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November 11, 2009

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

Men’s Basketball Standout John Leonard ’82 And Olympics Star Aliann Pompey ’99 Among Those To Be Inducted Into Manhattan College’s Athletic Hall Of Fame

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Men’s basketball standout John Leonard’82 and Olympics star Aliann Pompey ’99 headline the list of 2009 inductees into Manhattan College’s Athletic Hall of Fame. The 31st annual induction ceremony, sponsored by the Manhattan College Alumni Society, will be held on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 6:00 p.m. Smith Auditorium.

Among the other inductees are Bill Goodfellow ’68, basketball (posthumously); Marty Ludwikowski ’80, track; Mike Quigley ’72, baseball; Gerry Ryan ’90, track & field; and Gerard Smith ’79, tennis.

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.

With a rare combination of adaptability, determination and raw talent, Leonard was a leader on the basketball court, first as a player and later as a coach. The 6-foot-1-inch guard was recruited from Niskayuna (N.Y.) High School and offered a Jasper scholarship. While playing for the Jaspers, Leonard had to overcome the challenge of having three coaches in four years. Even with the constant change, he was able to put up some of the strongest stats in the College’s history. He still ranks third in career free throw percentage (83 percent) and holds the record of 32 consecutive shots from the line.

Ranking ninth in points (1,329), Leonard shot just under 90 percent for free throws in 1980-1981. He was a four-year letterman, two-time team Most Valuable Player and team captain in 1981-1982. He was named to the All Metropolitan Team in his junior and senior years and was a member of the Metro Atlantic All Conference Team (MAAC). He was a tenth-round NBA draft pick for the New York Knicks, one of only 20 Manhattan College players drafted by the NBA.

A native of Guyana, Pompey came to the United States when she was 14 and competed in high school track. She had no plans to continue running yet found herself being recruited. Already planning to attend Manhattan on an academic scholarship, she joined the Jaspers track team. The first Jasper female to win an NCAA title, Pompey set a school record for the 400-meter indoor with a time of 52.21 in 2000 and qualified for the NCAA six times.

Pompey holds seven Manhattan records. Her 500m indoor race with a time of 1:09.38 is also an ECAC and NCAA Collegiate record. She and her relay team took the 4x400m indoor relay in 3:41.01. Outdoors, Pompey is tops for the 200m (23.59), the 400m (52.51), the 4x200m relay (1:38.25) and the 4x400m relay (3:39.64). She holds eight Individual Metropolitan Titles in the 200m and 400m and still holds the MAAC 400m indoor and outdoor records, as well as the Metropolitan Conference 400m indoor and outdoor records. She was named All-East in the 200m and 400m six times and was selected as one of the top 25MAAC all-time performers in 2006.

With three Olympics under her belt (2000, 2004 and 2008), Pompey continues to compete internationally. She recently returned from the World Championships in Berlin, where she placed 11th in the 400m, and has been world ranked in the 400m each year. She has competed in seven World Championships, took a bronze medal for the 400m at the Pan Am Games in 2003, and set five records for Guyana for both the 200m and 400m, indoors and outdoors.

A 6-foot-1-inch guard from powerhouse Rice High School, Goodfellow was instrumental in bringing his team to the New York City Catholic High School Athletic Association semifinals. They lost to Power Memorial, which took the championship that year under the leadership of Lew Alcindor, now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with whom Goodfellow played on the New York City All Star team. He was offered scholarships to schools around the country and chose to attend Manhattan as a commuter, so that his widowed mother would not be alone.

In his three years on the varsity team, Goodfellow, affectionately nicknamed Goody, played 65 games and scored 1,025 points. He shot 45 percent from the field and scored a career-high 31 points against Bobby Knight’s Army team. He was known to pass more often than shoot and had a habit of stepping up his game when the Jaspers played at Madison Square Garden. He helped the College take the Met Conference in 1967 against St. Francis; brought the Jaspers to victory over Fordham in 1967; and earned his 1,000th point against the University of Connecticut. At the St. Francis Game, Goodfellow was voted MVP and received the Junius Kellogg Award, making 20 of his 28 points in the second half to clinch the Jasper NIT bid.

Ludwikowski was recruited by Fred Dwyer. A tough competitor from Cherry Hill High School West, Ludwikowski competed indoors, outdoors and in cross country. In 1977, near the beginning of his Jasper track career, he took second place at the IC4A Indoor 5,000 meters. An NCAA All American in Cross Country in 1979, Ludwikowski was also named Metropolitan Track’s Collegiate Cross Country Runner of the Year. A competitive year for the honor, he paved the way with a 10th-place finish at the National AAU Cross Country Championships, a third-place finish in the IC4A Championships and second place finishes in the NCAA District II Championships and the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Championships. He was also a member of the All East First Team.

Ludwikowski wrapped up his track victories in 1980 with another second-place finish in the IC4A Outdoor 10,000 meters. Both of these IC4A second-place finishes came behind future Olympians. Ludwikowski was also instrumental in several Jasper relay victories, including the 4x1600m Rutgers Relay. He ran the leadoff leg in 4:10.8, breaking a Villanova record with a final team time of 16:43.3.

A star baseball player in high school at Mater Christi Diocesan in Queens, N.Y., Quigley received partial scholarships to play baseball at Fordham and St. John’s but decided to forgo scholarships to enter the novitiate to become a Christian Brother. He enrolled at Manhattan and joined the team. His plans to join the Christian Brothers changed, and junior and senior years, he pulled down partial scholarships as his record proved his prowess on the field. He was known for teamwork and fair play.

A right-handed second baseman, Quigley swung a wicked bat. He batted .405 in the Met Conference and .387 overall in 1971, and .388 in the Met Conference and .363 overall in 1972, averages garnering All Metropolitan Conference All Star selections. As a senior, he was team captain, voted the Manhattan College Baseball MVP and named to the Outstanding College Athletes of America Hall of Fame.

A Dublin native who started throwing at age 12, Ryan came to Manhattan College with high school championships under his belt and a record of competing for Ireland on the high school level. A three-time Irish National Champion, he still ranks sixth on the all-time Hammer List at Manhattan. Ryan earned NCAA All American status with a fourth-place finish in 1990.He hurled the hammer for a personal best of 211 feet, 8 inches. His throw would still qualify as an All American throw today, nearly two decades later.

Ryan qualified for the NCAAs twice and was a four-time Metropolitan Champion, twice for the hammer and twice for the weight. He also was named All East six times. Throughout his career, he continued to post personal bests, always striving to beat his last toss. In February 1989, Ryan competed in the Penn State Last Chance Invitational and won the 35-pound weight throw with a toss of 57 feet and 1 3/4 inches. In 1990, he and five other Jasper field competitors contributed to Manhattan’s victory in the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Indoor Track and Field Championship. Ryan’s 35-pound weight sailed for 59 feet and 5 3/4 inches.

The No. 1 player from Garden City High School, Smith was named the Jasper’s Most Valuable Player in 1978 and 1979. Having lost only two matches his junior year, he improved on that record and went undefeated as a senior. The team also went undefeated in conference play that year and won the Suburban West Conference. Known for his serve and volley, Smith had one of his most competitive matches against Fordham’s undefeated Billy Crawford. It came down to sudden death in the third set, and Smith beat him in the final point. He then went on to beat Crawford again a half hour later in doubles with teammate Tommy Gambino ’81.

Smith, a leftie, had his one and only shutout against a player from Adelphi. Athletic Director Jack Powers ’58 was so impressed with Smith’s play those two seasons that he offered him the first tennis scholarship at Manhattan, if he would stay on to complete his M.B.A. Smith turned it down but continued to compete before going to work fulltime for Weeden & Company, based in Greenwich, Conn.

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.