Kings County Times

The Chapman University Donald P. Kennedy Athletics Program proudly announces its 40th Hall of Fame class to be inducted during the Night of Champions and Hall of Fame Weekend on October 20-21, 2023. Two more Panther legends and one historic team were elected to be enshrined into the Hall of Fame.

The two new Chapman Hall of Famers elected by the Chapman University Hall of Fame committee are Michael Lahey '15 and Armando Orizaba '95. On the 20th anniversary of its NCAA Division III championship, the 2003 baseball team will also take its rightful place alongside the Chapman greats. Lahey, Orizaba and the 2003 baseball team join already elected Troy Turnbull '86 and Toby Curto '97.

A standout quarterback from 2010-14, Lahey helped usher in a new era of Chapman football as the Panthers joined the SCIAC and quickly became one of the top programs in the conference. The 2013 and 2014 SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year led Chapman to its first SCIAC title in 2014 and its first appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship. Lahey still holds Chapman records for completion percentage in a game, season and career as well as ranking second for passing efficiency in a season. He completed 75.4 percent of his passes in 2013 to lead all of Division III. He was the first Panther to win a SCIAC major award in football and continues to give back to the program as an assistant coach on the current team. Last season, he began to coach the quarterbacks, coaching Nathaniel Espinoza to break his passing efficiency record.

Orizaba '95 also helped usher in a new era in Chapman athletics as a standout forward during the Panthers' transition from Division II to Division III. He was one of the few Panthers to earn awards in both divisions as an All-Region selection in 1993 (Division II) and 1994 (Division III). One of the biggest scoring threats in Chapman history, he still holds the career record for assists and ranks second for assists in a single season. By the time his career was done in 1994, Orizaba ranked first in career assists, second for career points, first for assists in a season and third for points in a season. He still ranks in the top-5 at Chapman in each category.

The 2003 baseball team forever etched its name into Chapman history with the Panthers second baseball national title and Chapman's second Division III national title. Under first-year head coach Tom Tereschuk, the Panthers went 39-12 to finish as the best Division III team in the nation. Chapman fell into the loser's bracket at the national championships but emerged with the help of a walk-off victory over Emory. Chapman faced off with Christopher Newport in the championship series and used an offensive outburst to sweep the best-of-three series, 15-2 and 15-7. Hall of Famer Alex Taylor was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament and pitcher Ryan France was named an All-American.

Both Curto and Turnbull were originally announced to be part of the Chapman Hall of Fame Class of 2020. However, the pandemic delayed the induction of that class until 2022 when neither were able to attend the Night of Champions. They will be inducted alongside the Class of 2023.

Turnbull helped pioneer Chapman's NCAA Division II men's tennis dynasty of the late 1980s. He was a four-time All-American in singles and a two-time All-American in doubles. Prior to Turnbull's arrival on campus, the Panthers finished in the bottom half of their conference. The Panthers finished in the top-10 in the nation in all four of Turnbull's seasons, winning its first of three NCAA Division II national titles during his junior season in 1985. He led the Panthers back to the championship in 1986 for a national runner-up finish. He also won the Rolex/ITCA Division II singles national title in 1985 and became the first Chapman player to earn a No. 1 national ranking.

Curto was a four-year starter and 1,000-point scorer for Chapman's men's basketball team during its transition from Division II to Division III. Over 20 years later, he still ranks in the top-10 for career scoring average during Chapman's Division III era. As a two-time All-Region selection, he helped the Panthers to 65 wins in his four years at Chapman and a winning record in every season. The Panthers nearly reversed their record from the year before during Curto's freshman year, going from 7-19 to 17-8. Chapman went on to have 23 consecutive winning seasons after the turnaround.

Original source can be found here