WESTFIELD – Westfield State University will induct its 24th class of the Westfield State Athletics Hall of Fame, on October 15.
The class includes soccer standout Denis Dugas ’76, NCAA high jump national champion Marlee Berg-Haryasz ’09, Chris Lapointe ’04, quarterback of the 2001 undefeated season football team, record-setting volleyball hitter Lindsay (Skaret) Gunderson ’07, all-conference soccer midfielder Chris Streeter ’98, and longtime coach and athletic director Ken Magarian ’71.
The 1978 ECAC Championship men’s ice hockey team will be recognized as a team of distinction.
The dinner and induction ceremony, which was postponed for a year due to the pandemic, will be held Friday, October 15 at the Scanlon Banquet Hall on campus as part of the school’s homecoming weekend. Ticket information for the dinner and induction ceremony will be released shortly and posted here when available.
Dugas was a mainstay of the Owls’ 1974 NCAA final four men’s soccer team that finished third in the nation. His 26 goals in 1974 still stands as the school record, as do his 62 points that season. He ranks in the top 10 all-time in goals, assists and points.
Berg-Haryasz won the NCAA Division III indoor high jump championship in 2009. A four-time national qualifier in the high jump, Berg won 15 MASCAC titles and set school records in four different events. A native of Chelmsford, Mass., Berg is currently an assistant to the athletic director for student success and an assistant coach at Westfield State.
Lapointe called the signals for the 2001 Owls’ football team that posted a perfect 10-0 record in the regular season and made the only NCAA Playoff appearance in school history. He set 11 school records for passing and offense, and was a first-team All-New England Football Conference pick. As a head coach he led Turners Falls High School to two Western Mass football titles.
Streeter was a top midfielder for the Owls men’s soccer program. A transfer from Division II Merrimack College, he was an All-Conference midfielder, helping the Owls to an ECAC Tournament appearance in 1997. He played professionally for the Western Mass Pioneers and Western Mass Twisters, and coached at Elms, Bay Path and UMass. He currently coaches in the New England Revolution academy program.
Gunderson set the school record for kills, and still holds the school records for blocks, hitting percentage and kills per game. A native of East Hartland, Connecticut, she was a three time first-team All-MASCAC selection and led the Owls volleyball team to the 2006 MASCAC Championship game.
Magarian, a native of Tyngsboro, Mass. and a longtime Westfield resident, served as a baseball coach, a softball coach, and athletic director among many roles at the University. Magarian coached the Owls dynasty baseball teams of the mid-1970s. His baseball teams made five NCAA tournament appearances in six years from 1976-81. Serving in an interim role as softball coach in 1975 and 1996 seasons, he led the team to its best winning percentage ever with a 18-2 record in 1975. As athletic director, Magarian oversaw the planning and construction of the Woodward Center fieldhouse facility.
The 1978 hockey team posted a 20-2 record under coach Mike Holubowich, and won the ECAC Division III men’s ice hockey title in just the fourth year of the program’s existence, with a roster that included hall-of-fame individuals Jim Collins and Paul Bracken.
The Westfield State Athletic Hall of Fame was founded in 1994, and with this induction class numbers 149 individual members and five teams. – Courtesy of Westfield State University
