Entering the Hall
Davis, Eckman, Gillin, Goria, Lopardo to be Inducted at Sept. 26 Homecoming Game
SELINSGROVE, (Pa.) - Five new members of the Susquehanna University Sports Hall of Fame will be inducted at halftime of this year's Homecoming football game vs. nationally-ranked Allegheny on Saturday, September 26. The new members are two-time Middle Atlantic Conference Northwest League All-Star and four-time volleyball MVP Jennifer Davis Martin '90 now of Petal, Miss. (York Suburban, Pa., H.S. grad), one of baseball's top hitters all-time in Denny Eckman '73 of Carlisle (Big Spring H.S. grad), softball/volleyball Academic All-American Tracy Gillin '89 of Fairfax, Va. (Conemaugh Valley, Pa., H.S. grad), two-time MAC Northern Division Football All-Star Jeff Goria '71 of Wyckoff, N.J. (Pascack Hills, N.J., H.S. grad), and two-time All-Lutheran football pick and four-year baseball starter Nick Lopardo '68 of Boxford, Mass. (Berner, N.Y. H.S. grad).
The induction of these five athletes will bring the Hall of Fame roster to 132 members in 31 years.
Davis was a four-year volleyball letterwinner and three-year captain as a 5-7 setter/hitter who may be the greatest player in school history. She earned Susquehanna's Association for Women's Athletics Award as its top senior female scholar-athlete in 1990. An MAC league All-Star as both a junior and a senior, she was the team's Most Valuable Player during each of her four years. As a senior, she helped her team qualify for the MAC playoffs for the second time in school history before breaking what was then the school record for wins in a season, finishing 23-11. She played in 90 of the team's 96 games that season, finishing second in kills (174), assists (390) and digs (103). She was also third in solo blocks with 27. The six games she missed were due to her commitment as Student Government Association president.
She is now a pharmaceutical sales representative for Hoffman-LaRoche Laboratories and now resides in Petal, Miss., with her husband Bradley. They have one son.
Eckman was a four-year baseball letterwinner who was a captain during his senior year. A starter throughout his career, he was an MAC Second Team College Division All-Star as a pitcher during his freshman season -- going 2-1 with a 1.97 ERA. He was also a starting right fielder and batted a team best .394 (21 of 71) with 15 RBI and a .465 slugging percentage. He also was an MAC North Honorable Mention All-Star as a junior, finishing 13th in the conference in batting at .333 (19 for 57) with a .474 slugging percentage which included two doubles, two homers and eight RBI. His best season came as a senior, finishing second in the MAC Northern Division small school classification in batting at .400 (22 of 55) -- posting a slugging percentage of .709 which included a double, two triples, four home runs, and 24 runs batted in just 20 games to earn the team's Best Hitter Award. He was fourth in the final NCAA Division III statistics in RBI per game (1.40 per game). His .355 career batting average is still 10th all-time at Susquehanna, while the .709 slugging percentage in 1973 is the seventh-best season total ever.
He is owner of the Bowhunters Warehouse, Inc., and resides in Carlisle with his wife, Ann Hilbish Eckman '71. They have three children.
Gillin was the 1989 AWA Award recipient as the school's top senior women's scholar-athlete as she earned three letters in both softball and volleyball respectively after transferring from Methodist College. She earned GTE Second Team Academic All-American honors in softball while being selected to the MAC All-Academic team three times and earning District II Academic All-America honors in volleyball as a senior. She was an MAC-Northwest All-Star at third base as a junior, also earning the team's Co-MVP. She was named Best Defensive Player by her teammates in both sports as a senior. Still the toughest player to strikeout in softball history, Gillin ranks fourth in career assists (119) and is tied for fourth in stolen bases (24).
A management analyst for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she lives in Fairfax, Va.
Goria earned three letters in football after transferring to Susquehanna from Lea (Minn.) College. A co-captain as a senior, he is the only player on the 1970 MAC Northern Division championship squad to repeat as an MAC-North All-Star. The 5-9, 165-pound halfback/strong safety rushed for a team best 294 and was second on the squad with 19 catches while earning the Best Back Award during his junior season. As a senior, he was third in rushing with 247 yards on 77 carries with three TDs, also catching 12 passes for 139 yard and a score.
He is now a senior vice-president with Smith Barney Shearson and resides in Wyckoff, N.J. with his wife, Angela. They have two children.
Lopardo played both football and baseball all four seasons, serving as a captain of the baseball team in each of his final three seasons and the football team as a senior. He started every game of his collegiate career in baseball, primarily at shortstop. He was also a football starter at either quarterback, fullback, safety, or linebacker over his final three seasons. Voted the football team MVP as a junior in 1966, he also earned honorable mention All-Lutheran College Teamhonors. He also made the All-Lutheran College Second Team at fullback during his senior year, earning the team's Best Back Award while being co-recipient of The Kiwanis Award for "four-year brilliance in football." Lopardo is still seventh at the school in career kickoff return average (22.0), ranking eighth in yardage (659) and ninth in returns (30). He also still has the second highest single-season kickoff return average at 31.3 yards per return in 1965 and had the fifth-most returns with 20 in 1967. A great baseball fielder, he is seventh in career assists with 197.
He is now vice chairman of State Street Boston Corp. And a member of the Susquehanna Board of Directors and resides in Boxford, Mass., with his wife, Diane. They have three children.
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