Youngstown, Ohio -- A group of six highly-decorated former student-athletes and one dedicated contributor will be enshrined in the Youngstown State University Athletics Hall of Fame, Saturday, Oct. 20.
The new inductees will be enshrined at the 28th Annual Hall of Fame Induction breakfast on Saturday, Oct. 20, in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. They will be introduced at halftime of the Youngstown State-Southern Illinois football game later that afternoon. For information on attending the ceremony, contact Youngstown State Athletics at (330) 941-7208.
The class of 2012 includes: Elliott Giles (football), Brandi Goettsch (swimming and diving), PJ Mays (football), Chris Notareschi (softball), Becky Rudzik (women's cross country/track and field), Ed Strauss (contributor) and Herb Williams (football).
This year’s inductees in alphabetical order with a brief biography follows:
Elliott Giles, football (1998-99): Giles ranks second on the single-season list with 1,301 yards receiving. He is the school’s all-time leader with 20.2 yards per catch. Giles also tied a school record with six 100-yard receiving games in 1999. He ranks 13th all-time with 1,477 career receiving yards.
Brandi Goettsch, swimming and diving (1999-2002): Goettsch was a three-time conference diver of the year - twice in the Mid-Continent Conference in 1999 and 2000 and once in the Horizon League 2002. She was named the YSU/Vindicator Female Athlete of the Year in 2002, and was a four-time NCAA Zone Qualifier, four-time team MVP and letterwinner and was a two-time team captain. She set and reset YSU Diving records 16 times and had numerous first and second place finishes.
PJ Mays, football (2000-02): Mays was named the Gateway Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2001. He ranks fourth all-time with 3,511 career rushing yards and owns the school record for most 200-yard rushing games with four. He ran for 1,446 yards with 21 touchdowns in 2001. His 45 career touchdowns rank fourth all-time while his 42 rushing touchdowns also rank fourth all-time.
Chris Notareschi, softball (1995-98): Notareschi was a four-year letterwinner and a three-time first-team all-conference pick. She finished her career as YSU’s career home run and RBIs leader with 18 and 103, respectively, and is currently tied for third in home runs and ranks fourth RBIs. She set the single-season home run mark with eight and the RBI record with 33 in 1998. She now ranks tied for sixth all-time with 169 hits.
Becky Rudzik, women’s cross country/track and field (1989-93): Rudzik was a four-year letterwinner and set five records during her career. She currently holds the indoor track record in the 800 meters with a time of 2:12.90, and her time of 10:08.50 in the indoor track 3,000-meter run stood for nearly 20 years and currently ranks third all-time.
Ed Strauss, Contributor: Strauss served as the Youngstown State head softball coach from 1985-95 and is the program’s winningest coach with 207 victories. He also served as the football video coordinator on a volunteer basis for many years and continues to assist with press box operations during home football games.
Herb Williams, football (1989-92): Williams was a member of the 1991 national championship team. He posted 110 career receptions for 2,031 yards and 13 career touchdowns. He caught 72 passes for 1,306 yards in 1992. He also ranks eighth all-time in career receptions and sixth all-time in receiving yards.
