FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Vice President for Athletics Paul Schlickmann has announced the six individuals and one team that comprise the Fairfield Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024. Ann Burgoyne (field hockey), Dr. Wayne Gibbons (men's basketball – posthumous induction), Bob Heussler (service to athletics), Tyler Nelson (men's basketball), Ryan Plourde (baseball), Paulina Rys (women's tennis) and the 1998 football team will be officially enshrined into the Hall of Fame on January 27, 2024.
 
In addition to the Class of 2024, the January event will also honor long-time Director of Athletics Gene Doris, who was elected into the Hall of Fame with the Class of 2023 but unable to attend last year's induction ceremony.
 
The 2024 Fairfield Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on-campus at Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Saturday, Jan. 27. Registration is open now.
 
Ann Burgoyne '17 is the all-time leading scorer in Fairfield Field Hockey history. She racked up 56 goals and 126 total points for the Stags from 2013-16. A 2014 All-America East First Team selection and an All-MAAC First Team honoree in 2015 and 2016, Burgoyne was also the MAAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2015. She totaled 19 goals and a program-record 40 points in 2015, leading the Stags to their first-ever MAAC Championship. Burgoyne, who also had a 39-point campaign in 2014, was a two-time NFHCA All-Region and ECAC All-Star honoree. In the classroom, she was named NFHCA All-Academic and MAAC All-Academic in every season in which she was eligible.
 
At the time of his graduation, the late Dr. Wayne Gibbons '70 was one of only 11 1,000-point scorers in Fairfield Men's Basketball history. Despite playing only three varsity seasons – and with no three-point line or shot clock – Gibbons amassed 1,016 points for an average of 13.2 points per game in his career. He racked up many of his points from the free throw line, graduating as the all-time leader in both free throws made (360) and attempted (480) for a career percentage of .750 at the stripe. Gibbons, who still ranks in the top 10 in free throws made and attempted more than 50 years later, also still holds the Fairfield single-game record with a 15-for-15 performance at the line in a win over Vermont in December of 1969. After graduation, Gibbons earned a medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1979. He practiced medicine, including mission trips to Guatemala, Nigeria, and Ghana, for nearly 40 years. Gibbons passed away on July 24, 2019 at the age of 70.
 
Bob Heussler P'09 is the longtime play-by-play broadcaster for Fairfield Men's Basketball. He filled the role on the radio from 1983-88 and returned as the radio and television voice of the Stags in mid-90s. He has also served the Fairfield community as a mentor to countless students at the campus radio station WVOF. Additionally, Heussler has been the emcee for numerous award ceremonies, banquets, alumni gatherings and other Fairfield Athletics functions. Outside of Fairfield, Heussler was a longtime fixture on WFAN, notably as a part of the "Mike and the Mad Dog" crew, and has been the play-by-play voice of UConn Men's Basketball, the Connecticut Sun and the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets.
 
The all-time leading scorer for Fairfield Men's Basketball, Tyler Nelson '18 poured in 2,172 points in his standout career from 2014-18. Nelson, whose 17.1 points per game rank eighth all-time on the career charts, also set the Fairfield standards for three-pointers in a career (315) and in a season (104). He scored a record 732 points in his senior campaign of 2017-18 to lead the Stags to the MAAC Championship Game. Nelson is a two-time All-MAAC and NABC All-District First Team honoree and a 2018 All-Met Writers First Team selection. He went on to play in the NBA G League and is currently competing for the Rostock Seawolves in the Basketball Bundesliga, the highlight level of professional basketball in Germany.
 
Ryan Plourde '14 was a two-time All-MAAC First Team and All-New England First Team performer for Fairfield Baseball. Plourde, who played catcher and in the outfield for the Stags, was a career .323 hitter from 2011-14 and currently ranks among the top 10 in program history in hits (224), triple (11), walks (121), total bases (324), runs batted in (117) and runs scored (139). He suited up for 203 games as a Stag, including 197 starts. Fairfield won 20 or more games in each of his four seasons, including a then-record 32 victories in 2014. Plourde was signed by the Chicago White Sox after graduation and played two seasons at the Single-A level.
 
The 2009 MAAC Player of the Year, Paulina Rys '10 helped lead Fairfield Women's Tennis to back-to-back MAAC Championships in 2009 and 2010. She was an All-MAAC First Team Singles and Doubles performer in 2009, capping her campaign as the 2009 MAAC Championship MVP. She followed in 2010 as a First Team Singles and Second Team Doubles honoree as Fairfield repeated as MAAC Champions. For her career, Rys was 77-47 as a singles player and 72-52 in doubles for a total of 149 wins as a Stag from 2006-10.
 
In just its third year as an NCAA I-AA (now called FCS) program, the 1998 Fairfield Football Team put together the finest season of its varsity history. Head Coach Kevin Kiesel led the Stags to a 9-2 overall record and a MAAC Championship with a 7-1 mark against conference opponents. Fairfield led the nation in rushing defense and total defense, ending the campaign with eight consecutive victories. The Stags boasted 10 All-MAAC student-athletes, with Jim Lopusznick named MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, Dan Fitzpatrick selected as MAAC Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Kiesel named the conference's co-Coach of the Year. Lopusznick, Adam Ferreri and Stephen Dogmanits have previously been enshrined as representatives of the 1998 Stags as individual members of the Fairfield Athletics Hall of Fame.