Pitt-Greensburg announces 1st Athletics Hall of Fame class

A work in progress for some time, the Pitt-Greensburg Athletics Hall of Fame has arrived and has its inaugural class.

Five individuals and two teams that helped put the Bobcats on the college map will be enshrined Feb. 18 during a ceremony at the school’s Wagner Dining Hall.

The inductees are: Matt Furjanic (basketball coach), Carol Gelet (basketball coach), Jen (McIntosh) Luciew (soccer), Dan Swalga (athletic director), Jason Trout (basketball) and the 2002 men’s soccer and 1969-70 men’s basketball teams.

• The men’s basketball coach who helped usher the Bobcats into the NCAA and guided them to conference titles in 1999 and 2000, Furjanic had 68 wins in five seasons.

He led the team from 1995-2000.

• Gelet led the women’s basketball team to eight winning seasons in 10 years (1999-2010), including an AMCC championship and NCAA Division III Tournament trips in 2003, ‘04 and ‘09.

She was the conference coach of the year in ‘01 and ‘02.

• Luciew, who played from 2002-05, still holds women’s soccer records for goals, assists and points. She was the ‘02 AMCC Newcomer of the Year and was a multiple All-AMCC selection.

• The first athletic director at UPG, Swalga played a pivotal role in the school’s NCAA membership, arriving in 1992. A former women’s basketball coach at Robert Morris, Swalga guided Bobcats athletics until 2006.

• Trout (1996-99), a Greensburg Salem graduate, is considered the best player to wear a Bobcats basketball uniform. He is the all-time leading scorer with 2,160 points and also leads in rebounds (926), blocks (193) and several other categories. A three-time all-conference player, he helped UPG win back-to-back AMCC championships.

• The 2002 men’s soccer team was the first from UPG in any sport to make the NCAA Tournament. The team holds school marks for assists (91), game-winning goals (19), save percentage (81), wins (19) and shutouts (6.1).

• Looked at as a key influencer for UPG athletics, the 1969-70 men’s hoops squad was the first varsity-level team at the Greensburg campus.

Coached by John Hunter, with August Corso as his assistant, UPG played home games at Greensburg Salem.

It played a 14-game season and appeared in the University of Pittsburgh Regional Campus Tournament.

Players included Harry Bowser, Fred Charles, Bernie Cobetto, Rick Hardway, Tom Jollie and Mike Noppe.