Sheska, Seven Others Named to Athletic Hall of Fame
Head soccer coach Jerry Sheska ‘68 is one of eight former ESU athletes who will be inducted into the East Stroudsburg University Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday (October 30).
The eight will be recognized at halftime of the 1 p.m.
football game against Bloomsburg. Induction ceremonies are scheduled that night at the annual Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet at the Holiday Inn in Bartonsville starting at 5:30 p.m.
Other inductees will be NCAA championship javelin thrower Mike Revenis '82, All-America field hockey goalie Shelly
Knapik '87 and track and field All-America and football star Ed
Long '72.
Also honored will be outstanding football lineman Henry Kearns '70, leading soccer scorer Jay Hollinger '52, All-America distance runner Georgianna Messinger '88, and top all-around female athlete Bertha Tohkanen Pelkonen '48.
Selections were made by a committee after receiving nomi-nations from former ESU athletes, coaches and friends of the program.
The eight inductees and their backgrounds follow:
Jerry Sheska `68
Sheska played three years of varsity soccer for the Warriors as a midfielder and back. He was a member of Warriors' 1965 team which reached the NCAA Division I Soccer Tournament quarter-finals before losing to Mic higan State.
He also competed in baseball three years, playing both catcher and first base. He later played semi-professional baseball for seven years.
After graduation, he served in the United States Army including a tour of duty as an infantry sergeant in Vietnam.
Sheska coached soccer for ten years at Morris Knolls High School in Denville, N.J. with three years as head coach.
He took over the ESU soccer program in 1982. Over 18 seasons, he had led the Warriors to a record of 242-101-16 for a .696 winning average entering this season.
The 1999 Warriors carried a 15-2 record and a ten-game winning streak into this week's action. The team will close its regular season in a Super Soccer Sunday clash against Millers-ville at 12 noon Sunday at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
Sheska's teams have won eight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships, including the last two years and six of the last seven years. They also have made appearances in the NCAA Division II Soccer Tournament eight times.
Mike Revenis `82
Revenis won the NCAA Division II track and field championship in the javelin throw in 1982 with a throw of 244-9. He finished fifth in the nationals in 1981 and also earned All-America honors.
The former Mount Carmel, Pa. resident was a two-time PSAC champion in the javelin and a two-time conference runner-up in the event.
A Health and Physical Education major, he was the first winner of the Alumni Association Outstanding Senior Scholar-Athlete Award. He also was the first ESU student to earn an NCAA post-graduate scholarship.
Revenis earned his master's degree in Cardiac Rehabilitation from ESU in 1984 and took additional credits in Hospital Administration at West Chester.
He is now the clinical cardiac exercise physiologist superviser at the Hahnemann University Medical Center in Philadelphia. He has published numerous research articles in his field
He formerly worked for three years with physical therapist Pat Croce, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, testing athletes from the 76ers and the Philadelphia Flyers.
Shelly Knapik `87
Knapik was named to the College Field Hockey Coaches’ Association (CFHCA) All-America team as a goalie after her senior year. She made the All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference first team twice.
An outstanding student, Knapik compiled a 4.0 average in Sociology. She made the GTE Academic All-America team. She also won the Alumni Association Outststanding Senior Scholar-Athlete Award.
The Stroudsburg native continued her education after leaving ESU and received a J.D. degree from the Temple University School of Law.
She worked first as a Greenpeace Action field manager, an aviation structural mechanic in hydraulics for the United States Navy and as a biological technician at the Connaught Laboratories.
For the last three years, she has been the director of energy policy for the Municipal Energy Office in the City of Philadelphia. She is responsible for policy development in the areas of alternative fuel, energy efficient buildings and sustainable developments.
Ed Long `72
Long was a two-sport standout in football and track and field. He won the Outstanding Senior Male Athlete Award in 1972.
He was the school’s first NCAA track and field All-America. He placed second in the javelin throw at the NCAA nationals in 1971 and fourth in 1972.
He won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference javelin throw in 1971 and was second in 1972. He was the NCAA Atlantic Coast Regional javelin champion in 1971.
In football, the Catawissa, Pa. product was a top linebacker and the team's leading tackler for three seasons. He also competed one year as a diver on the swimming and diving team.
After graduation, he coached diving at Central Columbia High School for three years and also coached track and field two years for a Middle Atlantic Confer-ence championship team at Susquehanna University.
Long works in manufacturing in Bloomsburg, Pa.
Hank Kearns `70
Kearns was a two-time All-PSAC first team selection as an offensive tackle in 1969 and 1970. He also gained All-State recognition.
His blocking helped the Warriors finish third in the nation in both total offense with 456.9 yards per game and scoring offense with 41.1 points per game in 1968.
He earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in Health and Physical Education from East Stroudsburg.
Kearns has taught Health and Physical Education at Northern Burlington County Regional School for 28 years. He also has been an assistant football coach for 27 years and head coach of track and field for 15 years.
He has served as president of the New Jersey Association for Health, Physical Education and Dance. He was selected as one of the Governor's Teachers of the Year in 1987. He is an adjunct professor at Burlington County College.
Jay Hollinger '52
Hollinger was captain of the ESU soccer team and led the Warriors to winning seasons two straight years. He played under long-time coach and Athletic Hall of Famer Howard DeNike.
Hollinger competed at left and right inner and center forward during his career and made the All-Regional team as a senior. He also played football as a freshman.
He received a bachelor's degree in Secondary Education - Social Studies, Geography and English.
Hollinger was partner in the J.L. Hollinger Meat Packing business for 16 years and sales manager for two other companies for 17 years.
Hutchinson's daughter, Jayne Hollinger Hutchison played field hockey at ESU and her husband, Ray Hutchison was a football player for the Warriors.
Georgianna Messinger `88
Messinger was the school’s first NCAA Division II women’s track and field All-America. She placed seventh in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 36:49.9 at the national championships in 1986.
She qualified for the NCAA meet at the Penn Relays with a school-record 10,000 time of 35:53.34 which still stands.
Messinger also qualified for the NCAA Division II meet in the 10,000 in 1987, but failed to place.
She also set a school record in indoor track which still stands with a time of 2:46.84 in the 1,000-yard run.
She was runner-up in the 3,000 at the ECAC Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in 1985. She also ran the anchor leg on a distance medley relay team which placed third in the ECAC meet.
In cross country, Messinger placed third in the PSAC championships twice and fourth once. She was fifth in the NCAA Division II Cross Country Regionals in 1985.
Since graduation, she has been a teacher and a hospital aide in her home area of Lehighton and Palmerton, Pa.
Bertha Tohkanen Pelkonen `48
Pelkonen was a top female athlete at East Stroudsburg in the late 1940s.
She competed on the gymnastics team which gave exhibitions at schools and service clubs throughout the region. She also participated on the basketball and field hockey squads.
The Spencer, N.Y. product received her bachelor's degree in Health and Physical Education.
Her first teaching job was at McKenzie High School in Oregon where she organized the school's first gymnastics team. She also assisted in pioneering a gymnastics program at the University of Oregon where she earned her master's degree.
After seven years in Oregon, she moved to Delray Beach, Fla. where she taught and also coached girls teams in volleyball, basketball and softball. One of her students was current ESU associate athletic director Dr. Carey Snyder.
Pelkonen retired from Atlantic High School in Delray Beach in 1981, but keeps busy with service to her local Lions Club and Garden Club.