CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Tuesday, September 27, 2022
PHOTO GALLERY | HALL OF FAME |
The Hudson Valley Community College Department of Athletics inducted its hall of fame class of 2022 on Saturday evening, as part of the Homecoming Weekend, in the McDonough Sports Complex.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2022 includes Viking alumni Jenna Brophy, Justin Gallo and Kamar Jorden. Former Director of Athletics Drew Marrochello and the 1971 baseball team were also inducted in this year's class.
The evening kicked off with welcomed remarks from Director of Athletics, Justin Hoyt, Vice President of Student Services, Louis Coplin and Vice President of External & Government Relations, Regina LaGatta.
Dr. Jacob M. Silvestri served as the event's master of ceremonies and shared stories of perseverance and examples of what it takes to be an elite student-athlete at Hudson Valley Community College. He then welcomed the hall of fame class of 2022 and their distinguished guests to the podium.
Former head tennis coach Denise Potenza was on hand to welcome her former student-athlete, Jenna Brophy into the hall of fame. Fellow inductees, Justin Gallo and Kamar Jorden were unable to attend, but the department of athletics offered videos of Gallo and Jorden, as well as the recordings of their distinguish guest speakers, Andre Cook and Oji Fagan, respectively.
Drew Marrochello, this year's hall of fame contributor, spoke about the relationships he had made during his time as the director of athletics. He spoke about how the championships won do not equate to the life-long friendships he had made over this time.
Closing out the ceremony was John Pastore, the head baseball coach for the 1971 baseball team. Coach Pastore reminisced on the great four-year run the baseball program had from 1970-1973. The Vikings competed at the highest-level in the NJCAA. During the four-year span, the baseball program won three Region III Championships, and the team's historic run culminated with it competing for an NJCAA National Championship.
Hall of Fame Class of 2022:
Jenna Brophy '15 (Women's Tennis) – Brophy was a two-year starter for the Vikings women's tennis program under head coach Denise Potenza from 2012-2013. She began her career playing as the Vikings No. 2 singles and concluded her NJCAA tennis career as the 2013 No. 1 singles NJCAA National Champion.
The unseeded Brophy entered the 2013 national championships as an ultimate underdog. After advancing to the championship round, Brophy defeated Grace Wills of Brookdale in three sets, 7-5, 3-6 and 6-4, to claim the No. 1 singles championship, and became the first women's tennis national champion in program history. She was also named an NJCAA First Team All-American with her championship performance at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
In her freshman season, Brophy finished 7-0 and won the No. 2 singles Region III Championship title, with wins over players from Herkimer and Broome. She finished with a 1-2 record at the National Championships that year.
Brophy continued her dominating play in 2013, as she again finished the regular season with an undefeated record and claimed the No. 1 singles Region III title with wins over Onondaga and Adirondack to qualify for the 2013 NJCAA National Championships.
Overall, Brophy finished her career with a perfect regular season singles record (14-0), won two Region 3 titles and then cemented her place in Hudson Valley history as one of the best women's tennis student-athletes with her 2013 No. 1 singles National Championship.
Justin Gallo (Men's Basketball) – Gallo played for the men's basketball program from 2006-2008 and helped guide the program to a two-year record of 51-11. Gallo played a vital role in the team's success during the program's historic 2007-08 season.
In 2007-08, his senior season, Gallo averaged 21.8 points per game on 677 total points with 6.5 rebounds per game, leading the Vikings to a program-best 30-1 record, including 30 consecutive wins, before falling in the Region III Championship to SUNY Cobleskill, minutes away from a trip to the NJCAA Championship Tournament. The 2007-08 team finished the season as the nation's top-ranked program for the final 10 weeks of the season, another program record.
In 2007-08, Gallo broke the single game scoring record with 40 points in the Vikings 97-87 win over Broome on Dec. 15, 2007. During that season, Gallo also became a member of the 1,000-point club.
Gallo is also in the Vikings' top-5 all-time leaders with 106 total steals in a career. He is third all-time with 153 career three-point field goals made and is second all-time with 1,148 career points scored in 60 games played. He was named to the NJCAA Region 3 First Team twice and was named to the All-New York State Junior College First Team by the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) and the NJCAA All-American Third Team in 2008.
Gallo went on to become an All-American wide receiver at Union College, where he owns the record for 246 receiving yards in a single game and second most receiving yards in a single season with 1,178 yards. He is the program leader in most career yards and the all-time leader in receiving touchdowns with 34, including a single season record of 16 touchdowns in 2011, when he was honored as a 2011 AFCA Coaches & D3Football.com All-American.
Kamar Jorden – Jorden played for the Vikings football program from 2006-2008 and went on to play Division 1 football at Bowling Green State University.
As a Viking wide receiver in 2008, Jorden set the record for the most receptions in a single game with 11 catches against Navy Prep. He also set the program record with the most receiving yards in a single season (902). Jorden also held the Northeast Football Conference record for receiving yards in a single season and finished fourth all-time in total catches and receiving yards during his time at Hudson Valley. His final stat line at Hudson Valley was 71 receptions, 1,144 receiving yards, 5 touchdowns
Jorden was named to the 2008 All-Northeast Conference as well as the team's Most Valuable Player. He also received the Athletic Department's Thomas Cahill Award as the Male Athlete of the Year.
In just two seasons at Bowling Green, Jorden was named to back-to-back All Mid-American Conference (MAC) First Teams at the wide receiver position. He completed his career at Bowling Green ranked third all-time in receptions in a single season and fifth all-time for both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in a single season, having played and started in 24 games. Jorden was named to the 2011 Biletnikoff Award Watch List as one of the nation's best wide receivers.
Following his time at Bowling Green, Jorden signed with the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League and later went on to play professional football in the Canadian Football League (CFL), winning the CFL Grey Cup in 2014 and 2018. He was also named a CFL All-Star in 2018 and 2021. Kamar is a current member of the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL.
Drew Marrochello (Administrator/Contributor) - Marrochello served as Hudson Valley Community College's athletic director from 1997 to 2005. He began working at Hudson Valley in 1993 as the college's academic coordinator and assistant director of athletics.
During Marrochello's tenure as athletic director, Hudson Valley's teams combined to win 31 conference championships, 11 Region III titles and one national championship. Ten of Hudson Valley's 14 athletic programs won either a regional or conference championship under his leadership. From 1997 to 2005, 40 Hudson Valley student-athletes garnered All-America honors.
He served as president of the Mountain Valley Conference, commissioner of the Northeast Football Conference and as a member of the national women's basketball committee and the Region III board of directors. He also served as the Region III chairman for ice hockey, women's basketball and softball.
Marrochello was named the 2003-04 Region III Athletic Director of the Year by his peers at the Region III colleges, and was awarded the prestigious SUNY Chancellor's Award for Professional Service in 2005.
Originally from Arlington, Massachusetts, Marrochello has been involved in college athletics for more than 30 years as a student-athlete, coach and administrator. He received a bachelor's degree in government in 1991 from Wesleyan University, where he started four years at wide receiver for the varsity football team and was captain his senior year. Marrochello moved on to Boston University in 2005, where he is currently the program's Director of Athletics.
1971 Baseball - The 1971 baseball team culminated a great four-year period where the Vikings program competed at the highest-level in the NJCAA. During the four-year span, the baseball program won three Region III Championships, and the team's historic run culminated with it competing for an NJCAA National Championship. The team finished with a 24-1 regular season record and 25-3 overall, including their three-game stint at the NJCAA World Series.
Several members of the team earned All-American and All-Region honors, including Vikings Hall of Famer Gary Walcott (First Team All-American). A majority of the roster went on to compete at the four-year level after playing for Hudson Valley.
1971 Baseball Roster: Kevin Ahern (Glenmont, NY), Joe Amato (Piscataway, NJ), Adrian Babicek (Binghamton, NY), Mike Battiste (Hudson Falls, NY), John Brady (Troy, NY), Jack Broomhead (Cohoes, NY), Tom Carroll (Coxsackie, NY), Paul DeLuca (Schenectady, NY), Ed Dingo (Amsterdam, NY), Bill Gorman (Sayre, Penn.), Ed Harvey (Groton, Conn.), Bob Jablanski (Hudson, NY), Tom Jones (Harpursville, NY), Terry Kenny (Albany, NY), Jack MacDonald(Glens Falls, NY), Marcus McGill (Elba, NY), Jerry Pieklo (Hornell, NY), Jim Poole (Rensselaer, NY), Mark Reynolds (Pittsfield, Mass.), Doug Schoonmaker (Watervliet, NY), Jim Talarico (Williamstown, Mass.), Gary Walcott (East Greenbush, NY).
Head Coach: John Pastore
Assistant Coaches: Tim Dennis & Mickey Grosso
* * *
Founded in 1953, Hudson Valley Community College offers more than 85 degree and certificate programs in four schools: Business; Engineering and Industrial Technologies; Health Science; and Liberal Arts and Sciences; and an Educational Opportunity Center for academic and career training. One of 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system, it has an enrollment of nearly 11,500 students, and is known as a leader in distance learning initiatives and workforce training. Hudson Valley has more than 75,000 alumni.