Lesley Gilotti Henry

• Post by: mcalibrary
• January 12, 2024
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INDUCTEE

Lesley Gilotti’s athletic career began on the streets of Shady Acres playing basketball with the boys. It would flourish into a brilliant career at Mount Carmel Area, earning letters in four different sports, to starting for the Knights of Beaver College as a freshman, and continuing today as an active competitor in the grueling “Iron Man” competitions.

Lesley was one of three freshman starters for Coach Deb Perles and MCA basketball during the 1989-90 season. She helped the Tornadoes end a 24-game losing streak by winning their opening game in a 58-57 win over Shikellamy. In the team’s second game against Lourdes Regional, Lesley first made people take notice of her skills, scoring 23 points and wouldn’t look back. She helped the Tornadoes win 10 games that season by scoring 322 points and would help the team gain credibility in the always tough Division I of the Schuylkill League.

Gilotti would lead the Tornadoes in scoring in each of her four years with the team and did it consistently with 322, 392, 337, and 437. She would score in the doubles in 76 of her 97 games and scored over 20 on 24 different occasions. She had a high of 32 in a 65-51 win over Shamokin, a game in which team mate Carolyn Darrup registered her 1000th point. She would hit 39 3-point goals during her senior season, leading the Tornadoes to a fine 14-10 record, their first winning season since the 1987 season, before losing to perennial state power Pine Grove in the first round of District XI. Gilotti would finish her career with 1488 points, good enough for fourth on the all-time list behind Maria Fantanarosa, Cheryl Kent, and Carolyn Darrup and would graduate as MCA’s all time leader in 3-pt field goals with 96. Lesley accomplished her feat at a time when MCA had two, 1000 point scorers in Marie McDonald and Darrup, 1000 rebounder Sue Humphrey, and 500 assist guard Jill Gonzalo.

Lesley also excelled as a softball player for head coach Mike Trocki and was an integral part of the Tornadoes only District Championship team in 1992. That team would go 17-4, defeating Pottsville and Minersville – two teams who were the face of post season play at the time. Lesley had 23 hits, 18 RBI’s, 8 extra-base hits and 7 multiple hit games. She also went 2-1 on the mound for the Lady Tornadoes with a 1.24 ERA.

Following graduation, Gilotti would enroll at Beaver College (now Arcadia University) where she would start as a freshman and lead the team with a 15.5 point per game average. Lesley then gave up competitive sports to concentrate on her career in the medical field.

The competitive fire began to burn once again for Lesley when she began to compete in triathlons on a dare. She progressed to where she would compete in the Ford Ironman in Florida in 2009, which is a 2.4 mile ocean swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run. In 2010, she competed in the Lake Placid Ironman and plans to return in July of this year. She has competed in numerous triathlons for all lengths including sprint, Olympic, and half marathons.

Lesley would earn a Bachelor of Science from Thomas Jefferson University’s Valedictory Program in 1997. She would ass a Masters of Science in Nursing from Temple University and graduate from Pennsylvania Hospital of Nurse Anesthesia in 2000. She is currently chief nurse anesthetist of Union Deposit Anesthesia in Harrisburg and moonlights as a staff nurse anesthetist at Pinnacle Health Community Campus. She is married to Justin Henery and makes her home in Harrisburg. Lesley is the duaghter of Beverly and Morris Gilotti of Shady Acres.