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LV Sports Hall of Fame becomes a new state chapter – Allentown Morning Call
More than 200 people attended the Lehigh Valley Sports Hall of Fame banquet Saturday night at the Northampton Community Center and while recognizing 22 new members including Mario Andretti and the late Darryl Dawkins, the LVSHOF had an announcement to make.
Ed White, the organization’s chairman, said the LVSHOF has been sanctioned as the new Lehigh Valley-Pocono Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, which began in 1962, has chapters in Berks, Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery and many other counties in the eastern portion of the state.
White said the goal of the new chapter “is to become the best sports Hall of Fame in the Lehigh Valley for all sports.”
“We look forward to working with all of the sports halls of fame in the Lehigh Valley to make sure we recognize the accomplishments of all the best athletes, coaches, mentors, builders and media people throughout the Valley,” White said.
White said next year’s banquet — which will feature a 2018 class of no more than 12 new inductees — will be held on May 12 at the same location.
Saturday night’s Hall of Fame inductees were:
Class of 2016: Dave Schneck, Billy Kern, Jim Druckenmiller, J. Milo Sewards, Dick Schmidt, Robert “Skeeter” Steckel, Ron Stoneback, Mark Brown, Cori, Kelsey and Carly Gallagher.
Class of 2017: Billy Sheridan, Darryl Dawkins, Jack Logic, Doug Snyder, Tony Stellar, Jim Booros, Ed Stinner, Marty Nothstein, Ed Christian, Tim Fisher and Mario Andretti.
2016-17 high school and college honorees: 15-time letterwinner and class valedictorian Krista Kissell (Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg); Cornell-bound lacrosse and football standout Joe Wolf III (Central Catholic), state wrestling champ Travis Stefanik (Nazareth), Moravian-bound football player Jackson Buskirk (Whitehall), standout baseball player Zac Edwards (Catasauqua/Lebanon Valley); softball star Janae Matos (Catasauqua/Moravian) and Lehigh national wresting champ Darian Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic).
In addition, former Morning Call writer, columnist and sports editor Paul Reinhard received the John Kunda Memorial Print Media Award; Lehigh Valley IronPigs general manager Kurt Landes won the Debbie Stellar Memorial Community Service Award and Liberty High District 11 wrestling champ Carlo Perugini won the Robert “Skeeter” Steckel Memorial Perseverance Award.
Bonenberger gets NCC post
Northampton Community College Director of Athletics Troy Tucker announced the hiring of Northampton High graduate Alyssa Bonenberger as the new head coach of the NCC women’s basketball program.
“We are thrilled that Alyssa accepted our offer to become the next women’s head coach at Northampton,” Tucker said. “I believe her background, personality and familiarity with our program make her a perfect fit to lead this team.”
A former standout with the Konkrete Kids, Bonenberger went on to become a four-year starter at Kutztown University.
After graduating in 2015, Bonenberger served as an assistant coach at East Stroudsburg University, where she helped lead the Warriors to a 15-13 record and a berth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference quarterfinals.
Last season, Bonenberger served as assistant coach for the Spartans, helping NCC go 19-6, win their fifth consecutive conference championship and advance to the Region XIX title game where they fell one win of qualifying for the NJCAA national tournament.
Bonenberger replaces Tara Belfield, who went 39-10 in two seasons as head coach after serving as Art Wolfe’s assistant for 11 seasons.
Lauren’s First and Goal
The 14th annual Lauren’s First and Goal Football Camp will be held on June 4 at Lafayette College’s Metzgar Athletic Complex in Forks Township.
It is a one-day instructional clinic taught by volunteer college coaches from across the country and all divisions. It is the largest one-day camp in the country, with over 325 college coaches donating their time.
Players in 8th through 12th grade are eligible to attend, and they’re grouped by position and class year and alternate between offensive and defensive drills and skills throughout the day.
The camp is not a combine. It is an opportunity to learn, improve skills, showcase talents, experience being coached by college coaches and be exposed to the opportunities to continue one’s career as a student athlete at the college level. All proceeds from the camp benefit pediatric brain tumor research and cancer services.
Chris Ash, the head coach at Rutgers, is this year’s main speaker. He joins a list of prestigious coaches who have come in the past include NFL coaches Bill O’Brien and John Harbaugh, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, Penn State coach James Franklin, Super Bowl champion quarterback Phil Simms and many others.
Lauren’s First and Goal is a nonprofit organization, started in 2004 by former Lafayette defensive coordinator and current Army safeties coach John Loose and his wife Marianne in honor of their daughter, Lauren, a pediatric brain tumor survivor.
Since its inception, LFG has raised more than $2 million to provide financial support for brain tumor research and cancer services.
To register, go to www.laurensfirstandgoal.org by May 30.
Lehigh season ends in slugfest
Lehigh’s softball season ended Saturday night in Los Angeles with a 10-8 regional loss to Cal State Fullerton, but the Mountain Hawks didn’t go down without a fight.
One night after being no-hitted in an 8-0 loss to No. 5 seed UCLA, Lehigh registered 15 hits and every one in the starting batting order had at least one hit.
However, the Mountain Hawks couldn’t hold on to leads of 5-2, 7-5 and 8-6 and had their season end at 36-20.
“They scored a couple runs in the first inning, but we scored five runs right after that,” coach Fran Troyan told Lehigh Sports Information. “And that set the tone to tell Cal State Fullerton that we were going to fight, scratch and claw as hard as we could. We did, and I give them credit because so did they. It was one tremendous, spirited softball game, and one that the NCAA can be proud of.”