WPIAL announces 14th Hall of Fame class inductees, award winners

By: Bill Hartlep
Tuesday, April 14, 2020 | 10:00 AM

The 14th annual class of the WPIAL Hall of Fame is unlike any that came before it.

Eight athletes, two coaches, two teams, one official, two contributors, one Heritage Award honoree and a Courage Award recipient will be honored … just not this year.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s hall of fame banquet has been postponed. The class will be honored at a banquet next spring.

“With the uncertainty of gathering restrictions in the future, the difficult decision has been made to postpone this year’s class to be the Class of 2021. Therefore, the induction ceremony will not officially take place until May of 2021,” WPIAL associate executive director Amy Scheuneman said.

“We are still excited to announce this class with enthusiasm as we move forward as such.”

WPIAL officials have compiled a video to announce the newest hall of fame inductees, produced by the TribLive High School Sports Network.

“A special thank you to Tim O’Malley, executive director of the WPIAL, and the Hall of Fame committee who worked diligently to select those individuals worthy of induction who stood out among their competitors,” Scheuneman said. “I am particularly excited about this class as it represents a wide variety of sports. Some inductees will be the first to represent their sport in our distinguished hall of fame.”

The newest class of inductees will join fellow WPIAL Hall of Famers in a display at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Heinz History Center.

“They are an incredible bunch,” said Anne Madaraz, director of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Heinz History Center and a WPIAL Hall of Fame committee member.

“They represent, as do all the members of the hall of fame, the best about this region. They represent a commitment to community, dedication, hard work and teamwork. Many of them have become leaders, not just in sports and on the fields of athletics, but throughout the community and across the country.”

A banquet is scheduled to be held May 28, 2021, at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Green Tree.

For information on the WPIAL Hall of Fame, including bios and photos of past classes, visit www.wpial.org.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.