INDUCTEE Alex is another of those unselfish guys whose devotion and commitment to kids sports has contributed to the community and the kids whose life he touched. He was a four sport star at Conyngham Township until 1941. Like so many others at the time, he left school to enlist in the Army. From 1943 to 1945 he was a Military Policeman with the U.S. Army in Germany. While there he found time to compete in football, baseball, and boxing. After the was he returned home and got involved with semi-pro baseball with Star Lane. In 1950 he was a coach for the Mount Carmel Legion Team which won several league championships. In 1958 the Atlas Fire Company Softball team. In 1963 the Atlas Hose Little League Team. In 1966 the Atlas Black Diamond Teener Team. In 9173 he tool over the Mt. Carmel Rotary Teener Team. Everywhere he went there was a common occurrence: his teams executed fundamentals extremely well and the won championships. He has won championships on every level. Bush League, Little League, and Teener League. And always he coached because he loved baseball, the kids and the opportunity to be around the game.

INDUCTEE All over the country people are beginning to question the value of kid sports. Measuring the obvious benefits against the excesses and the overemphasis on winning at all costs leaves some people wondering. Not to worry where “Bronx” is concerned. For 26 years he has coached the same simple philosophy: “Try your hardest. Fun is more important than the final score. Everybody plays. Learn to execute the fundamental things.” The problem has been that most people who coach do so because they want to favor their own kids. Bronx has done it where none of his own kids was involved. He gave all his time teaching the game to other peoples kids. He began in 1969 as a volunteer to Mike Rudock and ha hes continued for 26 summers. Many of them assisted by George Kroutch. The real test of how successful he has been is in the makeup of some of his present day rosters. They contain the sons of some of his original players who want their kids to learn the same lessons they got on baseball and sportsmanship. Bronx was a pretty fair country softball player for Atlas Hose Company, managed bu Joe “Hobie” Forti. And their friendly rivalry continued for many years, including several league championship series. But it was as a junior league coach where “Bronx” has made the most important contributions.

INDUCTEE Fred Hynoski was a super high school football player, teaming with Jimmy Darrup to give Mount Carmel one of the best running back combinations ever to play for the Red and White. However, it was as a college player that Fred really hit his stride. At the University of Cincinnati, Fred found the perfect showcase for his versatile talents. He was one of the last of the two-way players; guys who did everything on the football field. He was the lone starting sophomore for the Bearcats when they opened the season against Hardin-Simmons…and he held onto the position for three years. During that period he not only led the team in rushing; but also was the leading punt and kick-off returner and averaged 38.6 yards as the Bearcat punter. His particular specialty was the quick-kick. At that time. A team with a quick-kicker was at a tremendous advantage. IN one game against Air Force Academy, he gained 72 yards rushing, 59 in a final TD drive that ended up just short of victory for the Bearcats. And quick-kicks of 50, 50, and 40 yards kept the high powered offense of the Academy at bay keeping the score close until the end. For that performance he was named Missouri Valley Conference Back of the week. His versatility made him an outstanding threat anywhere on the field. As a senior he led the team in total offense, was second in rushing and was the leading scorer. He had a 77 yard punt return which was the Bearcat record at the time. He led the Missouri Valley Conference in both punting and punt and kickoff returns…and he was 20th in the nation in punting average. He was voted All Conference Honorable mention as a junior; and was second team as a senior. Fred’s entrance into our Hall is long overdue. He was an outstanding player who did it all against major competition.

OUTSTANDING SCHOLAR ATHLETE Ed Romance loved athletes. He considered athletics the highest form of expression for a Coal Region Kid…The Hall of Fame was his idea of how our great athletes could serve as ideals for the rest of us. And when a great athlete was also a great student, or was able to equal his success on the field with similar success in life, Ed Romance loved it even more. Ed Romance would have been crazy about Mike Higgins. Mike won the job as starting quarterback during the pre-season practice his freshman year at Mount Carmel: and he went on to start 50 consecutive games…culminating with his score of the winning touchdown in the State Championship Game. On his way he has accumulated career records for yards passing, completions and touchdown passes; and has been named to every All Star and All State Team of significance. In addition, he is four-year varsity letter winner in basketball, and is co-captain of that squad. Michael has been ranked number one in his class academically throughout his school career. He is expected to hold that ranking through graduation this year. He has dine it all. ATHLETICS in the form of breaking records; PERFORMANCE IN THE CLUTCH, in the form of scoring the winning touchdown, on what was actually a broken play; LEADERSHIP, in the form of being elected captain of his teams, and class president; and SCHOLARSHIP, in the form of compiling a 98 plus average over 12 years. Mike is also active in school plays, student government and service organizations. Over the 17 years that this club has honored student athletes, we have had some great ones, but Ed Romance really would have loved Mike Higgins.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Mike Garcia, Jr. is flat out the finest wrestler ever produced in our area. No one, ever has produced at such a high level of performance for as long a period of time. And Mike has done it not only on a state-wide basis, but nationally and internationally as well. When the 145 pound Senior beat defending champion Scott Kurtz of Shamokin, 8-3, to win the Schuylkill League Championship and become it’s outstanding wrestler, he also seemed to pave the way for his third consecutive State Championship as well. Mike’s overall record is 30-9. That record is at every level of competition, nationally and internationally. The mind boggles in consideration of what he has accomplished. As a Sophomore he was 35-0 and swept through Districts and Regionals as the outstanding wrestler on his way to becoming State Champion. As a Junior he was 35-1, and avenged his only loss in the finals of the Regional Tournament in winning his second successive State Championship. As this report went to press, he was 25-0 and had beaten Kurtz, who was considered his most serious roadblock in his drive for the third straight State Championship. Barring injury or illness, he should win this championship later this evening. Competing in the tough USA Wrestling Circuit, Mike has been a four time State Champion and All American in both Greco Roman and Freestyle Events. The highlight of his career was the defeat of the Russian Champion in an international meet two summers ago. Mike will be attending college at Bucknell University, where he will be continuing his wrestling career.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Jake Cole is a member of that very exclusive fraternity comprised of terrific high school athletes who become even better as college players. Former Tornado assistant coach, Carm DeFrancesco, remembers Jake as “The consummate team player and leader” a kid who even then outworked everybody else. He was a dedicated weight trainer, especially in the off-season. He was known for his solid, consistent play; but occasionally he’d demonstrate flashes of brilliance which were an indication that his best was yet to come. In a game against Marian he had a 95 yard TD run that is one of the longest ever for a Tornado back. Against Pottsville, he returned an interception for 101 yards to score, the longest in MCA history. Nobody considered him especially fast; yet he ended up as the leading sprinter on the Tornado track team as a senior. He continued to grow after high school, and became a solid 200 pounder at Wilkes. Last year he led the Colonels to a 10-0 record, the MAC Championship and a spot in the Division III National Playoffs. He was the defensive star od a team that was nationally ranked in every defensive category. Big players play their best in big games, and in the National Playoff Game he had 10 tackles and 2 sacks. Afterward, he was named 1st Team MAC, all East Coast, and most impressively First Team All American, Division III. Still a leader, he has been elected team captain by his teammates, as Wilkes attempts to use last season as a springboard for the National Championship this year.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Joel Gonzalo, a junior at Mount Carmel Area High School, recently became only the 5th underclassman in MCA history to be named an all-state football player. He was named to the second team Big School All-State team chosen by the Associated Press as a wide receiver. During the 1993 season, Gonzalo established a new season record with 51 receptions good for 721 yards and 7 touchdowns. His three TD’s vs Montoursville and 8 receptions vs Danville tied single game records at MCA. For the last 2 years, Joel has been the starting point guard on the Tornado basketball team, leading the team in assists and steals both years. This season, he has added 13 points per game to his role as floor leader. During the Holiday River Tournament at Selinsgrove, Gonzalo was named tourney MVP with 31 points and 15 assists as MCA won the championship. Last spring, Joel was a member of MCA’s 4×400 meter District II AA Championship Relay team running a 51.9 split. An honor student, Gonzalo has been a member of the cast for MCA’s productions of The Music Man and South Pacific and this year’s Oklahoma. He is a member of the Key Club, Biology Club, Spanish Club, SADD, Stand Tall and is a Big Brother. He is the son of Rose and Jose Gonzalo, Shady Acres.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD In the words of his coach, John McKay, John Christian is a “Gym Rat”. But the way McKay says it, you know he means it in its most positive sense. Christian is a kid who loves being in the gym, loves practicing, loves being there…even when he’s mostly there alone. Christian is only the eighth Tornado player to score more than 1000 points in a career. Yet according to McKay the people around him made more of a fuss over the impending moment than Christian himself. “He was and is a completely unselfish player”, according to McKay, “Many times he’d follow up a twenty point game with a game where he’d take only two or three shots”. Christian was one of the very few players whe have started for four years for the Tornadoes. As a freshman, he scored 262 points, the most ever for a freshman player. And while starting every game that year he led the Tornadoes to its first ever District Championship. John is also a solid baseball player who started as a catcher for three years. He will continue his athletic career in college, though he has not made a final choice of where he’ll go at this point. His father, John Sr, is Mount Carmel Area’s Freshman Coach.

INDUCTEE Steve Jepko was of a rare breed. He was a dreamer. A visionary who could look at things and figure out how they were going to turn out in the future. But more importantly, he was also a doer. Being able to stamp your dreams onto a blueprint and make them a reality makes a man special and distinct. Steve Jepko sure was. Back in the middle 50’s Steve Jepko somehow figured out that television and golf were going to be important someday. His vision for television brought cable TV to the Coal Regions; he was one of the pioneers in that industry. He had the same feeling about golf. At the time golf was a game for the idle rich. You played at a country club or you didn’t play, which right away eliminated 95% of us. Professional Golf then was played by migrants. Guys who scuffled from tour stop to tour stop, practically running tournaments on their own. Somehow, among all that, Steve Jepko figured that he wanted to build a golf course where the 95% could play. He had the energy to make the dream come true; and in 1956 he bought two small farms in Elysburg and immediately began working. By 1959 he opened the first nine. In the meantime, a charismatic youg guy from Latrobe named Arnold Palmer, a working man’s son, began dominating the Pro Golf Tour and the country began to take notice. The popularity of Palmer and President Eisenhower, himself a devoted Golfer, made the game takeoff. Pretty soon the country couldn’t get enough golf. And the final art of the success story, ironically enough, was that seeing tournaments on television was the most important factor in making the game popular. In 1963 the final nine holes were added. The golf course was his passion until his death in 1973. After he died, the course was taken over by his son, Steve Jr., who has continued to make improvements and changes each year. Three Ponds is now one of the finest public courses in the state. It is a stern test of golf for even the best players; and is finely conditioned as even the most exclusive private clubs. Steve Jepko’s dream of a golf course for the working man has been realized.

INDUCTEE Betty Katona has spent a good part of her life in the water. She comes from a family which loved swimming and water sports, and as a result became very good at it at a very early age. Her brother, John Marcinek, built a solid reputation as a diver on a national basis…and together they gave swimming and diving exhibitions at the Shamokin Valley Counrty Club and Philadelphia Country Club. In the early 60’s, Pete Knoebel asked Betty to take over their “Learn to Swim Porgram” at the Elysburg pool. When she begins her 30th year this summer, she will have taught more than 3500 kids to swim and trained more than 500 lifeguards. In the late 60’s she was hired by Mt. Carmel Area School District to be a Physical Ed Aide and to start a water safety program. She developed enough interest in swimming among the student body to start a Varsity Swim Team, and she was head coach for 10 years. During her tenure as coach, three of her divers qualified for state championships and two other swimmers got partial scholarships to swim in college. She retired from the school district two years ago; but has stayed active in swimming. She is a swim official and still gives private lessons at Knoebels. Her son, Tim Katona, was a state champion burdler and is also a member of the Hall of Fame.