SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT Eric Lapotsky has truly earned his special achievement award with his 5th place at the PIAA AA State Wrestling Championships this last weekend at the Giant Center in Hershey. Eric sealed his 5th place medal with a pin over Central Columbia’s Simon Fowler, the same wrestler who handed Eric a 6-4 defeat in the quarterfinals. Lapotsky finished the 2005 season with a 39-2 record. He has been a four year varsity performer with the Tornado grapplers and became the first-ever four-time Southern Sectional Champion in District IV. He is also a three-time District medalist, winning the 2005 championship at 171 pounds. He is a two-time Northeast Regional Champion in 2004 and 2005. He was an 8th place state finisher in 2002, as well as, his 5th place finish this year. He is a two-time Schuylkill League Champion and a three-time Schuylkill League All Star. He has concluded his high school wrestling career with a 122-25 record and recently joined Dave Fantini, Dave Evans, and Mike Garcia as the only MCA wrestlers to win 100 matches in their careers. His 122 wins ranks second only to Garcia. He entered the state tourney last weekend as one of only 14 undefeated wrestlers in AA in the state of Pennsylvania. Eric keeps in shape as a distance runner with the Tornado Cross Country team and did it well enough to be names a Schuylkill League All Star twice. Lapotsky was named to the 2004 Pennsylvania All-Academic Wrestling Team as a first team selection. He is a member of the National Honor Society, the Athletic Honor Society and has received a McKelvey Scholarship. He has been recognized as a student of the month by the Mount Carmel Rotary Club and is active in the Science Club, French Club, and as a member of the Envirothon team. Eric will continue his academic and athletic careers at Slippery Rock University, where he has been accepted into the pre-doctorate program in physical therapy. He is the son of Joseph and Katherine Laportsky.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT He has been a fixture on the Mount Carmel Area gridiron since the second half of the Shamokin game in his freshman year. He went on to start his next game with Allentown Central Catholic and made it 45 in a row until he walked out of the Silver Bowl following the Selinsgrove game in November. During his career, Drew would become only the 5th back in MCA history to run for 1000 yards in 2 seasons. He would also become the 5th back in MCA history to rush for over 3000 yards in his career finishing with 3,127. He also had 38 receptions for 627 yards, 50 punt returns for 580 yards and 23 kick off returns for 483 yards. His total of 4,817 all purpose yards also ranks 5th on the all-time MCA list. He scored 44 touchdowns and 268 points in his career – good enough for 6th on the all time list. His 255 yard rushing game against Shikellamy was the third best individual performance in MCA history. It was as a defensive back where Drew elicited most of the oohs and aahs from the crowd. A devastating hitter, Drew posted 253 tackles – 144 solo – as a free safety: adding 10 interceptions, 17 passes broken up and 2 fumble recoveries. Only Mike Diminick had more tackles than Letcavage as a defensive back. Drew would help his teams win one District IV championship in 2002 and one PIAA AA State Championship in 2002. He added an Eastern Conference Crown in 2001. He would be honored as a Pennsylvania Football News 3rd team running back in 2002, a second team defensive back in 2003 and first team defensive back in 2004. He would become a 30time Reading Eagle, Pottsville Republican, Press Enterprise, and News Item first team all-star. He capped his career following the 2004 season by being named to the Associated Press AA First Team All State Team as a defensive back. He was also honored by WNEP-TV as a Dream Team All Star and was named to the Patriot News Platinum 33 Team as a defensive back. Drew has recently been chosen to play in the East-West All Star game in Altoona in June. Andrew is the son of Annette Buczeski and Thomas Letcavage. He has accepted a full scholarship to William and Mary University as a safety, a position he excelled at while at Mount Carmel.

JOSEPH D. WASILEWSKI FEMALE SCHOLAR ATHLETE This year’s female scholar athlete is Adrienne Baksi. Baksi is on track to become the second consecutive valedictorian to be named the female scholar athlete. She currently ranks number one in her class with a GPA of 100.98 and has become a member of the 1300 Club by virtue of her 1320 SAT score. She is a member of the National Honor Society and as a member of the Science Club has participated in the Science Olympiad, Elementary Science Lessons and Science in Motion. She has taken part in the Bloomsburg University math competition for 3 years and was involved in the Exploring Environment Chemistry Workshop at Muhlenberg College in the summer of 2001. Adrienne can be seen daily as an anchor of “MCA Live” Mount Carmel Area’s student run school television program. She has served as the morning new editor for 2 years, as well as acting as the editor of “Tornado Times”, MCA’s seasonal news and feature magazine. Adrienne also serves as the sports editor for “The Watch”, MCA’s school newspaper. She is the Co-president of the Interact Club, heading up such projects as Food and Coat Drive, Food bank stocking, Hoops for Heart, Hams for the needy, Toys for Tots, SPCA Drive, Crop Walk, and visits with the elderly. Other extracurriculars include serving as SADD secretary, Developmental Studies President, Yearbook staff, homecoming float committee and performing in the school musicals. Athletically, Adrienne has the distinction of throwing 2 no-hitters for Mike Trocki’s Lady Tornado softball team. Unfortunately, one of those games was a loss vs Pine Grove in her sophomore year. The second was a win over Lourdes Regional in 2004. She has lettered for three years with the Tornado softball squad as a pitcher and left fielder with a .900 fielding percentage. Baksi has also lettered for 3 years with the Lady Tornado Basketball squad as a point guard and 2-guard. Her hustle and aggressiveness is noticeable whenever you see her play. Adrienne has also participated in intramural volleyball for three years and Powder Puff football for two years, serving as captain of this year’s team. Adrienne has certainly distinguished herself both on and off the court for Mount Carmel Area and deserves to have her name up there with past winners of this award. She is the daughter of Elaine and David Baksi, Marion Heights, and will continue her education at Franklin and Marshall College to major in Biology with an interest in pursuing veterinary medicine.

JOSEPH JAZZ DIMINICK MALE SCHOLAR ATHLETE Unlike most of the past recipients of this award who excelled in the more traditional sports like football, basketball, wrestling, baseball and track and field, Rich Chesney made his way to the head of the class by way of the soccer field and cross country course. Being the top ranked male in the class of 2005 has also played a role in his being named the Joseph Jazz Diminick Male Scholar Athlete by the Ed Romance Lower Anthracite Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Chesney has excelled for the Red Tornado soccer team for four years, serving as captain in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. As a junior, Rich led the Tornadoes to a 9-10-1 record in only their fourth year of existence. He scored 29 goals and chipped in with 13 assists for a total of 71 points. Both numbers established single season marks at MCA. As a senior last fall, Rich added 21 goals and 18 assists, giving him a career total of 55 goals (a school record) and 35 assists and a total of 145 points (also a school record) in his career. His efforts earned him News Item all star honors in 2003 and 2004; being named Soccer Player of the Year in 2003 and Offensive Soccer Player of the Year in 2004. He was also named a Schuylkill League All Star as a junior and senior. Chesney was also named a Schuylkill League All Star following his junior and senior seasons with the Tornado harriers. He finished 12th in 2003 and 11th in 2004 at the Schuylkill Interscholastic All League Meet and medaled with an 11th place finish at the 2004 District IV Meet in a time of 17:56; qualifying for the PIAA State Championship Meet. In addition to his 98.8 GPA, Richard ranks 4th in his class of 114 at MCA and has posted an 1120 on the SAT’s. He is a member of the National Honor Society, Student Council, Interact Club and was recognized by “Who’s Who Among American High School students”. He has participated in the Science Olympiad, the Envirothon, and has volunteered in teaching elementary students and as a coach of u-14 AYSO soccer. Rich has been awarded a Vickroy Scholarship at Lebanon Valley College where he plans to pursue a doctorate degree in physical therapy and also play intercollegiate soccer. He is the son of Richard S. and Shirley Chesney of Kulpmont.