Nine individuals, one team to be added to OCHS Sports Hall of Fame

By TOM WILLIAMS

Six athletes, two coaches, a combination athlete-coach and a state championship team will be added to the Ocean City High School Sports Hall of Fame this fall.

Runners Brett Johnson, John Richardson, Brittany Sedberry and Renee Tomlin have been selected. So has soccer superstar Chad Severs and two-sport star Judy Gayle. Cory Picketts, a successful athlete who returned to OCHS as a coach, will be inducted along with two other coaches – Trish LeFever and Mike Pellegrino. And the 1997 field hockey team will become the ninth team to join the Hall of Fame.

Gayle was a two-sports star in the mid-1970s. She scored in double figures three straight years in basketball and was an offensive and defensive star three straight years in softball. She was named to five all star first teams.

Johnson was a state champion in cross country, a two-time state champion in outdoor track and the last OCHS track athlete to win in the NJSIAA Outdoor Meet of Champions.

LeFever was her coach at OCHS and the coach who established the Raiders field hockey program. She coached for 28 seasons and won nine South Jersey championships and seven state crowns. Her teams were 486-76 with 54 ties, the most wins in any single sport at OCHS.

Pellegrino coached boys soccer for 12 seasons, winning seven South Jersey championships, four state titles and winning the South Jersey Coaches Tournament twice. His teams were 228-35 with 19 ties.

Picketts led South Jersey in scoring two straight years in field hockey and played on three state champions. She was also one of the school’s top all-around softball players. She returned to coach the field hockey for seven years, finishing 145-17 with South Jersey titles and three state championships.

Richardson won twice in the MOC, becoming the first runner in state history to win both the 800 and 1600 meters in the same meet. He also won two South Jersey cross country championships.

Sedberry won twice in the cross country Meet of Champions and also won the 3200 meters in the Outdoor MOC. She won three South Jersey championships in cross country and was also a successful swimmer.

Severs graduated 17 years ago with five school records that still stand. He scored 159 career goals (second highest total in state history) and made 54 career assists, both still school records. He scored seven goals in one game and 63 in a season.

Tomlin won a South Jersey championship in cross country and four state championships in track, two each in the 800 and 1600 meters.

The 1997 field hockey team finished 24-1 and won the school’s first state title in the sport. Abbey Woolley led the team with 41 goals, tops in South Jersey. Among other key players were Picketts, Jenee Doto, Cathy Shallcross, Meg Edwards and goalie Jen Cushinotto.

The new names will be added to the OCHS Sports Hall of Fame at a ceremony tentatively scheduled for Sunday, October 21 in the Bill & Nancy Hughes Auditorium at the high school.

Current OCHS Sports Hall of Famers

INDIVIDUALS 
Tom Adams
Charles Adelizzi
Romeo Adelizzi
Don Barton
Phil Birnbaum
Jen Blizzard
Anne Brinkmann
Leon Brown
Fenton Carey
Ralph Carson
Doug Colman
John Cranston
Pat Dougherty
Bill Fisher
Lisa Foglio
Archie Harris
Dixie Howell
Andy Jernee
Ken Leary
Mike Linahan
Patrick Lynch
Bob McAllister
Kristie Miller
Mike Naples
Jack Neall
Kevin Sinclair
Mike Slaveski
Diane Snow
Stephanie Vanderslice
Abbey Woolley

TEAMS
1932 Football
1954-55 Boys Basketball
1963-64 Boys Basketball
1978-79 Girls Basketball
1984 Football
1988 Girls Cross Country
1994 Girls Track
1996 Football