Sports

RHS Hall of Fame Committee Seeking Volunteers

The charter class was inducted in June.

The Rockville High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee is looking for members and behind-the-scenes volunteers. 

Anyone familiar with the history of RHS athletic programs is welcome to join the committee or assist with research.

Anyone wishing to help or submit a nomination can contact Scott Smith at  smithsc33@sbcglobal.net or Steve Krajewski at skrajewski@vernon-ct.gov .

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The committee welcomes public input regarding athletes who might be considered Hall of Famers.

Those interested in serving on the Committee will need to complete a short questionnaire. 

Find out what's happening in Vernonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On June 16, the inaugural RHS Athletic Hall of Fame was inducted. 

Charter members of the Class of 2013 include: 

• Betsy J. Andersen McShea, 1987 - A 12-time letterwinner, Andersen was a two-time All-State honoree in soccer, basketball and track and field and 10-time all-conference selection. She was a two-time USA Today All-America honorable mention selection in basketball and graduated as the all-time basketball leader in points and rebounds and the school record-holder in the javelin.

• Joseph Calaci Jr., 1970 - Calaci lettered four seasons in football and baseball. As a senior in 1969, he earned All-State football honors on both offense and defense and All-America honorable mention recognition by Parade Magazine. That year, he set state records for touchdowns and points in a season.

• John R. Canavari, 1933 - Canavari was a member of the RHS athletic coaching staff from 1952 through 1967 and also served as director of physical education and athletics in Vernon. 

• Thomas J. Dunn, 1933 - In 26 seasons between 1979 and 2004, Dunn led the Rams to three berths in the Class L state title game and six conference championships. In 1990, the Rams won the only state title in program history and Dunn was selected Coach-of-the-Year by the Northern Connecticut Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame for the second time.

• Francis E. Geissler, 1933 -  Geissler is one of two charter inductees to both play and coach at RHS. Geissler played four years of basketball and three years of baseball, and after earning ten letters in three sports at Central Connecticut State University, returned to coach for six years before moving on as a coach and administrator at Eastern Connecticut State University. At RHS, Geissler started the soccer program, and coached basketball and baseball. He never had a losing season in the latter two sports. He referred to his coaching stint at RHS as the best years of his professional life.

• Harry M. Geraghty, 1999 - Geraghty coached boys’ and girls’ cross country, girls’ track & field and boys’ basketball for a total of 33 seasons between the fall of 1982 and the spring of 1994. 

• Susan M. Golden Perrella 1999 - Golden was a four-year letterwinner and three-sport captain in cross country, indoor and outdoor track who won four individual state championships at 800 and 1,000 meters. As a senior, she gained All-State honors in cross country with a fourth-place finish, then won state championships at 800 meters both indoors and outdoors (defending her outdoor title), and ran to a second-place finish at that distance in the New England Championships. As a senior, she led the Rams to conference titles in all three sports and to their first outdoor state title. That year, she placed third in the state in the heptathlon, setting the current state record at 800 meters.

• D. Michael Leonard III 2000 - Leonard played four years of baseball and three of ice hockey, leading the baseball team to consecutive berths in the state championship and the 2000 state title. A right-handed-hitting catcher, Leonard was honored as the Connecticut Gatorade and Hartford Courant Player-of-the-Year as a senior, when he repeated All-State honors. A three-time all-conference baseball selection, Leonard was also a state scholar-athlete award-winner and all-conference hockey selection. Leonard played three seasons in the Boston Red Sox organization – reaching the Double A level -- following a four-year career at the University of Connecticut and has served as head baseball coach at Bates College since 2011.

• James L. Martello, 1965 - Martello was a three-sport letterwinner who went on to coach girls’ basketball for 24 seasons between 1977 and 2001. As a player, Martello lettered four seasons in basketball under Hall of Fame coach John Canavari and four seasons in baseball and two in soccer. He was a player on the best teams in the most successful era in RHS history and was the No. 1 pitcher on the staff throughout his career. As a senior in basketball, he led the Rams to the state tournament semifinals and helped the baseball team to the state final as both a freshman and sophomore. Under Martello, the girls’ basketball team won five conference championships and qualified for 18 state tournaments, reaching the state final once, the semifinals twice and the quarterfinals once in a four-year period in the late-1980s.

• G. Alan Putz 1965 - Putz was a four-year member of the basketball and baseball programs -- playing guard in basketball and pitching and playing third base in baseball – who also played soccer for two seasons. Putz was a two-sport All-State selection who scored 1,017 points in basketball went on to All-New England accolades in baseball. Teamming with current Hall of Famer Jim Martello in both sports, Putz helped the baseball team to the state title game twice and the basketball team to the semifinals as a senior. As a junior in basketball, Putz set program records for points in a game (38) and season (454). An All-America infielder at Springfield College in 1969, Putz was drafted six times by professional baseball – including in the 27th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates after his senior year at RHS – and reached the Triple A level with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973.

• Bill Romanowski, 1984 - Romanowski played four seasons of football under Hall of Fame coach Tom Dunn and three of baseball, serving as a football team captain as a senior and earning academic acclaim. A linebacker, Romanowski went on to a four-year football career at Boston College – winning the program’s Scanlan Trophy for outstanding scholarship, leadership and athletic ability as a senior – and a 16-year career in the NFL which included five Super Bowl appearances, four Super Bowl victories, and two selections to the Pro Bowl. 

• Ralph K. Schumey 1947 - Schumey was one of the most accomplished athletes of the 1940s, playing four years of soccer and baseball and three of basketball and serving as a two-sport captain. As a senior, he led the soccer team in scoring, helped the basketball team to the Class “B” state tournament, and batted .369 in baseball. That year, he received the RHS Sportsmanship Award. Following graduation, the lifelong Vernon/Rockville resident played professional baseball in the Boston Braves’ system, served in the U.S. Air Force, played baseball at Willimantic State Teachers’ College, studied voice at the Hart School of Music, graduated from the University of Hartford, and taught for 25 years in the Vernon Public School system.

Canavari, Geissler, Geraghty and Schumey were inducted posthumously.

The second induction is scheduled for Saturday, June 21, 2014.


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