【N.J】 Hightstown High to induct 28th Hall of Fame Class on Friday – – – New Jersey News

Over the years there have been many great athletes, coaches, administrators and contributors who have played a major role in the athletic success art Hightstown High.

This year six of those athletes and one team will be inducted as the 28th Hightstown High Athletic Hall of Fame.

The luncheon is set for Friday, Sept. 23 at 11 a.m. at the East Windsor Holiday Inn.

To make reservations, contact the Principal’s Office at Hightstown High School at 609-443-7738, ext. 1159.

The luncheon is followed by induction during the halftime of the Hightstown vs Seneca football game at 7p.m. at Hightstown.

The Hall of Fame also sponsors the Jim Peto Memorial Hall of Fame scholarship. For anyone who would like to contribute, please contact the phone number listed above for details.

This year’s inductees are Steve Lajoie (Football 1979), Brian Crown (Cross Country 1980), Eldad Edreey (Swimming 1990), Marissa Hope Segal (Soccer 2009), Shelby Wallace (Lacrosse/Soccer 2010), Karon Purcell (Track and Field 2010) and the 1982 CVC Championship Boys Golf Team.

Lajoie joins an impressive group of outstanding multi-sport athletes to be inducted into the Hightstown High School Athletic Hall of Fame.  He played four years of football, winter track and baseball and received All-CVC recognition as a quarterback in football and as a center fielder in baseball.

Lajoie finished his football career with over 1,000 yards rushing and over 1,000 yards passing and he ranks as one of the top in Rams history in those categories.

Crown came to cross country late and one can only wonder what cross country records he would’ve shattered had he ran more than one year. But, in that one year — after playing soccer for three — he managed to set eight Mercer County course records, finished first in the CVC meet, and was named the CVC Runner of the Year.

He led his team to an undefeated season (18-0) and became the first HHS cross country runner to qualify for the Meet of Champions. Crown was also an All-County runner in both winter and spring track. He is the fifth cross country runner to enter the Hightstown High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

A two-time Mercer County champion and a two-time team MVP in swimming, Edreey swam the 100 fly, the 200 individual medley, the 200 medley relay, and the 400 free relay, setting several school records along the way. After a sophomore season in which he scored 262 points, the most until then by a HHS swimmer, Eldad went on, as a junior, to the Mercer County championship in both the 100 fly and the 200 medley relay and was named to the All-Mercer and All-CVC First Team in both events.

He also finished twenty-first in the state meet and was team MVP.  As a senior, he repeated as county champion in the 100 fly and 200 medley relay as well as All-Mercer. He was First Team All-CVC in the 100 fly and Second Team in the 200 medley relay. He also set school records in the 200m individual medley (2:20.34) and the 200 yard individual medley (2:05.21).

A multi-sport athlete, Hope Segal was not only as one of the top girls soccer players in school history, but also as one of only two girls to play lacrosse for all of the first four years since the beginning of the program.

A four-year starter in soccer, she was All-Area, All-CVC, All-Mercer 33, and NJGSCA All-State in both her junior and senior seasons and she was team captain in both sports as a senior.

Another of those multi-sport athletes who are so common at Hightstown, Wallace played four years of varsity lacrosse and four years of varsity soccer.

Wallace was an All-CVC performer in both sports all four years and she was  selected as the 2010 MVP for both lacrosse and soccer along with being named the Female Athlete of the Year and the U.S. Marine Corp Distinguished Female Athlete of the Year in 2010. She enters the Hightstown High School Athletic Hall of Fame as the Rams’ all-time leader in girls lacrosse in  goals (220), points (258), goals in a season (81), and season points (88)

As a four-year starter in soccer, Wallace was selected for the NJGSA All-State Team, Mercer 33 Team, and was selected to play for the Mercer County Senior All Star Soccer Team. She also led the team to the 2008 CVC championship, and according to Hall of Fame coach Don Hess, she could always be counted on to score a decisive goal when needed.

Purcell becomes just the sixth male track and field athlete to be inducted into the Hightstown High School Athletic Hall of Fame. A four-year member of both the winter and spring track teams, he also ran cross country for two years and played a year of football.

He broke and still holds the school record in the 800m run and he shares another school record with his 4X400m relay team. He also ran in the 4X800m relay, the 4X1600m relay the 1500m and the 3X400IH.

In the winter of his senior season, Purcell finished second in the 800m, the 1600m and the 4X400m at the Mercer County Tournament. He was the Central Jersey Group 3 champion in both the 800m and 4X400, and, in the Meet of Champions, was second in the 800m and fourth in the 4X400.

Hall of Fame coach Stan Czenis put together some great golf teams and one of the best was the 1982 Varsity Boys’ Golf Team.

This is the first golf team to be inducted to the Hightstown High School Athletic Hall of Fame. The team was undefeated with a record of 21-0 and the CVC champs for 1982. Czenis coached many outstanding golf teams for all the years that he was the golf coach and he said this was his best.

Coming off a 17-4 season record in 1981, the captains Wayne Decker and Don Pearl led the team.  Tony Latham led the Rams in the District 8 portion of the state tournament and just missed going to the state finals by 3 points.

The team placed 8th in a field of 15 teams in the state. Receiving end of the season recognitions were Pearl and Heller for most wins, Latham for best golfer, Latham for best score in 18 holes, and Pearl for MVP.