Rissmiller, Bottiglieri entering Lehigh Valley HoF
Glenn Rissmiller, a longtime area football official who retired following last Thanksgiving’s Catasauqua-Northampton football game, is among those who will be inducted into the National Football Foundation Lehigh Valley Chapter Hall of Fame on May 7 at the Northampton Banquet and Event Center.
Rissmiller, a 1963 Notre DameGreen Pond graduate who was also a successful boys basketball coach at Northern Lehigh and the school’s athletic director, retired after 51 seasons on the gridiron.
In addition to Rissmiller, Joe Bottiglieri, a former Allentown Central Catholic and Emmaus head coach and Lehigh University assistant, will be inducted. Bottiglieri is a 1966 Easton and 1971 Bloomsburg University graduate who coached at the collegiate level at Mansfield, Shippensburg, William & Mary, Rhode Island, and Wesley College and is currently the defensive coordinator at Liberty.
Other inductees include 1974 Liberty High graduate Kyle Wescoe, who was an all-state selection and went on to play at North Carolina State; David Lerch, a 1986 Southern Lehigh grad who went on to attend the U.S. Naval Academy; Bob Kline, a 1969 Whitehall High graduate who was an all-state selection and a first-team all-PSAC player at Lock Haven, and Jack Legath, a Northampton High and East Stroudsburg University product who went on to become a longtime area official.
Tickets for the banquet cost $35 and are available by calling Tom Redding at 484-456-1312 prior to April 15.
Central Catholic Wall of Fame
The 2010 state champion Allentown Central Catholic football team and Dan Dolphin, who led last year’s boys lacrosse team to a state gold, will headline the school’s Wall of fame ceremony on April 22 at Rockne Hall. Tickets cost $15 and those interested need to RSVP by April 5.
In addition to the 2010 state champs and Dolphin, Colleen Nosovitch and Dr. Neal Stansbury will be inducted.
Nosovitch, a 2010 graduate, helped the Vikettes with three league and four District 11 titles in girls basketball and was a Lehigh Valley Conference MVP who finished her career with 1,080 points. In volleyball, she helped ACCHS win three league, four District 11 and two state championships. She is currently the school’s assistant athletic director.
Her brother Brendan was the quarterback on Central’s 2010 state championship team.
Stansbury has been both a Lehigh Valley Health Network and Central Catholic’s team doctor for 27 years.
Harold Fairclough, the current Emmaus High coach, was the Vikings’ head coach in 2010. He was assisted by Greg Moore, John Cupples, Tom Braxmeier, Mike Marks, Tim Churchill, Brian Scholl, Jake Reichard, Andy Millen, Al Henry, current Vikings head coach Tim McGorry, Gabe Robinson, Trev Marcks, Jared Gollie and Mike Cerimele.
Dolphin, who retired last June after winning the state title, taught at Central Catholic for 12 years and coached for 14 tams. His teams won two league and four district titles.
Spring spotlight
BASEBALL
Wilkes University baseball junior AJ Brosious (Central Catholic) was selected to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week for Feb. 21-27. Brosious made his Wilkes debut, going 4-for-5 (.800) with nine RBIs in a doubleheader. He went 2-for-3 with four RBIs a walk and a run as the Colonels defeated Rosemont 16-0 in Game 1 of a doubleheader. Brosious pinch-hit for the Colonels in Game 2 with bases loaded and his team down 6-5 and he ripped a go-ahead three-run triple. Later in the inning, he added a two-run single before the game was called with Wilkes ahead 15-6.
Through nine games, he is batting .333 (11 for 33) with three doubles, two triples, and 14 RBIs. SOFTBALL
Arcadia softball sophomore Juliana Presto (Freedom) was named Middle Atlantic Conference
Freedom softball pitcher of the week. She won all three of her starts last week, totaling 35 strikeouts in 19.1 innings. She allowed just nine hits. She had a career-high 13 strikeouts in a 5-2 win over Eastern Nazarene that was followed by a 12-strikeout, complete-game shutout, in an 11-0, 5-inning win over Capital University. She allowed just
one hit in the win and capped the big week with a complete-game, 2-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 2-1 win over William Paterson. She also got the final out of an 11-3, 5-inning win over Scranton.
Katie Zaun (Parkland) is off to an outstanding start as a freshman at East Stroudsburg University. The Warriors are 15-1 and Zaun, last year’s Morning Call pitcher of the year, is 4-1 with a 1.94 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 32.1. She has walked just three and given up 21 hits. In addition, sophomore Paige Zigmund (Liberty) is 5-0 in the pitching circle with a 2.8 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 35 innings.
Landmark accomplishment
Notre Dame-Green Pond graduate Olivia Brandt capped her college career at Susquehanna University in style by being named to the Landmark Conference second team.
She had the best season of her career, nearly averaging a double-double with 11.4 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game. She was second in the conference in rebounds per game and fourth in minutes played per game at 32.5. The senior forward shot 38% from the floor while also making 70% of her free throws. She had the best game of her career against Lancaster Bible in December when sh scored 22 points, collected 15 rebounds, dished six assists, and shot 10-for-19 from the floor.
Kiska VI has arrived
Karen Coleman, the retired Dieruff teacher who has been the caretaker of numerous Kiskas since 1976, delighted the school and its alumni when she announced recently that she has purchased Kiska VI. The huskies have served as Dieruff ’s mascot and goodwill ambassadors almost since the school opened its doors in September of 1959 and the tradition will continue after the passing of beloved Kiska V at age 12 in late February.
Coleman, who is in her 70s, wasn’t sure she should take on another Kiska, but was assured that there would be other caretakers in line should she no longer be willing to take care of the husky.
However, Coleman, who has been a fixture at Dieruff events, especially football games, for decades, shows no sign of slowing down and her affection and care of Kiska has made her one of the beloved figures in the school district’s history.