Monday, September 13, 2010

Campbell, Papale and Costner among nine to be inducted in SJU Hall of Fame

PHILADELPHIA - Saint Joseph's University will honor its ninth Athletics Hall of Fame class at the 2010 Hall of Fame Celebration on Saturday, October 16 at the Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena. The Class of 2010 is comprised of John Butz '66 (baseball), Bill Campbell (honorary), Tony Costner '84 (basketball), Renee Hykel '01 (rowing), Christina Kowalski '00 (softball), Michael McDermott '97 (golf), Susan Moran '02 (basketball), Vince Papale '68 (track and field), and Tom Pippet '73 (soccer).

The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a reception, dinner and a silent auction followed by the induction ceremony. The event will be held on  the main floor of Hagan Arena. For tickets, call 610-660-1707 or email athletics@sju.edu.

Butz was a pitcher for the Hawks from 1964 to 1966, and is the school's all-time leader in strikeouts with 212. He threw 92.1 innings in 1965, which still ranks as a single-season record, and posted the lowest single-season earned run average in SJU history with 1.07 that same year. Butz, originally from St. Petersburg, Fla.,
ranks second on the Hawks' all-time list in career ERA (1.75) and complete games (16). He was inducted into the Saint Joseph's Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Campbell is the dean of broadcasting in Philadelphia with over eight decades on the air in both radio and television. He attended Saint Joseph's before entering the service for World War II and upon his
return, embarked on his legendary career. Campbell called the action of Big 5 basketball games from the very beginning and was a broadcaster for Philadelphia's professional teams - the Warriors, 76ers, Eagles and Phillies. He continues to be heard locally on KYW Radio.

Costner made his mark as one of the top big men in Hawk history during his career from 1980 to 1984. He was an Atlantic 10 All-Conference selection in his junior and senior seasons and was recognized as an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America in 1983. Costner ranks fifth on the Hawks' all-time list for scoring with 1,729 points and is seventh in rebounding with 951. A three-time All-Big 5 selection, Costner was inducted into the Big 5 Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the Saint Joseph's Men's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989.

Hykel rowed for the Hawks from 1998 to 2001 and became one of the nation's top female rowers as a five-time member of the United States National Team. A native of Haverford, Pa., she joined the Hawks' crew as a walk-on and would go on to serve as the team captain as a senior. She helped SJU's Varsity 8 to a gold medal in the 2000 Kerr Cup  and was the Hawks' MVP in 2001. With the U.S. National Team, Hykel participated every year at the World Championships from 2003 to 2006, and also competed for the U.S. Olympic Team at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

Kowalski ranks as one of the top players in SJU softball history, excelling both on the mound and at the plate from 1997 to 2000.  She holds a number of career hitting and pitching records, including those for hits (253), home runs (34), RBI (173), innings pitched (194.1) and complete games (28). She is also tied for the all-time
record in wins (19) and threw the first perfect game in SJU history on April 3, 1999. Originally from Horseheads, N.Y., Kowalski was a two-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference selection and a two-time
All-Mid-Atlantic Region honoree.

McDermott established himself as one of the top golfers in school history from 1994 to 1997. He earned All-Atlantic 10 Conference honors three times, the most of any player in Hawk history. McDermott
posted his best individual conference finish, tying for second place at the 1997 A-10 Championships, while helping the Hawks to third-place team finishes in 1994 and 1995. The native of Havertown,
Pa., went on to a successful amateur career and in 2003, advanced to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Moran is one of the most highly-decorated players in Saint Joseph's women's basketball history, making her mark from 1998 to 2002. The school's all-time leading scorer with 2,340 points, Moran was a four-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference and All-Big 5 selection. She earned Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America honors as a senior while being named the Player of the Year in both the A-10 and
the Big 5. A starter in all 122 games of her career, she is the only player to lead the Hawks in scoring and rebounding all four seasons. She was inducted into the SJU Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008
and the Big 5 Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Moran hails from Tullamore, Ireland, and is currently in her eighth season as an assistant coach at SJU.

Papale made his mark with the Saint Joseph's track and field team from 1966 to 1968 before going on to a professional football career with the Philadelphia Eagles. A co-captain of the 1968 Hawk squad, he set school records in the triple jump and the pole vault, a mark which still stands today. The native of Prospect Park, Pa., helped the Hawks to the 1968 Middle Atlantic Conference championship, winning two events, placing third in another and running the first leg of the winning 440-yard relay. Papale's journey to the roster of
the Philadelphia Eagles has been well-documented and was the subject of the 2006 major motion picture Invincible.

Pippet, who played soccer from 1970 to 1972, owns many of the Hawks' goalkeeping records. He is SJU's leader in career goals against average (0.84) and shutouts (24) and set the single-season record for
goals against average with 1.13 in 1970, as the Hawks posted an 11-4 record. In 1971, Pippet notched nine shutouts, which is the best number in school history. An inductee into the Saint Joseph's Men's Soccer Hall of Fame in 1991, he also pitched for the Hawk baseball team, and in 1971, posted a 6-1 record. He is a native of Philadelphia (Father Judge HS).

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