Three Greyhounds Inducted Into Northeast-10 Hall of Fame

June 6, 2006

The Northeast-10 Conference officially unveiled its first Hall of Fame class on Monday (June 5, 2006). The initial group included three who have made an impact on Assumption College athletics and also the conference. The ceremony, sold out for two months, was held at the Harvard Club in Boston.

One of the original founding fathers of the conference and longtime Director of Athletics at the College, ANDREW LASKA H68, baseball all-America MIKE O'KEEFE '91 and two-time conference tennis Player-of-the-Year KRISTEN COKER '95 are in the group.

The 2006 induction class included 15 student-athletes, the seven founding fathers of the league, the first conference commissioner, the first conference information director and one coach. All 25 inductees were chosen by a vote of the Northeast-10 Hall of Fame committee. The president of the NCAA Dr. Myles Brand and NCAA vice president and overseer of Division II Mike Racey were both in attendance, as well as former Boston Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman. In addition, Wendi Nix of 7News (WHDH-TV, Boston), a weekend sports anchor and highly esteemed sports reporter, was the master of ceremonies.

"The first-ever Northeast-10 Conference Hall of Fame dinner was a huge success," Northeast-10 commissioner David Brunk said. "Furthermore, this ceremony marked the culmination of a year long celebration of the 25 outstanding years of success in honoring the inductees and their families. With the conclusion of this silver anniversary year and inaugural Hall of Fame class, we can look onto the future with an appreciation and anticipation of many more great things to unfold in the next 25 years."

The former student athletes inducted were Mario Elie (basketball: 1981-1985) of American International, Bob Reitz (basketball: 1979-1983) of Stonehill, Alison Fay (basketball: 1980-1984) of Bentley, Kim Penwell (basketball: 1989-1993) of Bentley, Michelle Doonan (basketball: 1991-1995) of Stonehill, Jim Hallet (golf: 1980-1983) of Bryant, Maria Vicens (volleyball: 1986-1989) of Bentley, Kim Page (softball: 1991-1994) of Merrimack, Mike O'Keefe (baseball: 1988-1993) of Assumption, Ron Lombardi (cross country: 1983-1986) of Springfield, Martha Grinnell (cross country: 1986-1989) of Springfield, Angel Schofield (Soccer: 1989-1992) of Springfield, Junior Salmon (soccer: 1978-1981) of Hartford, Roman Pavlik (tennis: 1992-1996) of Bryant, and Kristen Coker (tennis: 1991-1995) of Assumption

Other inductees of the inaugural class included the Northeast-7 'Founding Fathers,' including of Al Shields of Bentley, Tom Folliard of Stonehill, Leon Drury of Bryant, Andrew Laska of Assumption, Ed Steitz of Springfield, Gordie McCullough of Hartford and Milt Piepul of American International. Retiring A.I.C. Athletics Director Bob Burke was inducted as a former conference commissionel. Dick Lipe, the Director of Sports Information at Bentley, was inducted as the first Conference Information Director. Paula Sullivan was inducted for her service as the women's basketball coach at Stonehill. She is now the school's Director of Athletics.

In addition, Assumption College president DR. THOMAS R. PLOUGH received a special award from the Northeast-10 conference in recognition for his service to the league as the chairman of the President's Council.

Andy Laska

Andy Laska, the man who could very well be described as one of Worcester's greatest ambassadors, has left an incredible trail of success at the high school, prep school, collegiate and amateur levels.

His final record of 224-96 and 10 postseason tournament teams tells only a part of the story of his legacy. He served as basketball coach, Director of Athletics. He was the New England Coach-of-the-Year twice, elected to the College's Athletic Hall of Fame and had the Assumption College gym dedicated and renamed in his honor in 1975. He is also a member of the Holy Cross Hall of Fame and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

Laska was a standout performer at North High and subsequently at Holy Cross College. He made a significant contribution to the 1946-47 N.C.A.A. championship team and later played in the 1949 N.I.T. and was a captain of the team that set a then record 26-game win streak. He is most remembered for coaching the win over Holy Cross to climax the 1956-57 season. He also coached the golf team from 1969-90 with two of his players (Frank Vana '86 and Pat Dunn '89) advancing to the N.C.A.A. nationals.

Mike O'Keefe

Mike O'Keefe '91, the most prolific baseball performer in Hounds history, is merely the second student-athlete at the College to be cited as an all-American performer three times. He was a first-team all-America---the first non-scholarship player in the College's history---in 1989 after finishing fifth nationally in batting (.471) with 10 homers and 45 RBI---and third-team in 1990 and 1992.

He left as the New England record-holder in seven offensive categories and is the career leader for the Hounds in singles, homers and walks. His career average of .427 is third on the Hounds' list. He was named to every postseason all-star team including three first-team and one second-team selection in the conference and was the Player-of-the-Year in both the E.C.A.C. and the Northeast-10 in both 1989 and 1992. He was named to numerous all-regions teams four times and played in a record three New England all star games. His 1990 team (31-12) became the most prolific offensive team in New England Division II history to date averaging 12.2 runs per game.

He was awarded the William Cating Memorial Award for coachability in 1989 and was the initial recipient of the Francis J. Grimaldi Award for courage in 1992. He was graduated with a B.A. in Management and Sociology. He is currently a teacher and baseball coach at Chelmsford, MA High School and resides in Tyngsboro, MA.

Kristen Coker

Kristen Coker '95 is the most dominant tennis player at the College and one of the premier players in the history of the conference. She was the conference Player of-the-Year in each of her last two years after winning the first-flight singles title in each of those years. She won the second-flight singles and first-flight doubles (with Marilee Boylan' 95) in 1991 and was the conference Freshman-of-the-Year. As a sophomore, she won the second-flight singles title again and was runner-up in first-flight doubles with Libby Lodovico 93.

She finished her career with a 53-5 singles record (yearly marks: 13-1, 15-1, 11 2 and 14-1). Her 43-14 mark in doubles is also a team record with yearly marks of 9 4, 14-2, 8-5, and 12-3. She was MVP and captain of her team as a junior and senior. She was the winner of the Rev. Armand Desautels, A.A. Memorial Award as the premier female senior Student-Athlete and was graduated with a B.A. in Sociology. She received her Masters in Physical Education from South Carolina and currently resides in Wiscasset, ME