Capuano, Treadwell among UM hall picks Rybalko, Quetti, Tardif, Rankin also named

Men’s hockey star David Capuano and running standout Dereck Treadwell of Milford are among five former Black Bear athletes and one administrator who will be inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame next month.

Track performer Viktoriya Rybalko, baseball shortstop Russ Quetti, football and baseball player Norm Tardif and administrator Rome Rankin are scheduled to be honored during ceremonies scheduled Oct. 25-26 as part of UMaine’s Homecoming festivities.

Capuano, a 1990 graduate, was an All-American at UMaine in 1988 and ’89. He ranks fourth on the school’s career scoring list and was twice named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award given to the nation’s top college hockey player.

Capuano was a two-time Hockey East first-team pick and played on the Bears’ first two NCAA Frozen Four teams.

Treadwell (Class of ’98) won five North Atlantic Conference crowns and two New England titles while competing in cross country and track. He gained All-America status in 1996 when he finished 11th in the 1,500 meters at the NCAA Championships.

Treadwell, who also competed in the 1,500 at the 1996 Olympic Trials, set nine UMaine records, five of which remain intact. He now competes in duathlons and is representing the United States this weekend at the world championships in Italy.

Treadwell is the men’s cross country coach at Hartwick College in New York.

Rybalko (Class of 2003), a native of the Ukraine, claimed 10 America East track and field championships, six New England titles and set three league records and 10 UMaine marks.

She was named an All-American in the long jump after placing second in the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships. That same year, she earned the M Club’s Dean Smith Award as the school’s top scholar-athlete.

Rybalko, who competed in the long jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has been ranked as high as No. 19 in the world.

Quetti (Class of ’78) was the Bears’ starting shortstop from 1975-78. He played in two NCAA Regionals and appeared in the 1976 College World Series, where he became one of only five UMaine players to earn a spot on a CWS all-tournament team.

Quetti, a two-time All-Yankee Conference pick, led the team in batting in 1977 and ’78.

Tardif (Class of ’67) competed in both football and baseball, earning two All-Yankee Conference honors in football and one in baseball. He made a team-best four touchdown catches on UMaine’s 1965 Tangerine Bowl team and also came up with seven interceptions.

Tardif also played on UMaine’s 1964 College World Series baseball team and captained the ’67 ballclub.

Rankin was a UMaine faculty member for 20 years as a professor of education and served as the school’s director of athletics for 15 years, the second longest tenure at that position in school history.

Rankin’s coaching hires included Jack Butterfield and Harold Westerman. He served as an assistant coach in basketball and football at UMaine but also had been a successful basketball coach at Western Kentucky prior to arriving in Orono.

USM Hall of Fame to induct six

Dexter native Mandy King, who enjoyed a fine basketball career at the University of Southern Maine, is one of six former Huskies who will be enshrined this weekend in the USM Husky Hall of Fame.

USM also is honoring baseball standout Patrick Feury, softball pitcher Tracey Roberts Harvey, outfielder Rob Carpenter, soccer scorer Cora Seaman Donahue and field hockey and softball star Paula Reed Ryder.

A social hour begins tonight at 6:15 at the Eastland Park Hotel in Portland, with dinner and the inductions set for 7:15.

King (Class of ’99) ranks in the top 10 in six career statistical categories at USM, including second in assists (563) and 3-point field goals (190). She was an All-Little East Conference choice in 1995.

King was named the Training and Conditioning Magazine National Collegiate Comeback Player of the Year in 1997 after overcoming two knee injuries. She also played one season of soccer at USM.

She is now the head women’s basketball coach at Washington and Lee University in Virginia.