Colleluori leads Eastern Pa. Lacrosse Hall of Fame class
The Eastern Pennsylvania Lacrosse Association added 11 individuals to its Hall of Fame at its awards dinner at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club Saturday.
Joining the Hall were the late Nick Colleluori, a Ridley High graduate; Cathy D’Ignazio, who played at Penncrest; former Springfield boys head coach Jon Heisman; Tami Worley Kirby, a graduate of Marple Newtown; Episcopal Academy products Kurt Lunkenheimer and Jeff MacBean and Rose TreeMedia Optimist Lacrosse Club founder Jeffrey Pettit.
Also inducted are the late Suzanne Honeysett McKinny, Anne Phillips, Jill Johnson Redfern and Robye Nye Wood.
Colleluori’s mother, Cheryl, talked about how her son dedicated his time to founding the HEADstrong Foundation after he learned that he had non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma when he was playing at Hofstra University. HEADstrong has raised more than $10 million to aid cancer victims and their families.
“He always put his concern for others first,” Colleluori’s mother said of her son, who died in 2006.
D’Ignazio was an AllAmerica selection at the University of Pennsylvania, then taught and coached junior high girls basketball in Los Angeles before returning to this area. She has devoted much of her time to youth lacrosse programs.
“Sports for girls has become a very powerful thing,” she said.
Heisman has coached state champion boys teams at West Chester East (1988), Springfield
(1992) and Bishop Shanahan (2018). He has more than 450 career coaching victories.
While at Penn State, Kirby played in four national championship games and was on the winning side in 1987 and
1989.
“Being the youngest of six kids taught me to be competitive and tough,” she said.
Lunkenheimer was a three-time All-American at Princeton University, and MacBean made the All-America second team while playing for Princeton.
Pettit said his wife helped him understand that after driving their children all over to play club lacrosse, it would be better for the family if he founded a program in their community.
“It’s great to be able to see new groups of young people come through the program every few years,” he said. “And there’s nothing like seeing the children and even the grandchildren of people you helped become a part of the program.”
••• Garnet Valley’s boys and girls basketball teams recently hosted their annual “Buddy Day,” which included a clinic for high school students with special needs.
Boys head coach Mike Brown and girls head coach Joe Woods were among those directing the activities, along with assistant coaches Chris Duffin, Pat McCusker, Mike Louden and Mike Krautzel. Michelle Louden and Annmarie Borcky provided special assistance in making the program a success.
On-court activities included drills, competitions, and full-court games. Participants, parents, players, and their buddies made spirit posters for all of the Garnet Valley players who took part in the clinic.
Among those taking part was Charlotte Goldkamp, who attends all of the GV girls team’s games. At Garnet Valley’s last regular-season home game, she received a basketball that had been signed by all of the Garnet Valley players and coaches.
•••
The Delaware County Athletes Hall of Fame will honor Charles Catania Jr. as winner of its Andrew W. MacMurtrie Sportsperson of the Year Award at the association’s 2019 awards dinner at Concordville Inn April 14.
Catania has been involved with the Ridley United Soccer Club for more than 20 years. He was a coach, then in 2011 he became president of the club, which has more than 500 players, ages
2-15, participating in its programs.
He has helped with the The Outreach Program for Soccer (TOPS), which provides training for young athletes with disabilities.
Catania will join his late father, Charles J. Catania, as a Delco Hall honoree. The elder Catania was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979 for his skills as a softball player.
For ticket reservations for the dinner, visit delcohalloffame@gmail.org or contact Theresa Dunbar at dunbar1955@icloud. com or 610-322-2525.
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The Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum is presenting an exhibit of photographs entitled “Baseball Immortals Caught on Film” at Sliders Restaurant, 17 S. Morton Avenue in Morton.
The photographs were taken from the video “Grand Memories of a Great Champion,” which features films taken by Mickey Vernon, the Marcus Hook native who won a pair of American League batting championships. Among the players depicted are Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Robin Roberts.
Information about obtaining a copy of the video can be obtained by contacting Jim Vankoski at vankoski21@comcast. net or by calling 610-9094919.
•••
Elon University opened its 2019 women’s lacrosse season with a 15-5 victory over Campbell University.
Elon’s assistant coaches are Beth Ellis Roberts and Katrina Geiger. Roberts was an All-Delco player at Radnor in 2008, helping the Raiders win the district championship. She played in three NCAA Division I Final Fours with the University of North Carolina and was head coach at Durham (N.C.) Academy for four years before joining the staff at Elon.
Geiger, a graduate of Haverford High and the
2012 Daily Times Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year, was a two-time All-Patriot League selection while playing at Loyola (Md.). She competed in the NCAA Tournament three times and recently completed work at Loyola on a master’s degree in Emerging Media. ••• Archmere Academy recently added five individuals to its Sports Hall of Fame: John Stevens Jr. (Class of 1962), a former resident of the Sproul Estates section of Nether Providence; Andrea Nolan Bohenek (‘86), who played CYO basketball at St. Robert School in Chester; Paul Ramseur Jr. (‘87); Edsel Torres (‘99), a former Cardinal O’Hara assistant football coach; and Michael Blahusch (‘04), a native of Claymont, Del. who played baseball at Saint Joseph’s University.
Additional information about the inductees will be included in the next In the Community column.
••• George Sydnor, who is among the many Delaware County athletes depicted on the Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum’s Black History Month poster, is a graduate of Haverford High School.
An item in the last
In the Community column incorrectly listed the school he attended.