LeRoy Oatka Knight Sports Hall of Fame Inductees - 2020 (moved to 2021)

LE ROY -This summer, the Le Roy Oatka Knights Sports Hall of Fame will be inducting its fifth class of athletes and the board has just announced who will be receiving the honor and it will be another diverse group of fantastic athletes and representatives of Le Roy High School - the individuals will include John Gleason, John "Tanky" Scanlan, Rodney Steverson, James Rudgers, David Shaughnessy, Brandon Shaughnessy, Joseph Shaughnessy Susan Fulmer, Brendan Fulmer, and baseball coach Raymond Jay. The 1979-80 and 1981-82 boys basketball teams and the 2004 varsity football team will also be enshrined.

Having graduated in 1920, Gleason is the oldest member to ever be inducted and he was the consensus greatest athlete of the first half century of Le Roy athletics. Gleason's career as a baseball player has not been matched to this day. Matt Jackson, the longtime sports editor of Rochester Times Union Newspaper, publicly called this three-sport star as one of greatest athletes in University of Rochester sports history. During an exhibition game between the Le Roy Athletics (semi-pro baseball) and the Rochester Red Wings, Gleason hit so well that Red Wings management came the next day to Le Roy to sign him; Gleason refused and continued his life with his insurance business and was eventually elected the youngest mayor in Le Roy (29).

Scanlan was a member of the Class of 1951 and was a star halfback on the football team, leading them to a 6-2 record. Scanlan was also the leading scorer on the basketball team and a solid baseball player. Scanlan is also credited with helping bring Little League baseball to Le Roy and was long time commissioner, while the league championship, the Scanlan Cup, is named after him.

Steverson was a member of the Class of 1958 and he ran the all time fastest 100 yard dash in Le Roy High history of 9.7 seconds, performed on a cinder track. A time of 9.7 seconds for 100 yards on a cinder track is equivalent of 10.4 seconds in newer standard of 100 meters, and it is believed that he still holds this record to this day; Steverson was also the speedy pass catching end for the 1957 football team.

Rudgers was a multi-sport star for the Oatkan Knights, a graduate of the Class of 1967, most notably as a three-year varsity football and basketball player. His versatility showed in the spring as he also would letter in baseball, track and field, golf and tennis. Rudgers would go on to play college football at both Boston University and Brockport, where he would move to offensive guard, eventually leading to his career as an offensive line coach at Columbia, North Carolina St., Florida, Syracuse and Eastern Illinois. During his coaching career he was a collegue of Mike Shanahan, Tom Coughlin, Jeff Fisher and George O'Leary, among others.

Susan Fulmer was a graduate of the Class of 1998 and was a three-sport standout as a member of the solid girls soccer teams of the mid-to-late 1990s and the strong tennis squads under Jim Farnholtz, as well as being one of the top scorers in basketball in Le Roy program history.

Both David and Brandon Shaughnessy were elected to the Section V Football Hall of Fame and were also elected to the Oatka Knights Hall of Fame in 2016 as members of the 1995 football team, the lone state champion in Le Roy history. Both are graduates of the Class of 1997.

Dave was a first-team all-state lineman in 1995, a two-time AGR selection and multiple-time LCAA all-star. The former Section V Championship MVP went on to star at Ithaca College. During the winter he was an LCAA all-star as a wrestler, while in the spring he was an LCAA all-star in track and field in the shot put and the discus.

Brandon was an all-star on the 1995 Le Roy state champion team and a 1996 AGR team member, while he went on to be an all-conference second-team tight end and captain at State University of New York at Buffalo. Brandon was also a member of the impressive wrestling teams of the mid-1990s, while he was a ferocious power-hitting outfielder for the strong baseball teams of the same era.

Brendan Fulmer, graduate of the Class of 2003, was another multi-sport athlete, starring in football, basketball and tennis. A member of the 2002 football team that reached the state semifinals, Fulmer had 533 yards receiving and 10 TDs and a team-leading five interceptions, while he was 47-of-52 on PATs with two FGs, averaged nearly 57 yards per kickoff and 44 yards per punt. Fulmer would go on to star as a receiver and kicker at Williams College, setting the program record for receiving TDs. Fulmer is also the leading scorer in the history of Le Roy boys basketball.

Joseph Shaughnessy, another member of the Class of 2003, was also a star on that 2002 football team, when he was 52-of-90 for 987 yards and 16 touchdowns, to go with 608 yards rushing and 13 more TDs, while he was also a defensive back on a defense that surrendered just five points per game. Joe Shaughnessy would go on to star at defensive back at Washington University in St. Louis.

Coach Raymond Jay is the greatest baseball coach in Oatkan Knights history and led the team to the 1966 Class A sectional crown, the team's third sectional title since 1959. The 1966 baseball team was inducted into the Le Roy Oatka Knights Hall of Fame in 2018.

The 1979-80 boys basketball team, led by coach Frank Ruane, went undefeated during the regular season to earn the number seed in the Section 5 Class A sectionals. Much of the team's success can be attributed to its fine balance and teamwork. The floor general was guard Dan Wright, whose passes were greatly in the direction of LCAA division scoring champ, Tim Alexander, and talented sophomore, Chris Bohler. The leading rebounders were Don Furr and Lavern Falcone. The season ended in the quarterfinals with a 6-point overtime loss to Marcus Whitman HS to end a 19-1 season for the Knights.

Featuring the likes of stars Chris Bohler and Morris Alexander, the 1981-82 boys basketball team is the greatest team in Le Roy history to not win a sectional title. Playing in Class A, the Oatkan Knights put together an impressive run, beating Mynderse in the semifinals, only to fall to powerhouse Charlotte in the championship game. Even in defeat, LeRoy's Bohler was named MVP of the Class A tournament.

Finally, the 2004 football team is regarded as one of the best in the long history of the program, advancing to the state title game before falling to Dobbs Ferry. Led by a plethora of stars, including Andrew Fox, Mark Bennetti, Justin Casper and numerous others, Le Roy would cruise to a 12-0 mark before falling in the Class C championship 14-6 to a Dobbs Ferry team that won 47 of 49 games.

LE ROY - Throughout the 2017-18 school year, the Le Roy High School athletic programs captured a total of six Section V titles, believed by many to be the school record for a single campaign. Fittingly, on Friday morning, the Oatkan Knights athletes of the past were honored in becoming the fourth class of the Le Roy Oatka Knights Sports Hall of Fame and the constant theme among all of the inductees was pride, not just in playing sports at Le Roy, but being a part of the community as a whole and what it represents.

"When we talk to our athletes, we talk about the impact that they make. What that does for our community, what that does for our students," Superintendent Merritt Holly said before presenting Bryce Bordonaro with the inaugural William Campbell award.

But the most moving moment of the ceremony came from longtime contributor and equipment manager Don Pangrazio Jr. Pangrazio fought through a speech that talked about fostering numerous children in need, starting out with the Pee Wee football program and introducing his grandson, Travis Fenstermaker to the ups and downs and high school athletics at Le Roy.

"I'm very humbled to be up here with all these athletes. I guess I actually did a few things," Pangrazio, who was a decades-long fixture for the football, wrestling and baseball teams, said. "I didn't score any touchdowns, I didn't hit any home runs but I probably filled several thousand water bottles, washed hundreds and hundreds of towels, took all of those trips with all of those sectional champions that Brian Moran had. I never missed a game. There's something about Le Roy football."

The class was the largest in the history of the Hall of Fame, which also featured two teams - the 1941 and 1984 football teams - the golf teams of 1999-2004 and seven individual athletes - Don Higgins, Gabrielle Gomborone, Salvatore "Chom" Tabone, Donald Paladino, Quentin Call, Jennifer O'Shea and David Kibler.

The inductees spanned over 60 years of excellence at Le Roy, with the individuals dating back to Tabone and Paladino graduating in 1956, to Gomborone in 1989.

Jim Macaluso spoke on behalf of his father, who was a member of that great 1941 football squad. Members of that team went undefeated in four out of five years, while in 1941 they outscored their opponents 105-26 and never allowed more than seven points in any game, playing every contest against upper-class competition.
However, Macaluso spoke of this team's character not on the field, but off, as just weeks after they finished their football season, many of these young men were thrust into World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declaration of war on the United States by Germany.

"It was not just the success on the football field that made this group special. These were great men," Macaluso said. "It was because of them and the great men and women like them that we have our freedom today and we are able to enjoy ourselves at events just like this. We will be forever indebted to them."

Bert Pangrazio, inducted in the Oatka Knights Hall of Fame in 2012, spoke on behalf of the 1984 football team, that went undefeated, outscored its opponents 221-76 and captured the first of Le Roy's 15 sectional football titles with a 17-0 shutout of Red Jacket. Again, Bert Pangrazio didn't speak a lot about football.

"What's great about this town is the culture, the beliefs and the tradition and it's our job to pass it on because the other generations don't get it," he said. "So please, take time to pass it on."

A 1964 graduate, Higgins was a member of the 1964 sectional championship baseball team, while he also played basketball and went on to collegiate athletic careers at Buffalo State and Geneseo. As a junior, Higgins' ERA was 0.32, while as a senior he won all three sectional games on the mound on the way to a sectional title.

"There was a sense of pride in being a Le Royan. It was a great place to grow up and where I acquired those small-town values that I hold dear."

Higgins was also grateful to many of his coaches, including Ray Jay, George Rudman and Francis Tuffy Longhini.

"They taught a kid who hated to lose that losing is part of life," Higgins said. "And from those losses I learned what I needed to improve upon so that the next time I played I didn't make the same mistakes. A lesson that was just as valuable off the field in every day life that is was on the field. They were instrumental in my developing the attitude of winning with humility, losing with dignity, treating your opponents with respect while always giving 100 percent in an effort to win."

Gomborone excelled in basketball, volleyball and soccer but she found her true passion in track, running in the 100, 200, 400, 400 hurdles and the 4-x-1 relay, while she held the school record in the 400 at 59 seconds for 19 years and eventually became a long distance and marathon runner. She initially didn't want to run the 400, but when then-coach Kay Pullyblank insisted, she couldn't say no.

"When I got the letter saying that I was being recognized, I started thinking back to all the emories," Gomborone said. "I realized that my coach got me to get out of my comfort zone and I did and now I am trying to teach my kids that as well."

Tabone was a three-sport star who graduated in 1956 - a halfback in football, a third baseman and centerfielder in baseball and a guard in basketball. Tabone used his speed to become one of Le Roy's biggest threats out of the backfield in its illustrious history.

"Along life's journey I have achieved many fulfilling accomplishments, not as important to another individual but important to me. Today's recognition humbled me," Tabone said.

Paladino was another three-sport star, while he earned Most Outstanding Genesee County Athlete in 1956, an honor he shared with Bosseler brothers at Batavia, who went on to be pro football players.

"My father loved sports," said Paladino's daughter Robin Paladino Reynolds. "He played for as long as I can remember and then he coached. From our entire family, thank you. It is a true honor to listen to all the stories about him today."

Call was a fantastic lineman and in 1971 he was on the team that finished at 7-1 and outscored its opponents 221-38, including four shutouts. Call was just the second Le Roy football player to be selected for the All-Greater Rochester team, while he led the basketball team his senior year to a 15-2 record and a Livingston Conference Class A title.

"Personally I was lucky enough to have been in high school with a very talented group of athletes and coaches," Call said. "They were all team sports and when you're a lineman you feel likely just to be along with the rest of the gang. The tradition and history of athletics is woven into the Le Roy community and I see it all the time," Call added. "You may not go to every game and you may not be there all the time, but you read about it, you talk about it and you hear about it. Small-town living is wonderful."

Aside from being a O'Shea varsity letter-winner in soccer, volleyball, basketball, golf and track and field in high school, she went on to become an excellent crew athlete in college.

"It's a great honor to be included with this incredible group of illustrious athletes, but that's Le Roy," O'Shea said. "Sports at Le Roy High were very important to me and one of the great things about living in a town like Le Roy was that I could play all of these different sports."

Kibler was a three-year, three-sport varsity starter and he led the football team in rushing for three straight seasons.

Matt Gugino spoke on behalf of the incredible golf teams that Le Roy put together nearly 20 years ago. "Our teams are very proud to accomplish the 60-match win streak but Le Roy golf is so much more than the matches we won on the course," Gugino said. "Nothing gives us greater pride than coming from Le Roy and we owe many in the community for our great success."

Gugino was quick to point out the success of their coaches as a whole during those seasons, as Larry Reed went 150-21-1 from 1991-99, while Amy Brotherton has amassed a 82-11 record over eight seasons, with each sending numerous golfers to the sectional and state championships.

"You coached us but you also helped develop a culture of team success, something that is not very easy in what is very much an individual sport," Gugino said.

The next Oatka Knights Hall of Fame induction is scheduled for 2020.

FRONT: Joe Condidorio Sr., Joe Crnkovich, John Eppolito, Bob Woodruff, Betsy Lapp-Blackwell, Amy Lapp-Hardison. REAR:  Wayne Alexander, Brian Fulmer (representing the 1995 LeRoy football team), Gerry Howe (representing the 1966 LeRoy baseball team), Jon Gerlach.  Photo by George Henry (Vermont Sports Desk).

Le Roy---  This Friday, the longtime proud tradition of excellence of Le Roy high School sports will once again take center stage on Oatka Festival weekend as the Le Roy Oatka Knights Sports Hall of Fame will induct its third Hall of Fame class, honoring two championship teams, seven individual athletes and one coach/teacher.

The induction ceremony will take place on Friday at the Le Roy High School auditorium at 10 a.m.  Joining the induction classes of 2012 and 2014 will be the 1966 baseball team, the 1995 football team, Joseph Crnkovich (Class of 1948), Joseph Condidorio Sr (1953), John Eppolito (1954), Robert Woodruff (1959), Wayne Alexander (1973), Amy Lapp-Hardison (1993) and Betsy Lapp-Blackwell (1998), as well as coach and teacher Jon Gerlach.

Led by head coach Raymond Jay, the 1966 Le Roy baseball team picked up the program’s third sectional title since 1959 when it captured the Section V Class A crown.   Following a 9-3 regular season, ace pitcher Gary Batchellor took over come playoff time as he toed the rubber in all four postseason victories---a win over Wayland (Livingston County champions) in the first round, a 5-4 victory over Wayne County champion Palmyra-Macedon in the second round, a 13-4 romp over Lake Region champion Trumansburg in the semifinals and an 8-2 win over Penn Yan in the finals.    Batchellor struck out five in the quarterfinal win, 12 in the semifinal victory and pitched a two-hitter with five strikeouts in the final.  His catcher was Jim Alexander.  The offense was led by Henry Chimeno and the team featured the likes of Ron Stella, Tom Woodruff, Dave Kibler and Abe Machols, among others.  Le Roy didn’t win another sectional crown until 1998.

The dominating 1995 football team won its fifth Section V title and the first state championship in program history when it captured the Class C crown.   Guided by a ferocious defense led by the likes of Zac Dillow (147 tackles), Section V Football Hall of Fame members Dave (80 tackles) and Brandon Shaughnessy (88 tackles), Tom Styer (98 tackles), Steve Saeva (94 tackles) and Adam Higgins (47 tackles, 5 INTs), the Oatkan Knights finished with a 12-1 record and recorded seven shutouts on the season, including four in the postseason.   Le Roy outscored its first five postseason opponents 100-6 ---- including 19-0 wins over East Rochester and Eden in the Section V finals and Far West Regional finals, respectively---- before it toppled Saranac Lake 37-27 to win the state final. The offense was led by the dynamic running back duo of Ryan Novak and Erik Geiger; Novak rushed for 1,349 yards and 10 touchdowns and Geiger added 1,145 yards and 12 TDs, all behind an offensive line led by big Pat Ashley, the Shaughnessys, Dillow and Bill MacKenzie.

Crnkovich excelled in three sports for Le Roy ---- he was a pass-catching and blocking stalwart as a tight end on the football team, while he was a star center on the basketball team, where in his senior year he was the leading scorer in Le Roy’s league.
Crnkovich was also a champion track man, winning first place for his team in both the high jump and long jump.

Condidorio Sr. was both an outstanding player on Le Roy’s 1953 football team on both offense and defense.  On offense he was a hard-running and clever single wing tailback, while as a defender he was a fearless and ferocious tackler, often dominating games.  Condidorio Sr. also played guard on an excellent basketball team, which is considered the first of Le Roy’s good modern teams.

Eppolito was the captain and leading rusher on the 1954 football team, which went 7-1 with its only loss a 12-6 season-ending defeat to quarterback Ron Piazza’s Batavia Blue Devil squad.  Eppolito was a speedy, excellent ball-handling guard in basketball and a solid catcher in baseball before he continued his Le Roy career after high school for the Le Roy semi-pro football and baseball teams.
           
Woodruff is known as one of the greatest pitchers in Le Roy baseball history.  In the Class A sectionals he pitched three consecutive one-hitters to lead Le Roy to its first sectional championship.  Woodruff was also a star player in football and basketball for the first two years of his high school career until a serious knee injury ended his participation in those sports.

Alexander was an outstanding football and basketball player throughout his career with the Oatkan Knights, earning several accolades along the way.   Alexander led the 1972 football team to a 7-1 record in which it outscored its opponents a dominating 352-75; on the season, Alexander averaged 5.4 yards per carry, caught 13 passes for 403 yards and totaled 16 touchdowns and 11 two- point conversions.  He added five interceptions on defense and was an All-Livingston County and All-Greater Rochester selection.   As a junior on the hardwood, Alexander helped lead Le Roy to the Class A sectional semifinals with several powerful performances, including 27 points against Cal-Mum, 25 against Albion and 21 against Wayne.  As a senior, he led the Oatkan Knights in scoring. 

Amy Lapp was a tremendous three-sport star at Le Roy as she was a member of the varsity squad as a freshman in soccer, basketball and softball, while she also earned the Le Roy Female Athlete of the Year in the 1992-93 school year.   In soccer, Amy Lapp was a two-time Livingston Conference all-star; in basketball she was also a two-time league all-star, where she twice set the school record for points in a season and finished her career with 830 points and 264 steals; also a two-time all-star in softball, she had a .425 batting average in 1992 and a .450 average in 1993, while she went on to steal 149 bases in her career.    Amy received scholarships to play both basketball and softball at Division II Westmar University in Iowa.  She eventually wound up making the soccer team as well and played four years of both soccer and basketball and one year of softball.

Betsy Lapp was a four-sport star in the mid-90’s as she helped lead the Oatkan Knights girls soccer team to its first-ever sectional title in 1997, while she also won sectional crowns in track in the 4-x-4 relay and the hurdles.  Betsy also played basketball and softball at Le Roy.   Betsy received a full scholarship to Charleston Southern University for soccer, where she would eventually be ranked in the Top 10 in CSU history in every statistical category ---- second all-time scorer (49 goals, 18 assists), 65 games started, she was the 1998 Rookie of the Year, a two-time conference MVP, team MVP and Big South all-tournament selection and was the 2002 big South Player of the Year.   Lapp was a 2009 CSU Hall of Fame inductee.

Over a 20-year span, Gerlach coached five different sports for Le Roy.  Starting in 1974, he coached the inaugural season of the boys varsity soccer program and also coached the JV wrestling squad.  Gerlach coached the boys soccer program for its first five years and established the roots of a program, which flourished to this day.   He would continue to coach JV wrestling for a decade, while he also coached JV football and JV baseball during the early 1980s. In 1983, Gerlach took over the softball program and would proceed to put a permanent mark on girls sports history in Le Roy as he led the 1985 softball team to Le Roy’s first-ever girls Section V Championship, in any sport.  Gerlach led the softball program to yet another Section V title in 1988.

Among those present to accept plaques at induction ceremonies Friday to the Le Roy Oatka Knights Sports Hall of Fame are (left to right): Todd O’Geen (representing Russell “Satch” O'Geen), Tami Spencer-Loftus, Dan Shirley, Maryann Hann (representing Joe “Bulldog” Antinore), Bob Lowe (representing the 1962-63 LeRoy boys basketball team) and Coach Don Santini (representing the 1966 LeRoy football team). Photo by George Henry (Vermont Sports Desk).

LE ROY — Sports, for many people, have always represented more than just a hobby and have meant more than just the final score on the scoreboard. Sports have brought a passion and a sense of pride not just to the athletes, but to the schools they play for and the communities they become beloved by. Individual athletes and collective teams sometimes have a way of evading Father Time and evoking memories long since forgotten. And that was never more evident than on Friday morning as the Le Roy Oatka Knights Sports Hall of Fame officially inducted its second class at Le Roy High School.

Don Santini, head coach of the Oatkan Knights football squad from 1966-74 — including the 1966 team that was inducted on Friday — likely said it best as he closed the emotional ceremony with a rousing speech in front of hundreds of former athletes, coaches, teachers and family members.

“I am extremely proud and honored to have been a coach here, to have taught here, to have lived here. It’s just a great place. And I thank all of these men right here and all of the players from the other teams that I had when I was here for giving everything that you’ve got,” said Santini, whose team went 8-0 in his first year at the helm and is one of the greatest teams in Le Roy history.

“To just walk out on that field, and I know every one of you would want to do it just one last time,” he continued. “To strap that black helmet on, to get that jersey on, to come out of that fieldhouse and run down that field with thousands of fans on their feet, cheering you on. It’s the greatest feeling going. You will never, ever forget that. You will never forget today, because you live it, you love it and I don’t care where you live now, you will always be a LeRoyan.”

Santini’s comments wrapped an induction morning that included two teams and six athletes that spanned more than 60 years in the illustrious history of Le Roy athletics.

Joining the 1966 football team were the inspirational boys basketball team of 1963, Clarence “Gooey” Lapp, Joe “Bulldog” Antinore, Russell “Satch” O’Geen, Morris Alexander, Tami Spencer-Loftus and Dan Shirley.

“Playing sports in Le Roy has truly helped form the life that I lead today. The devoted and caring teachers and coaches clearly made a difference for me,” said Spencer, a three-sport star that graduated in 1988. “I want to thank all the coaches and teachers sitting in the audience today that work with our youth. Just like the coaches and teachers that have had a profound impact on my life, you, too, make a difference.”

Two years after the first class of the hall was inducted, the second class did not disappoint. Again hosted by former News 10 NBC sports and news anchor Rich Funke, stories were told of the heart and sweat that all of these athletes put into their careers at Le Roy High School.

The late Joe Antinore has always been considered one of the toughest and proudest people to wear the black and red and that was captured in the speech given by his niece Maryann Hann, who accepted the award for Antinore. “I wish he could have been here today to accept this award because he would have been so thrilled,” said Hann. “When he lost his leg to diabetes that still did not stop him from leaving my driveway on Friday nights to make the trip to Le Roy, wheelchair in tow, to watch his alma mater. He was so proud to be there.”

A member of the inaugural 2012 induction class as an individual athlete, Tim McCulley spoke on behalf of what is considered to be the greatest boys basketball team in Le Roy history. McCulley spoke of the enthusiasm and the way the town rallied around the squad. McCulley spoke of what it meant to be an Oatkan Knight.“The seats were filled, they were six-deep under the basket, hugging the court line,” he said. “It was the most remarkable thing that I’ve ever experienced with all of the athletics that I have been involved with. And we were just ecstatic over the whole situation.”

Russell “Satch” O’Geen was a cornerstone of Le Roy athletics in the 1950s. His son, Todd, accepted the award on his behalf.
“Dad always spoke of the found memories he had of growing up here and the sports that he played. He followed the progress of Le Roy sports for his entire life and always made attendance to the Le Roy/Cal-Mum football game a top priority,” said Todd O’Geen. “Since my siblings and I were children, we heard from my dad’s friends and sometimes people we didn’t even now about what a great athlete my father was. Receiving this honor today validates all of those incredible stories that we heard throughout the years.”

Jim Wujcik accepted for the late Clarence Lapp, while Morris Alexander was unable to be in attendance.

But as oftentimes happens, it was the 1966 football team that captured much of the emotion of the morning. With a tradition that rivals almost no other, Le Roy football has won the hearts and minds of many throughout the community over the years.
Yet what may go unnoticed is what it meant to those on the gridiron.

“We didn’t know it then, but our coaches taught us life lessons. Learn to count on someone else and learn to be counted on,” said Bob Lowe, a member of the 1966 club. “I know that coaches profess that there is no ‘I’ or ‘me’ in team, but I’ll tell you right now that our team was full of ‘Is’ and full of ‘mes.’ I expect ‘you’ to do your job and you expect ‘me’ to do my job and that is what Le Roy football has taught us.

“It will be 48 years ago this fall that we wore the red and black and memories of our undefeated season had pretty much faded from everybody’s minds,” he added. “Except us guys and except for today. So to the Hall of Fame and the Le Roy community, the 1966 undefeated and untied football team thanks you for remembering.”

The 2014 class joins the first class of 2012 that consisted of Ed Reifsteck, the 1943 football team, James “Pat” McGrath, Ed Walsh, Vincent “Boomer” Scott, McCulley, Missy Woodruff, Alan Tomidy, Bert Pangrazio and Ed Mills, many of whom were in attendance or represented on Friday. And though the names and the eras were different, much of the sentiment remained the same from two years ago.

“I love this community, I love it like you love it,” said Santini. “Nine years I was here. Nine great years. And there was only one reason that I left this great community and that was to was able to go back to my own high school, Fairport. “I would have never here for any other job.”

The next class of the Le Roy Oatka Knights Sports Hall of Fame will be inducted in the summer of 2016.

FRONT - Will Reifsteck (representing Ed Reifsteck), Kermit Arrington (representing the 1943 football team), James “Pat” McGrath, Donna Walsh (representing Ed Walsh) and Gail Bamlet (representing Vincent “Boomer” Scott). REAR - Guest Speaker Rich Funke, Tim McCulley, Missy Woodruff, Alan Tomidy, Bert Pangrazio and Ed Mills.

LE ROY — There has long been a storied and proud tradition when it comes to athletics at Le Roy High School. From the early 1900s, to the powerful football teams of the mid-1990s, to the first sectional boys basketball championship in 2003 to today, the Oatkan Knights have etched their names in the annals of history.

Now, thanks to the generous donations of six prominent alumni and the planning and conceptual ideas of many ladies and gentlemen of the community, the Knights will have a place to treasure that history.

Come this summer, the newly formed Le Roy Oatka Knights Sports Hall of Fame, Inc. will induct its inaugural class of athletes, coaches and others who have contributed to this strong tradition.
This is a not-for-profit organization with its own set of by-laws and is not affiliated with the Le Roy Central School District.

“We wanted to present the strongest group for the inaugural class as possible,” said Le Roy attorney Reid Whiting, a member of the board of directors. “We thought that there was a wide consensus that these men and women are the best of the best of all-time.”

The first induction class, which will be honored the Friday of the Oatka Festival (July 13), will include Vincent “Boomer” Scott, Coach Ed Reifsteck, Coach Ed Walsh, James M. “Pat” McGrath, the 1943 football team, Tim McCulley, Ed Mills, Bert Pangrazio, Missy Woodruff and Alan Tomidy.

Among other criteria, the athlete(s) must have been out of high school for at least 15 years and the coaches must have coached at Le Roy for at least five years and have been out of coaching at Le Roy for more than five years.

“We’re going to try and develop a protocol where, in the future we’re going to really sit down and comb through Oatkans and old press clippings to get a feel (for deserving athletes),” said Whiting.
Scott, who starred at Le Roy from 1939-42, was the first Oatkan Knight inducted into the Section 5 Football Hall of Fame in 2007. Scott went on to have an all-star career at The University of Notre Dame, the NFL and the CFL and is a member of the CFL Hall of Fame.

Reifsteck coached the Knights football team from 1930 to 1942 and had amazing success. During his 12 seasons, three of his teams were undefeated and his 1941 squad was undefeated an untied.

Walsh followed Reifsteck in 1942 and proceeded to produce the undefeated, untied 1943 team. After a two-year stint in the Navy, Walsh finished his career at Le Roy in 1947 and went on to coach at Manhasset High School, where he mentored such legends as Jim Brown.

McGrath as a three-sport star in the early 1940s and was a pivotal member of the 1943 football team. In 1945, McGrath was invited to try out for the Batavia Clippers baseball team.

The 1943 football team has long been regarded as the best team in Le Roy history. The team was undefeated. The squad was also untied until the final two games, when the Knights routed rival Batavia 27-12 and defeated Mohawk 19-13 to finish the year at 7-0.

McCulley was a basketball star in the late 1950s  and early 1960s. A sharpshooter well before the invent of the 3-point arc, it is highly believed that McCulley would still have numerous scoring records if the 3-pointer had been part of the game.

In the late 1950s, Mills excelled at the game of golf and while attending high school he was part of a group that made up their own golf squad to challenge some of the bigger schools in Rochester. In 1974, he became the golf professional at Le Roy County Club and remained there until he stepped down at the end of the 2006 season. He still holds the course record with a 61.

Pangrazio was inducted into the Section 5 Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and was a member of the 10-0 and inaugural Section 5 championship squad. He went on to have a stellar career at the United States Naval Academy, both on the field and, more importantly, off the field.

Woodruff graduated in 1990 and was also a three-sport star for the Knights. For many years, she was the leading force for the soccer, basketball and softball teams at Le Roy.

Last but not least, Tomidy was a force on the basketball court in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After a stellar career at Le Roy, Tomidy went on to star at Marist College from 1992-1996, where he remains seventh on the school’s all-time scoring list, and then to an outstanding European career.

Le Roy’s Hall of Fame follows those already begun at nearby schools Batavia and Caledonia-Mumford, but not necessarily in like and kind, and plans to induct a new class every two years.

“We are intending to give each recipient a plaque and we also plan to do something either at the school or in one of the municipal buildings to recognize all of the members,” said Whiting.

 Moreover, led by the efforts of alumnus Jim Rudgers, the Hall of Fame committee is glad to finally be able to honor those athletes that proudly played at Le Roy and they believe they have selected the strongest inaugural class possible.

The induction will be a brunch at Holy Family School at 9:30 a.m. and will be open to the public.