Lawrence High to induct 13 new members into Hall of Fame
LAWRENCE >>There’s no superstition at Lawrence High School, which is happy to celebrate the number 13 on its most prestigious sports night of the year.
The Lawrence Athletic Hall of Fame will honor its 12th class Saturday, Oct. 12 at Mercer Oaks Golf Course, with 13 new inductees. Cocktail hour begins at 5:30 p.m. with the dinner to follow. Tickets are still available for $50 and can be obtained at the LHS athletic office or by mailing Steve Groeger at sjgroeger@ gmail.com.
This year’s honorees are athletes Becky Barlow Fitzsimmons (Class of 1986), Todd Wallen (‘90), Megan Orloff (‘93), Dennis Morgan (‘96), Katelee Zapolski Brennan (2001), Kevin Schneider (‘02), Steven Marcenik (‘04) and Bayshawn Wells (‘07); coaches David Boggs and Jo Ann Groeger; special contributors Willy Donahue and Rico Scardelletti; and the 1994 boys soccer team.
Barlow was the 1986 LHS Female Athlete of the Year after excelling at field hockey and captaining the basketball and softball teams. Barlow finished with 20 goals and 8 assists in field hockey, was an AllColonial Valley Conference and All-County pick and played in the Garden State Games for two years. She played field hockey at Western Maryland (now McDaniel College) and led the team in goals and points as a senior.
Wallen played basketball and track, and was a four-year, two-way starter in football. Todd earned All-State and All-County honors as a senior while leading the Cardinals to a CVC championship. He was also the recipient of the Joseph Warcholak Memorial Award. Wallen played outside linebacker at Middlebury College for four years (winning an NESCAC title in 1992), and played and coached one season for a semi-professional team in Switzerland.
Orloff was in the right place at the right time as the diving program began while she attended LHS. Megan established several school records and, as a member of the Blue Dolphin Diving Team, she earned top three finishes in springboard competitions at the junior national level. She went on to compete in the Pac-10 Conference in springboard and platform diving at the University of Southern California.
Morgan lettered in wrestling and track but made his biggest mark in football, where he earned All-Conference honors after leading the Cardinals in tackles and receptions as a senior. He also went 23-7 in wrestling and was named the school’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Zapolski played four years of varsity field hockey and became the first player in program history to record four hat tricks in one season. The Cards won the CVC title her senior year, when Kate earned AllCounty and All-Conference honors and was named CVC Player of the Year. Also a track & field standout, she ran the 800, 1600 and 4x400 and was part of the first-place 4x800 relay team at the county relays. Katelee went on to play four years of field hockey at St. Joseph’s University.
Schneider played baseball and basketball and his statistics on the diamond are among the best in Lawrence history. He earned All-CVC and All-State honors and was twice selected to the Carpenter Cup team. In basketball he was team captain and earned AllCVC honors, but his proudest moment was being named to the All-Davis team, which was a team selected by the late Trentonian writer Jim Davis as his six most favorite basketball players to watch compete. At Monmouth University, Schneider was a four-year letter-winner. He was New Jersey’s top reliever in 2005 and a finalist for the National Reliever of the Year in 2006. Schneider is currently head baseball coach at Immaculata University.
Marcenik earned six varsity letters in golf and football and led the Cards linksters to a four-year mark of 61-14, including CVC and Mercer County Tournament titles. Stephen was the individual county golf champion as a junior. In football he was a two-time All-Conference and All-Area selection and was Lawrence’s recipient for the Delaware Valley scholar-leader-athlete award.
Wells, who is now the Cardinals head track & field coach and an assistant football coach, was a three-letter winner in football, basketball and track. A dangerous return man/ receiver/runner, he broke the school record for longest punt return, earned All-County honors and still owns the record for longest rushing touchdown (80 yards) in the Sunshine Classic. Wells was named Lawrence’s Male Athlete of the Year before having successful football careers at Hudson Valley Community College and Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Boggs coached the Cardinals girls’ soccer team for 15 years and Lawrence reached the Central Jersey Group II finals in 2015. He coached 36 All-State players and two All-Americans and was named Mercer’s Coach of the Year twice. He was also an assistant ice hockey coach during Lawrence’s glory days and, in 2008, received the Award of Honor from the NJSIAA for his service and dedication to student-athletes. For the past 25 years Boggs has led the Early Bird PTO Soccer Club at Lawrence Intermediate School.
Groeger began teaching and coaching gymnastics at LHS in 1976 and quickly became the girls track coach and an assistant field hockey coach. The track team won the NJSIAA Group II title in 1979. Jo Ann put in a total of 25 years coaching at the middle school or high school, and she still serves the community as a member of the Lawrence Board of Education.
Donahue and his family moved to Lawrence in 1999 and he entered the LHS Transition Program in 2010, becoming a devoted fan and supporter of all Cardinal athletic teams. Willie was honorary football team manager for three years under Rob Radice and was a dedicated Special Olympics athlete. From the age of 8 he competed in floor hockey, basketball, power lifting and track, and was selected to the Team New Jersey track squad. At the USA games, Will earned a gold and two silver medals. Donahue recently transitioned to a residential program in upstate New York.
A 1977 LHS graduate and a varsity soccer player for both the Cardinals and Rider University, Scardelletti has coached in the Lawrence Hamnett recreational and travel organizations since 1980. He has been a Hamnett board member since 1999 and served as head of competition from 2000 to 2006. He has been board president since 2007, earned the Bob McNulty NJYS coach of the Year in 2005 and was inducted into the Lawrence Township Hall of Honor in 2005. His work at the youth level has fed right up to the high school program.
Coached by Keith Fithen, the 1994 soccer team went 20-4 and won the NJSIAA Group III title, giving the program its ninth state crown. The Cardinals were led by All-State selections Joe Franc and Keith Richardson. Other team members were Brian Arone, Scott Baillie, Kristof Bialek, Colin Boucher, Ethan Citron, Alex Crespo, Robert Dember, Fabrizio D’Uva, Steve Hart, Steve Jackson, Keith Johnson, Andrew McGraw, Bob McVicker, Anthony Nasuti, Pawel Ochalski, Jacob Plett, Neil Schoenberg and Jairo Soto. Assistant coaches were Joe Bossio and Jim Keegan.