Rider Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2022 Announced

All-Americans in men's basketball and field hockey, a men's cross country and track & field runner and women's swimmer who rewrote the program record books and one of the most accomplished hitters in Rider baseball history make up the 2022 Rider Athletics Hall of Fame induction class. The 2009-12 Rider Field Hockey teams that won four Northeast Conference Regular Season Championships and three NEC Tournament titles will also be honored with the Clair Bee Outstanding Team Achievement Award.

Jim Bolger '85 of men's basketball, Virginia Egusquiza '12 of field hockey, Christian Gonzalez '11 of men's cross country and track & field, Priscilla Modrov '09 of women's swimming and Sean Olson '09 of baseball will be inducted on June 11, 2022.

Bolger was an Honorable Mention All-American and a First Team All-East Coast Conference selection as a senior in 1984-85 and was a starter on the ECC Championship team that went to the NCAAs in 1984. In 1984-85, he averaged a team-high 16.1 points and was second on the team with 6.5 rebounds per game. As a junior in 1983-84, he averaged 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, he was a role player on a team that went 20-9 and won at South Carolina and at La Salle but eventually lost to La Salle in the ECC Semifinals. He played in 22 games as a rookie with four starts, 19 games as a sophomore, all 30 games as a junior and all 29 games as a senior. In his senior year of high school, he led all of Philadelphia in scoring (22.1 ppg) and his two high school coaches that year were Phil Martelli and Geno Auriemma.

Egusquiza is one of the most decorated players in Rider field hockey history. A four-time First-Team All-NEC honoree, she was named the NEC Rookie of the Year as a freshman before going on to be named the NEC Player of the Year in each of the next three seasons. After her sophomore season in 2009, she was named a NFHCA Mid Atlantic Second-Team All-Region honoree.  After her junior season, during which she earned NEC Tournament MVP honors, she earned NFHCA First-Team All-Mid Atlantic Regions honors and was Rider's Female Athlete of the Year for 2010-11. Egusquiza was selected as the NEC Tournament MVP for a second-straight season in 2011, again going on to earn NFHCA First-Team All-Mid Atlantic Region honors. She capped her senior season by being named an NFHCA Third-Team All-American and was named Rider's Female Athlete of the Year for the second time. She graduated as the program record holder in points (150) and assists (62), and is still the program record holder for career assists. In addition to her time with the Broncs, she was also a member of the Spanish National U21, U18, and U16 teams.

Gonzalez embedded his name into Rider track & field and cross country record books in his four years. He was a two-time NCAA First Round Qualifier, a two-time MAAC Outstanding Championship Meet Performer, a five-time individual MAAC Champion, an IC4A Cross Country Champion and set eight Rider track & field records and four cross country course records. He was a four-time All-East Cross Country and Track & Field performer and posted three Top 15 finishes at MAAC Cross Country Championships to earn All-MAAC honors. He was a 16-time IC4A Qualifier and the 2011 Rider Male Athlete of the Year. He holds the Rider indoor records in the mile (4:00.84), the DMR relay and the 4xMile relay and set the indoor records in the 800m (1:52.00), before Johnathan Jackson broke it in 2015. He owns Rider's outdoor record in the 1500m (3:42.92) and was also part of the DMR relay record-setting team. A two-time NCAA Outdoor Regional Qualifier in the 1500m, he was named the 2010-11 Indoor and 2011 Outdoor MAAC Most Outstanding Track Performer. He won the 800m, placed second in the mile and ran the lead leg on the DMR that finished second in the indoor season. Gonzalez won the 800m (1:50.62) and finished second in the 1500m (3:45.50), and was part of the gold-medal winning 4x800 (7:47.67) team at the 2011 MAAC Outdoor Championships. He won the 2010 IC4A Cross Country Championship Race finishing the five mile course in 24:52.7. He finished third at the 2010 MAAC Cross Country Championships and placed fourth overall at the Penn State National that featured top 25 schools Syracuse and Penn State. He finished first at the Fordham Fiasco, the first time a Rider cross country athlete had won an individual race under Head Coach Bob Hamer. He won the mile at the 2009-10 MAAC Indoor Championships in a then-Rider-record time (4:08.11), breaking the mark set by Rider Hall of Famer Terrance Armstrong '94 (4:09.11). Placed fourth (25:46) at the 2009 IC4A Cross Country Championships and placed 28th at the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Regional Championships, covering the 10,000 meter course in 33:00. He set the Rider cross country record for the Lehigh course at the 2008 Paul Short Run, covering the 8,000m course in 24:43. He also went on to run a sub-four-minute mile at the Boston University Terrier Invitational following his graduation.

Modrov still holds Rider records in 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly, 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley. The three-time MAAC Championship Most Outstanding Performer and two-time ECAC Championship Most Outstanding Performer was a 2009 CoSIDA Academic All-America finalist as a First Team All-District All-Academic honoree. She was a three-time MAAC All-Academic team selection. Modrov appeared in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd along with her brother, when he also was named the MAAC Championship Most Outstanding Swimmer. She was named a National Swimmer of the Week. At 2009 MAAC Championships, she won three individual events and swam on four winning relays for seven gold medals and seven new MAAC records. At the 2009 ECAC Championships, she won the 200 butterfly in an ECAC record time, won the 200 individual medley in an ECAC record time and won the 400 individual medley, breaking her own ECAC record. As a junior, she won the ECAC 400 IM (ECAC record) and won the 200 IM (Rider record). At the 2008 MAAC Championships, she set MAAC records in 200 butterfly, the 400 IM and the 100 butterfly. She earned 2008-09 Rider Athlete of the Year. Over her four years at Rider, she won 19 gold and nine silver medals. She graduated with seven individual MAAC records and multiple relay records. She also graduated with eight Rider team records and four relay records, four pool records and one relay record.

Olson set the Rider career record with 168 RBI, which has since been broken by Mason Heyne '11 (186). His 30 career home runs and 221 career hits rank fourth all-time at Rider. He maintained a .319 career batting average. Olson was a three-time First Team All-MAAC and All-New Jersey pick. As a senior, he was named Second Team All-East and New Jersey Division I Player of the Year, while also earning MAAC All-Tournament Team recognition. He led Rider in batting (.351), hits (65) and home runs (12) while setting a Rider record with 58 RBI in 2009. He ranked 75th in nation in RBI per game. As a junior, Olson led the team in seven offensive categories, including home runs, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage and on-base percentage, while leading the Broncs to the MAAC Title and NCAA Tournament. He homered and scored four runs in the 2008 MAAC title Game. He hit a three-run home run in his final collegiate at bat to give Rider an 8-7 lead in the 2009 MAAC title game.

The 2009-12 Rider field hockey teams set a new standard for the program, posting a 67-14 record with a 28-1 mark in NEC play. The group won four NEC Regular Season Championships and three NEC Tournament Championships to advance to three NCAA Play-In Games. The teams accounted for two All-America honors (Egusquiza – 2011; Sandra Penas – 2012), five All-Region honors (Egusquiza – 2009-11; Penas – 2011-12), three NEC Players of the Year (Egusquiza - 2009-11), two NEC Offensive Players of the Year (Megan Pisani – 2010; Sandra Penas – 2011), two NEC Rookies of the Year (Marlaine Schneider – 2009; Penas – 2010), two NEC Coaches of the Year (Lori Hussong), 10 All-NEC First Team picks and eight Second Team honorees. The 2010 team was also honored with the NEC Sportsmanship Award.

 

Three women, including Rider's first Olympian, head the list of inductees into the Rider University Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2015.

Jazmine Fenlator '07 of the track & field program, Courtney Bertos '06 of the field hockey team, Linda DiGiuseppantonio '87 of the basketball team, Bill Lipkus '86 of the cross country and track & field program and Neil Boyle '65 of the baseball team will become the newest members of the Hall of Fame in June.

Fenlator was elected on her first year of eligibility. A two-time Rider female Athlete of the Year, Fenlator took part in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi as a member of the United States bobsled team.  Rider's first NCAA Track & Field Regional automatic qualifier, Fenlator earned All-East honors eight times, in the shot put, weight throw and the discus, setting Rider records in all three events along with the hammer. Fenlator was named one of the top 25 athletes in the first 25 year history of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Bertos was a four-time First Team All-Conference selection and was named to three championship All-Tournament teams. She led her team to four conference title games, winning two, and also won two regular season titles. A conference Rookie of the Year, she was named the Championship Tournament MVP and a Regional All-American as a junior.

DiGiuseppantonio graduated fifth in career scoring and third on the career assist list, leading Rider to it's first-ever Division I conference semifinal game. A two-time All-Conference selection, "Linda D." was a prolific outside shooter who would have owned all of the Rider scoring records if she hadn't played before the three-point rule went into effect. DiGiuseppantonio went on to become a successful coach on the high school and AAU level.

Lipkus led Rider to its first conference track & field championships (indoor and outdoor) over perennial champion and nationally ranked Bucknell, earning the Championship MVP award. Lipkus was twice an All-Conference cross country selection, setting the Rider course record. In track & field he set the Rider record in the 10,000 meters as well as the indoor records for the three mile and the 5,000 meters.

Boyle led Rider to the NCAA tournament with a 13-3 record on the mound, compiling 198 strikeouts in 169 innings pitched. He posted a career earned run average of 1.47 and pitched a no-hitter. Named to the Collegiate League All-Star team, Boyle earned All-East honors and upon graduation signed a professional contract with the Chicago Cubs. He was later selected in the Rule 5 draft by the New York Yankees.

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LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ—A two-sport athlete from the 1950s, a basketball player from the 1980s, a wrestler from the 1990s, a softball player in her first year on the ballot and a former major league pitcher made up the 2014 induction class of the Rider Athletics Hall of Fame.

Fred Swick '55 of the baseball and soccer teams, Derrick Lamar '85 of the basketball team, wrestler Chad Liott '99, and pitchers Heather Beintema '06 and James Hoey were inducted in a ceremony during Reunion Weekend June 7.

Swick set Rider records for single season batting average (.473) and career batting average (.371) that stood for 32 years, as well as numerous other single season records. He led the 1953 baseball team to the NJIAC Title and the 1955 team to a 15-4 record and played two years on the professional level in Class D and Class C minors.

On the soccer field Swick was the team's leading scorer in 1953 and 1954, the first two years of varsity status after a four-year hiatus.

Lamar graduated fifth in career scoring and eighth in career rebounds at Rider. His sophomore season Rider was 20-9 and his junior year the Broncs won the East Coast Conference with a 20-10 record and went to the NCAA tournament.

Liott was a three-time conference champion and three-time NCAA qualifier, compiling a 104-30 record on the wrestling mats. He placed second at the prestigious Midlands Championships and was ranked as high as third in the nation in his weight class as a senior. As a junior he came within one win of All-America honors, winning three bouts at Nationals.

Beintema set the Rider softball single season and career strikeout records and tied the single season record for wins with 22. The MAAC Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore, she ranked among the top 21 pitchers in the nation in both strikeouts and earned run average. As a freshman she was the MAAC Rookie of the Year and the MAAC Championship Tournament MVP, leading Rider to the 2003 NCAA Tournament.

Hoey won 12 games, saved 10 others and compiled 156 strikeouts in three seasons at Rider before being selected in the 13th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft. He set the Rider single season record for appearances with 23 as a sophomore. He spent three seasons (2006, '07, '11) in the major leagues with Baltimore and Minnesota. In a minor league game his fastball was once clocked at 100 mph.

The 1990-91 and 1991-92 cross country, indoor track and outdoor track & field teams, which won the East Coast Conference 'triple crown' of Championships, was presented with the Clair Bee Outstanding Team Achievement Award.