Class acts | Cambria County Sports Hall to induct six members

JOHNSTOWN — The Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2010 on Thursday.

The six-member class will be honored during a banquet on July 17 at the Frank Pasquerilla Conference Center.

Additionally, five scholastic teams from the region will be recognized during the banquet for accomplishments on the statewide level, with one of those teams dating to the 1965 season.

The Class of 2010 will include: former NFL defensive back Artrell Hawkins; former NBA guard Mike Iuzzolino; former Division I football guard and Division I college coach Jerry Davitch; former NCAA standout and international track and field competitor Tammy Etienne; former NCAA Division II women’s basketball player of the year Becky Siembak; and former Division I college football and NFL assistant coach Joe Popp.

The five high school teams that will be recognized during the banquet include: the 1965 Northern Cambria boys state championship squad; the 1983 Richland girls volleyball state championship team; the two-time state champion Northern Cambria girls volleyball team (2005, 2009); the three-time state champion Central Cambria girls cross country squad (2007, 2008, 2009); and the 2009 state runner-up Bishop McCort football team.

The Class of 2010:

Jerry Davitch

He started two seasons and lettered three times at offensive guard for Division I Arizona before embarking on a career as a coach at the Division I level, first at Air Force Academy as an assistant coach from 1973-77 and as a head coach at Idaho from 1978-81 in the Big Sky Conference. His 1980 team went 6-5.

At Arizona, Davitch also lettered four years in wrestling while competing in every match and tournament. He captained the team as a senior. He eventually returned to Arizona as a radio and TV color commentator for football and basketball games before returning to his hometown of Johnstown in 1985 to coach the Johnstown High football team back to prominence. He also had success coaching football at Conemaugh Township High. As a high school player, Davitch was a key part of Johnstown High’s undefeated WPIAL championship team in 1958.

His coaching resume also includes a stint with the Johnstown J-Dogs indoor pro football team. Davitch also works internationally with student-athletes and underprivileged youths during “tours” of Russia on a regular basis. Those teams won both junior and senior European titles.

Tammy Etienne

Etienne was a track and field standout at Portage High School (1973-77) and the University of Texas (1977-81). She also competed on the national and international level (1980-82).

At Texas, Etienne held university records in the 400 meter hurdles, 100 meter hurdles and 1600 relay. She was a conference winner in the 400 hurdles as a sophomore, junior and senior. She earned All-American status and captained the track team for two years. Etienne was voted most valuable athlete in track and field for three straight years at UT.

She placed fourth in the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials and finished fifth in the 1980 national meet while also ranking seventh in the country that year. She placed second in the 1981 national meet and made the U.S. team while ranking second. Etienne placed fifth in the World University Games. She was on the World Cup team in Rome.

In 1982, she placed first in the national meet and made the U.S. Team, traveling throughout Europe. She ranked first in the U.S. and 10th in the world. She continues to run competitively.

Artrell Hawkins Jr.

Hawkins played nearly a decade in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals (1998-2003), Carolina Panthers (2004) and New England Patriots (2005-06). The defensive back made 489 tackles and had 11 interceptions in 122 NFL games.

Hawkins returned an interception thrown by Houston’s David Carr 102 yards for a touchdown in 2002 – it ranked as the NFL’s all-time third-longest interception return.

He finished his University of Cincinnati career with 139 tackles and four interceptions in

41 games with 27 starts. As a senior in 1997 he helped the Bearcats make their first bowl appearance since 1950. The Bengals selected Hawkins in the second round (43rd overall) of the 1998 NFL Draft.

Hawkins was a prolific running back and defensive back at Bishop McCort High School, rushing for what was then a record 1,487 yards as a senior.

Currently, Hawkins has his own sports radio show in Cincinnati.

Mike Iuzzolino

After leading St. Francis University to its first men’s basketball NCAA Division I tournament appearance, Iuzzolino played point guard during two NBA seasons with the Dallas Mavericks.

In 122 NBA games, Iuzzolino scored 1,096 points, had 522 assists and a .404 3-point field goal percentage and .457 field goal percentage.

At St. Francis, he was a key in a hoops revival under former coach Jim Baron. Iuzzolino played guard and helped the Red Flash reach the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time. He had 1,493 career points, 318 assists and 211 rebounds at St. Franics, where he was an Academic All-American and NEC Player of the Year. Iuzzolino started his college career with two seasons at Penn State before transferring to St. Francis.

The Mavericks drafted him in the second round (35th overall) in 1991. He also played professionally in Italy and Spain. An Altoona native and member of Blair County Sports Hall of Fame, Iuzzolino currently is an assistant coach with St. Vincent College men’s basketball team.

Joe Popp

Popp lettered four years as a scholarship quarterback at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C., and also had three letters in basketball. The Franklin Borough native stayed in North Carolina after his college graduation and began a coaching career that included a state championship at Mooresville, N.C. A distinguished coaching career at the college and NFL levels followed.

Popp was an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina (1962-63), a defensive coordinator at Wake Forest (1964-67) and a defensive coach at Georgia Tech (1968-72). During his college coaching career he formed a friendship with fellow coach Bud Carson.

Popp became a professional head coach of the Chicago Fire of the World Football League in 1974-75. More than a decade later, his ties to Carson, then head coach of the Cleveland Browns, led Popp to the NFL, where he was a special assistant coach of the Browns in 1989-90.

Catawba created a scholarship to honor Popp in August 2009 and Mooresville named its football field after him in January 2010. At the former Franklin High (now part of the Conemaugh Valley School District), Popp quarterbacked the Blue Jays’ undefeated 1947 team that outscored opponents 111-20.

Becky Siembak

Siembak’s basketball career included two of the greatest honors a player can achieve. She was named NCAA Division II Player of the Year as a junior and then helped California (Pa.) University win the national championship as a senior.

Siembak is among only 15 players in NCAA Division II history to score 2,000 career points (2,019) and have 1,000 career rebounds (1,203). She was part of a California team that won 68 of 71 games after her transfer from Slippery Rock.

As a junior, Siembak was named 2003 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II Player of the Year and PSAC West Player of the Year. She led Cal to a 33-2 mark and Division II Final Four appearance as a first-team All-American.

During her senior season, Siembak was part of Cal’s NCAA Division II National Championship team. Cal is the first PSAC team to win the title. She also was the team’s leading scorer during her two seasons at Slippery Rock.

At Johnstown High School, Siembak scored 1,733 points

– more than any boy or girl player at the school – and had 1,325 rebounds.

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