Uniontown HOF to honor 4th class
Submitted photo
Uniontown Area High School鈥檚 Terrence Jackson is shown during his high school days high jumping for the Red Raiders. Jackson set the WPIAL record for the high jump in 1981 at 7-0, which still stands today. Jackson will be inducted into the Uniontown Athletics Hall of Fame on Sept. 3.
Submitted photo
Uniontown鈥檚 Jeff Spinetti won a state championship in wrestling at 185 pounds in 1985. The Red Raider wrestled for West Virginia and is set to be inducted into the Uniontown Athletics Hall of Fame on Sept. 3.
The fourth class of the Uniontown Area High School Academics, Arts and Athletics Hall of Fame is set for induction the weekend of Sept. 2-3.
A class consisting of 12 individuals and one team will be enshrined. The 2016 class will be honored before the Uniontown-Thomas Jefferson football game on Sept. 2. The class will be inducted Sept. 3 at a 10 a.m. Induction Ceremony/Breakfast at the Uniontown Area High School Cafeteria.
Terence L. Jackson heads the 2016 Class of athletics inductees. Jackson is one of the most accomplished athletes to come out of Fayette County.
He was a three-sport standout at Uniontown Area High School where he played football and basketball, but really made his mark in track & field. He was a member of the 1981 Red Raider State Championship basketball team.
In 1980, Jackson broke Chuck Muncie鈥檚 high jump record (6-4) at Uniontown Stadium with a jump of 6-10. He then won state high jump in 1980 with a jump of 6-10.
Jackson set a new WPIAL high jump record in 1981 at 7-0. The record still stands today. Then, won the state high jump again with a new record of 7-1/2 and was 7th on the all-time list of high school high jumpers.
In 1982, Jackson placed second in high jump with a jump of 6-10.
In 1982-1984 at Hagerstown Jr. College, Jackson went to Nationals three out of four times, taking second all three times with jumps of 7-0.
鈥淚t really is a thrill to go into the Hall of Fame,鈥� Jackson said. 鈥淚 guess one of the biggest things is being away from Uniontown and getting the program book and seeing some of the people who have been inducted, and being mentioned among them I realize it is a great honor.鈥�
Also being inducted is Jeff Spinetti, class of 1985. Spinetti was a wrestling star and excelled at football and baseball at Uniontown Area High School during the 1980鈥檚.
Spinetti is a member of the WPIAL Century Club with a career record of 117-13, and went unbeaten in his senior campaign at 30-0, and captured the state title at 185 pounds. Spinetti started on the Uniontown football team for three years. He was an All-Big 10 Conference selection as a senior.
Spinetti wrestled for four years at WVU and earned second team freshman All-America honors after winning more than 20 matches his freshman year. He finished his senior campaign with a 19-1-2 overall record, tallied 40 takedowns, while only being taken down once. He ended his career at 99-40-9 with WVU.
鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled and honored,鈥� Spinetti stated. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 really know what to say. I thought it might happen someday, I didn鈥檛 think it would be so soon.
鈥淧eople think I just wrestled, but I was a good football player, and I wasn鈥檛 one dimensional, I played baseball too. I played all sports.鈥�
Being inducted posthumously is Tory Epps, class of 1985. Epps accomplished a lot in a short time, the former Uniontown Area High School star left us far too soon when he passed away at the age of 38 in 2005.
Epps was a force on the football field. He also tried wrestling and played basketball for the Red Raiders, but football was his sport.
Epps earned some football accolades as a senior. He played offensive guard and linebacker for the Raiders and was first team All-County, first team All-Big Ten Conference, Big Ten Conference defensive MVP and Conference Player of the Year.
He embarked on a college football career at Memphis State.
The Atlanta Falcons drafted Epps in the eighth round. Epps made the all-rookie team with the Falcons.
Epps played two seasons in Chicago before completing his NFL career with the New Orleans Saints in 1995. He played for the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League until 2002.
On June 1, 2005, Epps died at Uniontown Hospital from a a blood clot. He had just turned 38 on May 28.
In the coaching category, Bill Broda is being inducted. No one can argue that the 50鈥檚 and 60鈥檚 were the golden years of Uniontown sports teams. The cornerstone of this success was installed at the Junior High School level. The task of identifying and developing these young promising athletes rested in the hands of Bill Broda and Bob Fee. Broda coached all sports at this level.
Broda has a plaque commemorating some of his basketball coaching achievements. The plaque reads 1971 to 1978 seven seasons we won 132 and lost 8 鈥� six championship seasons and one undefeated season.
Another highlight was winning the WPIAL Junior Track Title in 1961 with Nelson Munsey, Wilfred Minor, Ray Parson, John Manning, Ray Gillian and Phil Vassar.
Team Inductee: 1962 WPIAL and PIAA championship basketball team. Uniontown posted a 29-2 record on its way to a state championship. Uniontown defeated Norristown, 70-57, in the 1962 state title game.
Don Yates paced the Red Raider attack in the championship game with 22 points. Pete Smith added 13 points and Allyn Curry notched 12 points. Ron Sepic contributed nine points and led the Red Raiders in rebounds with 12.
鈥淭he championship game was fantastic,鈥� Yates gushed. 鈥淚t was fascinating because that was the first time we had faced a player that tall, Norristown鈥檚 Jim Williams was 6-foot-7. When the whistle blew we put that press on him and his teammates 鈥� it was a great game. What I remember the most is how winning the title made the city so happy. We hadn鈥檛 won since 1925 and the town loved it 鈥� that is what stands out the most.鈥�
2016 Academics honorees are: Dr. Leslie Lyons (1981). Lyons has a Ph.D in Human Genetics from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. He is a well known professor of Population Health and Reproduction.
Dr. Daniel Risha (1966). A graduate of Penn State University he has a Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering. He retired from Wright Patterson in 2012 and currently works for Universal Technology Corp. in Maryville, Tennessee.
Joe Livingston (1962) 鈥� He is President of PRC, a leader in customer relationship management services. His career spans over three decades of work in both operations and technology for high level companies.
The Arts inductees are: Dr. Regina Carlow (1977). Graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. Taught music in the Washington D.C. area for more than 20 years. Currently a professor of Music Education and Associate Dean of Student Affairs in the College of Fine Arts, University of New Mexico.
Larraine Susa (1963) 鈥� Master dance teacher for over 40 years. Recipient of the Dance Masters of America Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. Received recognition from Bob Fosse.
Saul Swimmer (Deceased, 1954) Bachelor鈥檚 degree from Carnegie Mellon. Documentary film director and producer best known for The Concert for Bangladesh. Co-producer of The Beatles 1970 documentary 鈥淟et It Be.鈥�
Vocational Technical: Lawrence Rossi (1978) Studied Electrical Maintenance, worked at Uniontown Hospital from 1974-1987. Left the hospital to accept position as Electrical Construction Instructor at Fayette County Area Vocational Technical School where he has been employed for 28 years.
Special Recognition: Wilfred 鈥淪pider鈥� Minor (Deceased) 鈥� Longtime mentor and coach for many Uniontown athletes.
Tickets for the 2016 Uniontown Area High School Academics, Arts and Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony/Breakfast are $20 and can be purchased by calling Anthony Mercadante at 724-430-0662 or 301-643-1499. Also, tickets can be purchased at the door.
George Von Benko鈥檚 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in Monday editions of the 缅北禁地. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.