Queens College HOF Announces Inductees

BY Joe Marvilli

Sports alumni, faculty and administrators will be inducted into Queens College’s Athletics Hall of Fame at a dinner this weekend.

  The inductees will be honored at the ceremony on Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. in the fourth floor ballroom of the Student Union. The dinner is a fundraiser for athletic scholarships.

  “Good sports in every sense of the word, these men and women distinguished Queens College by their many athletic achievements,” said QC President James Muyskens.

  Lou DeLuca’s successes with the QC ice hockey team were rewarded with the Gray Knight Award and the opportunity to coach, which he did from 1972 to 1974. He played semi-pro hockey for the New Jersey Rockets.

  Margaret Franco was an award-winning varsity athlete and was selected as Coach of the Year in 1968 for her work with the QC women’s swim team. Franco became the college’s first female Associate Athletic Director in 1976.

  Robert Koehler brought polo to QC when he founded their team. Before joining the school, he served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Koehler competed with the U.S. Water Polo Team in the 1952 Olympics, which came in fourth.

  Lucille Kyvallos didn’t attend the college but she did become head coach of its women’s basketball team in 1968. Her 1972-73 team was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame, due to several records they set.

  Gail Marquis was a two-time All American at QC and a member of the silver medal winning 1976 Women’s Olympic Basketball Team. Marquis also made history as the first black woman inducted into the NYC Basketball Hall of Fame.

  If Donna Orender’s name sounds familiar, you must follow the Women’s National Basketball Association. Besides being an All American at QC and an All-Star in the Women’s Professional Basketball League, Orender became the President of the WNBA in 2005.

  Doug Ress finished his four-year career as captain of the 1975-76 QC varsity ice hockey team with multiple scoring records. He was the co-recipient of QC’s 1976 Scholar-Athlete Award.

  Two of the athletes are being inducted to the QC Hall of Fame posthumously.

  Guido Foglia excelled in not only sports, but other major aspects of his life. He served as an infantryman in WWII’s European campaign. In 1953, the soccer team he coached made it to the state finals. Foglia passed away in 2011.

  Robert Salmons was not a QC student, but he did serve as the college’s coach for the men’s basketball and golf teams. Later in life, he was the liaison for the architects who built and designed Fitzgerald Gym. Salmons passed away in 2006.

  Attendance costs for the dinner itself start at $100 per adult and $50 per child 12 and under.

  To purchase tickets, visit www.QueensKnights.com/hof/rsvp or call 718-997-2733.

  Reach Reporter Joe Marvilli at (718) 357-7400, Ext. 125, or at jmarvilli@queenstribune.com.