http://www.manhattan.edu/news/news_releases/112007_1.shtml
News Release
November 20, 2007
Men’s Basketball Stars Jamal Marshall And V. Grady O’Malley Among Those To Be Inducted Into Manhattan College’s Athletic Hall Of Fame
Inductees include baseball pioneer Luis Castro; track & field standouts Corry, Frazier and Rienzo
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Men’s basketball stars Jamal Marshall ’95 and V. Grady O’Malley ’69 headline the list of 2007 inductees into Manhattan College’s Athletic Hall of Fame. The 29th annual induction ceremony, sponsored by the Manhattan College Alumni Society, will be held on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 4:45 p.m. in the College’s Smith Auditorium.
Among the others to be inducted is baseball pioneer Luis Castro, class of 1900, who is widely recognized as the first Hispanic to play major league baseball with the 1902 Philadelphia Athletics. Joining Marshall, O’Malley and Castro in the Hall of Fame will be track and field standouts John Corry ’62, David Frazier ’94 and Ignatius Rienzo ’50, swimming and cross country star Danielle Gelsomino ’95, and former softball coach Paul Mazzei,
In addition, the 1957-58 men’s basketball and 1977-78 men’s swim teams will be honored with outstanding team awards.
For more information on the Manhattan College Hall of Fame, please contact Grace Feeney, alumni relations officer, at 718-862-7432 or thomas.mccarthy@manhattan.edu. If you are a member of the press and wish to cover the induction ceremony, please contact Scott Silversten at (718) 862-7232 or e-mail scott.silversten@manhattan.edu.
Manhattan College is located at West 242nd Street near Broadway in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, one mile from the Westchester County line and accessible by MTA subway line 1.
Marshall helped the Jaspers secure postseason berths all four years of his career (two NIT and two NCAA). As a senior and team captain, he played a key role in the historic Jasper upset victory over Oklahoma. Known of his solid, consistent play, he was named one of the top 20 basketball players in the first 100 years of Manhattan College basketball.
Marshall was a member of the MAAC All-Rookie Team and MAAC All-Tournament Team, as well as an All-MAAC Second Team selection during his junior and senior years. He shot more than 54 percent from the field during his four years at Manhattan and held top tier rankings in defense for the MAAC.
O’Malley was the last player to ever score a basket in the old Madison Square Garden. He played in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks in 1969-70, after a strong Manhattan College career with 1,158 points. Captain of both the freshmen team and varsity team as a senior, he was voted team MVP in 1969. O’Malley led the Met Conference in rebounds and was a 1969 Met Conference All-Star. He also was selected to the ECAC All-East Team.
Hailing from Medellin, Columbia, Castro was considered a consistent all-around athlete who played everything from shortstop to left field to pitcher. After leaving Manhattan, he played for three championship teams, including the Athletics, who captured the 1902 American League pennant. Castro also served as manager of two teams: Augusta in the South Atlantic League and Portsmouth in the Virginia League.
In his final year as a Jasper, Castro had his best single performance, when he pitched a complete game with on earned run on three hits. He showed his strength on offense and a hit a triple, double and four singles, and recorded a stolen base in Manhattan’s 18-7 victory over Columbia. He also played a key role as pitcher in the Jasper victory that decided the 1898 Greater New York College Championship.
Corry led the two-mile relay team to 15 victories in 17 races and placed second in the other two. Coach George Eastment called him the “finest leadoff runner in the country.” As part of one of the most storied relay teams in Manhattan’s history, he helped set two different world records for the two-mile indoor relay in 1961. Corry’s leadoff leg (1:55.1) gave the Jaspers such a big lead that the last relay leg streaked across the finish line 40 yards ahead of the next runner and shattered a 19-year record.
As a walk-on freshman, Corry established himself as a key to victory and earned a scholarship for the rest of his college career. Respected by teammates, he was presented the Spiked Shoe Achievement Award. Also a strong individual runner, he was always a threat in the mile and won the outdoor Metropolitan AAU in 1960 with a time of 4:14.
Frazier never lost a triple jump competition in the indoor or outdoor Metropolitan Championships during a four-year span, the only Jasper to accomplish this feat. Upon graduation, he held the indoor records in the triple jump (53’ ¾”) and long jump (24’ 11”), which broke two long-standing records. Frazier helped bring the College another IC4A Championship in 1992, for which he scored 18 of the Jaspers’ 64 points, won the long jump and placed second in the triple jump, one of the competition’s deciding events.
Frazier marked victories in all the top competitions, including the IC4As, Mets and Penn Relays. In 1993, he earned All-American status for the indoor triple jump. He also set a meet record at Seton Hall and a field house record at Harvard University – both for the triple jump.
Rienzo won 45 medals, both individual and relay, for indoor and outdoor track and cross country. Known for his versatility, Rienzo ran the 440-, 600-, 880- and 1,000-yard races; one-, two- and four mile relays; and three and five miles in cross country. He set a school record at the IC4A Championships in 1947 for his time of 26:54 in the Varsity file miles. Those points helped the Jaspers win both the Freshman and Varsity Championships. Rienzo was leadoff man for the NYAC two-mile relay victory in 1946 and also won the Met IC4A indoor two-mile relay.
Captain of the cross country team during his senior year, Riezno started his college career with a two-mile relay victory at the AAU, for which three freshmen completed the laps. He capped his career with an individual 1,000-yard victory at the Metropolitan AAU meet.
Gelsomino was named MVP four times (twice each for swimming and cross country) and holds nine individual records and three relay records. Two of these records, the 500 freestyle (5:31.58) and the 1,000 freestyle (11:27.69) still stand. She had already set a record on the track when she ran 17:29 at the 1992 ECAC Championship. Gelsomino was named to the GTE CoSidea Academic All-American at Large Division I Team in 1995, and was a four-time All-MAAC Academic honoree (three for swimming and one for cross country).
Known for her versatility in the pool, Gelsomino had record times in freestyle (100, 200, 500 and 1,000); backstroke (50, 100, 200); and butterfly (100 and 200). Among her victories were the 1992 MAAC Championship in the 100 freestyle and 1993 Met Championship in the 500 freestyle.
Mazzei led the Lady Jaspers to their first winning season in history and improved the team’s record from 2-27 to 31-12-1. Under his leadership, they tied for the MAAC title in 1994 and capped three-straight, 30-plus winning seasons.
During those three seasons in the early 1990s, the softball team posted 94 wins, a record unmatched by any other Manhattan coach. Mazzei’s players racked up honors and broke NCAA records. In 1992, they finished in the top 20 in the nation in four offensive categories: ranking first in triples, seventh in scoring, 12th in slugging percentage and 17th in batting average. His teams also were successful in the classroom and ranked first in the country among Division I softball teams for scholastic achievement (3.24 GPA) in 1993.
Six members of the 1957-58 men’s basketball team are already part of Manhattan’s Hall of Fame. The roster included: captain Jack Powers ’58, Dick Wilbur ’58, Don McGorty ’59, Mickey Burkoski ’59, Bob Mealy ’60, Joe “Doc Dougherty ’60, Pete Brunone ’60, Charlie Koenig ’60, Frank Quarto ’59, Bob Cleary ’60 and John Schoenberger ’59. The team held a 15-8 record, for which the Jaspers put up numbers such as 106 points against NYU in the Holiday Festival , and 77 rebounds in a game against CCNY. Strong defensively, the team controlled the boards every game of the season.
Entering the NCAA Tournament, the Jaspers were on a roll. They had just defeated archrival Fordham on the Rams’ home court, shooting 65 percent from the floor. Already kings of the Bronx, the team continued to shine at the NCAA Tournament against West Virginia. After leading 56-49 at halftime, the Jaspers struggled with foul trouble in the second half and allowed the Jerry West-led Mountaineers back in the game. When the teams were tied at 84, Manhattan managed five foul shots in the clutch by Powers, Koenig and Quarto. Truly a team effort, reserves contributed 20 points to the 89-84 victory.
The 1977-78 men’s swim team had the best Jasper record (16-1) in the history of Manhattan swimming. The team won tournament after tournament, combining individual, relay and even diving points. Under the leadership of captain Peter Kunzler ’78, the roster included: Craig Allison, Scott Bonney ’79, Walter Breakell, Dermot Free, Richard Carmarda, Mike Caravaglio, Tom Carey ’80, Michael Doyle ’82, Phil Gormley ’81, Richard Maddia ’81, Mike McBride, John McGuire, Mike O’Hara, Gene Reynolds ’79, Tony Ribeiro ’80, Eugene Sharp, Conrad Weiden ’80 and Peter Zipf ’79. Lance Becker ’81 served as manager.
The Jaspers, competing for the first time in Division II rather than Division III, took third place at the Metropolitan Swimming Championships, and gathered enough points to win eight silver medals and 10 bronze medals. Many Jaspers contributed to the victory with points even though they did not take home medals. Several Manhattan records were broken that same day, with some broken more than once by different Jaspers.
Founded in 1853, Manhattan College is an independent, Catholic, coeducational institution of higher learning offering more than 40 major programs of undergraduate study in the areas of arts, business, education, engineering and science, along with graduate programs in education and engineering. For more information about Manhattan College, visit www.manhattan.edu.
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