Carlos Peña with the Tampa Bay Rays. (Photograph by Keith Allison, Creative Commons.)
Haverhill High School has announced the inductees for its Athletics Hall of Fame inaugural class. Eleven individuals will be inducted at the first HHS Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony this spring.
The inductees are:
- Kate Abromovitch, 1989, Basketball, Golf, Softball
- Andy Alsup, 1997, Football, Track
- Matt Battistini, 1978, Football, Track
- Duane Carlisle, 1983, Football, Basketball, Track
- Dan Conway, 1976, Football
- Heidi Hannenian, 1989, Swimming
- Kerry (Horgan) DeVries, 1988, Field Hockey, Basketball, Softball
- John Ottaviani, 1957, Coach, Athletic Director
- Carlos Pena, 1995, Baseball
- Mary Schena, 1983, Cross Country, Track
- Kevin Woelfel, Coach
The Haverhill High School Hall of Fame was established this year to honor former students, coaches, and administrators who excelled in the field of athletics while attending HHS and for their accomplishments after high school. Its purpose is to perpetuate the memory of those persons who have brought distinction, honor, and excellence to Hillie athletics and familiarize the entire community and alumni with the high school’s rich athletic history.
Absolutely stunning that nobody from before the Bicentennial is on this list, completely ignoring several generations of superb HHS athletes. Only two of the 11 are from before the early 80s (not including Ottaviani, who is clearly chosen for his work as AD, which continued into this century). And even thought it’s from the post Title IX era, only three are women. Sounds like some serious sitting around at Kelly’s resulted in this list. Halls of Fame are to recognize the history of sports and great athletes through the years, not a buddy club.