Delaware Sports Hall of Fame to induct nine in May

The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame will add nine more inductees in May, it announced on Thursday.

The 2018 class consists of Cape Henlopen High graduate Jimmy Allen (basketball); William Penn’s Clinton Burke (wrestling); Tower Hill’s Sarah Cashman Gersky (basketball, field hockey and lacrosse); Delaware Sports Club track and field official Tom Fort; Howard High and Delaware State’s Bunny Miller (baseball); St. Andrew’s Heidi Pearce (lacrosse); longtime Phillies public relations director Larry Shenk, a Wilmington resident; St. Elizabeth’s Penny Welsh (basketball); and Caesar Rodney’s David Williams (baseball).

The 43rd annual induction banquet is May 22 at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington. Tickets are $65 each or $650 for a table of 10. Social hour and a silent auction will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by the dinner at 6:45.

Tickets are on sale at www.desports.org/events. The deadline for reserving tickets is May 11.

The 2018 inductees:

JIMMY ALLEN – The 6-foot-3 point guard on the Cape Henlopen 1975 state championship basketball team that went 25-0 and is often considered one of the best in state history. Was a two-time second-team All-State pick. Also high jumped 6-6 in the 1975 state track meet and played first base and batted cleanup for Cape’s 1974 state tournament baseball team. Scored 1,785 points at the University of New Haven (Conn.) and was second-team NCAA Division II All-American in 1979. Also set school records in the long jump, high jump and triple jump. Chosen by Boston Celtics in the fifth round of the 1979 NBA draft and played four minor league seasons before a long career as assistant coach at New Haven.

CLINTON BURKE – Two-time Blue Hen Conference wrestling champion and state runner-up logged 52-6-1 mat record at William Penn. Became Delaware’s first NCAA Wrestling Tournament finalist when the University of Oklahoma junior was runner-up at 134 pounds in 1983 after winning the Big Eight championship. Was third in NCAAs in 1984 at 134 pounds. Collegiate record was 102-20. Later an alternate on 1984 U.S. Olympic wrestling team and an alternate on the 1992 U.S. Olympic judo team. Six-time national champion in the martial art of sambo.

SARAH CASHMAN GERSKY – Three-sport athlete at Tower Hill starred in field hockey, lacrosse and basketball, in which she was first-team All-State in 1979 after averaging 20.2 points per game and sparking Hillers to state final. Excelled in all seasons again at Colgate University. Averaged 16.5 points per game in basketball and graduated as Colgate’s all-time leading scorer with 1,666 points. First Red Raiders player to score 1,000 points. Set school marks for points in a game (36) and season (473). In lacrosse, set school record for most goals in a season (49) and became second Colgate 100-goal scorer. Led Red Raiders to a pair of fourth-place finishes in AIAW Division II nationals and was all-tournament selection. Played on field hockey teams that finished second and fifth nationally.

TOM FORT – Spent 50 years as one of the leaders, including the last 32 as president, of the Delaware Sports Club, which officiates track and field events. Former University of Missouri runner moved to Delaware in 1967 and competed at a high level throughout his life. The Delaware Sports Club was widely recognized for officiating excellence and twice received Presidential Awards from the Mid-Atlantic Officials Congress. Directed the Caesar Rodney Half-Marathon and helped create other events when distance running became popular in the 1970s. Officiated roughly 1,000 track and field meets at youth, high school, college and masters levels from 1973 until his death in 2017. Received the Outstanding Service Award from U.S. Track and Field Association in 2009 and the Road Runners Club of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. The state’s annual boys high school outdoor track MVP earns the Thomas H. Fort Award.

WILBERT “BUNNY” MILLER – One of the state’s best-known and most familiar figures on the baseball diamond after starring as a catcher at Howard High, Delaware State University and in the Delaware Semi-Pro League. Excelled in football and baseball at Howard and Delaware State, graduating in 1959. After serving two years in the U.S. Army, played 11 Semi-Pro League seasons – one with the Wilmington Giants and 10 with Parkway – while setting a league record for RBIs (487) and batting .359. Was an eight-time league all-star and three-time MVP. Spent almost 40 years as an educator, including 17 as a school principal, and was executive director of the Police Athletic League for 18 years.

HEIDI PEARCE – Played on the state’s first two girl lacrosse state championship teams at St. Andrew’s in 1998 and 1999 and was state player of the year those years as well as 2000, when she was a high school All-American. Career 275 goals were the state record until 2009. Also St. Andrew’s MVP in basketball and field hockey, in which she was All-State twice, and was a successful club swimmer. Became first-team NCAA Division I All-American midfielder in lacrosse at Johns Hopkins, the Blue Jays’ first. Her 152 goals and 201 points remain the most in a career by a Hopkins midfielder. Returned to St. Andrew’s as field hockey and lacrosse coach and athletic director. Now women’s lacrosse coach at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.

LARRY SHENK – Left The News Journal sports department after a year in 1963 to work for the Phillies, becoming the youngest public relations director in the major leagues. Remained in that position until his retirement in 2008, having resided in Wilmington all that time. Graduate of Myerstown (Pa.) High and Millersville (Pa.) State College covered high school, college, club and amateur sports in his year at the newspaper. Became the third winner of the Bob Fishel Award in 1983 honoring Major League Baseball front-office employees for professionalism, ethics, character, dedication and humanitarianism, commemorated on a plaque at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Continues to work with Phillies on alumni events and has authored several books from his stint with the Phillies – “If These Walls Could Talk,” “The Fightin’ Phillies” and “This Date in Phillies History.”

PENNY WELSH – State girls basketball Player of the Year at St. Elizabeth in both 1978 and 1979. As a senior, she averaged 22.7 points and 19 rebounds per game and scored 41 in a game at Notre Dame (Pa.). Led St. Elizabeth to a 46-38 win over Tower Hill in 1979 state title game after losing to Dickinson in 1978 final. Then excelled at the University of Pittsburgh (1979-81) and Nevada-Las Vegas (1981-83), scoring 1,824 points and collecting 960 rebounds. Honorable mention All-American as a Pitt soph­omore. Her 19.9 points per game as a senior sparked UNLV to a 24-4 record.

DAVID WILLIAMS – First-team All-State as a Caesar Rodney High pitcher in 1997. Went to DelTech-South for a year and helped team reach JUCO World Series. Chosen in the 17th round of 1998 draft by Pittsburgh Pirates. Three years later was part of Pirates rotation, making 18 starts. Lefty ended up pitching six big-league seasons with the Pirates, Reds and Mets and went 22-31 with a 4.83 ERA in 82 games (72 starts). Later coached in Blue Jays’ system.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.