YSU to induct Giles, six others

Staff report

Youngstown

Three former football players will be among the seven who will be inducted into the Youngstown State University Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 20.

The class of 2012 includes Elliott Giles, PJ Mays and Herb Williams. The others are Brandi Goettsch (swimming and diving), Chris Notareschi (softball), Becky Rudzik (women’s cross country/track and field) and Ed Strauss (contributor).

The inductees will be enshrined at the 28th Annual Hall of Fame Induction breakfast in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. They also will be introduced at halftime of the Southern Illinois-YSU football game that afternoon at Stambaugh Stadium.

Giles was a football player in 1998 and 1999, and 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.

Mays was a football player from 2000-02 and 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.

Mays 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.

Williams, who played from 1989-92, was a member of the 1991 national championship team. He posted 110 career receptions for 2,031 yards and 13 career touchdowns.

Williams 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.

Goettsch, a Penguin from 1999-2002, was a three-time conference diver of the year — twice in the Mid-Continent Conference (1999 and 2000) and once in the Horizon League (2002).

She was named the YSU/The Vindicator Female Athlete of the Year in 2002, and was a four-time NCAA Zone Qualifier, four-time team MVP and letter-winner. She also was a two-time team captain. She set and reset YSU diving records 16 times and had numerous first and second place finishes.

Notareschi, who played softball from 1995-98, was a four-year letter-winner 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. She now is tied for third in home runs and ranks fourth RBIs.

Rudzik was a four-year letter-winner from 1989-93 and set five records during her career. She 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.

Strauss served as the 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.