Benjamin Dewar – basketball (1999-2003) from Wixom, Michigan
Benjamin Dewar attended Lake Superior State University from 1999-2003 and was a high scorer on the basketball team during each of his seasons in a Laker jersey.
During Dewar’s freshman season, he ranked third on the team in scoring with 271 points and averaged 9.3 points per game, the most of any freshman. He led the team in scoring six times and led in rebounds three times, finishing the season with 97 rebounds.
His sophomore campaign was even more impressive, leading the team in scoring with 442 points in 26 games played. He averaged 17 points per game and totaled 110 rebounds throughout the season.
As a junior, Dewar played in all but one of the team’s 28 games and started in 26 of them. He continued his streak of point total improvement, tallying 521 throughout the year and averaging 19.3 points per game.
In his final season with the Lakers, Dewar played in 26 of the team’s 27 games and led the team in points per game by nearly ten points, averaging 23.9 after scoring a total of 622. He also earned a mention in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” column, honoring the best up-and-coming amateur athletes around the nation, after setting a tournament record in points with 90 scored in three games at the Disney Division II Tip-Off Classic.
During his collegiate career, he captured multiple milestones in the record book – he ranks third in career scoring with 1,856 points, third in career three-point field goals with 242, and third in free throws with 436. His top honors include being named to the All-GLIAC Second Team in 2000-2001, his sophomore year. Dewar followed that up with All-Defensive Team honors in 2001-2002 along with first-team honors in 2001-2002 and 2002-2003.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2003, Dewar went on to play professional basketball internationally. In 2003, he signed his first professional contract with Holbaek Basketball. He participated in the 2004 Danish All-Star Weekend, winning the slam dunk contest.
Following his season-long stint in Denmark, Dewar went on to play in France where he joined Orleans Loiret Basket. He won the French ProB Championship in 2006 and took home the Finals MVP honor. Orleans Loiret Basket was promoted to the ProA ranks the following season. Dewar continued to excel, even at the higher level of play, and earned a spot on the league’s all-star team as a result. In 2008, he had his jersey retired after his three-year tenure with the team came to an end. He continued playing in the French ProA league for the following three seasons and captured both a championship and a Leader’s Cup win while playing for ASVEL.
In 2011, he made the move to Spain to continue his career with Lucentum Alicante. They made it to the Spanish Basketball Cup, an annual cup competition hosted by Liga ACB, Spain’s top professional league. He remained in Spain for three more seasons, splitting time with Rio Natura Monbus Obradoiro and ICL Manresa.
For the 2016-2017 season, Dewar’s final season in professional basketball, he returned to France to play for Cholet Basket. He captained the team – an honor he received three other times during his career.
Following his retirement from basketball, Dewar moved to De Pere, Wisconsin and is now a stay-at-home dad.
Margaret Olson Pollard – softball (pitcher), volleyball, basketball (1977-1981) from Cheboygan, Michigan
Margaret Olson Pollard, fondly known as “Mugs” or “Mugzy” by her teammates, was a three-sport athlete from Cheboygan, Michigan. She was recruited by LSSU’s first women’s basketball coach and 1996 Hall of Fame inductee Gunile Myers-Devault to play basketball and softball on a full-ride scholarship. She added volleyball to her undertaking after joining the team as a walk-on when she came to campus in 1997. Following her freshman year, she left the volleyball team to place her focus on the other two teams and her nursing curriculum.
This is Olson Pollard’s second appearance in the LSSU Athletics Hall of Fame, as she was a member of the 1978 volleyball team that was honored in the 2007 induction class. That group’s accomplishments include sustaining the best record in school history (28-7-1 overall, 10-0 GLIAC), LSSU’s first league championship in volleyball and a winning streak spanning nineteen matches.
“Margaret was the original libero,” said Olson Pollard’s former volleyball teammate, Shaun Lake Antler, at the 2007 HOF induction. “She left more skin on that floor of anyone I ever knew.”
On the basketball side of her collegiate sports career, Olson Pollard was a part of the 1981 team that took second place in the SMAIAW state tournament. It was in that championship where she set a school record for most free throws attempted and completed in a game, successful in thirteen out of fifteen attempts.
During her four years on the softball team, Olson Pollard played in every game. She was primarily a pitcher, but when she wasn’t pitching, she could be found on third base. In all four years on the pitchers’ mound, she received the honor of All Conference GLIAC First Team Pitcher, as well as All State SMAIAW First Team Pitcher. During both the 1978 and 1981 seasons, she was recognized as LSSC Softball’s Most Valuable Player.
In 1981, Olson Pollard graduated with her associate degree in nursing and went on to be an emergency room nurse for the past 37 years. She continued to contribute her time toward women’s athletics after graduation by stepping into coaching, becoming the first varsity softball head coach at Cheboygan Area High School. She spearheaded the program from 1983-1990 and captured accomplishments including conference championships and district championships and had a 72-26 record during her time as the head coach. She personally received numerous coaching honors, including District Coach of the Year in 1988 from the Michigan High School Coaches Association.
She also had stints as the head coach of the junior varsity volleyball and basketball teams at Cheboygan Area High School. Under her reign, the basketball team had an overall record of 113-40, captured a JV tournament win and several conference and district championships.
She has spent the past 28 years as a traveling nurse in Florida and Arizona, and currently works as a traveling nurse in Yuma, AZ.
Jean (Carbeno) Kreidler – volleyball (1980-1984) from Saginaw, Michigan
Jean Kreidler is from Saginaw, Michigan and played for the LSSU volleyball team from 1980 to 1984. She was named GLIAC Player of the Week twice throughout her career – once in 1982 after leading the Lakers to five straight wins thanks to her .461 attack percentage, and once in 1983 after compiling 40 kills in two wins against Northern Michigan and Hillsdale. She also earned All-GLIAC First Team Honors for those two seasons. Kreidler holds LSSU’s record for single-match kills with 34 against Michigan Tech on October 11, 1982.
After graduating from Lake State, Kreidler continued her involvement in volleyball as a coach for Sault High School’s junior varsity team. She currently resides in Huron, Ohio and is a wraparound facilitator through the Erie County Juvenile Court, where she works alongside at-risk youth and their families. Previously, Kreidler worked as a case manager for the EUP Mental Health. She volunteered for the Special Olympics and in 2011, she was presented with the EDSY Award from the Ohio Self-Determination Association for her continued efforts to advance self determination for individuals with developmental disabilities. She was honored with this award after assisting an individual with starting her own t-shirt business.
“It’s an honor to be selected into the LSSU Athletic Hall of Fame,” Kreidler said. “It was such a pleasant surprise to be chosen. I am excited to be included with the women athletes that have already been inducted.”
Mark Astley – hockey – defenseman – (1988-1992) from Calgary, Alberta
Mark Astley came to Lake Superior State from Calgary, Alberta, and was a defenseman on the hockey team from 1988-1982. He was an integral part of the 1992 National Championship team that he co-captained.
Adding to the honors received after capturing the championship, Astley was named CCHA Best Offensive Defenseman. He was also named to the All-Tournament team, NCAA First-Team All-American and All-CCHA First Team.
He holds multiple school records, as well – he’s the top in single-season assists by a defenseman, after notching 37 in the 1991-1992 season. He shares the school record for most goals in a series by a defenseman with three scored against MSU in October 1990 and ranks third on LSSU’s all-time list for career assists by a defenseman.
Astley was selected by the Buffalo Sabres 194th overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft and went on to play professional hockey after his time at LSSU. He kicked off his pro career in Switzerland with HC Lugano in the 1992-1993 season and played for HC Ambri-Piotta in the same league the following season, 1993-1994. He made his NHL debut in 1993, appearing in one game with Buffalo. He represented Team Canada in the 1994 Winter Olympics, where he took home a silver medal. Following his time on the Canadian National Team, he played in the Sabres organization where he split time between the NHL and AHL until 1996. The Los Angeles Kings signed him as a free agent in 1996 and he spent that season with the Phoenix Roadrunners, their IHL affiliate. He returned to Switzerland for the 1997-1998 season, playing for HC Lugano, and remained with them until 2004. Astley was a part of two Swiss NLA Championship-winning teams during his tenure there, adding to his three Spengler Cup championships earned with Team Canada (1992, 2002, 2003). He spent the next three seasons with the SCL Tigers Langnau and then EHC Basel.
He retired from hockey in 2007 and moved back to his hometown of Calgary, Alberta.
“It is a great honor to be recognized and inducted into the LSSU Athletic Hall of Fame,” Astley said. “I credit the players I played with, the coaches who coached me, the Laker hockey fans and the great people of Soo, Michigan. It is even more special to be inducted with such a deserving inductee as Darrin Madeley.”
Darrin Madeley – hockey – goaltender – (1989-1992) from Holland Landing, Ontario
Darrin Madeley, from Holland Landing, Ontario, was between the pipes for LSSU from 1989-1992. He led the team to two national championship tournaments during his three seasons on the squad and won the title in 1992.
Madeley’s play was awarded multiple honors during his final two seasons at Lake State, including NCAA All-America First Team, CCHA First Team and All-Tournament team honors in 1991 and 1992. He was named CCHA Tournament MVP in 1992 and was also a Hobey Baker finalist that season as one of the nation’s top collegiate hockey players.
After leaving LSSU, he began his professional hockey career. He signed with the Ottawa Senators as a free agent during their expansion season and split time between the NHL and AHL over the next few seasons. His post-NHL career included stints in the Finland SM-liiga and the Deutsche Eishockey League (Germany). He played his final professional season with the ECHL’s Pensacola Ice Pilots and then went on to serve as a player coach for the Saginaw Gears in the United Hockey League.
In 2003, after his retirement from hockey, Madeley finished his degree and graduated cum laude from Saginaw Valley State University. He was an assistant coach and hockey camp director for the USA Hockey National team, where his roles included working with the defensemen and goaltenders on the Under 18 team and running the USA Hockey summer camp. Since 2005, he has served as the Athletic Director/Director of Hockey at Lake Forest Academy. His roles include managing the entire athletic program, running the LFA hockey camps, and overseeing the scheduling and rentals of the rink, pool, turf fields and gym.
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