By Dylan Botehlo, Sports Editor
Last week, the UMass Dartmouth Athletic Hall of Fame class of 2018 was announced. Five individuals as well as the 2003 Corsair Football team will be inducted to the Hall of Fame as the 31st class on Friday, October 19th at the Woodland Commons. The induction ceremony will take place at 6:00 PM as part of the university’s Homecoming Weekend festivities.
At the head of this year’s class is former ice hockey All-American, Jonathan Dryjowicz-Burek. Dryjowicz-Burek, who graduated in 2011, tallied 35 victories and lead the 2005-06 UMass Dartmouth men’s ice hockey team to the ECAC Northeast championship as well as a position in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals.
The Corsair’s stellar goaltender earned second team All-American accolades after recording a 17-5 win/loss record with a 1.73 goals against average and a .944 save percentage.
He became only the second player in school history to earn All-American honors and was named the ECAC Co-Rookie of the Year after his memorable season. In three seasons with the Corsairs, Dryjowicz-Burek played a total of 62 games in the team’s net.
Leanne Morris, class of 1995, was the leading scorer in the 1992 NCAA Division III Championships and helped lead the team to a spot in the 1992 national title match. Morris scored the game-winning goals in the Sweet 16, the national quarterfinals, and the national semifinals en route to the national championship game. The Corsair’s women’s soccer team were 57-12-5 during her career and secured two berths to the NCAA tournament as well as two ECAC Division III championship selections.
Shawn Theriault, class of 2004, was one of the most prolific rushers the Corsair’s football team has ever seen. He graduated as the school’s all-time leading rusher with 2,849 yards, cemented by an unstoppable senior year in which he rushed for 1,349 yards and nine touchdowns.
Theriault won game MVP honors in the team’s ECAC Northeast Bowl victory over Worcester State after a 217-yard performance.
He still holds the Corsair single-game record of 239 rushing yards in a single game, a record he set against Western New England in 2003.
Jason Antonio, class of 1999, ranks 14th on the UMass Dartmouth men’s basketball all-time scoring list with 1,493 points. Antonio lead the Corsairs to Little East Conference championships and berths into the NCAA tournament in both his sophomore and junior seasons.
He was selected as first team all-conference in both of those seasons but especially shined in his junior year, when he was awarded the Little East Tournament MVP, averaging 18.4 points that season.
Rounding off the individual nominations is Scott Magane, class of 1987, who was at the head of men’s cross country squads that finished 11th in the NCAA Division III Championships in consecutive seasons (1984 and 1985).
Magane qualified individually for the 1986 NCAA Championships and became the first runner in school history to compete at the All-New England Championships. Scott graduated with the school records in both the indoor and outdoor 800 meter and 4 x 800-meter relay.
The 2003 Corsair’s football team will be inducted together as well. Head-coach Bill Kavanaugh lead his team to a 9-2 record in a season that was capped off by the ECAC Northeast Bowl victory against Worcester State. Their nine wins are second only to the 2002 team’s 11 wins and was in the middle of a three-year span that saw the Corsairs win a total of 27 games.
Eight members of the team earned all-New England Football Conference honors that season, including first team selections Tom Koska and T.J. Mahoney and second teamers John Falcone and Shawn Theriault.
The team remains known for their stout defensive play, as they finished eighth in the country among Division III teams with only 9.8 points allowed per game.
You can register and pay for tickets to the Hall of Fame ceremony online at http://www.umassd.edu/homecoming.