Calendars | Directory

November 4, 2008

Contact: Scott Silversten Phone: (718) 862-7232 E-mail: Public Relations

Men’s Basketball Star Jason Hoover ’97 And Baseball Standout Thomas Walraven ’76 Among Those To Be Inducted Into Manhattan College’s Athletic Hall Of Fame

Inductees include five track and field stars and softball’s Carrie Wujcik-Drum ’96

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Men’s basketball star Jason Hoover ’97 and baseball standout Thomas Walraven ’76 headline the list of 2008 inductees into Manhattan College’s Athletic Hall of Fame. The 30th annual induction ceremony, sponsored by the Manhattan College Alumni Society, will be held on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 5:00 p.m. in the College’s Smith Auditorium.

Among the other inductees are softball’s Carrie Wujcik-Drum ’96 and track and field team members Diné Potter ’97, Patrick McGrath ’95, Louis Ostolozaga ’81, Peter Beyer ’60 and Dean Noll ’50 (posthumously). Two teams will also be honored: the 1935 Penn Relays mile championship team and the 1993 women’s softball squad.

For more information on the Manhattan College Hall of Fame, please contact Grace Feeney, alumni relations officer, at (718) 862-7432 or grace.feeney@manhattan.edu.  If you are a member of the press and wish to cover the induction ceremony, please contact Scott Silversten at (718) 862-7232 or e-mail scott.silversten@manhattan.edu. 

Manhattan College is located at West 242nd Street near Broadway in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, one mile from the Westchester County line and accessible by MTA subway line 1.

Hoover was part of the Manhattan College basketball resurgence in the 1990s. A powerhouse center even as a freshman, he started 23 games and averaged 8.6 points to become MAAC Rookie of the Year. As a sophomore, Hoover was a key factor in the Jaspers earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and then beating Oklahoma in the first round.

He finished his career in Riverdale with 1,250 points, 865 rebounds and a 52.0 field goal rate from the floor. His seven free throws in the final minutes of a close Manhattan vs. Fordham game earned him the title of Battle of the Bronx MVP during his senior year.

Walraven, an outfielder, posted one of the highest batting averages (.349) in the country for freshmen. He went on to be named to the All-Metropolitan team in 1974 and 1976 when he batted .356 with 19 runs scored as a senior. In 1975, he played errorless ball despite an injury that slowed him offensively.

Among Walraven’s Manhattan College honors were Dean’s List, Outstanding Performer Award and the Jasper Award.

Wujcik-Drum began her Jaspers career with 30 wins in a season that saw the softball team accumulate 34 victories, the most successful campaign in program history at the time. Even with an injury that cut her sophomore season short, she pitched 78 career complete games, earning 55 victories with a 2.32 ERA.

During an outstanding career, Wujcik-Drum led the team in appearances (105), games started (98), wins, innings pitched (618) and complete games. She also ranked second in strikeouts and fifth in ERA. 

Potter was the first female Jasper to compete in the Olympics, when she represented her parents’ homeland Antigua and Barbuda in 1996 in Atlanta. She set nine Jasper records and still holds school marks in the 4x400 relay (3:39.64) and 4x200 meter relay (1:38.25) more than 10 years after leaving Riverdale.

Named All-East five times between 1994-1997, Potter won six Metropolitan Championship titles. She led relay teams that set records in three consecutive Penn Relays in different events.

McGrath, a threat with the hammer and 35-pound weight, represented his native Ireland at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. A three-time All-American while at Manhattan, he was named to the All-East Track and Field Team eight times, four in each category, and is listed No. 3 on the College’s all-time rankings for hammer and weight performers.

In addition to numerous national and international championships to his credit, McGrath earned the title of youngest champion at the Irish Nationals in the hammer throw competition in 1992 (205 feet, 0 inches), competing in the event six times.

Ostolozaga was a two-time All-American in the mile and a three-time All-East selection while a long distance runner at Manhattan. He set five College records, including two NYC Marathon Jasper marks with his best time of 2:14. A three-time Met Champion, he also was undefeated in indoor dual meet races in his final three years on campus.

A versatile long distance performer, Ostolozaga was a Met Champion in the 1,500 meters in 1980 and the 10,000 meters in 1980 and 1981. He set a field house record at Navy in 1980 in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:03.

Beyer was only the second Jasper to break 25 minutes at Van Cortlandt Park on the grueling five-mile course. He put up times of 24:55 for the Met IC4As and 24:47 for the IC4As. Victorious in 25 races and meets, Beyer was a captain of the cross country team in 1959 and finished his Jaspers career with five cross country victories, leading Manhattan to the Met IC4A Championships three times as a senior.

In addition, he played a pivotal role in nine Met IC4A Championships (three cross country and six indoor/outdoor). He was named Elite Cross Country Runner in the East in 1958 and 1959.

Noll had 51 medals in his possession and held a Jaspers record for the one-mile relay with a time of 3:16 by the time he completed his Manhattan career. He helped put Manhattan on the map in national track competitions, contributing to many victories, including all major relays in the 1947 indoor season.

Competing regularly against stiff competition, Noll was a member of the mile relay and spring medley relay, which won the national championship at Madison Square Garden in 1947. It marked the first time Manhattan had four runners win two relay events in a national championship. Noll’s records include the mile relay mark at the IC4A outdoor championships in 1950 at Randall’s Island.

The 1935 Penn Relays Mile Championship Team was not considered a threat in the mile relays, but coach Pete Waters found a winning combination in Matt Carey ’37, Bill Averill ’35, Bill Morrissey ’35 and anchor Jack Wolff ’38. At the Penn Relays, the squad posted the second fastest time (3:16.3) to date.

Prior to this victory in Philadelphia, the Jaspers mile relay squad captured the IC4A and Met indoor championships. They helped pave the way for Jasper dominance in the decades that followed by contributing to numerous team titles, including three straight IC4A and Met championships.

The 1993 women’s softball team finished their season with the most wins in Jasper history for any team at the time with a record of 34-16 record. Coached by Hall of Famer Paul Mazzei, the squad ranked fourth in the NCAA in triples per game, sixth in runs and 15th in both home runs and slugging percentage.

Founded in 1853, Manhattan College is an independent, Catholic, coeducational institution of higher learning offering more than 40 major programs of undergraduate study in the areas of arts, business, education, engineering and science, along with graduate programs in education and engineering. For more information about Manhattan College, visit www.manhattan.edu.