Photo Gallery
EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University will induct eight individuals and the 1962 men's soccer team in its 34th class entering the Athletic Hall of Fame as part of Homecoming Weekend on Saturday, October 22.
The diverse group of inductees includes three All-Americans, two championship coaches, the first inductee who graduated in 2000 and the Warriors' NAIA championship soccer team that competed 49 years ago.
It also includes a father-son tandem in Jason Petronis '97, an All-America goalkeeper on four PSAC championship soccer teams, and John Petronis '66, a 1984 Hall of Fame inductee who was the goalkeeper on the 1962 championship team. The Petronis family will be the second with two generations in the Hall of Fame, joining John Childs '36 and his son Jack '67, who retired as head wrestling coach at Drexel last spring.
The Hall of Fame class will be inducted in a 9:30 a.m. ceremony in the Keystone Room in the center of campus. The day will begin with a brunch at 9 a.m., and the inductees will also be recognized at halftime of the Warriors' football game vs. Millersville which kicks off at 3 p.m.
Tickets for the brunch, induction ceremony and football game are available for $30 by contacting
Emily Stolkowski, Assistant to the Athletic Director, at (570) 422-3578 or
estolkowski@po-box.esu.edu.
Below is information on this year's inductees:
Dr. Jone Bush
Bush was a championship softball coach for the Warriors from 1976 to 1988. Her first team won the AIAW regional championship, and her 1980 team won the first PSAC softball championship that was contested. In 1976, her team beat South Carolina and Utah in the AIAW national championships in Omaha. The 1977 team had a 25-4 record, which was eclipsed only by her final team which posted a 26-11 record in her final season. Bush's teams included Hall of Fame members Robin Egerter '77, Robin Lawyer '81 and Denise McKeown '91. She was also a member of the ESU faculty in Physical Education from 1975 until her retirement in 1996, and was chair for six years starting in 1988.
A pioneer female athlete, Bush was a member of the baseball team at Martinsburg High School and played for the Hagerstown Molly's, a traveling all-girl baseball team that played semipro games in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. She went on to graduate from West Chester in 1957, where she played softball and basketball, and earned Master's degrees from Penn State and Springfield and a Doctorate from Springfield in 1970. She was also an avid tennis player, a certified official in four sports, and began the women's athletic program as the first basketball and tennis coach at Springfield. Bush, who resides in Henryville, was one of the original committee members for the founding of women's sports in the PSAC, and now enjoys traveling and pottery.
Sal Mentesana
Mentesana led the Warriors' men's basketball team to the 1990 PSAC championship and the NCAA Tournament, both the first in school history, as part of a nine-year career from 1986 through 1996. His championship team went on one of the most memorable runs in school and PSAC history, posting a 75-72 win over Cheyney, a 103-102 (2OT) win at No. 1 Slippery Rock and a 108-102 (OT) win over Millersville in the championship game. The Warriors beat Slippery Rock again, 99-98 (OT), in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and finished with a 21-13 record led by All-American Jonathan Roberts, Jacques Armand, Mike DelGrosso, Todd Painton and Ed Urie.
Mentesana also led the Warriors to the 1992 PSAC East championship, the final season in a three-year run of PSAC semifinal appearances. His teams won 133 games after taking over a team that won a total of eight games over the previous three seasons. He left ESU following the 1996 season to take over the Division I program at Lehigh, where he coached through 2002 and took the Mountain Hawks to three Patriot League semifinal appearances. He headed the semi-pro Reading Railers before joining the staff at Rutgers under head coach Fred Hill. Now retired, Mentesana and his wife, Beth, reside in Wilmington, N.C.
Janice Youorski '89
Youorski holds single-game and season records for rebounding for the Warriors, grabbing 374 rebounds for an average of 13.9 per game and 24 rebounds against Glassboro in 1984. She had 368 rebounds, an average of 13.1 per game, as a senior in 1985 and posted a career average of 13.4 per game in two seasons. She teamed with fellow Hall of Famers Rose Mohl and Tara Gallagher to help the Warriors to a PSAC runner-up finish in 1985 and averaged just under 12 points per game for her career.
Following graduation, Youorski was a Special Education teacher for 18 years, then returned to ESU to complete her Master's of Education degree in Special Education. She has recently returned to the classroom and is also entering her second season as a basketball coach.
Kristin Restivo O'Connor '00
Restivo O'Connor is the first ESU Athletic Hall of Fame member to graduate in 2000 after completing an All-America career just 11 years ago. She was first team All-America, the PSAC Player of the Year and ESU Women's Athlete of the Year as a senior, when she set the school record and led the nation with 72 goals (4.5 per game) and tied for the national lead with 87 points. She has career records with 189 goals and 228 points and was two-time first team All-PSAC, two-time All-America and the PSAC Rookie of the Year in 1997, setting the freshman record of 45 goals which still stands. She was also a four-year member of the field hockey team and played for coach
Sandy Miller in both sports.
She married Gregory O'Connor, a 2001 ESU graduate, in 2003 and has two sons, Jack (5) and Max (1). She is in her 11th year as a teacher in the Bellmore School District in New York and is in her second year teaching third grade following nine years with kindergartners. She began her teaching career in Queens, NY and obtained her Master's degree in Literacy Studies from Hofstra in 2002.
Joe Ahouse '71
Ahouse was East Stroudsburg's first Pennsylvania Conference track champion under coach Dick DeSchriver when he won the 880-yard run in the 1970 meet. He placed fourth in the NCAA Middle Atlantic Region championship and set the school record of 1:52.3 in the event which was never broken. Ahouse also set the school record of 1:12.3 and was undefeated in the 600-yard run during his indoor track career. He was a member of the football team for two seasons and caught seven passes, all for touchdowns, and was named to Outstanding College Athletes in 1971.
Ahouse is a recent retiree from the teaching profession after serving 39 years at Onteora Central schools, located in Boiceville, New York, until 2010. He was a track and field and football coach until 1985, leading track teams to league championships in five of his last seven seasons, and helped found the Onteora Babe Ruth League. He is the father of three children, Daniel, David and Rebecca, and a stepdaughter, Erin, and has six grandchildren. He and his wife, Melanie, enjoy boating on the Hudson River, traveling and spending time with their grandchildren.
Scott Benoit '85
Benoit was an All-East wide receiver and set school records for single-season and career receptions and yards during his standout career. He had 74 catches for 820 yards and five touchdowns as a senior in 1983, setting records in both categories, and finished his career with 149 catches, 1,894 yards and 14 scores. Benoit's record for single-season receptions stood until 2005 and currently ranks third in school history.
He signed a free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, where his position coach was future Super Bowl champion Tom Coughlin and his roommate was linebacker Mike Reichenbach, his former teammate with the Warriors. He had brief stints with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League and Philadelphia Stars in the USFL and completed his degree in 1985.
A chance encounter allowed Benoit to embark on a professional career with Elite Models of New York City, which took him across the globe during a career of almost 20 years. He has since moved to Los Angeles, where was the Director of Business Development for ValleyCrest Design Group and has moved on to managing his family real estate investment trust. Benoit and his wife, Michelle, have two children, Camille Grace (4) and Nicolas Scott (2) and reside in Santa Monica, California.
Jim Lauck '88
Lauck was a three-time All-American in the 3000m steeplechase for the Warriors' track and field team, placing seventh in Division II in 1987, fifth in 1988 and sixth in 1989. He holds ESU's second-best time in the steeplechase in 8:59.43, ranking only behind two-time national champion Pete Heesen (1976-77). He also set indoors records in the 3000m (8:34.54) which stood until 2010 and the 5000m (14:59.50) which stood until 2000. Lauck was also a top cross country runner during his career at ESU.
Lauck went on to compete professionally in biathlons and triathlons, placing in the top 20 in the world at the World Biathlon Championships in 1991 and 1992 and twice competing in the Ironman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii. He earned his Master's of Science in Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Science from ESU in 1990 and Doctor of Chiropractic from Life Chiropractic College in 1996 and has been the owner of Lauck Chiropractic Health Center since 1997. He provided chiropractic care for the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Teams and the 1997 and 1999 U.S. World Champion Track & Field Teams. He resides in Milford, New Jersey.
Jason Petronis '97
Petronis followed his father, John, as an All-America goalkeeper and helped the Warriors to four straight PSAC championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances for head coach
Jerry Sheska. He was selected to the NSCAA All-America team and was the national goalkeeper of the year as a senior in 1995. As a freshman, Petronis was the PSAC championship game MVP when he made 20 saves in a 2-0 win over Lock Haven. He was a three-time first team All-PSAC selection and set school records with 33 shutouts and 439 saves.
He played professionally for seven seasons, including three seasons for the Hershey Wildcats in the second division of the United Soccer Leagues, while also suiting up for the Reading Rage, Bay Area (Calif.) Seals and Connecticut Wolves. He was called up from Hershey to the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer in 2000.
Petronis has been a real estate agent for nearly 10 years and has also served as a soccer coach at Elizabethtown College since 2001. He began as an assistant coach with the men's program and is currently in his first season as head women's coach after taking over the program on an interim basis halfway through the 2010 season. Petronis is engaged to Dr. Jessica Bolton and resides in Camp Hill.
1962 Men's Soccer Team
The Warriors, coached by the legendary John Eiler, won the only national championship by a current varsity sport with two shutouts in the NAIA national tournament, which was contested in Richmond, Indiana. They won the championship with a 5-0 victory over Park College (Missouri) in the semifinals and a 4-0 victory over Pratt Institute of Brooklyn in the finals, finishing a 12-1 season in which they outscored their opponents 52-13.
The squad, captained by forward Allan Oberholtzer and fullback Larry Wallace, included three members of the NAIA All-Star team in forwards Paul Grube and Karl Dickl and fullback Jerry Forrester. John Petronis was the starting goalkeeper and posted shutouts in both NAIA tournament games. Other starters in the national championship game were Joseph Kolok and Kenneth Kutler at forward and Sheldon Chamberlain, Lee Ely and John Hamilton at halfback.
Grube scored two goals and Oberholtzer had a goal and two assists in the semifinal win over Park College. Grube, Oberholtzer, David Rittenhouse and Rich Flaherty were the goal-scorers in the championship game win and Petronis made 12 saves.
The rest of the season included a 2-1 win over rival West Chester. The Warriors won seven straight games to open the season before their only loss, 2-0 at Elizabethtown. They beat Lock Haven, 6-0, West Chester and then Wilkes, 3-0 before traveling to Indiana for the national tournament.
Several members of the team formed the core of the Warriors' 1964 and 1965 teams, which both reached the NCAA Division I quarterfinals and were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005. Hall of Fame members include Forrester, Grube, Petronis and Ronald Woods, along with head coach John Eiler.
