ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A former Syracuse University track & field standout headlines this year's class of inductees into the Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame. Steve Dering '91, a three-time All-American will join Kim Batten, Lewis “Deerfoot” Bennett and Sonja Fitts as members of the 2009 class.

Dering won six Big East Championships (four in the hammer throw and two in the 35 pound weight throw). He was the 1988 US Junior Champion, the 1990 Penn Relays Champion and 1990 IC4A Champion in the Hammer Throw. Dering set the Syracuse University school record in the hammer throw twice (1990, 1991. He won the 1991 BIG EAST Outstanding Performer Award and the 1991 Bud Brown Outstanding Thrower Award from Syracuse University. Dering was ranked in the US Top Ten six times (1992-1997) for the Hammer Throw.

Dering joins 1999 inductee Myer Prinstein, 2000 inductee Raymond Barbuti, 2001 member Charles Reidpath, 2003 inductees Oscar B. Jensen and Allen Woodring, 2006 inductees Ed O'Brien and Anthony Washington, the lone 2007 member Marquis Franklin “Bill” Horr and 2008 inductee Jerome Edward “Jerry” Riordan as other individuals in the Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame with Syracuse University ties.