J-Club Hall of Honor | Event Registration

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Twelve individuals and one team will be inducted into Saint John's University's J-Club Hall of Honor on Saturday, Oct. 5, as part of Homecoming festivities.

The dinner and enshrinement ceremony begins at 5:15 p.m. in Guild Hall (Old Gym). A Homecoming Celebration social will take place outside the venue following the Johnnies' football game against Augsburg in Clemens Stadium prior to the dinner and program. 

Registration is $75 per person before Sept. 29 ($100 per person after) and includes dinner and beverages. Children ages 6-12 are $35 and those five and under are free. All proceeds go to the J-Club to support SJU athletics. – Register to Attend

Each member of the Hall of Honor class will be highlighted in the weeks leading up to their induction with stories and videos on gojohnnies.com starting on Monday, Aug. 26. This year's class was selected by a vote of the J-Club's board of directors, who considered nominations that can be made by any club member.

Founded in 1959, the J-Club is a dues-based booster organization of former Johnnie student-athletes, parents and fans, and plays a key role in supporting SJU varsity programs, intramurals and club sports. 

Those honored (listed alphabetically) include: 

-Rick Bell '83: A two-sport star in baseball and football, Bell (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori) rushed for 2,630 yards in his four-year career, a total that still ranks fifth on the school's all-time list. He earned All-MIAC honors as a junior in 1981 when he led the Johnnies in both rushing and receiving. Then, as a senior, he earned All-MIAC and All-America honors after leading SJU to a 9-1 record and a berth in the NAIA playoffs. His 226 receiving yards on Sept. 11, 1982 against St. Cloud State were the most in school history until 2018 and his 14 receptions that afternoon stood as the record until it was tied in 1995 and broken in 1997. Bell scored a then-program record 23 touchdowns in 10 games during the fall of 1982 (now fourth all-time) and ended his career with a record 45, which is now fifth. After graduation, he played almost the entire 1983 season with the Minnesota Vikings and went to training camp with the team the next two years.

-Chuck Ceronsky '70: Ceronsky won the 1968 MIAC Cross Country Championship as the Johnnies came away with the team title, the first of five in a row for the program. As a senior the following year, he finished second at the conference meet behind only teammate John Cragg '71, a 2019 J-Club Hall of Honor inductee. On the track, Ceronsky (Bloomington, Minn./DeLaSalle) helped the Johnnies win the first of four-straight MIAC outdoor titles as a senior in 1970, snapping Macalester's 11-year championship run. That was the same season in which he earned All-America honors in the steeplechase at both the NCAA college division and NAIA national meets. 

-Stacy Christensen '76: Christensen (Minneapolis, Minn./West) made a good first impression when the hockey standout arrived in Collegeville as a freshman during the 1972-73 season. He scored a goal to lead Saint John's to a 3-1 season-opening win over St. Cloud State in the first hockey game played at St. Cloud's Municipal Athletic Complex. Christensen ended up starting all four seasons, earning All-MIAC and All-America honors as a junior and senior. He finished his career with 142 career points (66g/76a), a school record at the time that is still good enough to rank fourth in program history. 

-Al Eisele '58: Eisele went on to become one of the nation's leading political journalists, as well as serving as press secretary to then-Vice President Walter Mondale for the entire Jimmy Carter presidential administration. Before all that, though, he was one of the top pitchers the Saint John's baseball team ever had. Eisele (Blue Earth, Minn.) went 5-1 in MIAC play in 1957, including a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 7-0 victory over Macalester to give SJU a share of that season's conference title. Then, as a senior, he posted an 8-1 record – his only loss coming against the University of Minnesota, which won the Big Ten title that spring. He tallied three victories in the final nine days of the season, including a nine-inning performance on two days rest with 10 strikeouts as SJU defeated St. Thomas 4-2 to again clinch a share of the MIAC title. Eisele ended his Johnnie career with a 13-3 record, 10 complete games (four shutouts), 1.75 ERA, .177 opponent batting average and 124 strikeouts in 128.2 innings pitched. His efforts earned him a spot in the Cleveland Indians organization where he pitched parts of four seasons in the minor leagues before embarking on his journalism career.

-Ernie England '81: By the time Ernie England arrived at Saint John's in the fall of 1976, the then-22-year-old freshman had already served four years in the Air Force as a communications specialist where he was a standout football player in the physical and competitive United States Armed Forces Conference. The success continued in Collegeville where he immediately earned a starting job at nose guard, received All-MIAC honors and helped lead the Johnnies to the NCAA Division III national championship in his first season with the team. England (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) went on to earn All-MIAC honors three more times for a total of four - becoming SJU's second four-time All-MIAC honoree (2021 Hall of Honor inductee Chuck Froehle '57 is the other from 1953-56) - and All-America honors in 1978 and 1979. 

-Bill Laliberte '70: Listed at 5-foot-7 and 140 pounds, Laliberte (Golden Valley, Minn./Robbinsdale) was far from the biggest player on the field during his football career at Saint John's. But there was certainly nothing small about his ability for the big play. The running back had runs of 67 yards or more in four games during the 1968 season, including an 87-yard touchdown run in a 21-6 home win over Minnesota-Duluth that still ranks as the sixth-longest in school history. In fact, 12 of Laliberte's 25 career touchdowns covered 20 yards or more (10 of 30+ yards). He also passed for two touchdowns (48 and 24 yards). As a senior captain in 1969, he ran for 892 yards and 13 touchdowns in 10 games. He carried the ball 24 times for 110 yards and a touchdown in a 21-0 shutout of Simpson in that season's Mineral Water Bowl, earning the game's outstanding back award. Laliberte was also a standout for the Johnnie hockey team, serving as a team captain as a senior during the 1969-70 season.

-Dick Matchinsky '57: A four-year starter on the basketball court, Matchinsky (Melrose, Minn.) finished his career with 1,581 career points – a total that still ranks second in school history. He averaged in double figures during all four of his seasons with the Johnnies, including over 20 points per game in each of his final two years. He was an All-MIAC selection as a junior when he ranked second in the conference in scoring. But his exploits were not confined to the court. He also played end on the SJU football team, including during legendary head coach John Gagliardi's first season in Collegeville in 1953. And, for a time, he was a thrower in track and field.

-Tim Miles '76: As a student-athlete at Saint John's, Miles (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin) was an All-MIAC performer in cross country and the conference's six-mile champion in track and field as a senior in 1976. But it was as a coach where he truly made his mark. Miles took over as head coach for both sports in 1979 and remained in both jobs for decades. He led the Johnnies to five outdoor track and field titles and was named MIAC outdoor coach of the year six times before retiring in 2015. In all, his track athletes earned All-America honors 61 times and won five national titles. In cross country, his teams won nine MIAC titles and qualified for the NCAA Division III national meet 22 times before he retired following the 2022 season. He was named conference coach of the year on three occasions. In 2019, the track at Clemens Stadium was named in his honor.

-Nathan Proshek '04: Proshek (New Prague, Minn.) arrived on the SJU campus in the fall of 2000 and made an immediate impact, finishing second overall in his first collegiate competition. The hits kept coming from there - none greater than in the spring of 2003 when SJU finished third overall at the NCAA Division III national meet, and Proshek - then a junior - shot a four-round score of 284 (E) to place second individually. Proshek was All-America honorable mention as a sophomore in 2002 and a first-team selection the following year. He earned Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-District and All-MIAC honors three times and was named the freshman of the year for both the region and conference in the spring of 2001. Proshek ended his career second in program history with a 74.82 average in 98 career rounds (is now 11th).

-Luke Vestrum '03: Vestrum finished his Johnnie swimming career with nine MIAC titles including relays, a total that ranks second in program history. He also earned All-MIAC distinction in five separate individual events, the most of any swimmer at SJU. His junior season was particularly impressive as Vestrum (Carlos, Minn./Alexandria) won MIAC titles in the 200 individual medley and the 200 and 400 freestyle relay. He also finished second in the 100 freestyle and third in the 100 backstroke. He went on to earn All-America distinction three times at that season's Division III national meet. Vestrum set five school records over the course of his time in Collegeville.

-1978-79 basketball team: Not much went right for the Saint John's basketball team during the first two games of the 1978-79 season. After that, though, very little went wrong. Shrugging off an 0-2 start, the Johnnies went on a school-record, 27-game winning streak that yielded their second-straight MIAC and NAIA District 13 titles. SJU defeated Mankato State for the district title in a memorable 84-82 overtime thriller before a packed house of more than 6,000 on the road. The ride came to an end with a second-round loss to Southwest Texas State in the second round of the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City. But two-time All-American Frank Wachlarowicz '79, a 2019 inductee into the J-Club Hall of Honor, was named MIAC Most Valuable Player for the second-straight season and ended his career as the leading scorer in Minnesota collegiate history. 

Mike Fahey '75 and Thom Woodward '70 will be awarded J-Club Distinguished Service Awards. A two-time All-MIAC (top 15 at the MIAC Championship) runner in cross country, Fahey graduated from the St. Louis University School of Law in 1978 and practiced law for many years in Carver County. In 2007, Governor Tim Pawlenty appointed Fahey to the Judiciary in the First Judicial District, where he served as a judge in Scott County until his retirement in 2020. An active member in the J-Club since graduation, Fahey wrote the organization's bylaws and was instrumental in most of its major accomplishments. He was one of the founders of the modern day tailgating at Johnnie football games. Woodward spent four decades within SJU's Office of Institutional Advancement, first serving as news services director before eventually settling into the role of alumni relations director. During all that time, he promoted the J-Club and Johnnie athletic department in monumental ways. He designed the modern SJU athletics logo and orchestrated the creation and implementation of the Gagliardi Trophy in 1993. Following his retirement from SJU in 2006, Woodward served as an assistant baseball coach for the Johnnies for 18 seasons until 2023.

The Hall of Honor's previous four classes are listed below:

2023: 2003 SJU football team; Lou Adderley '55 (tennis and wrestling); Paul Bernabei '69 (basketball); Jon Dold '94 (baseball); Darwin Dumonceaux '99 (track and field); Chris Erichsen '08 (cross country and track and field); Terry Haws (coach); Tom Kubinski '86 (swimming and diving); Matt McGovern '01 (golf); Chris Palmer '96 (football and baseball); Fr. Dunstan Tucker (J-Club Distinguished Service Award).

2022: 1976 SJU football team; Minga Batsukh '11 (wrestling); Troy Bigalke '01 (basketball); Fred Cremer '67 (football); Matt Erredge '99 (hockey); Jon Habben '79 (swimming and diving); Dave Lamm '68 (track and field); Mike Lilly '78 (soccer); Cyril Paul '59 (track and field); Tim Schmitz '78 (football); Br. Mark Kelly (J-Club Distinguished Service Award).

2021: 1965 SJU football team; John Deters '92 (swimming and diving); George Durenberger '28 (standout athlete, longtime SJU athletic director); Chuck Froehle '57 (football); Jim Gathje '86 (cross country, track and field); Vedie Himsl '38 (baseball); Jim Lehman, Sr. '56 (football); Terry Leiendecker '84 (soccer);  Joe Mucha '66 (basketball and football); Jeff Norman '78 (football and baseball); Joe Schoolmeesters '09  (golf); Gary Svendsen '72 (wrestling); Vic Moore '72 (J-Club Distinguished Service Award).

2019: 1963 SJU football team; John Cragg '71 (cross country and track and field); Blake Elliott '03 (football); Adam Hanna '07 (hockey); Pat Haws '72 (longtime SJU soccer and swimming and diving head coach); John McDowell '64 (football); John "Blood McNally '24 (football, basketball, baseball, track and field); Sammy Schmitz '03 (golf); Bill Sexton '55 (basketball); Frank Wachlarowicz '79 (basketball); Matt Zelen '99 (swimming and diving); Tom Arth '66 and Fr. Wilfred Theisen '52 (J-Club Distinguished Service Award).

2018: John Gagliardi (longtime SJU football coach); Jim Smith (longtime SJU basketball coach).