Nine athletes highlight Haverford Hall class
The Haverford High School Sports Hall of Fame will honor nine athletes, one coach and two teams at its 19th awards dinner, which will be held Sunday, Nov. 19, at Llanerch Country Club.
This year’s inductees include football and basketball player Michael Bright (Class of 1996); Brian Ellixson (Class of 2007), who competed in football, wrestling, and track; soccer player Sinead Farrelly (Class of 2006); Helena Hermann Bragg (Class of 1992), who competed in field hockey, basketball and lacrosse; Bruce Hulse (Class of 1970), a cross country runner, basketball player and track athlete; football and lacrosse player Paul Lamparski (Class of 1974); Nancy Morrison Keiper (Class of 1954), who played field hockey, basketball, and tennis; field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse player Laurie Tortorelli DeLuca (Class of 1998); and golfer Kim Verrecchio (Class of 1987).
Jay Williams, who coached cross country and track and field, will also join the Hall of Fame, as will the 1927, 1928 and 1929 girls basketball teams and the 1980 football team.
Williams coached cross country and indoor track at Haverford for 38 years and was an outdoor track and field coach for 42 seasons. His boys cross country teams won six Central League championships and twice placed among the top 10 at the state meet.
The 1927-29 girls basketball teams were coached by Ethel David. The 1928 team was runner-up for the Delaware County championship, and the 1929 team was undefeated county champion.
The 1980 football team was Central League co-champion and became the first team in school history to win 10 games in a season. Under the direction of the late Hal Bauer and assistants Jack O’Donnell, Rich Boyd, Jack Dougherty and Paul Bernstorf, the ’80 Fords had six shutouts in posting a 10-1 record.
Former school district administrator Gerald Hogan will receive a special recognition award.
Social hour begins at 4 p.m., followed by dinner at 5. Tickets, which are $40, can be purchased by contacting Faith Irons at humble613@ comcast.net or by calling 610-368-3974. Checks made payable to HHSHOF can be mailed to Joann Patterson, Haverford High School, 200 Mill Road, Havertown, PA 19083.
Road Scholar Transport, which includes players from Delaware, Chester and Lancaster counties, recently won its second consecutive TriCounty 50 & Over Softball League championship.
Road Scholar, which has won three of the last five TriCounty titles, became the first team to repeat as league champion.
Among the members of the team were Randy Lane, Ruben Torres, Ron Grant, Scott Minnier, Les Garrison, Dave Domsohn, Ken Romig, Mike Long, Joe Bonavita, Wayne Taylor, Chris Sanchez, Joe Williamson, Dan Yost, Dennis Shelly, Rick Lasak, and Jose Rodriguez.
The Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum, which is located at 301 Iven Avenue 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.sportslegendsofdelawarecounty.com.
The featured card this week is of Skee Riegel, who played football and baseball at Upper Darby and took up golf at the age of 23.
Riegel won the 1942 Florida Amateur championship and in 1946 became United States Amateur champion. He repeated as Amateur champ in 1947 and played for the United States in Walker Cup matches.
In 1951, Riegel was runner-up at the Masters. He was club professional at Radnor Valley Golf Club and Hidden Springs Golf Club. In 1999, he was named
Golfer of the Millennium.
The Sports Legends Museum is continuing its drive to raise funds to have a statue erected of Radnor graduate Emlen Tunnell, a World War II hero and the first AfricanAmerican elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Committee chairman Phil Damiani recently received a contribution from Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, a former Radnor athlete.
For additional information, visit www.sportslegendsofdelawarecounty.com or www. emlentunnell.com.
Two-time Field Hockey Player of the Year Katie Gerzabek, a Springfield resident who played at The Academy of Notre Dame and the University of Maryland, will be a member of Team USA, which will compete in the Indoor Field Hockey Pan American Cup in Georgetown, Guyana Oct. 16-20.
Gerzabek is an assistant field hockey coach at Temple University. She will be joined on Team USA by Jessica McCarthy, a two-time All-Delco at Haverford and an All-Colonial Athletic Conference firstteam selection as a Drexel University senior last fall.
Strath Haven freshman Julia Benner, who placed 20th in the Delaware County Cross Country Championships girls varsity race Saturday, had a large family following at Rose Tree Park.
Among those cheering her on was her father, Brendan Benner, the 1992 Delcos champion from Monsignor Bonner, and her uncle, Colin Benner, who finished first at Delcos for Bonner in 1997.
Two coaches who had teams participating in the meet also earned Delaware County championships: Springfield’s Ken Keehn, the 1968 winner while running for Haverford, and Cardinal O’Hara’s Bill Donovan, the 1984 and 1985 champ while representing Bonner.
Also in attendance at the 2017 Delcos was 2004 and 2005 boys champion Greg Thomas, a Cardinal O’Hara graduate who took time off after high school before enrolling at Eastern University, where he is a junior cross country runner, and La Salle University sophomore Grace Mancini, the 2013 girls champion whose twin sisters, Eleanor and Elizabeth, finished 1-2 in the girls varsity race.
Penncrest took the junior varsity boys team title at Delcos Saturday. The Lions were led by Jalen Chin (first), Sean McGrory (second), Jason Abahazy (fifth), Connor Bonebrake (sixth) and Danny McLoughlin (seventh).
Brian Walheim of Haverford finished third, and teammate Will Field was fourth.
Jalea Jones of Cardinal O’Hara was the individual winner of the girls’ JV race. Haverford claimed the team title, with Paige Corcoran finishing second, Karen Buchanan third, Isabel Weir fifth, Ava McNally six, Fiona Labrake seventh and Emma Davies eighth.
Maria Malone of Haven took fourth.
Alex Melly of Strath Haven was the individual winner of the boys novice race, followed by Radnor’s Seamus Feeley, Ben Klinger of Penncrest, Radnor’s Owen Leonard and George Grable of Penncrest. Strath