ERIE, Pa. — Gannon University will celebrate the latest class of its Athletics Hall of Fame with the induction of nine new members.
The new class increases the Gannon Hall of Fame to 108 members. The Class of 2018 will be formally inducted at the Annual Hall of Fame Awards Banquet on Saturday, January 27 at Gannon’s Yehl Alumni Room in the Waldron Campus Center.
Reservations for the Hall of Fame Banquet can be made online at www.gannonalumni.org/ahof2018. Seating will be limited to 250 registrations. Cost for the event is $45 and includes admission to the women’s and men’s basketball games against Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday, January 27, 2017. The women’s contest begins at 1 p.m., followed by the men’s game at 3 p.m. The Hall of Fame reception sponsored by U Pick 6 kicks off at 5 p.m. with the banquet to follow at 5:45 p.m. The inaugural Gannon Athletics Coach of the Year sponsored by U Pick 6 will also be announced at the banquet. Please direct any questions regarding the Athletics Hall of Fame weekend to Melanie Vadzemnieks in University Advancement at 814-871-7005 or by e-mail at vadzemni001@gannon.edu.
The 2018 inductees include men’s golf standout Drew Deimel ’12; women’s basketball great Cheryl (Hubbard) Taplin ’87; football standout Charbel Latouf, Esq. ’96; men’s soccer great Dag Magnusson ’97; wrestling standout Lyneil Mitchell ’03, ’05M, ’07DPT; men’s basketball great Josh Morgan ’04; women’s lacrosse coaching great Jim Nestor and women’s water polo standout Tara (Skasik) Quinn ’05. Chuck Pora ’68 will be inducted as the 2018 Distinguished Service Award recipient. A brief summary of the 2018 inductees’ achievements follows in alphabetical order.
Drew Deimel ’12 (Men’s Golf) is the fourth men’s golf student-athlete to be inducted into the Gannon Athletics Hall of Fame. A two-time national qualifier, Deimel finished 11th out of 108 participants at the 2011 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II National Championship as a senior and 18th at the 2010 NCAA Division II National Championship as a junior. He advanced both years after qualifying for two consecutive NCAA Division II Atlantic/East Regionals as an individual, finishing fourth in 2011 and sixth in 2010.
The Erie, Pa., native averaged 74.8 strokes in 78 career rounds. Deimel’s senior season resume included Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Men’s Golfer of the Year, All-PSAC First Team and NCAA Division II PING All-Atlantic Region. Academically, he earned a spot on the Capital One Academic All-District Men’s At-Large second team as a senior. and was selected to the Dean’s List five times. Deimel was also named a PSAC Scholar-Athlete and received the Division II Athletics Directors Association (DII ADA) Academic Achievement Award.
Cheryl (Hubbard) Taplin ’87 (Women’s Basketball) joins nine other women’s basketball student-athletes in the Athletics Hall of Fame. The prolific scorer torched the nets for 900 points and a 55.7 field goal percentage in only two seasons as a Lady Knight, averaging 18.8 points per game. She graduated as Gannon’s all-time leader in field goal percentage and currently ranks third. She finished second all-time at Gannon upon graduation in scoring average and 24th in scoring.
The Buffalo, N.Y., native landed on the 1987 Fast Break All-America first team as a senior. Taplin’s 42-point performance against Le Moyne on December 13, 1985 still remains the highest single-game total in school history. Her 485 points during the 1985-86 season represents the 13th-highest single-season total in school history, but was seventh-highest at the time. Taplin’s 20.2 scoring average during that same season is the eighth-highest single-season total in school history.
Charbel Latouf, Esq. ’96 (Football) becomes the ninth football student-athlete to enter the Gannon Athletics Hall of Fame. The offensive star set the standard for Gannon modern era running backs with 2,074 rushing yards, 17 touchdowns, 102 points, 2,119 all-purpose yards and seven 100-yard games during his collegiate career. He ranked No. 1 all-time at Gannon upon graduation in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, points and 100-yard rushing games.
The New Castle, Pa., native was a three-year letterwinner at Gannon, serving as a team captain during his final season. A preseason All-American, Latouf was invited to play in two NCAA Division I/II All-Star Games after his collegiate career concluded. He rushed for 951 yards and scored 72 points as a junior in 1994. Both figures represented the highest single-season totals in program history at the time. He ranked second upon graduation in career total offense and career all-purpose yards.
Dag Magnusson ’97 (Men’s Soccer) continues the Gannon men’s soccer program’s string of Hall of Famers. The midfielder’s exploits resulted in 42 goals, 26 assists and 110 points during his collegiate career. He graduated fifth all-time at Gannon in points, fifth in goals and sixth in assists.
The Gothenburg, Sweden, native played a key role on the 1993 team that was ranked No. 1 in the country for five weeks before advancing to the national semifinals. Magnusson was a two-time All-American (1994, 1996), three-time all-region selection (1994, 1995, 1996), and two-time All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) selection (1995, 1996). He later went on to play professionally for three different clubs, including time in Sweden’s highest division.
Lyneil Mitchell ’03, ’05M, ’07DPT (Wrestling) is the sixth Gannon wrestler inducted into the Gannon Athletics Hall of Fame. The former heavyweight is still one of only two Gannon wrestlers to advance to a national championship match, finishing second as a senior in 2002-03. He concluded his collegiate career with a 98-32 record, .754 winning percentage, 29 pins, 36-11 dual record and .766 dual winning percentage.
The Butler, Pa., native was a two-time All-America as a junior and senior. Mitchell graduated third all-time at Gannon in pins, fourth in winning percentage, fifth in overall victories, fifth in dual victories and seventh in dual winning percentage. A two-time regional finalist and two-time national qualifier, he won the region championship as a senior. Mitchell suffered only two losses during each of his final two years of competition, going 29-2 as a junior and 33-2 as a senior. He was just as good off the mat, becoming an Academic All-America twice.
Josh Morgan ’04 (Men’s Basketball) brought a unique combination of great post play and precise outside shooting to the Hammermill Center. The forward graduated among Gannon’s all-time top five in scoring with 1,577 career points. His four-year resume included 115 games played, 615 field goals, 823 rebounds and 171 blocked shots.
The Grove City, Pa., native earned All-GLIAC honors three times, including a pair of first-team accolades as a junior and senior. Morgan still ranks second all-time at Gannon in blocked shots, fifth in field goals made, fifth in games played and eighth in rebounds. His 58 blocks in 2000-01 rank sixth all-time at Gannon and his 50 blocks in 2002-03 rank seventh.
Jim Nestor (Women’s Lacrosse) was Gannon’s lacrosse pioneer, serving as the University’s first women’s lacrosse head coach when the program became a varsity sport in 1996. He quickly became one of the nation’s top coaches, compiling a 73-20-1 record in six seasons at the helm. As a result, Nestor was named Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) NCAA Division II Coach of the Year in 1996 and College LacrosseUSA.com NCAA Division II Coach of the Year in 2000.
Gannon won three straight Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships from 1998-2000 under Nestor. The Lady Knights were named the co-national champion by the IWLCA following the 2000 season. Nestor’s teams reached double digits in victories every year. He still remains No. 1 among Gannon’s all-time lacrosse coaches in career winning percentage (.782). Gannon had 21 student-athletes recognized as IWLCA All-Americas during Nestor’s tenure with the program. He also served as Gannon women’s soccer head coach from 1995-99, leading the program to its first-ever winning season in 1996.
Tara (Skasik) Quinn ’05 (Women’s Water Polo) is only the second women’s water polo student-athlete ever inducted into the Gannon Athletics Hall of Fame. The four-year starter was an unbeatable roadblock for opposing teams in goal. She still remains Gannon’s all-time leader in career saves with 856, sitting 257 ahead of the next best total in program history. In addition to her saves, Quinn recorded 181 career steals and dished out 56 career assists from the other end of the pool.
The Pittsburgh, Pa., native was a two-time Division II Eastern Championship Most Valuable Player in 2004 and 2005. Quinn ranked second all-time at Gannon in steals and sixth in assists upon graduation. Her 306 saves as a junior remains No. 1 among Gannon’s top single-season totals and her 231 saves as a freshman sits third. Quinn set a school record for most saves in a match with 29 against Slippery Rock on April 21, 2002 – a record that still stands today. A two-sport athlete, Quinn also competed with the swim team where she broke school records at the time in the 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard breaststroke and several relays as a senior.
Chuck Pora ’68 will be the 2018 Distinguished Service Award recipient. Pora has contributed to the Gannon athletics program in many different ways during more than a half-century of involvement, dating back to his first season on the Gannon baseball team in 1965. Most notably, the 2017-18 season will mark his 49th consecutive year as a statistician for the Gannon basketball program and he served on the Gannon Athletics Hall of Fame Board from its inception in 1984 until 2016. Having kept the home team statistics for the basketball program since the 1969-70 season, Pora is the longest-serving member of the scorer’s table that has approximately 150 years of combined service. His duration of 49 consecutive years and approximately 1,500 women’s and men’s games worked has set the standard high. Not only has he served the Gannon Athletics Department, but he has done so by donating his pay back to the department during the last two seasons.
The Erie, Pa., native was a member of the Gannon baseball team under legendary head coach Ivan George before graduating in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in business management. In the early 1980s, Pora presented the idea of a Gannon Athletics Hall of Fame to former Athletics Director Bud Elwell, and worked with Elwell on its formation. During his 32-year tenure on the Hall of Fame Board, he served in numerous capacities, including photographer, secretary, sub-committee member and by-laws coordinator.
In 2016, Pora spearheaded a 50-year anniversary celebration of the Gannon men’s basketball team’s six-overtime game against Youngstown State. He also previously served on the 2014 NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Elite Eight committee while helping secure sponsors. In the ’80s and ’90s, Pora was the head of a committee at GTE that provided volunteer support of Gannon’s annual fund telethon.
Current members of Gannon’s Athletics Hall of Fame can be viewed at http://www.gannonsports.com/hof.aspx.
Information courtesy Gannon University Athletics Communications
