The Bucks County Sports Hall of Fame has announced its 2018 inductees.
The annual induction banquet will be held on Thursday, April 19, at 6 p.m. at the Brookside Manor at Somerton Springs, Bustleton Avenue and County Line Road in Feasterville.
Tickets cost $45.
Membership in the Sports Hall of Fame is open to all sports-minded individuals interested in perpetuating the memory of athletic greats who have brought recognition to the state during their careers — either through their own achievements, personal influence or contributions.
Meetings are held at noon the second Tuesday of each month at the Bucks County Visitor Center, 3207 Street Road in Bensalem. Annual dues are $7.
For banquet tickets, to become a member or to place an ad in the program, visit buckscountysportshof.com
Below are the inductees:
• Michael Chase: Chase was on the football and wrestling teams at Council Rock High School. He qualified for the PIAA Class AAA wrestling championships three times. In college, he wrestled at North Carolina State and North Carolina, finishing with a 102–32 record and three NCAA appearances. He has officiated 15 NCAA Division I wrestling championships.
• Fred Conger: Conger played football at Neshaminy in the mid-1960s. For three years, he was the starting guard and middle linebacker. He was named All-County at linebacker in 1964 and All-County at linebacker and guard in 1965. He played in the Big 33 game. At the University of Kentucky, he was a three-year starter at middle linebacker. From 1972–78, he was head coach at Morrisville High School and was voted Bucks County Football Coach of the Year in 1974. He continued coaching as an assistant at the University of Pennsylvania for eight years and at Mercyhurst College for seven years. He finished his coaching career at Charlotte Latin High School as an assistant football coach and head baseball coach. His baseball teams won two state titles and he was voted North Carolina Baseball Coach of the Year on two occasions. He is a member of the Neshaminy Football Hall of Fame.
• Sheree Davis: Davis was an excellent pitcher on the Pennsbury softball team. In her two-year starting varsity career, she was named to the All-Lower Bucks County League First Team. She led her team to the league championship. For two years, she was also a starting varsity player on the basketball team. She was a top-10 scorer in the 1975–76 season. Her team won the league championship, advanced to the District One semifinals and to the PIAA quarterfinals. She was named to the All-LBCL team. She was the first female to receive an athletic scholarship at Pennsbury. At Temple University, she was the starting pitcher for four years. She received the Philadelphia Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Pitching Award. She was a nominee for Division I All-American and the EAIAW First Team All-Region Team. Her pitching records at Temple University in 1981 stood for almost 20 years. Some of these were: ERA — .07; most strikeouts in a season — 134 in 96 innings pitched; highest winning percentage — .857; opponent’s batting average — .074. She also played two years of basketball at Temple. After graduation, She played ASA Fastpitch for the Allentown Patriettes for 16 years. She pitched in four major ASA national tournaments. She was the pitching coach for Mercer County Community College and the College of New Jersey, which won the Division II national championship in 1986. She has coached many pitchers who have been named All-Region and All-Americans.
• Jim Dumont: Dumont was a starting linebacker on Neshaminy-Maple Point’s football team for two years. He was named All-County linebacker in junior and senior years, and All-State Honorable Mention in his senior year. He also played on the baseball team for four years, being named to the All-League Team in his junior and senior years. In his senior year, he was the second-leading batter in the league. At Rutgers University, he was a four-year starter in football. He was named to the All-East Third Team in his sophomore year, and to the First Team in his junior and senior years. In his senior year, he was named All-America Third Team. In the seventh round of the NFL Draft, he was chosen by the Cleveland Browns. In 1984, he played for the Browns and in 1985 for the New Jersey Generals of the USFL. In 1990, he was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Fame.
• Michael Ellzy: Ellzy was an excellent basketball player at Bensalem High School from 1989–1993. He was a three-year starter for the team. In his senior year, he was named Suburban One League Player of the Year. He was also named to the Suburban One First Team in 1992 and 1993 and the Golden 18 Team in 1991, 1992 and 1993. He is Bensalem’s all-time leading scorer and led the team to the league championship in 1990 and 1991. He continued his athletic career at Bloomsburg University. He was named Division II All-American in 1997 and Sporting News All-American Second Team. His other awards were PSAC East Player of the Year (1996), East Region First Team (1996 and 1997), All ECAC (1996–1997) and PSAC First Team (1995–1997). He was also named Bloomsburg’s Outstanding Athlete in 1996 and is the university’s all-time leading scorer in basketball. Following graduation, he played for the Atlantic City Seagulls in the USBL and with the Mercer Marauders in the EBA. He was inducted into the Bloomsburg Hall of Fame in 2013.
• Traci Forchetti Fitzpatrick: At Council Rock, she was a varsity starter in field hockey for four years. In her freshman year, the team won the PIAA, District One and SOL championships. The team was again SOL and district champions the next year. In her sophomore, junior and senior years, she was the area scoring champion. She garnered many awards. Some of these were: All-State First Team; SOL First Team; Courier Times First Team; and Philadelphia Area First Team. In her junior and senior years, she was the Courier Times Player of The Year, Trenton Times Player of The Year, and Philadelphia Inquirer Player of The Year. In her senior year, she was named All-American. On the soccer field for two years, she was part of teams that were league champions and District One and state finalists. She was named to the Courier Times First Team. In two years on the varsity lacrosse team, she was named to the SOL First Team and was the Courier Times Player of The Year in both years. She played field hockey at James Madison University. In her junior and senior years, she was named to the Colonial Athletic Association All Conference Team, CAA All-Tournament Team, ECAC First Team, First Team South Regional All-American, and National All-American. In 1998, she was named to the Under 20 National Team. Throughout high school and college, she received many scholar-athlete and academic awards. She is a member of the Council Rock Hall of Fame.
• Joseph Kiefer: Kiefer attended Bethlehem Liberty High School. He was a member of the soccer, wrestling and track teams. In soccer, he was named to the All-League Team. He was a district qualifier in wrestling. At Wilkes University, in wrestling, he was an All-American and national runner-up in the College Division Tournament in 1966. He was also the team’s leading scorer in soccer. At Pennsbury High School, he was named varsity head wrestling coach in 1986 after coaching at the middle school level. Over 25 years, he posted a record of 411–115. His teams won 10 league championships and three District One Dual Team championships. He coached 65 Sectional, 26 District One, 17 Southeast Regional and 13 PIAA place winners. His 1992 team won the league, sectional and Southeast Regional championships. He also coached Pennsbury’s only two wrestling state champions. He was named Coach of The Year in the league, District One and Southeast Region. He also coached the high school soccer team. His teams won two league championships and he was named Coach of The Year. He coached All-State, Regional All-Americans, National Team and pro players. He is a member of the following Halls of Fame: National Wrestling, Pennsylvania State Wrestling Coaches, Southeastern Pennsylvania Wrestling, Pennsbury High School and Wilkes University.
• Amy Pine McQuibben: At Neshaminy High School, she was a two-year varsity starter in field hockey. During that time, the team’s record was 43–6–4. In 1989, the Redskins won the SOL, placed second in District One and were the PIAA semifinalists. In her senior year, the team again won the SOL, placed third in District One and won the PIAA championship. In her field hockey career, she scored 32 goals and had 20 assists as a midfielder. She was the scoring leader of the conference in her senior year. That year, she was named to the All-League First Team, All-Area First Team, the Golden 18 Team and the Trenton All-Area First Team. She was named Player of The Year by the Bucks County Courier Times and the Trenton Times and was named a High School All-American. At the Keystone State Games, her team won the silver medal. On the soccer team, she was a varsity starter for three years. She was named to the All-League, Trenton Times and All-State teams in 1990 and 1991. She was also a three-year starter on the basketball team. She was named the Outstanding Female Athlete in her senior year and Scholar-Athlete. She continued her education at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a four-year starter on the field hockey team. The team won the Ivy League title in 1992 and 1993. She was named to the First Team All-Ivy team in 1991,1992 and 1993. She was a Regional All-American in 1992, ’93 and ’94 and a CFHCA Division I All-American in 1994. She scored 33 goals and recorded 14 assists as a midfielder. She was inducted into the Neshaminy All Sports Hall of Fame in both field hockey and soccer.
• Matthew Napoleon: Napoleon was coached in soccer by Hal Heffelfinger at Neshaminy High School. He was a two-year starting varsity player as goalie of the soccer team. In 1993, the team advanced to the District One Class AAA quarterfinals. He recorded three shutouts in that season. In his senior year, he was named to the All-League team, All-Area Golden Team, All-State Team and All-American. He recorded 15 shutouts as the team won the PIAA championship. His career record was 37–8–2. He also was a two-year varsity starter on the baseball team. Following high school graduation, he enrolled at Columbia University. For three years, he was the starting goalkeeper and was named to the All-Ivy team. The next year, he turned professional. For five years in Major League Soccer — A League, he was the goalkeeper for the Miami Fusion, Columbus Crew and the Portland Timbers. In 1997, he competed for the U.S. in the Under-20 World Cup in Malaysia. The team finished fourth. In 2000, he was a member of the Olympic Team that played in Sydney, Australia. He is a member of the Neshaminy Sports Hall of Fame. He also served as an assistant coach at Portland State University.
• Tony Petruccio: Petruccio was a member of the successful Bishop Egan High School football teams from 1971–75. He lettered all four years as a defensive tackle. In his senior year, he was named to the All-Area, All-Catholic, All-City and All-State teams. He was named All-American by Scholastic Magazine. At Penn State, he started for Joe Paterno for two years at defensive tackle. He was named Freshman All-American Second Team and Sophomore First Team by Football News. In his four-year career, he played in four bowl games: Sugar (1975), Gator (1976), Fiesta (1977) and the national championship Sugar Bowl against Alabama in 1978. He was drafted in the NFL 10th round by the San Diego Chargers. That year, he played for the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL. In 1980, he was a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. During both years, he played in the Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League’s championship.
• Carrie Neidhardt Voedisch: In the mid-1990s, she was an outstanding field hockey player at Council Rock High School. She was a four-year starter on teams that won the SOL and District One championships. She was named to the Under-16 National Field Hockey Team in 1995. In 1996 and 1997, she was named to the Bucks County and All-Area First Team. She was also named to the All-State Team for three years. She participated in the Junior Olympics in 1995 and the National Futures Tournament from 1994–1997. In 1997, she was an NFHCA All-American and Regional All-American, and recipient of the Keystone State Games Athletic Award of Honor. In 1998, she received the Dick Dougherty Twin Sports Award for Achievement. Carrie was also a varsity lacrosse starter for two years. At Wake Forest University, she was a starter on the varsity field hockey team for three years. She was instrumental in assisting her team in competing in the ACC final four, ACC finals and NCAA Division I quarterfinals and Final Four. She received the Student Athlete Excellence Award in 2001 and 2002. She was the head field hockey coach at Carolina Day High School in Asheville, North Carolina from 2006–2013.
The legend inductees are:
• Maggie Moyer Baker: She was a prolific athlete at Central Bucks West High School from 1992–95. She was a three-year varsity letter winner on the basketball team. On the hockey field, she also earned three varsity letters and was named to the All-SOL First Team in her senior year. Soccer was probably her greatest accomplishment. She was a starter on the varsity team for four years. She led her team to three league championships and three PIAA championships. In all four years, she was named to the First Team All SOL Team and First Team Intelligencer Team. In her junior and senior years, she was named to the All-State Team and was named All-American in her senior year. She had a total of 109 assists and 69 goals in her career. In 1993, she was one of 25 players selected to the Region One Under-17 Team. She continued her career at Rutgers University. She was a varsity starter all four years. She was named Rookie of The Year in 1995 and All-State New Jersey in her sophomore, junior and senior years. During those years, Rutgers was ranked in the top 20 in the nation. She currently coaches the middle school boys varsity team at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. She is a member of the CB West Athletic Hall of Fame.
• Ed Cochrane: Cochrane began his career in athletics at Curwensville Joint High School. He lettered in football for three years, being named First Team halfback in District 9 Western Conference. He also lettered in basketball for two years and baseball for four years. In his high school starting pitching career, he posted a record of 18–3. In his junior and senior seasons, his record was 12–0. He continued his education at Slippery Rock College, where he played baseball for two years. His first coaching position was at Tyrone Area High School. He coached the varsity basketball team for four years with an overall record of 64–29. His team won a Mountain League Championship and made two playoff appearances in District Six. In 1971, his basketball team was undefeated with a 22–0 regular season record and a 25–1 overall record. He was named Blair County Coach of The Year. In 1972, he came to Bucks County as coach of the Pennsbury basketball team. From 1972–86, the team’s record was 117–63 in the league and 208–158 overall. His teams won four league championships (1973, 1974, 1978 and 1980). Over that time, his teams made the PIAA playoffs in 11 years. His 1980 team was ranked №1 in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and №3 in the state, as the Falcons advanced to the District One finals. In the state quarterfinals, they lost in double overtime. His team won the gold medal in the first Keystone State Games. He retired in 2006. He is a member of the Pennsbury Athletic Hall of Fame.
• Sheldon Per: Per graduated from Northeast High School and received his degree in education from Temple University in 1969. At Bensalem High School, he was the varsity boys basketball coach from 1980 to 2003, qualifying for postseason play every year. In 23 seasons, his teams won two LBCL championships (1981 and 1982). The teams also won five SOL championships (1988 through 1991 and 2003). His most successful team was the 1980–81 team that won 25 consecutive games, placed second in District One and advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals. He was named the Bucks County Courier Times Basketball Coach of the Year on five occasions. He finished his career with 312 wins, the most of any coach in Bensalem’s history. He founded the Bucks County Basketball Coaches Association and was its first president. In 2005, he received the Courier Time Long Time Service Award. In 1999, he was named the athletic director at Bensalem and served in that capacity until his retirement in in 2007. ••
