Local woman inducted into Wall of Fame at Penn., college

SPARTA — Sarah Gazdalski DalFol, a resident of Sparta was officially inducted into The University of Scranton Wall of Fame on Saturday, Dec. 3. The University inducted the seven members into the Athletics Department’s Wall of Fame on Saturday in a ceremony at the Long Center between games of a basketball doubleheader against Moravian College at 3:30 p.m. The inductees include women’s soccer all-American Nicole Bayman ’01; four-time women’s soccer all-regional selection Amy Connolly Fabel ’01; two-time men’s cross-country all-American Joseph Fent ’01; women’s swimming all-American Sarah Gazdalski DalFol ’01; three-time women’s basketball all-American Kelly Halpin Fisher ’01; John Kelly’ 79, who has served as the official clock operator for basketball games at the Long Center for nearly 40 years; and Carlos Loureiro ’83, a member of three NCAA Final Four men’s soccer teams. The Wall of Fame was founded in 1970 to honor former student-athletes, coaches, administrators and those in the community who have been instrumental in the overall development of The University of Scranton’s athletics program. The university annually honors those who have distinguished themselves in the areas of intercollegiate athletics, coaching and administration by induction into the Wall of Fame. This year’s class brings the Wall’s membership to 219. Gazdalski DalFol was a dominating presence in the pool for then-head-coach Tomm Evans. She is one of only three Scranton swimmers to qualify for nationals and joins Wall of Fame inductee Marilyn Bogusch as the only swimmers in the program’s history to earn all-America honors, earning that distinction with her performance in the 200-yard backstroke at the 1999 NCAA championships. She qualified again for nationals in 2001, and competed in three events; the 100 butterfly and 100 and 200 backstroke. On the conference level, (Gazdalski) DalFol had few peers. She was twice named the co-recipient of the David B. Eavenson Award as the most outstanding female swimmer of the Middle Atlantic Conference championships (1998, 2000) and won 11 individual titles. In addition, she still holds the Scranton records in the 100 and 200 backstroke and set four others—the 100 free, 200 butterfly, and 200 and 400 individual medley—during her tenure. DalFol’s success in the pool carried over to the classroom, where she was twice voted CoSIDA Academic all-American (2000, 2001) and was selected the Middle Atlantic Conference Female Scholar-Athlete for Winter Sports (2001). She concluded her career by sharing the O’Hara Award with fellow Wall of Fame inductee Amy Connolly Fabel as the outstanding female athlete of the senior class. Sarah and her husband, Alex reside in Sparta. A native of Wharton, and a graduate of Pope John XXIII High School, she also holds a Master of Business Administration from the university and is currently employed as a manager with Murphy, Miller & Baglieri, LLP, an accounting and consulting firm located in Glen Rock.