SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – American International College Director of Athletics Rob Kearney announced the members of the AIC Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2026 on Tuesday, March 3 with eight student-athletes, one coach, one administrator, and one team making up a group of 11 inductees.
The ceremony, in conjunction with AIC's Homecoming 2026, will take place on the evening of Friday, October 2 at the Esther B. Griswold Theater on AIC's campus. Ticket information, including pricing, will be announced later this spring. Updates will be posted on the AIC Athletics Hall of Fame website at www.aic.edu/2026AHOF.
The student-athlete inductees are Marlon Beckles '07, Pat Brennan '96, Jill di Monda '91, Stu Gornall '99, Ben McCrillis '00, Katie Warner Mitchell '10, Jana Potic '20, MBA '23 and Dana Watts '19. Longtime Head Football Coach Art Wilkins and legendary women's sports coach and administrator Esther (Frary) Hansen '38 are also part of the class, along with the 1985 men's basketball team.
"The Class of 2026 is a truly remarkable group that embodies everything the AIC Athletics Hall of Fame was created to celebrate. From elite athletes who competed at the highest levels of their respective sports, to dedicated coaches who shaped winning programs, to visionary administrators who helped build the foundation of AIC athletics, this class reflects the full spectrum of excellence that has defined our department over the years. Each inductee has left an indelible mark on American International College, and their collective accomplishments speak to the depth and richness of our athletic tradition. We are incredibly proud to welcome this outstanding and diverse class into the esteemed AIC Athletics Hall of Fame, where their legacies will be honored and celebrated for generations to come," Kearney said of the incoming Hall of Fame class.
A game-breaking threat out of the backfield, Beckles was a four-time Northeast 10 Conference All-Conference selection, including three First-Team honors in 2003, 2004, and 2006. He was the 2003 NE10 Rookie of the Year and 2006 NE10 Offensive Player of the Year and never had less than 1100 all-purpose yards in any of his four seasons. Beckles and AIC Hall of Famer Kavin Gailliard are the only two players in AIC history with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and his 4,247 career rushing yards ranks second in AIC history and third in NE10 history. He was named AIC's President's Cup winner in 2006-07.
A two-sport star for men's soccer and the inaugural men's lacrosse teams, Brennan earned four NE10 All-Conference selections in soccer and three in lacrosse, and captained both teams for multiple seasons. He owns the lacrosse program's career ground balls record for a single season, having grabbed 94 in 1995; in the three years complete data is available for, he ranks third with 166. On the soccer pitch he was a goalkeeper, and ranks ninth in NE10 history with 431 saves. He was named the 1995-96 F.J. Maloney Award winner at the College.
An outstanding two-way player, di Monda was an ace pitcher and hitter for the softball team across four years and 181 games, earning 1990 Second-Team All-American status at designated player/utility from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, and was NE10 All-Conference in all four seasons she played. She collected 187 hits, with 40 for extra bases, and drove in 92 at the plate. In the circle she went 64-26, fanning 330 and posting a 1.43 earned run average in 581.1 innings. AIC won three NE10 regular season titles and went 54-14 in conference during her tenure and made NCAA Tournament appearances in 1989 and 1990.
Gornall was a tremendous hitter for the baseball team in his 133 games across four seasons, and remains the program's home runs and RBI leader with 34 and 134, respectively. The three-time NE10 All-Conference selection hit .370 for his career, including .403 and .404 in 1998 and 1999, and boasts a career 1.104 on-base plus slugging percentage. His 34 home runs ranks 10th in NE10 history.
A dominating force on the wrestling mat, McCrillis became the first wrestler to reach 100 career wins and ultimately ranked third in program history with 123 as he placed at NCAA Regionals in each of his four seasons, qualifying for the NCAA National Championship in 1999 at 197 pounds and in 2000 at 184 pounds. He served as team captain as a sophomore and a senior, and was the 1997 NCAA East Region Rookie Award winner. He was part of a quartet of national qualifiers in 2000, alongside fellow AIC Hall of Fame teammates Joe Pistone, Rafael Calixto, and Mike Mitchell, which was the only time AIC sent four wrestlers to NCAA Nationals.
The leader of two regional champions, Potic was an All-American on the court and NE10 Sport Excellence Winner across a 126-match volleyball career. Her 1498 kills and 1745 points both rank third in AIC history and she is one of a few members of the 1000-1000 club for kills and digs. She was a four-time NE10 All-Conference honoree, winning 2018 NE10 Player of the Year, and led the team to three straight East Region Finals appearances, with wins in 2016 and 2018. She ranks 11th in NE10 history in kills, and was named AIC's 2019-20 F.J. Maloney Award winner.
The only 200-point scorer in AIC lacrosse history, Warner Mitchell owns essentially every scoring record for the women's lacrosse program. Across a 67 game career, she hit the net 145 times and dished 55 assists for 200 points, all the most in program history; her 57 goals and 77 points in 2010 still stands as a high-water mark. Equally skilled defensively, she ranks fourth in draw controls with 141 and tied for ninth in caused turnovers with 56. She won the F.J. Maloney Award in 2009-10 for her outstanding career and also contributed off the field as the vice president of AIC's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
The second-leading scorer in NE10 history, Watts was a three-time All-American for the Yellow Jackets in a four-year career that saw her net an incredible 2202 points in 118 games and grab 1175 rebounds, 148 steals, and 134 blocks; her 18.7 points and 10.0 rebounds per game make her one of a special few to average a double-double for her career. She led the conference in scoring in 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 as she was NE10 All-Conference First-Team in each of those seasons and 2018-19 NE10 Player of the Year. The team reached the NCAA Tournament in three of her four seasons. She averaged over 21 points per game across her final three campaigns and was the College's 2018-19 F.J. Maloney Award winner.
The all-time wins leader in AIC and NE10 history, Wilkins' 25-year career as Head Football Coach spanned eras and rewrote the record books. He went 151-118 overall, including 129-72 in EFC/NE10 games. 147 student-athletes earned All-Conference honors, with 23 major awards at the conference level including two Offensive and two Defensive Players of the Year and four MVP winners. He had 15 All-Americans, and coached Galliard to a Harlon Hill Finalist spot; the team made seven conference championship game appearances and won four titles, and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2013, the only two appearances in team history. He was named NE10 Coach of the Year in those campaigns.
Long before Title IX gave a legal boost to women's sports, Hansen was a champion of opportunity for athletics on AIC's campus in a time when such opportunities were essentially nonexistent. Shortly after graduating in 1938, she became the College's first-ever Director of Girls' Athletics, and led the first College-sanctioned women's athletics programs, which included archery, equestrian, and basketball; she coached the basketball teams herself. Ultimately, she spent a long tenure serving her alma mater as Director of Admissions and then the Registrar, but her groundbreaking start in athletics in the 1940s created a space for the foundation later poured by Judy Groff in the late 1960s upon which women's sports at AIC have been built.
The champions of New England, the 1984-85 men's basketball team finished a long-held goal of being the best in the region. After heartbreaking losses in postseason play in 1983 and 1984, the team climbed the mountain, defeating Sacred Heart University in the Regional Championship at the Butova Gymnasium and giving the NE10 its first-ever basketball regional champion. The squad ultimately set the AIC wins record with a 29-4 mark, and was led on the court by Mario Elie '85, a three-time All-American and NE10 Player of the Year who went on to win three NBA Championships in the 1990s. Head Coach Jim Powell was in the heart of a career that saw him finish with a program-record 280 wins, a mark that stands to this day.
