May 2, 2002– Saint Peter’s College Athletic Hall of Fame to Add 10 in 2002
JERSEY CITY -The Saint Peter’s College Athletic Hall of Fame will add 10 new members in 2002, Director of Athletics William A. Stein announced today. The new honorees will join the Hall of Fame at its annual induction dinner on October 5. The latest honorees are: Evan Americo (men’s tennis, 1990); Stephanie DeWolfe (women’s basketball, 1997); Bob Ernest (honorary); Stan Fryczinski (Hall of Fame Special Achievement, 1975); Lisa Giaconia (women’s cross country and track, 1997); Randy Holmes (men’s basketball, 1997); Bill Mealia (Harold F. Wrightington Special Service Award, 1960); Joe Nowicki (football, 1983); Chris Pini (baseball, 1996); Karl Rose (men’s swimming, 1997).
Evan Americo(1990) played tennis at Saint Peter’s, after having previously played on nationally ranked teams at the University of Houstont. At Saint Peter’s, he was the #1 singles player and served as co-captain with his brother, Eric. Evan’s singles record was 11-4 in 1988 and he helped the team to what was then its highest MAAC finish (4th). The team’s record was 12-3. He is considered the second-best men’s player ever to compete for Saint Peter’s College.
Stephanie DeWolfe (1997) is the all-time career assists leader (339) in women’s basketball, as well as being the single-season three-point percentage leader (.453 in 1995-96, ranked 7th nationally). She scored 1,028 career points, and is second in three-point baskets made in a career and season. De Wolfe was second-team team All-MAAC and All-MAAC Tournament as a senior, as well as being a two-time Academic All-MAAC. She was the starting point guard on teams that won three straight MAAC regular season titles and her senior team was 25-4 overall and the only team in MAAC history to go undefeated (16-0) against a double round robin schedule. A three-year captain, she has been an assistant coach at SPC since 1998-99. She went to the NCAA
Tournament once as a player and has been three times as a coach.
It’s difficult to affix a title to Bob Ernest, an honorary inductee for his service to the bowling team at Saint Peter’s College, with its long tradition of championship bowling. His official involvement was as coach at SPC in the late 1970’s. But he continues as a combination of guiding force, historian and contact person between the bowling team and the athletic department more than 20 years after he was officially the coach.
This year’s Hall of Fame Special Achievement Award goes to Stan Fryczinski (1975) for his accomplishments as a track & field and cross-country coach. Coach of the Secaucus High School boys and girls cross country and indoor/outdoor track since 1978, he is in his 29th year as a high school coach. Before Secaucus, he coached at Saint Peter’s Prep and Holy Family, where he started the track & field program. He is already in the Hudson County Track & Field Hall of Fame, the New Jersey State Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Secaucus High School Hall of Fame. He has been President of the Hudson County Track Coaches Association since 1976 and currently serves as Vice President of the Bergen County Scholastic League.
Lisa Giaconia (1997) was not only the finest woman distance runner in school history up to the time of her graduation, she also distinguished herself as a student and citizen. She was the 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year for New Jersey–the first woman from Saint Peter’s College ever to receive that NCAA honor. A standout in cross-country and track and field, Giaconia was a first team GTE Academic All-America in 1996-97. With a dual major in Elementary Education and Urban Studies, she graduated with a cumulative GPA of 3.97. In November 1996, she became the first runner in school history to win an individual Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference cross-country championship and she later won the MAAC indoor track championship at 3,000 meters.
Randy Holmes(1997) is 23rd on the all-time men’s basketball scoring list, with 1,022 points in three seasons. He is the school record holder with 35 consecutive made free throws, while tying the season record with an .853 free throw percentage in 1994-95. He was MVP of the 1995 MAAC Tournament with 24 points in the championship game win over Manhattan, as the Peacocks claimed their second NCAA Tournament berth. Holmes was second team All-MAAC that year, average 15 points. The next year, he averaged 14 points, including 27 vs. Alabama, for the only win in school history over a team from the powerful Southeastern Conference. That effort helped earn him MVP honors in the Cessna Classic at Wichita State.
This year’s Harold F. Wrightington Award for Special Service goes to Bill Mealia (1960). Formerly Chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee, he also served on the Alumni Board and was a member of the Search Committee to select the Director of Athletics. During his four years as an undergraduate, he was a basketball team manager under coach Don Kennedy.
Joe Nowicki (1983) set the school record for football receptions in a season (49) and receiving yards in a season (594) as a senior in 1982. Those records stood for over a decade until they were broken in the early and mid-1990’s. Nowicki earned all-star recognition in the old Met Conference and caught 103 passes for 1,280 yards in his career.
Chris Pini (1996) was never really a pro baseball prospect because of his size (5-7, 150), but he played center field like a pro and he used his speed and quick bat to set numerous school hitting records and drive opposing coaches crazy. In 1994, he batted .398 with a school-record 64 hits, plus 29 RBI and was named All-MAAC and All-MAAC Tournament, as SPC won the championship. He was also named All-New Jersey. His career was filled with game-saving and extra-base saving plays in the outfield and as a senior, he batted .369 and stole 15 bases, repeating as an All-MAAC and All-New Jersey pick. A career .358 hitter, Pini had a then-record 179 hits (now 2nd). He is also second in runs scored (103). A great contact hitter, he struck out just 28 times in 500 career at-bats.
Karl Rose (1997) was named outstanding male swimmer at both the 1994 and 1996 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships. He entered 2001-2002 as the school record holder in the 200 freestyle and 200 individual medley and previously held many other records that have since been broken. He won 3 individual events at the 1994 MAAC’s and scored in numerous others. He was a three-time academic All-MAAC and was SPC’s top male senior scholar-athlete in 1996-97.