A group of 18 individuals has been selected as the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Gallagher/Bollinger Hall of Fame’s class for 2021.
All inductees were selected by a statewide committee of journalists and both active and retired school administrators.
“What always amazes me about our annual Hall of Fame process is that there never seems to be a shortage of remarkable individuals who either played or contributed to scholastic athletics in New Jersey,” Jack DuBois, NJSIAA assistant director, who chairs the selection committee, said in a prepared statement. “This year’s group is no exception, and it speaks to the long, proud history of high school sports in our state.”
In alphabetical order, the inductees are:
Athletes
Joetta Clark, Track & Field, Columbia High School, Maplewood, 1980
- Star-Ledger’s Female Track Athlete of the 20th century
- Captured four NJSSIA Meet of Champions 800-meter titles
- Never lost a scholastic, 800-meter race
- Won nine collegiate titles while at University of Tennessee
- Four-time Olympian
- Member, USA Track & Field Hall of Fame
Christopher Ford, Basketball, Holy Spirit High School, Absecon, 1968
- Holy Spirit’s all-time leading scorer
- Villanova University’s all-time assists leader
- 10-year NBA career (Pistons, Celtics)
- Head coach of four NBA teams (Celtics, Bucks, Clippers, 76ers)
- Won three NBA titles – one as a player (1981), two as an assistant coach (1984, 1986)
Virginia Duenkel Fuldner, Swimming, West Orange High School, 1965
- Won gold (400-meter freestyle) and bronze (100-meter backstroke) medals at 1964 Tokyo Olympics
- Established 100-meter backstroke world record, 1964
- National collegiate titles (backstroke), 1965-67
Kenny Jackson, Football, South River High School, 1979
- First-Team, All-State honors at South River High in football, basketball and track
- All-American and 1982 national champion at Penn State University
- Fourth overall selection in 1984 NFL draft, by Philadelphia Eagles
- Member, New Jersey Sportswriters Hall of Fame, 1996
- Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach, 2001-03
Eulace Peacock, Track & Field, Union High School, 1933 (posthumous)
- Set state scholastic long jump mark of 24-4 ¼, which stood for 44 years
- In 1934, competing for Temple University, tied world 100-meter dash mark
- Faced the legendary Jesse Owens 10 times in sprints and long jump, defeating him seven times
- Six-time AAU pentathlon champion
- At Union High, all-state athlete in track & field, football and basketball
Harding William Peterson, Baseball, Woodbridge High School, 1946 (posthumous)
- At Woodbridge, earned four varsity letters in baseball, plus three each in football and basketball
- First-Team, All-State recognition in baseball
- As team captain at Rutgers, led team to a third place finish in College World Series
- Four-year Major League career, with Pittsburgh Pirates
- Had a 30-year career in Pirates organizations; was named executive vice president in 1979
Tricia Popowski, Multiple sports, Hoffman High School, South Amboy, 1987
- At Hoffman, lettered four times each in softball, basketball and soccer
- Soccer – Star Ledger’s All-Century Team
- Soccer – University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame
- Soccer – New Jersey USA/ASA Hall of Fame
- Softball – recorded career .603 batting average
- Softball – in 1987, batted .711
- Softball – in 1986, set state record with 80 RBIs
- Basketball – finish career with 1,111 points
- Basketball – won three Group I state championships
Anthony Siragusa, Football, David Brearley Regional High School, Kenilworth, 1985
- 12-year NFL career
- Super Bowl XXXV champion, with Baltimore Ravens
- FOX Sports NFL game analyst, 2002-15
- Played college football at University of Pittsburgh
- NJSIAA state champion in wrestling
- First-Team, All-State, All-Groups, football
John Somogyi, Basketball, St. Peter’s New Brunswick High School, 1968
- Parade All-American, 1968
- New Jersey All-State, First Team, 1967 and 1968
- Team won state parochial championship, 1968
- Established state’s all-time scoring record, with 3310 points
- 1969 National College Freshman Player of the Year, University of New Mexico
- Eventually transferred to Rutgers University, scored more than 1,000 career points
- 15 seasons as head basketball coach at multiple schools – compiled overall record of 275-111
Andre Tippett, Football, Barringer High School, Newark, 1978
- Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, 2008
- NFL All-Decade Team, 1980s
- Played 11 seasons in NFL (New England Patriots), named to five consecutive Pro Bowls
- All-American selection, 1981, at University of Iowa
Dajuan Wagner, Basketball, Camden High School, 2001
- Set new state, career scoring record with 3,462 points
- Led Camden to 2001 Tournament of Champions championship
- Scored 100 points in a single game
- Scored 737 points as a freshman, a new state record
- Played one season at University of Memphis
- Sixth overall pick in 2002 NBA draft
Coaches / Contributors
Bob Auriemma, Ice Hockey coach, Brick Township High School
- Head coach of Brick ice hockey for 51 years
- Won 729 career games, the most ever in New Jersey ice hockey history
- Won six state championships
- Member, New Jersey Ice Hockey Hall of Fame
William Mickey Corcoran, Basketball coach and athletic director, Horace Mann (the Bronx, New York)/River Dell (Oradell)/Northern Highlands (Allendale) high schools (posthumous)
- Northern Highlands gym named in his honor
- BCCA-BCWCA Lifetime Achievement Award named in his honor
- YMCA of Greater Bergen County Service to Youth Award named in his honor
- River Dell Hall of Fame member
- Northern Highlands Hall of Fame member
- NJSCA Hall of Fame member
- Coached Bill Parcells in high school
- Confidant of Bobby Knight, Mike Krzyzewski
- Served in U.S. Navy with John Wooden
- Won state basketball championship as student-athlete, under Vince Lombardi
Tom Heath, Cross-Country coach, Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft section of Middletown
- Head coach of Christian Brothers Academy cross-country for 45 seasons
- “The Streak” – won 343 straight dual meets
- Won national cross-country title in 2011
- Teams won 21 NJSIAA Meet of Champions titles
Tom Lopes, Basketball official
- 2019 recipient of prestigious, national Golden Whistle Award
- Recognition as Naismith College Basketball Official of the Year
- Official at high school level – including first-ever Tournament of Champions
- Official at college level – including 20 consecutive NCAA post-season tournaments
Steve Timko, NJSIAA executive director
- Served as NJSIAA executive director, 2006-18
- Recognition as New Jersey State Athletic Director of the Year
- Coached at South Plainfield and Hopewell Valley Central high schools
- 33-year teaching career
Don Weider, Boys Gymnastics coach, East Brunswick High School (posthumous)
- Coached 20 students who became NCAA Division I, scholarship athletes
- Coached 66 individual state champions
- Coached 16 state championship teams
- Teams earned No. 1 ranking in state 16 times
- Final record of 252-33-2
Nancy Williams, coached multiple sports, Shore Regional High School, West Long Branch
- Field hockey head coach for 44 season – compiled overall record of 839-67-56
- Won 13 group state championships, 19 conference championships in field hockey
- Softball head coach for 27 seasons – compiled overall record of 518-160
- Won a group state championship, four sectional state championships in softball
- As girls basketball head coach, won two conference championships and 205 total games
- As track and field head coach won a group state championship
