Ron Petro & Erica (Allenspach) Woytek Named 2017 Marist College’s MAAC Basketball Honor Roll Inductees
EDISON, NJ – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) has announced Marist College’s institutional honorees to be inducted in the MAAC Honor Roll, in which honorees will be enshrined in “The MAAC Experience” exhibit at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, September 16.
Each member institution of the MAAC honors one male and one female from its basketball “family” as part of the 2017 induction class. A dinner event will be on Saturday, September 16 at the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Court of Dreams to recognize the Honor Roll inductees.
Each honoree will be profiled in the game program for the 2018 MAAC Basketball Championships, and will also be featured in a video display at “The MAAC Experience.”
Ron Petro (1966-84)
Ron Petro’s extensive contributions as athletic director and head men’s basketball coach were instrumental to the growth of the Marist College Athletics Department. He was the Red Foxes’ head coach from 1966-84, and his 18-year tenure is tied for the longest in program history. At Marist, Petro won 231 games, three league titles, and an NAIA district championship. He coached the first eight 1,000-point scorers in program history, including the program’s first 2,000-point scorer in Steve Smith, who stood as the Red Foxes’ all-time leading scorer for over 30 years.
Petro served as athletic director from 1977-84, an era which included Marist’s jump to Division I in 1981. He spearheaded the growth of several facilities, including the building of the McCann Center, and founded the Red Fox Club. He also developed summer sports camps, and initiated and coached the school’s men’s and women’s tennis programs. A member of the Manhattan College Hall of Fame, where he was a three-year starter and 1,000-point scorer, Petro remained an integral part in the growth of the game following his departure from Marist. As athletic director at the University of Alaska Anchorage from 1984-92, he secured a deal with ESPN to televise the Great Alaska Shootout. He served as athletic director at the University of Rhode Island from 1992-2004, where the men’s basketball program made its deepest NCAA Tournament run in school history when it advanced to the 1998 Elite Eight. He also served as President of the Atlantic 10 Athletic Directors. Petro later served as Executive Director of the 2006 NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four in Boston.
Erica (Allenspach) Woytek ‘11
Erica Woytek, known as Erica Allenspach in her playing career, is one of the top all-around players in the history of the Marist women’s basketball program, and one of the most synonymous with winning. A hard-nosed player with a diverse skill set, Allenspach was a key component of MAAC championship teams in all four of her seasons with the Red Foxes. Her teams combined for records of 118-18 overall and 67-5 in MAAC regular-season play with two victories in NCAA tournament play and two undefeated MAAC regular seasons. Her freshman (32 wins) and senior seasons (31 wins) account for the two winningest years in program history. Marist’s 2010-11 team led the nation in scoring defense, and achieved its highest in-season (#17) and postseason (#21) national rankings in program history. She was named MAAC and Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Player of the Year as a senior, First Team All-MAAC and MBWA as a junior, Third Team All-MAAC as a sophomore, and MAAC Rookie of the Year as a freshman.
She also earned the MAAC Tournament Most Valuable Player award as a senior after turning in one of the top tournament performances in conference history. She shot .727 from the field and averaged 23.7 points in Marist’s three games, which included a 34-point outburst in the semifinal round against Siena. Allenspach still ranks in the top ten in program history in three-point percentage (second), steals (third), free-throw percentage (fourth), three-pointers (fifth), assists (fifth), games played (fifth), free throws made (sixth), scoring (eighth), and field goals (ninth).
The 2017 MAAC Basketball Honor Roll Class (to date):
| MAAC Honoree |
Bob Belber |
| Canisius College |
Craig Wise |
| Canisius College |
Jenel Stevens |
| Fairfield University |
Mark Young |
| Fairfield University |
Dana (Pellegrino) Farinella |
| Iona College |
Damika Martinez |
| Iona College |
Tim Welsh |
| Manhattan College |
Larry Lembo |
| Manhattan College |
Donna Seybold |
| Marist College |
Ron Petro |
| Marist College |
Erica (Allenspach) Woytek |