JOLIET, Ill. - Tony Delgado is one of two men who hold the distinction of being the only coaches to both replace and be replaced by Gordie Gillespie, college baseball's all-time winningest coach.

Delgado heads up a list of six former Saints who will be enshrined as members of the 2009 USF Hall of Fame class.

The other five include basketball player Lee Capista (1972-76), volleyball standout Holly Luenemann (1988-93), softball slugger Jodi Zier (1992-95), golfer Jeff Petrovic (1993-97) and football lineman Joel Pejkovich (1986-90).

The six-member class will join 61 other inductees in the Hall, which was instituted in 1991.

Delgado came to St. Francis in 1980 after coaching stints in baseball, basketball and tennis at Illinois Tech and Lewis University. He served as Gillespie's top assistant baseball coach with the Saints from 1980 through 1995. When Gillespie announced his retirement, USF promptly named Delgado as his successor.

Gillespie didn't stay retired long, though, as he answered his son Bob's call and moved to Ripon to direct the Red Hawks' baseball fortunes for the next 10 seasons. When Delgado announced his own retirement from USF as he was beginning his 10th and final year as head coach in 2005, the Saints quickly moved to bring Gillespie back home and this time the roles were reversed with Gillespie taking over for his longtime friend Delgado.

Delgado completed his stint as USF's head coach with a 296-271 (.522) record and led the Saints to eight winning seasons, one .500 campaign and only one losing year.

Capista, who played basketball for the Saints in the early years of the program, still is the school's all-time leading scorer. He notched 2,120 points in his career, more than 300 ahead of the second name on the Saints' scoring list. He also holds the schol record for career field goals made (995) and is tied for seventh in games played (120). He enjoyed his finest season in the 1974-75 campaign when he averaged 19.8 points per game and led the Saints to a scool-record 28 victories (28-9) in just their third year as a program.

Luenemann played just two seasons of college volleyball at St. Francis but left her distinctive mark on one of USF's most successful athletic programs. She helped lead the 1990 Saints' team to fourth place at the NAIA Championship tournament, the school's highest finish ever at the national finals. She was named an NAIA All-America Scholar-Athlete following both the 1990 and 1991 seasons. She earned her degree in Management and Industrial Organization with a minor in marketing from St. Francis in 1993. Luenemann, who played for her father Rich, came back in 1994 and served for two years as a varsity assistant coach for her dad and co-head coach of the Saints' junior varsity team.

Zier graduated from USF in 1995 and left her name all over the Saints' softball record books. She established the school's career home run record with 25 and the single-season runs batted in mark with 60 as a senior in 1995. The latter mark still stands today and the career home run record remained in the books for over a decade until it was surpassed by Jaci Warner in 2005. Zier finished her USF career with 135 RBI in just three seasons. She started her college playing days as a freshman at NCAA Division I Southern Illinois before transferring to USF.

Petrovic graduated from St. Francis as one of the school's all-time best golfers but came into the Saints' program having never played on the golf team in high school. He was a baseball and football standout at Minooka High -- where he is now the highly successful baseball coach -- and did not start playing golf for the Saints until the fall of 1994. Before his career was over, he was USF's No. 1 player and led the team to the first of what would be 13 Northern Illinois Intercollegiate Golf Conference championships in a 14-year stretch. He continues to excel on the golf course today, as he is annually one of the top finishers in Joliet-area amateur tournaments.

Pejkovich was a member of the first four St. Francis football teams from 1986-89 and a key cog in the offensive line for Coach Gillespie. He was a second-team NAIA All-American as a senior in 1989 and earned first-team All-District 20 honors at the conclusion of both his junior and senior campaigns. Pejkovich helped lead the Saints' program to immediate success as he and his teammates reeled off four consecutive winning seasons and qualified for the NAIA national playoffs in just their second season.

The induction dinner will take place on Saturday, June 13 at the San Damiano Hall in the Motherhouse. Those interested in attending should contact the USF Athletic Department office (815/740-3464) for tickets. The program begins with a social hour at 5 p.m followed by dinner and the induction ceremonies.