‘It’s great to be back home’: Twelve Quakers inducted into Penn Athletics Hall of Fame

This past Friday evening, the Inn at Penn was teeming with current Penn Athletics staff and past Penn athletes who brought the University glory during their time as students. The evening saw 12 men and women inducted into Class XIII of the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame. 

Those inducted were 2014 women's basketball player Alyssa Baron, 2012 women's lacrosse player Erin Brennan, 2009 women's soccer player Natalie Capuano, 2014 women's swimmer Shelby Fortin, 2010 women's squash player Kristen Lange, 2002 wrestler Yoshi Nakamura, 2003 men's basketball player Ugonna Onyekwe, 1986 heavyweight rower John Pescatore, 1972 men's cross country and track and field runner Karl Thornton, 1976 men's golfer Tom Wecal, and the deceased Henry Geyelin. Geyelin was a member of both the football and track and field teams and a founder of Penn’s Athletic Association in 1877, later serving as its president. He is also credited as the first player ever to wear Penn's red and blue colors in competition.

Among these amazing athletes, the star of the night was former football coach Eldo “Al” Bagnoli. Bagnoli, the all-time winningest football coach at Penn and winner of nine Ivy League titles, reflected on the long history of football at Penn. 

“When you realize the tradition [of the Hall of Fame] … it goes all the way back to Heisman … to [George] Munger … people that have had a tremendous impact on the collegiate sports front,” Bagnoli said. “So when you’re mentioned in the same breath with them, you feel pretty good about it.” 

Bagnoli's 24 straight wins that spanned the 1992 to 1995 seasons was a Football College Subdivision record that stood for two decades. 

"It's great to be back home," Bagnoli said. "I tell people, this is where I got my roots and is where we established our identity and our family, and so it's been terrific. The all-time winning as coach comes through longevity."

Many of the inductees also shared Bagnoli’s sentiments about their time at Penn. Inductees Onyekwe and Baron both played basketball, and each emphasized the importance of playing as a team. 

Baron, a two-time Ivy League scoring champion and 2013-14 Ivy League Player of the Year, views this honor as a win for her teammates. 

“Just all the hard work and all the success we had, [it] took a while to get that Ivy League championship,” Baron said. “[It was] four years of hard work … [that] pays off to be inducted with all these amazing other athletes and all those that came before me.” 

During his time at Penn, Onyekwe helped the Quakers win three Ivy League championships and is a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year. He considers the team sport to have a lasting impression on his life.

“You learn about roles … working with other people. You learn about compromise,” Onyekwe said. “Everyone has a role to play on a team, and those are things that I feel … translated to other aspects of life.”

Onyekwe also said one of his favorite memories as a Penn athlete was making it to the NCAA tournament with his teammates.

Fortin, seven-time Ivy League individual champion in women’s swimming and diving and the highest-scoring athlete in program history at the Ivy League championships, graduated with all five of the school’s freestyle records — 100-yard, 200, 500, 1000, and 1650. Fortin still follows the program’s successes, including the surpassing of her own marks.

“Every time one of my records gets broken, my coach texts me and tells me about it,” Fortin said with a laugh.

While Fortin doesn’t miss the competitiveness of swimming and diving, she says the Hall of Fame experience has allowed her to look back fondly on her time in the Red and Blue.

“I’m finding out stats about myself I didn’t even know from people who have been doing interviews and reading my plaque …” Fortin said. “I had the best time. I would do it 100 times over.”

Lange played the No. 1 position for Penn women’s squash and helped the team win the 2008 Ivy League title and finish as runners-up in the Howe Cup national championship. She was also a three-time Intercollegiate Singles Championship finalist and won the Under-19 Junior U.S. Championship while at Penn. With those successes under her belt, she still likes to reminisce about her time on the court. 

“There was nothing like a feeling of cheer and everything like that. It was amazing playing professionally,”  Lange said. 

Like many other inductees, Lange still keeps up with her sport. 

“I was so proud of the men when they won the national championships last year. I think I was crying for them,” Lange said. “I know how much sacrifice that everyone’s had [to make] to get there”. 

All 12 inductees had their names added to plaques on Friday evening and were celebrated during halftime of Penn’s football game against Colgate on Saturday afternoon.