A key member of the 1973 WPIAL Class 2A football championship team as a senior,
Mark Schubert went on to become one of the nation’s top collegiate placekickers at the
University of Pittsburgh. He earned the starting role in 1977 on a Panthers team that
finished the season ranked No. 7 nationally and capped the year with a 34–3 Gator
Bowl victory over Clemson. Schubert delivered gamewinning kicks against Syracuse,
Temple, and Arizona. In 1979, he scored 71 points on 14 field goals and 29 PATs. He kicked three field goals and an extra point in Pitt’s 16–10 Fiesta Bowl win over Arizona, earning Offensive MVP
honors. He finished his career with 189 points, ranking 16th in Pitt scoring history.
A standout at Springdale High School, Paul Sapotichne was named Basketball Player of
the Year in 1971 by WKPA Radio and Westmoreland Cable TV3, earning a scholarship
to Westminster College. After three seasons as a player, he began coaching as a senior
assistant and was named head coach at Wilmington Area High School less than two
years after graduating. Sapotichne went on to coach 30 seasons at Greensburg Salem, winning 404 games and leading the Golden Lions to the 2009 PIAA Class 3A finals, where he was named
AP Class 3A State Coach of the Year. After six seasons at Riverview, he returned to
Greensburg Salem and had accumulated 469 career victories as of 2025.
A 1993 Knoch graduate, Nick Reiser earned three varsity letters in football and two in
basketball. As a defensive lineman, he helped lead Knoch to the 1992 WPIAL Class 3A
title game, anchoring a defense that allowed seven points or fewer in 10 of 13 games.
He earned thirdteam allstate honors, and Knoch posted a 27–10 record during his
varsity career. At Allegheny College, Reiser became one of the most dominant defensive linemen in
North Coast Athletic Conference history. In 1993, he became just the third freshman
ever named firstteam AllNCAC. As a senior in 1996, he earned firstteam AllAmerican
honors from three organizations and was named NCAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Larry Ondako won 500 games as a high school varsity coach across basketball (365),
softball (111), and golf (24). A 1962 Arnold High School graduate, he lettered in
basketball and baseball and represented the school in the Ford City Kiwanis AllStar
Games. He continued his athletic career at Slippery Rock University, lettering in both basketball
and baseball. As a coach, his Leechburg basketball teams won four section titles and
made 13 WPIAL playoff appearances. His Burrell softball teams won three section titles
in seven years and reached one WPIAL championship game. Ondako also won 14
tennis championships at Hill Crest Country Club and captured a World Softball Title with
Hubby’s in 1969.
A multisport standout at Kiski Area, Jodie Vick McCartney lettered in basketball,
volleyball, and track, following in the footsteps of her twin sister, Jaime. She played four
varsity basketball seasons and was part of the 23–2 section championship team in
2001. She was named team MVP in 2002. At Saint Vincent College, she was a two time captain and totaled 627 points, 159 assists, and 423 rebounds. She later assisted coaching basketball and volleyball at Kiski Area and served as head volleyball coach from 2019–2022. McCartney devotes significant time to raising funds for the Jaime Vick Memorial Fund in honor of her sister, who passed away in 2012.
A key contributor to Valley High School’s football resurgence, Jonathan Martin earned
allFoothills Conference honors as a defensive back in 1973 and as an offensive back in
1974, also earning secondteam allstate recognition. Valley posted backtoback 7–2
seasons during his varsity career. Martin lettered four years in baseball and excelled for the New Kensington American Legion team in 1975. At Slippery Rock University, he played varsity football all four seasons and was a three year starter. In 1978, primarily as a blocking back, he compiled 803 all purpose yards and averaged 6.4 yards per carry.
Donald Frederick spent 46 seasons as a highly respected assistant football coach at
several AlleKiski high schools, including Verona, Riverview, Valley, and Leechburg. His
roles included defensive coordinator and head junior high coach.
A 1964 New Kensington High School graduate, he earned a football scholarship to the
University of South Carolina before transferring to California University of Pennsylvania,
where he was an alldistrict offensive tackle. Frederick contributed to Riverview’s 1986 co-championship team and was part of the staff that won the 1997 WPIAL Class A title.
A 2002 Kiski Area graduate, Jaime Vick Moran excelled in basketball, volleyball, and
track while courageously battling leukemia. She was part of the 2001 section
championship basketball team that set a school record with 23 wins and earned six
varsity letters. She played one season at Westminster College alongside her twin sister, Jodie, and
was a member of the Bearcats’ 2003 NCAA Division III championship team. After a
bone marrow transplant, she returned to play 42 games during the 2005–06 season.
Moran began teaching in 2007 and spent four seasons assisting Kiski’s girls’ basketball
program. Inducted into another hall in 2012, she passed away later that year at age 28.
The 1948 Ford City boys basketball team finished 23–5 under coach Hube Rupert,
winning the WPIAL Class 3A title and finishing as PIAA runnerup in the state’s largest
classification. The team opened the season 7–0, including a 53–31 win over powerhouse Farrell, and
won Section 1A with a 10–2 record. A tuneup loss to Sharon was their only home defeat
in four years. Ford City defeated Brentwood and Wilkinsburg to reach the WPIAL final, where they
beat McKeesport 41–30 for the school’s third WPIAL crown. They advanced past
Conemaugh and Westinghouse to the state final before falling to Norristown, 30–23, at
the Penn Palestra.
Despite graduating 20 starters from the 1970 WPIAL runnerup team, the 1971 Kiski
Area Cavaliers opened the season 6–0 while averaging 38.3 points per game. In a
showdown of unbeatens before an estimated 9,500 fans at Davis Field, Kiski defeated
Hempfield 13–8. The Cavaliers completed a 10–0 regular season and qualified for the playoffs under the WPIAL’s new rule admitting all undefeated teams. They defeated Penn Hills 9–6 on a
late Joe Stone field goal, then won the Class 3A championship with a 16–8 victory over
Thomas Jefferson at Pitt Stadium. Kiski Area finished the season ranked No. 1 in Pennsylvania by the Saylor Ratings System.
A threesport standout at Kiski Area, Anthony Recchia earned six varsity letters in
football, basketball, and track. He won the Valley News Dispatch “Six Star Final”
competition multiple times against athletes from 16 area schools.
After lettering at Slippery Rock, he transferred to Pitt as a walkon punter and defensive
back, eventually earning a scholarship and becoming the Panthers’ fulltime punter. He
played in the Sugar and Fiesta Bowls, was a fourtime Special Teams Player of the
Game, and signed with the Cleveland Browns, reaching the 60man roster cut.
Recchia is also a two-time club champion at Diamond Run Country Club.
Fred Paganelli began his baseball journey with the Natrona Heights Little League
District 8 champions in 1960 and once homered off future Pirates pitcher Bob Moose.
He starred on the 1965 township team and hit .353 for the 1966 Legion–Harwick
Inspection champions. At Point Park College, he was a fouryear starter and hit .357 for his
career, helping lead the program to its first two playoff appearances in 1969 and 1970.
Paganelli served as assistant coach for the 1971 Highlands WPIAL baseball champions
and later spent 15 seasons as Highlands’ head coach, winning five section titles and
qualifying for the playoffs four additional times. He served 34 years as an educator in
the Highlands School District.
Scott Higgins earned seven varsity letters at Riverview High School in football,
basketball, and baseball, serving as team captain in all three sports. He was selected to
the Big 33 AllStar Classic in 1980 and earned allAIC and allWPIAL honors as a
defensive back. He played on section championship teams in both basketball and baseball. At
Westminster College, Higgins earned three varsity letters in football, achieving NAIA
FirstTeam honors in 1982 and 1983 and Kodak Division II AllAmerican recognition in
1983. He was also a threetime District 18 baseball allstar as a shortstop.
Higgins is a member of the Westminster College Sports Hall of Fame.
A member of ApolloRidge’s 1991 WPIAL Class AA girls basketball championship team,
Shane Bartha led the Vikings with 21 points in their 54–51 titlegame victory at Pitt’s
Fitzgerald Field House. The team opened the season 28–0 before finishing as state
runner up. Bartha was named the ObserverReporter Player of the Year for 1990–91 and
remains ApolloRidge’s alltime leading scorer with 1,500 points. She holds six additional school
records, including singlegame marks for points, assists, and steals (15).
She and her father, Ray Bartha (inducted in 2008), form just the third fatherdaughter
duo in the hall.
A 1998 Valley High School graduate, Brice Flenory was a threeyear starter and twotime
firstteam Valley News Dispatch allstar, finishing his career with more than 1,200
points—third in school history. He was the 1998 CoEast Player of the Year and earned
coMVP honors at the Western PA Roundball Classic with a 19point performance.
Flenory was selected for the Cager Classic and the Born to Run Classic at La Roche
University. He later played professionally with the Pittsburgh Xplosion and was featured
in multiple regional and national publications.
A longtime coach and administrator in Pittsburgh Public Schools, he served as Dean of
Students and coached Obama Academy’s middle school girls to undefeated seasons in
2017–18. He has received numerous citations from the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives, Pittsburgh City Council, and other organizations.
A 1992 Kiski Area graduate, Melissa Baustert Schaeffer began her track career at the
encouragement of the program’s founder, the late Bill Halli. As a senior, she placed
second in the WPIAL 300meter hurdles, sixth in the 100meter hurdles, and helped the
1600meter relay team finish fifth. Expanding into cross country under coach George Argyros, she became a three year letter winner and a PIAA qualifier. At Carnegie Mellon University, she competed in both track and cross country, setting 11 school records and earning NCAA Division III AllAmerican honors four times. She later returned to Kiski Area as an educator and cross country coach before
continuing her career at Freeport.
A 1982 Springdale High School graduate, Mark Perry earned a scholarship to Wheeling
Jesuit College, where he was a four year starter. He went on to become one of Western Pennsylvania’s most accomplished high school soccer coaches, amassing more than 600 victories across Hampton, Fox Chapel, Center/Central Valley, and Seneca Valley. His teams have reached the WPIAL playoffs in 37 of 39 seasons, winning 17 section titles, four WPIAL championships (three boys, one girls), and finishing as runner up five times. He has also guided teams to two PIAA state titles. Perry was named WPIAL Boys Coach of the Year in 1995 and has earned WPIAL Section Coach of the Year honors 17 times. He has also been a prominent club soccer coach and officer for more than 30 years.
Ellen Toy passed away on February 22, 2016, at age 54 after a courageous battle with
cancer. A standout volleyball player and team captain at Kiski Area from 1977–79, she earned a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh. In her first year of coaching in 1983, she led the Plum girls volleyball team to a PIAA state championship. She later served as head volleyball coach at Leechburg from 1991–2006 and at Kiski Area from 2007–2014, stepping down due to health concerns. Toy was a 25year educator and received the 2015 WPIAL Courage Award. She and her husband, Tim, founded the We Serve Foundation, which organized girls volleyball allstar events at Kiski Area in recent seasons.
After being eliminated in the WPIAL quarterfinals by rival Burrell, Valley earned new life
through a fourteam PIAA playin tournament. The Vikings defeated Altoona and South
Hills in the opening rounds, then stunned the defending state champions 75–45 in the
quarterfinals before a packed crowd at IUP’s Memorial Fieldhouse.
Valley edged WPIAL champion Beaver Falls to reach the state final at the Pittsburgh
Civic Arena, where they defeated Allentown’s William Allen before 7,131 fans. Bill
Varner’s late dunk sealed the championship victory.
After losing the 1945 WPIAL title game to Donora, New Kensington rebounded to win
the first of backtoback championships in 1946, finishing 8–0. With New Kensington and
Vandergrift the only undefeated teams, the league designated their Nov. 1
regularseason matchup as the title game. Due to overwhelming interest, the game was moved to Forbes Field, where New Kensington won 21–0 behind three touchdowns from Tony Kotowski.
The team was invited to the Peanut Bowl in Miami but declined when organizers
insisted that Black players Willie Thrower and Flint Greene be left home due to
segregation laws. The team unanimously refused to participate without all members
included.
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