College Presents Outstanding Varsity Athletic Alumni Awards

At Homecoming festivities recently, Pennsylvania College of Technology presented, for the first time, Outstanding Varsity Athletic Alumni Awards. The 2007 recipients are Wayne M. Parfitt, of Newport News, Va., and Sara J. Smith, of Troy.

To be eligible for the award, a recipient must be a varsity athlete for two or more years, demonstrate the importance of his or her education at Penn College, participate in leadership roles and demonstrate a commitment to the community in which he or she resides, and be a graduate of the college or its immediate predecessor institution, Williamsport Area Community College.

Parfitt, a graduate of Pottsville Area High School and the Schuylkill Technology Center, graduated from W.A.C.C. in 1986 with an associate degree in auto body repair. He was a member of the college's cross country team in 1984 and was the individual state champion with a winning time of 27:03 for the 5-mile race at White Deer Golf Course. He was unable to run the following year because the college discontinued varsity athletics (they were reinstated in 1992).

He has run in many road races, including the Philadelphia Marathon (twice) and the Boston Marathon. In 1984, he posted the fastest marathon time for any runner in the nation age 19 and under.

Parfitt is employed as a collision technician/team leader by Suttle Motor Corp. in Newport News, the largest Cadillac dealership in Virginia. Previously, he owned Riverbridge Collision and Custom in Muncy. He also worked for nearly 15 years for Kaiser Brothers, Muncy, as a collision shop manager and collision technician.

He is an ASE (Automotive Service Excellence)-certified master collision and refinish technician and is certified as an I-CAR (Inter-Industry Conference on Auto-Collision Repair) Platinum technician. While in Pennsylvania, he was a state-licensed collision-damage appraiser for many years and was chosen to be part of the team that recertified Penn College's collision repair program for NATEF (National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation).

He and his wife, Sunday, have been married 20 years and have five children.

Smith, a 1997 graduate of Troy Area Senior High School, graduated from Penn College in 1999 with an associate degree in early childhood education. She lettered for two years in basketball and softball and also worked in the Children's Learning Center while enrolled at the college.

After graduation, she opened the first Subway franchise in Canton in 2002. She co-owns that franchise, as well as a Subway franchise in Mansfield, with several other partners. In addition, she owns a Sunoco gas station/convenience store in Mansfield with a Subway store inside.

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