Bowling Green State University Athletics
Eight To Be Inducted Into BGSU Hall Of Fame
August 13, 2001 | General
Aug. 13, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University Athletic Hall of Fame will welcome eight new members on Sept. 21, BGSU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Paul Krebs has announced. The 2001 class will be inducted during a formal dinner in Olscamp Hall on the BGSU campus.
The class of 2001 will include basketball player Stephanie (Coe) DeSalvio '87, softball player Vicki Miwa '88, golf coach John Piper, football and track athlete Bob Ramlow '59, cross country and track athlete Kevin Ryan '80, swimmer Andrea (Szekely) Burton '89, gymnast Cheryl (Vasil) Christiansen '80 and swimmer Donald Worsfold '58.
The official induction ceremony will take place Friday, Sept. 21 in Olscamp Hall. The social hour begins at 6:00 p.m. with dinner served at 7:00 p.m. and the program starting shortly thereafter.
In addition, the class will be introduced at halftime of the Sept. 22 BGSU-Temple football game at Doyt Perry Stadium. The game begins at 6:00 p.m. and is designated as Varsity BG & Hall of Fame Night.
Tickets for the Sept. 21 dinner can be purchased at the Memorial Hall Ticket Office for $28 and advance reservations are required. Tickets can also be reserved by calling the ticket office at 1-877-BGSUTICKET or 372-0000. Football game tickets can also be purchased through the ticket office.
The public is invited to attend the induction dinner.
Information on each of the eight inductees follows:
STEPHANIE (COE) DeSALVIO
DeSalvio was a four-year letterwinner for the Falcons. Originally cut from the team as a freshman walk-on, she finished her BGSU tenure ranked second in school history in career scoring, and ninth in Mid-American Conference annals, with 1,363 points. That total now ranks eighth in school history, and her average of 13.4 points per game ranks fourth in BGSU history.
DeSalvio, a native of Utica, Mich., averaged 3.6 points as a reserve her freshman year, but led the team in scoring as a sophomore with 14.7 points per game en route to earning All-MAC honorable mention. In the classroom, she earned selection to the Academic All-MAC First Team, the first of three consecutive years she would win that honor.
DeSalvio again earned honorable-mention all-league honors as a junior, averaging 13.4 points as the Falcons finished second in the league. As a senior in 1986-87, she upped her scoring average to 18.8 points, earning All-MAC First-Team honors in the process. DeSalvio helped third-year coach Fran Voll's squad to a 27-3 overall mark and a perfect 16-0 slate in the MAC. DeSalvio was the MVP of the MAC Tournament, scoring 31 and 24 points, respectively, in the Falcons' two wins. The last two of those points came on a foul-line jumper with just five seconds remaining, providing the winning points in a 63-62 triumph over Central Michigan and the team's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
That year, in addition to her academic all-conference honors, DeSalvio became the first Falcon women's basketball student-athlete to earn Academic All-America First-Team honors.
VICKI MIWA
Miwa came to BGSU after attending Northern Arizona for one year, and became the first Falcon softball player to earn All-MAC First-Team honors three times. Miwa went 37-24 in her BGSU career with a school-record earned-run average of 0.93. She held 11 school pitching records at the time of her graduation, including the marks for career shutouts (20) and strikeouts (291).
Miwa, a native of Scarborough, Ontario, arrived at BGSU and immediately set the school single-season record with an ERA of 0.69 in 1986. She topped that mark with an 0.60 ERA the following year. Those totals still rank first and second on the BGSU list.
Miwa also set seasonal records for complete games (21), innings pitched (171), strikeouts (136) and wins (15) in her first season, as the Falcons finished second in the MAC race. The following season, she led the league and posted a record of 11-6, earning Mideast All-Region Second-Team honors.
In 1988, Miwa and the Falcons had the finest season in BGSU history to that point, going 35-23-1 overall to set a school record for wins. The Brown and Orange went 24-8 in MAC play to post the school's first league title in softball, advancing to the NCAA Tournament and hosting a regional. That year, Miwa had a 1.43 ERA and 11 wins.
Miwa still ranks near the top of almost every BGSU pitching list, and still holds a share of the school record with eight career saves.
JOHN PIPER
Piper, a native of Sandusky, Ohio, coached the Falcon golf team for 13 years, posting three MAC titles during his tenure. He guided the Brown and Orange to conference crowns in 1972, 1973 and 1978, earning MAC Coach-of-the-Year honors following the '78 campaign.
During his tenure, Piper's teams won 20 tournament titles, and posted a winning percentage of .671, based on matches and tournament finishes. He took the three MAC-championship teams to the NCAA Tournaments while sending individuals in four other years. In the decade of the 1970's, the golf team was the most successful of all BGSU sports teams in MAC competition, posting a runner-up, one third place and one fourth place finish in addition to the three titles.
In addition to his coaching duties at BGSU, Piper served two terms as the elected Secretary-Treasurer of the NCAA Golf Coaches Association (1979-83). An instructor in the school of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at BGSU, he was selected as a finalist for the school's University Master Teacher Award by the BGSU Undergraduate Alumni Association on five occasions. In 1990, he was one of three BGSU faculty nominees for the National CASE Undergraduate Professor of the Year Award.
A 1958 graduate of Mount Union College, Piper received his Master's of Education degree in 1961. He then coached golf, basketball and football at the high-school level before becoming BGSU's freshman golf coach in 1967. Piper took over for the retired Forrest Creason as head coach three years later.
BOB RAMLOW
Ramlow earned three varsity letters apiece in football and track during his collegiate career. In football, he was a two-time second-team All-MAC halfback, earning All-Ohio honors his senior year. As a sophomore in 1956, Ramlow had 113 yards rushing as BG posted an 8-0-1 mark.
The following year, Ramlow led the team and placed third in the MAC with 492 yards rushing. He was second on the team with 10 receptions for the 6-1-2 Falcons. In his senior year, he led the team and ranked second in the MAC with 779 yards rushing, finishing second with nine receptions for a 7-2 squad.
In track, Ramlow tied for the league title in the pole vault as a senior, setting the school record (13-0) at that time in the event. He had been second in the MAC in that event in both his sophomore and junior seasons.
Ramlow became the head track coach at Euclid High School in 1969, beginning a long and successful tenure. Over the first 25 years, his teams posted an overall record of 435-35, as Euclid won 180-of-205 outdoor meets and 255-of-265 indoor meets during that time.
Ramlow coached over 150 athletes who earned Ohio honors, and his teams won 12 league titles, seven district meets and four sectional titles. His 1989 and 1990 track teams finished third in the state track meet.
Ramlow was named the league Coach of the Year 12 times and was selected as the Northeast Ohio Coach of the Year on three occasions. An Ohio Track Coaches Hall of Fame member, he has earned numerous honors from the City of Euclid for his work at the high school.
Ramlow, who was co-chair of the Euclid H.S. HPE department, is a BGSU Varsity BG Club member and a member of the BGSU Alumni Association.
KEVIN RYAN
Ryan, a native of Cleveland, earned four letters in both cross country and track at BGSU. He earned All-America honors three times in the latter sport, including twice in 1980, his final season. That year, he was the MAC champion in the 1,500 meters, advancing to the NCAA Championships where he placed fifth. Ryan still holds the second fastest time in school history in that event, behind only Dave Wottle. He was the second BGSU runner in history (again after Wottle) to run a sub-four-minute mile, and earned All-America laurels in the mile during the 1980 indoor season.
Ryan also was part of a fifth-place national finish the previous year, as he ran on the 1979 distance medley team which placed fifth in the NCAA.. He was a member of four different BGSU school-record relay teams, and still holds the BGSU indoor record in the 1,320 yards, with a time of 2:57.5.
In cross country, Ryan was the 1978 MAC champion after finishing eighth the previous season. He won two dual meets as a sophomore and the Miami dual as a junior.
Ryan placed third in the 1,500 meters at The Athletics Congress meet in 1980 and qualified for the Olympic Trials, finishing eighth.
ANDREA (SZEKELY) BURTON
Burton, a Bowling Green native, burst onto the collegiate scene quickly, setting three MAC records in her freshman season, in the 100 yard butterfly, 200 fly and the 200 freestyle. Later that season, she was named the Swimmer of the Meet at the 1986 MAC Championships, winning four individual events and one relay in that meet. Burton, who appeared in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" following that meet, would win a total of six individual MAC titles and two relays in her career. She capped that season by competing at the NCAA meet.
Burton set three more BGSU records, all in freestyle events, as a junior. At the time of her graduation, she held seven school records and three relay records. Burton still holds four school records.
During her four years, the Falcons posted three second-place finishes and one third-place finish at the MAC Championships. In the classroom, Burton was a two-time Academic All-MAC At-Large selection. At her final MAC meet, in 1989, she was named the Outstanding Senior Swimmer.
Burton was part of a swimming family. Her brothers, Les, Pete and Alex Szekely, all preceded Andrea as swimming letterwinners at BGSU.
CHERYL (VASIL) CHRISTIANSEN
Christiansen, a native of Canton, Ohio, held BGSU's records in the vault, balance beam and floor exercise upon her graduation in 1980. She was the first BG gymnast to place as high as second in the AIAW regional finals, doing so in 1977.
In 1978, Christiansen was BGSU's most valuable gymnast, and was the state collegiate champion in the vault. Christiansen, the first gymnast in school history to earn a score of 9.0 in an event, placed in the top six every year at the state meet.
Christiansen also brought BGSU some national exposure by winning the regional Miss All-American Girl pageant and participating in the national final, which was televised nationally. Closer to home, she was named Miss BGSU in 1978.
In her senior season, the Falcons completed the year with an 11-0-1 record and a second-place finish at the OAISW State Championship.
Christiansen was involved in a number of extracurricular activities at BGSU, a member of Phi Mu sorority, she was one of four outstanding leaders selected by Phi Mu national sorority in 1979.
DONALD WORSFOLD
Worsfold, a native of East Grand Rapids, Mich., was a three-year letterwinner in swimming, winning the 1957 MAC title in both the 50 freestyle and 100 free. The following year, as a senior, he was a member of the MAC championship relay team in the 400 free.
Also in 1958, Worsfold received All-America honors in the 50 free, at a time when only the top six finishers garnered All-America honors.
After graduation, Worsfold received his law degree from the Detroit College of Law in 1961, and practiced law for more than a quarter-century. He served as immediate past-president of the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Bar Association, and was a partner with the firm of Linsey, Strain and Worsfold.
A lifelong resident of the Grand Rapids area, Worsfold passed away in 1989.
The 2001 class of inductees, the 38th class in history, brings membership in the Athletic Hall of Fame to 168. The 1983-84 national championship hockey team is also in the Hall of Fame.
