WALTHAM -- One -- Joe Quinn -- was the school's first varsityhockey coach. The other -- Mark Ivanov -- was the track team's mostvaluable performer four years running.
Separately, they left their marks at Bentley College and theircontributions will be formally recognized Friday when the FalconClub inducts them into the Athletic Hall of Fame.
Quinn, of Medford, and Ivanov, an Acton native, are among eight tobe enshrined in ceremonies at the LaCava Student Center.
The other six are baseball standout Bob Johnson (1984) ofMansfield; basketball stars Charlie Wooten (1978) of Camden, Maine,and Lori (Bender) King (1989) of Concord, N.H.; club footballAll-America Dave Dearborn (1978) of Whitinsville; former hockey andsoccer captain Dave Doucette (1980) of Mansfield, and volleyball andsoftball player Tracey (Mirmina) Olsen (1984) of Ashland.
'I've never been one interested in awards,' admitted Quinn, 'butthis is special. This tells me that the job I did was appreciated,that they know I gave Bentley and the kids my best effort.'
Ivanov called it a 'great honor, very flattering.'
Quinn and Ivanov took different routes to the Hall of Fame.
The 59-year-old Quinn remembers taking over Bentley's club hockeyteam in 1973 when 'there wasn't much money and everyone woredifferent uniforms.' Nonetheless, he elevated the team tochampionship status. With Quinn at the helm, Bentley put its firstvarsity team on the ice in 1977.
Three years later, the Falcons won the ECAC Division 3championship. He resigned after that season with an 80-45-1 record.
'It was time to move on and accept another challenge,' he said.'MIT was looking for a coach for its club varsity team. By thattime, I had had several offers to be assistant coach at Division 1schools, but recruiting wasn't my thing. MIT was very inviting.'
Quinn has been involved in hockey most of his life. He grew upand played in Somerville and captained Boston University, where hewas All-East and MVP in 1957. He later coached and built a power atCatholic Memorial. When he left there to officiate in the ECAC, hehad a 120-12 record.
'My philosophy,' he said, 'both as a teacher and a coach, has beento do the best job I can and have the kids believe that I gave it mybest shot. If you do the best you can, you have to feel good aboutyourself. I think I did the best I could and I feel pretty goodabout it.'
In addition to his hockey duties, Quinn also teaches sailing,skating and is the women's softball coach at MIT.
Ivanov, 27, is perhaps the most distinguished decathlete inBentley history. He was the track team's MVP four years running(1986-89) and earned Division 2 All-America honors four times. Hewas also a two-time New England College Athletic Conference Division2 Male Athlete of the Year.
Bentley recruited Ivanov from Acton-Boxborough, where he was aDual County League all star in soccer. He admits he ran track in theoff season to stay in shape and never took it seriously until hissenior year when he won the state high school decathlon.
'That summer, I qualified for the junior nationals, juniorolympics and youth nationals,' he recalled. 'I did OK in the firsttwo and set a national record in winning the youth nationals. Iremember making the Faces In The Crowd section in Sports Illustrated.At that time, I figured the decathlon was my sport. I never playedsoccer at Bentley.
Ivanov averaged about 7,000 decathlete points his junior andsenior years. He still competes as a representative of the BAA. Hewon the Eastern States title in Maryland several years ago with 7,628points and in 1991 finished second in the US Olympic Festival in LosAngeles.
He wouldn't speculate about a spot on the 1996 US Olympic team,other than to say 'it's always been a goal, but it's a tall order.It would be a dream come true. Just qualifying for the Olympictrials is a feat in itself. With the resurgence of the decathlon,there's so much competition out there.'
Ivanov recalls receiving a letter from his former high schoolcoach, Joel Antolini, after he had had an outstanding freshman yearat Bentley.
'I don't remember the exact words, but he congratulated me andreminded me that I had to be graduated at least five years fromBentley before I could qualify for the Hall of Fame. I graduated in1989. He was right on target, but I never thought it would happen.It's a great honor.'
Ivanov, who now lives in Boston, works in electronic sales fordataCom in Burlington.
