STANDISH, Maine – The 14th Saint Joseph’s College Athletics Hall of Fame class has been announced. Julia Ostrowski ’10, Sheri McCarthy Piers ’93, Bryan Rubenskas ’87, and the 1986 Baseball Team make up the 2016 class and will be ceremoniously inducted on Saturday, September 10th.
Julia Ostrowski ’10, who hails from Albany, New York, is deservingly the first field hockey player to enter the Saint Joseph’s Athletics Hall of Fame. The 2009 North Atlantic Conference Player of the Year claimed a pair of NFHCA All-New England honors and twice garnered All-Conference accolades. At the time of her induction, Ostrowski ranks as the Monks’ career assists leader (39) and is second all-time in goals (46), points (131), and game-winning goals (9).
During her career, Ostrowski helped lead the Monks to a 49-27 (.645) record with a pair of ECAC Tournament appearances and a North Atlantic Conference regular season title. Also an outstanding student as a Finance and Accounting major, she garnered seven Dean’s List honors, three NFHCA All-Academic awards, and a pair of NAC All-Academic accolades and was a three-time SJC Female Student-Athlete of the Year honoree
Sheri McCarthy Piers ’93, from Westbrook, Maine, a four-year contributor for the Monks’ women’s basketball program, went on to attain impressive status as one of the most prominent female marathoners in the country. A three-time United States Women's Masters Champion (2011, 2013, 2014) and two-time Olympic Marathon trials qualifier, Piers has competed in over 150 races, including nearly 25 marathons, in the last 10 years. She has competed in nine of the last 11 Boston Marathons and finished as the top American female (of any age), and 99th out of 21,616 participants overall, with a 2:41:55 time in 2012.
As the starting point guard on some of the Monks’ strongest teams, Piers tallied 859 points, 603 assists, 253 steals and 228 rebounds in 117 career contests and remains among the Monks' all-time leaders in assists (2nd), assists average (5.2, 2nd), games (3rd), steals (4th), and three-point percentage (34.9%, 5th). She set the Monks' single-game assists record with 15 against UNE on December 12th, 1990 – a mark that stands at the time of her induction.
Bryan Rubenskas ’87, an Arlington, Massachusetts native, ranks among the men’s basketball program’s all-time leaders in rebounds (838, 2nd), blocked shots (137, 2nd), rebounding average (7.8, 4th), blocks average (1.3, 5th), field goals made (489, 13th), field goal percentage (53.7%, 13th), and points (1,183, 23rd). As a freshman, the 6’7 center set the Monks’ single-season blocked shots record with 83 rejections, a total that remains unsurpassed at the time of his induction.
During his time on the hardwood, Rubenskas played on four Western Maine Athletic Conference (WMAC) Championship teams and helped the Monks post a 98-23 (.810) overall record with a 31-5 (.861) mark in Western Maine Athletic Conference (WMAC) play. Rubenskas, the 1984 WMAC Rookie of the Year, was a pivotal player on the Monks’ 1987 NAIA New England Championship run.
Led by Head Coach Jim Graffam, the 1986 Baseball Team will long be remembered as the squad that put the Monks’ program on the map. That year, Saint Joseph’s posted a 34-10 (.773) record en route to winning the team’s first NAIA New England Championship and won 22 consecutive games, a streak that remains as the team’s longest at the time of induction. That season’s win total ranked as the program record for 24 years while the 1986 team’s totals in walks (243) and stolen bases (140) remain as program records to this date.
The 1986 team featured four individuals who would later be inducted into the Saint Joseph’s Athletics Hall of Fame in Coach Graffam, Richard Flaherty ’86, Bill Mucci ’87, and Arlo Pike ’86 as well as current Head Coach Will Sanborn ’86, who was the Monks’ starting left fielder and leadoff hitter.
The Hall of Fame evening begins at 5:00 PM with a ‘plaque-revealing’ reception, held in the Hall of Fame Room in the Alfond Center followed by the induction ceremony, held across campus at Pearson’s Café. The cost to attend is $30 for adults and $10 for children under the age of 12.
The list of accomplished athletes, teams, coaches, administrators and philanthropists grows to 82 with the addition of the 2016 honorees. The complete list of inductees can be found on the Saint Joseph’s College athletics website, www.gomonks.com.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.