Delco Athletes Hall set to honor 2017 winners
The Delaware County Athletes Hall of Fame will present its 2017 student-athlete awards and honor its coach of the year at a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Concordville Inn.
Among the honorees will be Hannah Nihill of Cardinal O’Hara and Upper Darby’s Brian Kennerly as the Mickey Vernon Memorial Outstanding Athlete award winners; Kenny Ngaima of Penn Wood, recipient of the Danny Murtaugh Memorial Most Courageous Athlete award; Riley Dolan of Bonner & Prendergast, winner of the Joseph Cirilli Memorial Award for excellence in academics, athletics and community service; and Springfield boys lacrosse coach Tom Lemieux, who will receive the William McCray Memorial Coach of the Year award. Nihill, a two-time
Girls Basketball Player of the Year, became the first Cardinal O’Hara female athlete to score more than 100 career goals in field hockey and 1,000 points in basketball.
She helped the Lions to the PIAA championship basketball game as a junior and to the semifinal round of the state tournament as a senior. She also has been active in the fight against childhood cancer, and will play basketball at Drexel University.
Kennerly began wrestling as an eighth grader when he was cut from the basketball team. As a junior at Upper Darby, he won 40 matches and was a state meet qualifier.
As a senior, he won the Super 32 Tournament in October then advanced to the PIAA Championships, earning his 100th career victory, completing an undefeated season (38-0) and capturing the state title at 220 pounds with an overtime victory.
He has committed versity of Virginia.
Ngaima, who came to the United States from Sierra Leone at the age of nine, suffered a knee injury during his freshman football season at Penn Wood. His parents would not allow him to participate in the sport when he was a sophomore.
An outstanding student, he resumed his football career as a junior and earned All-Del Val League honors as junior and senior. He also earned a National Academy of Future Physicians and Scientists Award of Excellence.
He was offered scholarships by six Division I schools but chose to commit to the United States Air Force Academy.
Dolan had more than 100 career assists in helping Bonner & Prendie to the Catholic League playoffs as well as the 2016 District 12 Class 2A crown and the second round of the state tournament. to the Uni-
She ranks at the top of her class academically, is National Honor Society president, has been a leader in the Speak Up program as well as a member of the Community Service Corps and a volunteer at Divine Providence Village.
Lemieux led Springfield’s 2015 team to the school’s first boys lacrosse District 1 championship, and his 2016 Cougars defeated La Salle in the PIAA title contest.
An all-conference player at Cabrini, he ended his career as the school’s all-time scoring leader and was the first lacrosse player inducted into the Cabrini Athletics Hall of Fame.
He is a special education teacher at Ridley High School and president of the Springfield Cougars Lacrosse Club.
The 18th Michael Menichini Golf Classic will be held June 2 at Paxon Hollow Country Club. The event will have a shotgun start, beginning at 8 a.m., and is held in memory of Menichini, a 1993 graduate of St. James High and 1997 graduate of Penn State-Brandywine, where he played and coached basketball.
Menichini died in an automobile accident in March 1999 at the age of 24. He was president of the last graduating class at St. James and the school’s last basketball captain.
Proceeds go to the Michael Menichini Memorial Scholarship Fund, which assists local high school and college studentathletes. The 2016 scholarship winners were Jah’Fear Toler and Molly Paolino of Cardinal O’Hara, Jesse McPherson and Isabella Sorrentino of Archbishop Carroll, and Penn State-Brandywine’s Marcus Turner and Chelsea Dent.
Anyone who wishes to participate in the tournament, sponsor a hole or make a donation to the scholarship fund can contact Jim Tucker at 484-832-1563.
Delaware County Community College baseball coach Paul Motta will be watching the district playoff game between Phoenixville and Springfield with much interest Monday afternoon.
“Brian Francis coached with me for several years at DCCC,” Motta said of Springfield’s head coach. “His brother, Greg, played for me in the ’90s. On the other side of the field, (Phoenixville head coach) Neil Herman played for me and Coach Francis at DCCC. His assistant coach, Dave Cimina, played for me in the early ’70s and was my assistant for a number of years. He came to DCCC from St. James.”
The Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum in Radnor is featuring one of the cards from its newest collection of top county sports figures each week on the museum’s website at www.sportslegendsofdela- warecounty.com.
The featured card this week is of former Upper Providence resident Harry Kalas, who was the “Voice of the Phillies” from 1971 until his death in April 2009.
Kalas called the first (1971) and last (2003) Phillies games at Veterans Stadium and the first game at Citizens Bank Park (2004). He received the Ford Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
The Sports Legends Museum is continuing its efforts to raise funds to have a statue of Emlen Tunnell erected.
Museum curator Jim Vankoski recently announced the Emlen Tunnell Coloring Contest, which will run from May 24 until July 24. Winners will be announced Aug. 4, which will be one day before the 50th anniversary of Tunnell’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The contest is open to students in grades three through five. Contest outlines are available by visiting emlentunnell. com or at the Radnor Township Building at 301 Iven Avenue and the Wayne Art Center, 423 Maplewood Avenue.
An anonymous benefactor has agreed to pay the entry fee for the first 10 teams to enter the Memorial Day Weekend Brian Runge Charity Softball Tournament.
Players who participate are asked to make a donation to help with final expenses for Runge, whose brothers Bruce and Barry Runge are local softball players. Donations will accepted at Camp Upland Field, where the tournament will be played Saturday.
The slow-pitch event is open to the first 12 teams to register and features a three-game minimum. It is USA-sanctioned and will use USA umpires.
For additional information or to enter a team, contact Larry McFadden at 610-864-2927 or email larry44lm@gmail.com.