was presented to one individual out of all of Clayton State's student-athletes at that time. Hand-in-hand with the way she went about her business, Guffey also earned the 2002 Laker Award as the top student-athlete at the institution. That award heavily weighted both academic excellence and academic success.
 
She would also go on to hold six track & field program records at the time of her graduation, which would see her at the top her class in accounting.
 
THE CLASS OF 2019 – BEYOND THE NUMBERS
ERIC SIMMONS (MEN'S TRACK & FIELD, 2003-08)
Eric Simmons took advantage of every single opportunity and accomplished things in his career that no Laker, before or since and in any sport, has ever done. To put a fine point on it, he was quite simply one of the best runners in school history.
 
He was presented by an individual that had logged over 18,000 miles with him traveling to seven consecutive NCAA Division II National Championships, that being former Laker runner and longtime assistant coach Clive Caesar.
 
"I started as a member of the staff as a volunteer in 2002 before officially joining the staff the next year and Eric made it easy for me. I got spoiled because he was never late to class, never late to practice and he always did the right thing. That's probably why he's here tonight.
 
"That speaks volumes. I consider him a member of my family, he's mentored my daughter and he's going to be a great Dad here in a couple of weeks. I'm not going to say that there aren't others in the history of our program that deserve this honor, but I will say that if anyone does, its Eric Simmons."
 
Simmons, holder of a number of records to this day, quickly went beyond them to what is truly important.
 
"The numbers, the records – they talk for themselves," said the seven-time national qualifier. "It's not so much what you've done but the people you've done it with. I wouldn't be up here tonight if not for Mike Mead, Hugh Toro and Clive Caesar. I wouldn't be on the career path I am if not for them. We believed in winning and wouldn't take anything less."
 
"It's easier to buy in to what someone's telling you when you know they're in your corner. That was the case with Clive. He'd get ticked off when someone lied about their qualifying times on the heat sheets. 'This guy didn't run this, we beat him last week', right on down the list.
 
"So, one meet he went up to the organizer and shared his thoughts on it. He said, 'I'm pretty sure 27 people on here aren't telling the truth about their times' to which this individual gave a flip comment. Clive just responded, 'that's okay, we'll win anyway' – and we did. He was an advocate for all of us and you can't ask for any more in a coach than that."
 
He went on to say how, after particularly trying days, he would bounce ideas off of Toro, or just vent. With Mead, he had a story that showed just what lengths the good people he'd surrounded himself with would go to.
 
"I was on the outside looking in terms of a trip to nationals one year and coach made me a deal. We'd fly up to New York City to run at the Armory, a last chance meet to qualify. The catch was we were leaving at 6 a.m., taking a bus to the track, running – which was about an hour – and then catching a flight back in the same day. We got back to Hartsfield-Jackson at 9 p.m. that night. Coach told me that I had worked hard and deserved that opportunity."
 
"The most important resource that Clayton State has ever had is quality people. I experienced that even after I got done running. Mason Barfield established a graduate assistant track position, and because of that, I got my Masters without paying a dime and that gave me a leg up in my career. I want to thank everyone that supported me and pushed me on this journey."
 
Eric Simmons – Hall of Fame Bio
A fixture in Clayton State men's track & field for near a decade, Eric Simmons accomplished things in his career that no other individual has in program history – for any sport.
 
A member of Laker track & field programs from 2003-08, Simmons is the only individual to qualify for seven NCAA Division II National Championships as a student-athlete. The only thing that stopped him from maxing out at eight was the simple fact that, when he first came to Clayton State, they did not yet have indoor track & field.
 
Rectified after his first season, Simmons would go on to qualify for the national championships every year that he could. Highlighting those trips was actually his very first appearance in 2004 as he competed with Rother Heard, Carlos Guyton and Brian Etelman in the 4x400-meter relay in Walnut, California.
 
That group would go on to finish sixth nationally with a time of 3:13.05 and earn the first All-American honors in men's track & field history.
 
A former program record holder in the 800-meters, it is one of the few records that Simmons set that has been broken in the decade since he last competed. In indoor competition he still holds marks in the 200- and 400-meters, notching times of 21.77 and 47.72, respectively, during the 2007 season. Along with that he was part of a 1,600-meter relay that posted a record time of 3:19.48 that same year.
 
An equal opportunity record breaker, Simmons still holds four marks on the outdoor side of the ledger. Those include the 400-meters (47.03 in 2008), 4x100-meter relay (40.81 in 2005), 4x200 (1:25.68 in 2005) and the 4x400 (3:11.24 in 2004).
 
In the midst of his final season, the native of nearby Carrollton, Georgia collected one of the highest honors of his career, that being named the 2008 Clayton State Laker Award Winner as the top overall student-athlete at the institution.
 
Following his career as a student-athlete, Simmons still continued to impact future Lakers as he served as a graduate assistant coach in 2010 and 2011 under head coach Mike Mead. Following his graduation he has gone on to serve as a Vice Principal at a school in Carrollton.
 
Viktoriya Semyrodenko – Hall of Fame Bio
Viktoriya Semyrodenko was unable to attend the festivities this year due to unforeseen circumstances. She will be considered as part of the Class of 2019 but will be honored at a future Hall of Fame induction ceremony when she can attend and experience all that comes with that honor.
 
Following in a long line of highly successful women's tennis players, Viktoriya Semyrodenko firmly placed herself among that lineage during her four years at Clayton State from 2007-11.
 
A three-time ITA All-American, Semyrodenko finished her career with an overall singles record of 65-17 and still ranks third all-time in winning percentage at .793. She also ranks in the Top-10 in doubles twice, coming in third with Ivana Krommelova at .714 (25-10) and tied for sixth with Katie White at .600 (18-12).
 
Her first All-American honor would come with White in doubles in 2009 when the tandem finished ninth in the country and fourth in the highly competitive NCAA Division II Southeast Region with a record of 10-6. Additionally, they won the ITA Regional Championship earlier that fall and advanced to the national championships of that field.
 
It would be a double dip in 2011 when Semyrodenko not only paired with Krommelova for All-American doubles honors but also collected that same recognition for her play in singles. In the latter she was No. 12 in the country, finishing with a sterling record of 16-6, and went 17-6 in doubles to earn her third All-American recognition.
 
Semyrodenko helped lead Clayton State women's tennis to the most successful era in its history, making the NCAA Division II Tournament all four years and compiling a record of 67-29. The Lakers 2008 record of 20-6 still stands as the most wins in a single season for the team while the 2010 squad became just the second to reach the national quarterfinals.
 
It would be that 2011 season that would truly set Semyrodenko and her teammates apart, however, as they went 18-8 and made a run to the NCAA Division II Final Four. That season they blew past Wingate and Columbus State by scores of 5-1 and 5-2, respectively, before shutting out Queens (N.Y.) by a 5-0 score in the third round.
 
On May 12, Semyrodenko and the Lakers downed California (Pa.) 5-3 to become the first team in women's tennis program history to punch their ticket to the Final Four before eventually falling 5-0 to a tremendous Lynn team.
 
Over the course of her career the native of Ukraine helped lead Clayton State to final national rankings in each of her four seasons, never lower than 12^th. The 2008 season would see them ranked No. 7 and then No. 9 the following year before 11^th and 12 place finishes in 2010 and 2011.
 
Individually she finished nationally ranked five times in her career, coming in No. 9 in doubles in 2009 and No. 15 in singles and No. 7 in doubles in 2011. She was also No. 19 in doubles and 40^th in singles in 2010. On top of that she was a four-time All-PBC selection, earning First-Team doubles honors in 2009, Second-Team in singles in 2010 and First-Team singles and Second-Team doubles as a senior in 2011.
 
HISTORY OF THE CLAYTON STATE ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
Established in 2013, the Clayton State Athletics Hall of Fame was created to honor former Laker student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty/staff and community members who have, by their outstanding achievements, contributed to the ideals of the Clayton State Department of Athletics. Including this year's inductees, the Clayton State Athletics Hall of Fame has enshrined six classes and 23 former student-athletes, coaches, administrators and special inductees.
 

Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (2/15/19)