UMBC Athletes Inducted into Hall of Fame on February 11

The largest and most decorated class in the school history, featuring nine new members, will be inducted into the UMBC Athletic Hall of Fame on February 11.The honorees are Giuliano Celenza (men’s soccer, 1999-2000), Lisa Cline Smith (volleyball, 1995-98), Ray Ford (men’s soccer, 1977-80), Jack Kane (men’s basketball, 1975-79), Oscar Lopez (men’s tennis, 1997-2000), Joe Provance (men’s lacrosse, 1972-75), Steve Tomshack (baseball, 1996-99), Terence Ward (men’s basketball, 1997-2001) and Kathy Zerrlaut (1974-current).
The induction of the nine new honorees brings UMBC’s membership in the Hall of Fame to 87. The dinner and induction ceremony will take place at the Holiday Inn BWI after the men’s basketball game vs. Vermont at the UMBC RAC that afternoon. Tickets are available through the UMBC Office of Athletic Development at 410-455-1532.
The two men’s soccer and men’s basketball players were central figures during different, yet very successful eras in their respective sports. Ford is UMBC’s all-time leading scorer in the school’s soccer history, with 51 goals and 124 points. He was a multiple All South honoree and, as a freshman, helped the 1977 team to a 15-2 record and the school’s first NCAA Tournament bid. Celenza is third in all-time scoring with 100 points, amassed in a brilliant two-year period. He scored a school record 22 goals in 1999, leading UMBC to the best record in the nation (19-1-2) and its first NCAA bid at the Division I level. The Baltimore native is an MISL All-Star with the Baltimore Blast. Both Ford and Celenza prepped at Archbishop Curley.
Kane, an Academic All American, is currently eighth in career scoring (1,253) and fourth in assists (373) as he led UMBC to its first NCAA Division II Tournament appearance in his senior season of 1978-79. Jack’s brother, Howie, and a third high school teammate, Parkville’s John Goedeke, helped UMBC to national prominence under Head Coach Billy Jones. Ward, who buried a school record 296 three-point goals in four years as a starter, earned Northeast Conference All League honors in three seasons. The Egg Harbor, New Jersey native is fourth in career scoring at UMBC with 1,692 points and is first in free throws made (374), free throw percentage (85.4%) and games started (112).
Lopez becomes the first tennis player inducted into the UMBC Athletic Hall of Fame. UMBC’s 1998-99 Most Outstanding Male Athlete was the #1 flight singles champion in Northeast Conference play in 1999 and 2000, and led the Retrievers to an NCAA Tournament appearance in his senior season. The native of Torreviega, Spainwas a two-time CoSIDA Academic All American and captured the ECAC Men’s Open and the Junior Davis Cup during his tenure.
Cline had a brilliant career, earning both Big South (1997) and Northeast (1998) Conference Player of the Year honors. The team won a pair of league titles and earned UMBC’s first appearance (1998) in the NCAA Tournament. The Sunderland, Maryland(Northern) native produced 1,869 kills, second in school history, and shared the stage with Lopez as UMBC’s Most Outstanding Female Athlete in 1998-99.
Tomshack, a native of Glen Burnie, Maryland (North County), was a two-time All Big South catcher and is currently ranked in 12 offensive categories, including first in total bases (392), second in home runs (34), third in RBI’s and fifth in batting average (.383). He was UMBC’s Most Outstanding Male Athlete in as a junior in 1998 and was a draft selection of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1999.
Provance led UMBC’s 1975 men’s lacrosse team with 85 ground balls after corralling 108 the previous season. The Retrievers went 13-2 in1975 with wins over Syracuse, Navy, Virginia, North Carolina and Towson. The Baltimore native (Cardinal Gibbons), who competed in the North-South All Star Classic that season, was a face off specialist, but he did amass 78 career points and is a member of UMBC’s All-Time Lacrosse team.
Kathy Zerrlaut arrived at UMBC in 1974 and coached over 850 games in 24 seasons in the sports of lacrosse and volleyball. Over the past two decades, the Baltimore native (Lansdowne) has served as UMBC’s Senior Women’s Administrator/Senior Associate Athletic Director and has been elected to the NCAA Management Council and the chair of the 2004/2005 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championships Committee.