The Canisius College athletic department announced today that Tom Appenheimer '94 - cross country, Kristina (Chavez) Gnacinski '98, MBA '01 - softball, Jason Cummings '95 - men's lacrosse, Josh Oort '98 - hockey, Erin (Oveis) Brant '01 - volleyball and former cross country coach Dan McNaughton have been chosen as the Class of 2010 for the Canisius College Sports Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremonies for the Sports Hall of Fame will be held on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011, when the Canisius men's basketball team plays host to MAAC rival Iona at 2 p.m., in the Koessler Athletic Center. The game will be broadcast online at GoGriffs.com through the Golden Griffin Broadcast Network. The annual Hall of Fame Day will begin with a special brunch held on campus and the Class of 2010 will be honored at halftime of the basketball game. For more information on the induction ceremonies, contact the College's Alumni Office at (716) 888-2700.

To be eligible for the Canisius College Sports Hall of Fame, a former student-athlete must have completed his/her eligibility 10 years prior to induction, be a graduate of the College, been acclaimed as an undergraduate as one of the outstanding athletes in the history of the school and, since graduation, the athlete's life must have continued to reflect favorably on the College. Non-athletes may be inducted if they have made outstanding contributions to Canisius College athletics.

The Canisius Sports Hall of Fame, which began in 1963, now boasts 166 members with the addition of the 2010 class.

Tom Appenheimer '94 - A three-year member of the school's cross country program, Appenheimer also participated on the school's track and field teams as well. Considered to be the team's No. 1 runner at the time, he won multiple events as a Griff and was named the team's Most Valuable Runner two of his three years on the roster. A three-time All-MAAC performer, he was the Blue and Gold's top finisher at the MAAC Championship meet in 1991 and 1992 after placing 27th overall at the 1990 NCAA Division I Northeastern qualifying race. In track and field, he was the first Canisius runner to qualify for the IC4A Outdoor Track and Field Championships and finished his career with a combined five school records in indoor and outdoor track.

Kristina (Chavez) Gnacinski '98, MBA '01 - A four-year letterwinner for the Canisius softball program, Chavez ranks fourth in school history in career win percentage after she went 47-23 with a 1.50 earned run average in 461.2 innings of work in the circle. A two-time All-MAAC selection, she ranks among the program's top-five in career complete games (43) and innings pitched, while also ranking in the top-10 all-time at Canisius in career shutouts (12) and career strikeouts (240). She won 16 games for the Griffs in 1997 to go with her 1.15 ERA and she was a part of three MAAC Championship teams from 1995-97.

Jason Cummings '95 - A four-year letterwinner for the Blue and Gold, Cummings is the third men's lacrosse player to join the College's Sports Hall of Fame, where he joins current head coach Randy Mearns and former teammate Cort Knodel. The team's leading scorer in 1995, he ranks third in career points (186), fifth in career points per game (3.8), second in career goals (105) and second in career assists (81). Cummings holds two of the top-10 single-season point totals in Canisius history, highlighted by his 62 points in his senior year of 1995 and he also owns two of the top-five single-season assist totals in program history.

Josh Oort '98 - Oort joins the Sports Hall of Fame after he closed out his career on the ice as one of three players in school history to record four 40-point seasons and he helped the Griffs to four-straight winning campaigns from 1994-98. His 172 career points ranks third in school history, and he currently ranks fifth in program history with 67 goals, while ranking third all-time with 105 career helpers. He is the only player in Canisius hockey history to have led his team in assists in three different seasons, and he is one of four players in school history to lead Canisius in scoring three times.

Erin (Oveis) Brant '01 - Arguably one of the greatest volleyball players in school history, Oveis holds the distinction of being the first former Griff volleyball player to join the College's Sports Hall of Fame. A two-time All-MAAC honoree, she left the program as the school's career leader in kills (1,482), kills per set (3.5) and digs (1,546). Her 1,546 career digs now ranks second in school history, but stands as the most for a non-libero, and she holds the claim of being the only player in school history to be credited with more than 1,300 career kills and 1,300 career digs. The team's leader in kills in 1998 and 1999, Oveis led the Blue and Gold in digs in three-straight seasons and still holds the program's all-time records for kills in a match (32 vs. Loyola on Oct. 13, 1999) and digs in a three-set match (33 vs. American on Aug. 3, 1997).

Dan McNaughton - McNaughton served as the men's cross country coach for 12 seasons, making him the College's longest tenured head coach in cross country, and he served as the school's track and field coach as well. In 1987, he helped lead the Griffs to the North Atlantic Conference championship, and under his guidance, the men's cross country program earned two second-place finishes at the MAAC Championships in 1989 and 1991. In addition to starting the school's women's cross country program, McNaughton recruited and coached a total of eight Canisius Sports Hall of Famers, including Tom Appenheimer, who joins McNaughton in this year's induction class.