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Sunday, October 14, was a special night at the Holiday Inn in Fogelsville. The District XI held their inaugural Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Fourteen outstanding individuals were honored for their contributions to field hockey, boys and girls basketball, football, wrestling, swimming, and coaching.
Gary Laubach and Larry Miller of Catasauqua
Space does not allow me to present their complete resumes, but let me try to briefly describe their contributions to District XI high school athletics:
Sue Butz-Stavin – Emmaus Field Hockey Coach
- 42nd year as the coach
- Career record – 937-80-35 – 92%
- 12 State Championships
- 27 straight District titles (32 total)
- National record for career wins
J Birney Crum – Allentown High School Football and Basketball Coach
- 24 years as head coach of football: Career record – 190-51-27
- Basketball : Career record – 490-109 with a winning streak of 60 games
Diane Decker – Marian Catholic Basketball
- Scored 2,377 points with 1,116 rebounds
- Led her team to two District Championships and the 1984 State championship
John Donmoyer – William Allen Basketball Coach
- Coached for almost 60 years
- Won five EPC championships; 6 District titles; and twice a State runner-up
- His 624 wins is the most by any District XI boys basketball coach
Al Erdosy – Northampton Football Coach
- 28 years as head football coach at Northampton
- Career record – 194-55-10
- Teams won 16 Lehigh Valley League titles and shared 5 more
- Winning streaks of 58 games and 47 games
- Four unbeaten and untied seasons
Matt Gerhard – Catasauqua Wrestling
- A four-time State wrestling champion (one of only 13 to accomplish that feat)
- Overall career record – 127-3
- Was named to the first team of Wrestling USA
Michelle Marciniak – Central Catholic Basketball
- Scored 3,025 points, the record for both boys and girls at Central Catholic
- Led her team to 4 District titles and 2 State championship finals
- USA Today All-American and National HS Player of the Year as well as Gatorade and Naismith National Player of the Year
Ed McCaffrey – Central Catholic Football and Basketball
- Basketball – 3rd highest scorer in Central Catholic history – 1, 637 points
- Won 2 PIAA State Basketball Championships
- Football – All-State honors; went on to play in the NFL winning 3 Super Bowl Championships
Larry Miller – Catasauqua Basketball
- Arguably the greatest high school player in District XI ever
- Scored 2,722 points and had 2,062 rebounds
- Scored 911 points as a senior
- Team won 4 straight Lehigh Valley titles and 3 straight District XI championships
- 1st team All-State twice; Parade All-American
- All-American at North Carolina; and played in the ABA
Bob Mlkvy – Palmerton Basketball
- Scored 1,963 points, a Palmerton record that still stands
- Team won 44 straight games and 3 Lehigh Valley League titles
- Scored 48 points in one game
- All-State twice and All-American twice
Ray Nunamaker – Nazareth High School Wrestling Coach
- 34 years as head coach at Nazareth
- Career record – 468-95-7
- Teams won 8 District titles and 110 consecutive dual meets
- Coached 9 PIAA state champions, including 1 by his son
- A member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
Artie Owens – Stroudsburg Football
- Ran for 2,061 yards in his senior year scoring a state record 41 TD’s
- Led his team to an 11-0 season in 1971
- First team All-State and an All-American
- Played in the NFL and the USFL
Milo Sewards – Allentown High School Basketball Coach
- 23 years as the head basketball coach
- Career record – 408-167
- Team won 35 consecutive EPC conference games
- Won 9 league championships, including 5 straight
- Won 4 District titles
- Won the 1950 PIAA State Championship
Alyssa Vavra – Panther Valley Swimming
- Most decorated swimmer in District XI history
- 16 time District XI champion
- Won 5 PIAA championships and 4 PIAA silver medals
- A 17-time All-American
- Currently holds every girls swimming record at Panther Valley
- At Indiana University, she was the Big 10 Swimmer and Athlete of the Year
As you can imagine, it was a wonderful night, with so many potential inductees to go. The District XI has done itself proud.
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
- I hope you were not part of the many people who told me they either left the game or turned the channel Friday night during our state-wide Freedom-Emmaus football game. With 127 seconds to go, Freedom was trailing by 15 points. Due to a number of unusual happenings, they scored with 1:11 to go and scored again with 27 seconds to go and then got a 2-point conversion to tie the game and send it into overtime. Freedom won on another 2-point conversion 32-31. If you missed it, there’s always Video On Demand.
- My “Gary’s Guesses” are a good indication of how difficult it has been this year in the NFL to pick winners. It is no different in the gambling world. A report out of Vegas on Monday morning said that Bears–Dolphins game garnered double the interest of any other single game. 85% was bet on the Bears including two $100,000 bets. The Dolphins won 31-28 in overtime.
- You decide – Who is the best running back in the NFL right now A) Todd Gurley of the Rams; B) Ezekial Elliot of the Cowboys; or C) Saquon Barkley of the Giants?
- It was great seeing Larry Miller at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Sunday. Larry is, in my opinion, the greatest basketball player ever in the Lehigh Valley. He was part of the District XI 1963 championship win. Catasauqua beat Wilson High School in the final. It was played, believe it or not, before 12,000 people at the Harrisburg State Farm Show Arena because there was no venue large enough in the Lehigh Valley. I was part of the starting five for Wilson in that game. We had beaten Bethlehem High School in the semi-final, also played in Harrisburg. Wilson was the first small school to beat a large school (there was only one classification back then) in Districts. Larry scored 42 points against us. I had quite a few less.
- RCN-TV Sports will be broadcasting the big Colonial League game between Saucon Valley and Notre Dame on Friday night at 7:00pm. RCN-TV will have the Lafayette at Bucknell game on Saturday at noon. At 7:00, we will present the Emmaus-Bethlehem Catholic matchup. That game is, also, LIVE on RCN.
Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks (Last week: 12-3) (Overall: 55-36-2 60% )
Week SEVEN
MIAMI
INDIANAPOLIS
JACKSONVILLE
DALLAS
RAMS
