This Friday night (Sept. 17) during Aquinas' 2021 Homecoming weekend, the AQ athletic department will induct a new class of athletes and teams into the Coach Terry Bocian AQ Athletic Hall of Fame. Friday's group of six individuals and two teams will be the first full athletic class inducted since 2016. This is also the first time the event – named after the longtime AQ athletic director and baseball coach – will be centered around athletics, culminating in the inaugural Coach Terry Bocian AQ Athletic Hall of Fame Ceremony.
The newest class of inductees were initially scheduled to be inducted into the Hall of Fame on April 24, 2020, but that ceremony was delayed until this weekend due to COVID protocols. They will be inducted at the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center on Friday night, with the ceremony beginning at 6:00 p.m.
The 2021 AQ Athletics Hall of Fame class includes the following individuals: Ashley Aspinall (softball, 2005-09), Jackie (Braspenninx) Ehnis (women's basketball, 2003-07), Kurt Huizenga (baseball, 1993-94), Paul Lauer (men's basketball, 1987-90), Pedja Lazic (men's basketball, 2005-09), and Vicky Sackett (women's track and field, 1997-2001). Two teams will also be enshrined, including the 1984-85 women's basketball team and the 2004 men's cross country team.
A three-time WHAC Player of the Year on the diamond, Aspinall was the league's top player in 2007, 2008, and 2009. She collected a pair of All-America honors during her time at Aquinas and is the owner of a stunning 17 different offensive records. Aspinall is the career leader in nine hitting categories and still holds eight single-season offensive marks.
One of the best all-around players in women's basketball history, (Braspenninx) Ehnis blocked more shots (269) than any Aquinas player, including still holding the top-three single-season marks for blocks. A two-time All-American, she also scored 1,966 points and pulled down 836 rebounds, both of which are the third-most in AQ program history.
After transferring to Aquinas, Huizenga played two years for the Saints and received All-America honors in both seasons. Despite playing just two years, he put up such gaudy numbers that he ranks in the top-10 in AQ history in six career offensive categories. Huizenga's .443 career batting average is more than more than 50 points better than the runner-up.
No player has ever averaged more points per game than Lauer, who leads the AQ men's basketball program with 26.5 points per game during his career. When he graduated from Aquinas, he ranked fourth all-time in scoring and still 30 years later is the ninth-leading scorer in program history. A prolific scorer, Lauer notched a 55-point game in the 1988-89 season en route to his school-record 917 points.
The only First Team All-American in men's basketball history, Lazic achieved that feat in 2009 when he was also the WHAC Player of the Year and named to the WHAC All-Defensive Team. His 857 rebounds are the second-most in AQ history, while he ranks seventh all-time for the Saints with 1,728 points. Also the 2008 WHAC Player of the Year, Lazic was also one of two men's basketball players to play in the NAIA National Tournament all four years.
The first female track and field athlete to earn All-American honors during all four years of eligibility, Sackett was a standout for the Saints on the track. She was the first female track All-American, earning that honor with a fourth-place national finish in the 800 meters at the 1998 NAIA Championships. Sackett broke multiple school records during her career and still ranks in the top-five in three categories 20 years later. A seven-time All-American, she won multiple WHAC Championships and her 600-meter indoor school record stood for 18 years.
The women's basketball single-season records for most wins (27) and fewest losses (three) both belong to the 1984-85 team, more than 35 years later. That season, head coach Patti Tibaldi and Aquinas averaged more than 75 points per game, which is still the second-highest scoring team in program history. AQ defeated Spring Arbor in the program's first-ever NAIA District 23 Tournament victory and will be the first women's team enshrined in the AQ Athletic Hall of Fame.
The first team to ever finish as national runner-up for Aquinas was the 2004 men's cross country team, which is still tied for the best NAIA Nationals finish in AQ athletics history. Led by current head coach Mike Wojciakowski, the Saints also won the regional championship, doing so a few weeks after running a perfect race in the WHAC Championship, as Aquinas runners finished in places one through seven for a perfect score of 15 points.
This group joins 59 individual inductees and six teams already enshrined in the AQ Athletic Hall of Fame.
