Florida Tech Sports Hall of Fame Induction Friday

By  //  February 20, 2015

three individuals, two teams to be honored

In recognition of outstanding achievement and contribution to Florida Tech Athletics, three individuals and two teams will be inducted into the Florida Tech Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, Feb. 20. (Florida Tech image)
In recognition of outstanding achievement and contribution to Florida Tech Athletics, three individuals and two teams will be inducted into the Florida Tech Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, Feb. 20. (Florida Tech image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – In recognition of outstanding achievement and contribution to Florida Tech Athletics, three individuals and two teams will be inducted into the Florida Tech Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, Feb. 20.

florida-tech-logoThe event includes a 6 p.m. reception in the Denius Student Center and the dinner and program will follow at 7 p.m. in the Hartley Room.

Baseball player Jonathan Baksh, cross country harrier Sara Trané, volleyball player Kari Wanat, the 1974-75 men’s varsity lightweight eight and1989-90 men’s basketball team will join the prodigious cast of hall of fame members.

Florida Tech’s highest drafted baseball player having been selected in the seventh round by the Toronto Blue Jays, Baksh was a three-time All-American, two-time First Team All-Sunshine State Conference selection and SSC Player of the Year in 2005.

Jonathan Baksh
Jonathan Baksh

He was also Florida Tech Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2006 and a three-time honoree on the SSC Spring Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

The Mississauga, Ontario native led the SSC in hitting his junior year, batting an outstanding .469.

Currently serving as a volunteer assistant for Florida Tech’s men’s and women’s cross country and track & field teams, Trané transferred to Florida Tech as a graduate student and raced during the 2009 season.

In her lone Panther season she became the school’s first-ever cross country All-American, South Region Runner of the Year and SSC Runner of the Year.

Trané was victorious four times and finished in the top five in six of the seven races in which she competed.

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She won the South Region and SSC Championships and finished her Panther career with an 18th-place finish at the NCAA Division II Championship.

A two-time Academic All-American, Wanat ranked second all-time in the SSC with 1,791 digs following her senior season in 1999.

She still ranks first in the Panthers’ record book for digs and is a member of the 1,000 assists and 1,000 digs club.

Sara Trané
Sara Trané

She was a three-time academic all-region player, SSC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and graduated with a 4.0 GPA in molecular biology.

The 1974-75 men’s varsity lightweight eight claimed the 1975 Dad Vail Regatta Championship.

In doing so, they became the first Florida Tech varsity men’s crew to win gold at the prestigious event.

The record-setting crew coached by Bill Jurgens included bow Gene Ferraro, 2 Doug Engler, 3 Bill Alonso, 4 Bob Stickler, 5 Andy Doan, 6 Steve Wright, 7 Skip Schied, stroke Tom DeLuna and coxswain Gene Jeffords.

The 1989-90 men’s basketball team recorded a 26-4 overall record and an 11-1 SSC mark en route to the program’s first SSC Regular Season Championship.

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Florida Tech went on to advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second time in school history and earned its first-ever tournament win against Norfolk State in the opening round.

Coached by the late Tom Folliard Sr., the team included Igor Beros, Craig Burnett, Davon Kelly, Jim Krantz, Jamie Lathrop,Dave Love, Joe McManus, Dave Murphy, Doug Newbert, Ray Paprocky, Chris Rose, Robert Sewell, Mike Smith, Astley Smith and Dwight Walton.

The event will be streamed live at HERE starting at 6:45 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20.

BELOW VIDEO: Florida Tech head coach Steve Englehart accepted the Pioneer Award on behalf of the football program at the 2014 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame banquet.