VILLANOVA, Pa.—A star-studded group of seven former student-athletes was announced on Thursday afternoon as the 2024 induction class to the Villanova University Varsity Club Hall of Fame. The seven inductees along with this year's Jake Nevin Award winner will be celebrated at the annual Hall of Fame induction dinner on Friday, January 31 at Finneran Pavilion. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the inaugural Varsity Club Hall of Fame inductions in 1974.
The seven newest Hall of Famers are not only among the best athletes in school history, but they are also collectively one of the strongest induction classes Villanova Athletics has ever unveiled and a group that is well-deserving of being enshrined as part of the Varsity Club's half-century milestone. The 2024 Hall of Fame induction class consists of Amanda Cosman (women's swimming & diving); Bobby Curtis (men's cross country/track & field); Megan Foster (field hockey); Frances Koons (women's cross country/track & field); Jillian Loyden (women's soccer); J.J. Outlaw (football); and Derek Shunk (baseball).
This year's Jake Nevin Award winner is Michael Gaynor, the longtime Executive Director of Undergraduate Admission at Villanova who passed away earlier this year. Gaynor served the University for more than 42 years, including 24 years leading the Office of Undergraduate Admission, and he helped transform Villanova from a regional Catholic school into a top national Catholic university with record-breaking numbers for admission applicants each year.
It is fitting to acknowledge Villanova's position as a top national university given the accomplishments of this year's Hall of Fame inductees on the national stage. As a group, these seven student-athletes earned 22 career All-America honors and totaled 46 all-conference accolades. Each of them helped their teams reach the postseason during their careers or competed individually at national championships. Within the group of inductees, Koons stands out from the Wildcats women's track & field and cross country program for being selected for the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility. She is the only fourth inductee in the last five years to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Villanova Athletics and the Varsity Club Hall of Fame Board of Directors will host the annual Hall of Fame induction dinner on Friday, January 31. Tickets will be available to the general public and details on purchasing them will be announced in the coming weeks. The evening's festivities will include the inductees being presented with their Hall of Fame medals followed by dinner and the formal ceremony which will officially enshrine each honored guest into the Varsity Club Hall of Fame. They will also be recognized the next day at the men's basketball game against Creighton at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday, February 1.
Below are career profiles of each of this year's Hall of Fame inductees along with Michael Gaynor as the Jake Nevin Award winner.
AMANDA COSMAN
Women's Swimming & Diving
Class of 1998
It is rare for a student-athlete to burst upon the national scene the way that Cosman did in her first year of collegiate competition. That was in 1994-95 when she was a three-time All-American in the 500 yard freestyle individually along with being the only freshman in the Villanova lineup for the 200 yard freestyle relay and the 400 yard freestyle relay. Cosman is one of only six Villanova women's swimmers to earn three or more All-America accolades in a single season.
Villanova won its fourth of five consecutive BIG EAST titles in Cosman's first collegiate season. She was a double winner individually at the 1995 conference championships with gold medals in the 200 yard freestyle (1:50.31) and the 500 yard freestyle (4:51.88). Cosman also swam the third leg of the 400 freestyle relay which finished first with a winning time of 3:26.31. The dominance of the Wildcats continued with another BIG EAST team title in Cosman's sophomore season in 1996.
BOBBY CURTIS
Men's Track & Field/Cross Country
Class of 2007
Curtis put an exclamation point on his incredible collegiate career by becoming a national champion in his final race wearing the Villanova singlet. He was the 2008 outdoor NCAA champion in the 5000 meters with a winning time of 13:33.93, still the ninth-fastest in school history more than 15 years after the race. Curtis is the Wildcats most recent national champion in a men's individual track event, and he was a six-time NCAA All-American with two honors each in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. Curtis was the NCAA runner-up in the 5000 meters outdoors in 2007, one year before he won the national title, and his other top NCAA finishes include third in the distance medley relay indoors in 2007 and fourth at the cross country national championships later that same year.
During his career, Curtis was named the Mid-Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year in both cross country (2007) and indoor track & field (2008) in voting by the members of the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). He was selected as the Outstanding Track Performer at the BIG EAST Championships earlier in the 2008 indoor season when he won a gold medal in the 3000 meters and anchored the Wildcats to a conference championship in the distance medley relay. Curtis was a six-time BIG EAST champion overall, with his conference titles including cross country crowns in 2004 and 2007. He is also one of the members of the member's of Villanova's famous sub-four minute mile club with a time of 3:57.2 in the mile recorded outdoors on May 14, 2007.
MEGAN FOSTER
Field Hockey
Class of 2007
Nearly two decades since the end of her record-setting Villanova career, Foster still maintains a clean sweep of the Wildcats points records for a career, single season and single game. The only player in program history to be a two-time All-American, Foster is also the Villanova career and single season record for goals scored. She set her records while helping lead the Wildcats to some of the most successful seasons in school history. Villanova was 50-28 (.641) during Foster's career and reached the BIG EAST championship game in 2005 where the Wildcats took on Connecticut in the first field hockey game ever televised on ESPNU.
Foster played from 2003-06 and compiled career totals of 67 goals, 31 assists and 165 points. She recorded 12 career game-winning goals and tallied a school record four career hat tricks. Her best season came as a senior in 2006 when Foster amassed 25 goals, 13 assists and 63 points. The goal and point totals are single season records, while her season is one of just two "10-10" seasons in school history with double digits in goals scored and assists. It was during the 2006 season that Foster set the single game points record with 11 against Lehigh, including a school-record tying five goals scored.
Foster was a third team All-American as a junior in 2005 and moved up to the second team as a senior one year later. In each of those seasons she was both a first team Mid-Atlantic All-Region selection and a first team All-BIG EAST honoree. Foster was a three-time all-conference performer overall and was named to the NFHCA North-South Senior All-Star Game following the 2006 campaign. Among her other career superlatives are recording 19 career multi-goal games (no other Villanova player has more than 13) and tallying five or more points in a game nine times (no other Villanova player has more than six such games).
FRANCES KOONS
Women's Track & Field/Cross Country
Class of 2008
An athlete who was as inspiring off the track as she was dominant on it, Koons was a nine-time collegiate All-American and a nine-time BIG EAST champion while wearing the Villanova singlet. She tallied the best NCAA finishes of her career in her final collegiate season in 2009 when she was the runner-up in the 5000 meters at the indoor national championships and finished third in the 5K at the NCAA outdoor meet. Koons was an All-American three times in both the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters, as well as once each in the 1500 meters, the distance medley relay and cross country.
During her junior collegiate season in 2007, Koons was diagnosed with clear-cell renal carcinoma and underwent immediate surgery to remove the tumor. She had a quick turnaround from her diagnosis to being cancer free, but it was a full year before Koons could return to competition. She came back with a vengeance, sweeping the BIG EAST titles in the 1500 meters and the 5000 meters at the 2008 outdoor conference championships before going on to place 12th in the 5K at the NCAA Championships and later reach the semifinals of the 1500 meters at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. On February 1, 2010, Koons was named the winner of the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Most Courageous Award.
Koons was the 2006 and 2008 individual champion at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional in cross country, and was selected the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Mid-Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year for each of those seasons as well as the 2007 indoor campaign. She won BIG EAST titles in the 1000 meters and the mile at the 2007 indoor conference meet in addition to helping Villanova win a BIG EAST title in the 4x800 meter relay. She then went on to an eighth place finish in the 3000 meters at the NCAA Championships. Koons was named the BIG EAST Championships Outstanding Track Performer at the 2007 indoor and 2008 outdoor conference championships.
JILLIAN LOYDEN
Women's Soccer
Class of 2007
The only player in program history to be a first team All-American, Loyden was by all accounts the top goalkeeper in Division I women's soccer during the 2006 season. Only one goalkeeper in the country is named to the first team All-America squad and Loyden achieved that distinction during a record-setting season in which she helped lead Villanova to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Loyden earned NSCAA Mid-Atlantic All-Region accolades as well as All-BIG EAST platitudes in each of the four seasons she played (2004-07), and she became the first player in conference history to be named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year three times.
More than 15 years since the end of her collegiate career, Loyden remains the Wildcats career leader in games played, games started, minutes played, shutouts and goalkeeper wins. She is also the single-season record holder for lowest goals-against average with the mark of 0.45 she registered during the 2006 season. Loyden appeared in 82 games overall during her Villanova career and posted a 48-19-14 (.679) record in the net while making 370 saves. She compiled a 0.68 career goals-against average and an .867 save percentage, and at the time of her graduation had played the 10th-most minutes in goal (7542:04) in Division I history. Loyden was at her best in the biggest games and recorded 53 of her career saves in the postseason, including 31 stops in BIG EAST Tournament games and 22 saves along with an .846 save percentage in four career NCAA Tournament contests.
J.J. OUTLAW
Football
Class of 2006
A versatile athlete who is one of four players in school history to average more than 100 all-purpose yards per game during their careers, Outlaw was a three-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference performer for the Wildcats. He earned first team all-conference accolades as both a sophomore and a senior to go along with being a third team Atlantic 10 selection his junior year. Nearly 20 years since the end of his collegiate career, Outlaw is still the program's all-time record holder with 670 career punt return yards. He still ranks fourth in the Villanova record book in career all-purpose yards (4,431) and receptions (199), while ranking ninth in career receiving yards (2,326) and 15th in kickoff return yards (681).
Outlaw was a freshman on the 2002 Wildcats team which won 11 games and became the first in school history to reach the semifinal round of the FCS playoffs. He emerged as one of the team's top players a year later when he amassed 1,490 all-purpose yards, including a combined 553 yards in kick returns (292 kickoff return yards, 261 punt return yards). Outlaw scored eight total touchdowns in both his junior and senior seasons, including seven receiving touchdowns and one rushing touchdown each year. He caught 57 passes for 686 yards in 2004, then had career highs of 83 receptions and 878 yards during the 2005 season. Outlaw helped Villanova post a 28-20 (.583) record during his career, which included FCS playoff appearances in 2002 and 2004.
DEREK SHUNK
Baseball
Class of 2008
Shunk was a record-setting player for Villanova and one of the top infielders in the country in each of his collegiate seasons from 2005-08. He was a third team All-American and the District I Player of the Year by the NCBWA in 2007, then garnered ABCA All-East Region honors as a senior in 2008. Shunk was also a three-time All-BIG EAST third team selection and a two-time Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Year. He is the Wildcats career record holder in hits with 291, as well as in games played, games started and at-bats. His career totals include a .350 batting average with 172 runs scored, 155 runs batted in, 113 walks, 41 doubles and a .457 slugging percentage.
Among the most impressive feats of Shunk's career is starting all 216 games he played in while missing only one game in four years. He batted .357 with 49 runs scored, 34 RBI and 29 walks in 2007 to earn All-America honors while leading Villanova to its first BIG EAST Tournament appearance in 10 years. Shunk stepped up his game even more as a senior in 2008 when he batted a career-best .377 with 86 hits, 43 runs scored, 51 RBI, 123 total bases and a .539 slugging percentage as the Wildcats earned the last spot in the BIG EAST Tournament but went on to win two games and reach the conference semifinals.
Shunk was chosen in the 17th round of the MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres following the 2008 collegiate season. He played professionally in the Padres organization and later returned to Villanova to serve on the coaching staff as the team's hitting coach, recruiting coordinator and first base coach.
MICHAEL GAYNOR
Jake Nevin Award Winner
There are few people who made as big an impact on Villanova's rise to a top Catholic university in the country than Gaynor, who served the campus community for 42 years and was the Executive Director of the Admissions office for 24 years. Gaynor passed away in August 2024 following a brief illness and will be remembered for his humility and the kindness he showed to everyone he met, as well as for his wit and Augustinian spirit. He often said that "If you talk about a good deed, it takes the grace away." Gaynor's own good deeds and contributions to Villanova will last forever.
During his 24 years leading the Office of Undergraduate Admission, the university changed dramatically. Gaynor's impact can be seen in the diverse profile of the student body, coming from across the United States and internationally, and in the record-breaking number of Admission applications Villanova receives each year. It is not an overstatement that Gaynor played a key role in bringing thousands of people into the campus community, starting with the Class of 1987 through the incoming Class of 2028 this year.
Gaynor transformed Villanova in more ways that one. Inspired by his own family, he was a tireless advocate and promoter of opportunities for students with disabilities, assisting countless families pursuing higher education for their children with special needs. He played a significant role in making Villanova an accessible campus, creating life-changing opportunities for all who wish to make 800 Lancaster Avenue their home. Gaynor's son, Nick, has had a longtime connection with Villanova Athletics as a women's basketball manager and Ambassador to Athletic Department.
