Editor: Keith
DavisWriters: Dave Maley, Mike Warwick
Publisher: Office of Public Information
Volume 22, No. 7 November 15, 1999
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Editor: Keith
Davis Writers: Dave Maley, Mike Warwick Publisher: Office of Public Information Volume 22, No. 7 November 15, 1999 |
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Nine Inducted into Athletic Hall of Fame
This year’s class, the first to be inducted under the hall of fame’s new name, includes
Joe AbrahamAbraham, who is being inducted posthumously, spent nearly 40 years in athletic training. A 1970 inductee into the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame, he served as an athletic trainer at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City and the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid. Abraham founded the Eastern Athletic Trainers Association and received the first Thomas Sheehan Award, given to the outstanding athletic trainer in New York State. The Joseph Abraham Award, given to the New York State high school athletic trainer who has provided outstanding injury care, was created in his name. Maria Ampula-RomanoskyAmpula-Romanosky was a member of Ithaca’s swimming and volleyball teams. She was a 28-time all-American swimmer (an Ithaca record, and the most honors that can be earned by a swimmer). Her top finish was a second-place showing with the 1993 400-yard freestyle relay team. An 11-time state champion, she set five New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association records. She helped the Bombers win four straight Independent College Athletic Conference titles and was named the conference’s swimmer of the meet and individual sport female athlete of the year in 1994. She earned two letters in volleyball, helping Ithaca to the 1991 Eastern College Athletic Conference championship, and received the College’s Iris Carnell Senior Female Athlete of the Year Award. Sam CurkoCurko was a guard, linebacker, and kicker for the football team, earning letters in 1961, 1962, and 1963. As a senior he earned all-American honors, served as the Bomber captain, and was named team MVP. He was one of 11 players picked to the Ithaca College all-decade team in 1969. After graduating he spent five years playing for the New York Jets before beginning a coaching career that included stops at Monroe-Woodbury, Goshen, Greenport, and Southold High Schools. Karin Curry CorrellCorrell helped the gymnastics team make four appearances at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association championships. A four-time all-American, she won two ECAC titles in her career. As a senior she was named NCGA senior of the year and NYSWCAA scholar athlete of the year. She set a school record in the vault and was a big reason the Bombers went 23-7 from 1986 to 1990. Nancy HicksHicks was the first coach of both the volleyball and women’s lacrosse teams. She led the volleyball team to a four-year record of 10-91-1 and the program’s first postseason appearance — a fourth-place finish in the 1970 state tournament. In lacrosse Hicks posted a 12-1 mark in three seasons, during a time the Bombers set a school record with 15 straight wins. The 1969 team — Ithaca’s first — tied for fifth in the state playoffs. Leslie Murphy JonesJones was a star on Ithaca’s soccer and lacrosse teams, and she still ranks among the scoring leaders in both sports. Playing on the school’s first four women’s soccer teams, she earned all-region honors and was named team MVP three times. Her 22 career assists still stand as a school record. In lacrosse she was a two-time all-American, earning first-team honors in 1985 (the first Ithaca player to do so). She was the program’s second-leading scorer at the time of her graduation, and her 75 career assists are still an Ithaca record. Harriet MarrancaMarranca, who passed away in 1996, was the first intercollegiate women’s gymnastics coach at Ithaca College. She posted a record of 67-48 and guided the Bombers to 12 top-five finishes at the state tournament, including championships in 1970 and 1981. She served the College as an associate professor and an adviser to Delta Psi Kappa, a professional health, physical education, and recreation fraternity. After retiring from coaching she continued to teach at Ithaca and remained an active supporter of the gymnastics program until her death. The school’s annual invitational was renamed for her in 1997. John NugentNugent participated in football and track while at Ithaca. He began his long coaching career as a Bomber football assistant in 1949. Over the next 26 years he coached at a number of high schools, including the one in Rye, New York, where he spent 14 years as football coach, 17 years as golf coach, and also served as athletic director. His football teams won four league titles and two sectional championships. The school’s football stadium was renamed in his honor in 1991. Nugent also spent three seasons as a scout with the NFL’s New England Patriots. Sarah RichIn 12 years as Ithaca’s volleyball coach, Rich posted a record of 309-101-3. The Bombers reached the postseason in all but one of Rich’s years, and she led the team to its first three NCAA playoff appearances. The 1984 team set a school record with 44 wins. She also coached the women’s lacrosse team, compiling a six-year record of 27-22-2. Rich chaired numerous committees at the state and regional level, including the state volleyball and lacrosse committees, and served as a professor of recreation and leisure studies until her retirement in 1997. Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame nominees are divided into active and veteran candidates, depending on their year of graduation. Athletes become eligible five years after completing their degrees; administrators, coaches, and trainers are also eligible for nomination. A maximum of seven active and three veteran candidates are chosen annually. The first induction ceremony took place in 1969, when 15 individuals were named as charter members. The Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame — formerly known as the Ithaca College Sports Hall of Fame — had its name changed this year to reflect the more comprehensive role of the College’s athletics programs. |
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Created by Andrejs Ozolins. Updated 12. Nov. 1999 |
The Ithaca College Athletic Hall
of Fame admitted nine new members at its annual induction ceremony.
The event was held on October 9 in the Emerson Suites as part
of Homecoming weekend.