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Sports

Windsor Locks Athletic Hall Of Fame Holds 2011 Induction Ceremony

With six new individuals inducted, the local hall of fame can boast of 39 members.

Since the first Windsor Locks Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2005, 33 individuals and seven teams have been honored. On Friday night six more joined the ranks: Carmen Guido, Sr., Jason Hamley, John Magnani, Billy Stone, Howie Tersavich and Judy Van Schelt Jones were inducted into the hall at a ceremony held at the Sheraton Hartford Hotel near the airport.

The hall of fame committee, also, presented its first special "Fans of the Games" award to longtime residents Carl and Carol Schiessl.

Carmen Guido, Sr., who graduated from Windsor Locks High in 1946, was an outstanding basketball and baseball player for the Raiders under Coach Al Shapiro. Guido also played on the 1942 American Legion state championship baseball team.

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The longtime Church Street resident, known to his teammates as "Music Guido," was an outstanding pitcher who compiled a 62-14 won-lost record spanning his high school and WLAA career. He once pitched a no-hitter against Suffield High. Carmen was also an outstanding point guard for the high school team.

Carmen Guido, Jr. presented his father, a Korean War veteran, for his induction.

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James McNamara had the privilege of presenting his nephew, Jason Hamley, a 1991 WLHS graduate for the honor.

A perennial multiple-sport all-star, Hamley received 11 varsity letters during his high school career in soccer, basketball and baseball, while also serving as captain of each sport.

During the 1990 soccer tournament, Hamley scored 2 game-winning goals while leading the Raiders to their first state title since 1971. He also played in the 1988 state championship basketball game as a freshman and was a member of the 1989 NCCC tournament championship team as well. 

Hamley's greatest athletic achievements, however, occurred on the baseball field where he was named to all-conference teams on multiple occasions and was also named to the CIAC All-State baseball team. Hamley also played American Legion ball, leading his 1991 team in batting average, stolen bases, home runs, and runs batted in. After high school graduation, Hamley played Division I baseball at Xavier University in Cincinnati.

John Magnani has been involved in Windsor Locks sports since the spring of 1963. That year, "Mags" began serving as batboy for Coach Dan Sullivan’s high school baseball team. He became fulltime manager of the high school’s soccer, basketball and baseball teams until he graduated in 1971. During his senior year, he received the Jimmy Downes Sportsmanship Award as well as the Windsor Locks Lions Club Award.

Magnani then began the Windsor Locks Indoor Hockey League in the fall of 1971 and served as its president for the next 17 years. Magnani has also served with the Windsor Locks Little League in various capacities for 14 years. Because Magnani was unable to attend the ceremony due to a recent illness, his son Jonathan accepted his award on behalf of his father.

"Mr. Hockey" of Windsor Locks, Billy Stone, was also inducted on Friday night. No one in the history of the town has done more to promote youth hockey than Stone.

A 1952 WLHS grad, Billy played football, hockey and baseball when he was young. He pitched for the Raiders in high school and later played semi-pro football for the Windsor Locks Rams for a number of years. Stones’s youth hockey started at the Basin behind the VFW in Windsor Locks and later was located at Denslow Park. He later became hockey coach at Suffield Academy for 10 years.

Howie Tersavich, Class of 1971, was a 3-sport letterman in soccer, basketball and baseball for WLHS. Tersavich was also a member of the 1965 Windsor Locks World Championship baseball team.

Many members of that ’65 team became the core of the 1970 and ’71 high school state championship soccer teams. Two members of the ’65 team became high school All-Americans in soccer, including Tersavich; in fact, he was the first town athlete ever to be named an All-American in any sport.

In presenting Tersavich for induction, longtime Raiders coach Danny Sullivan called the 1970 state championship soccer team the "best" soccer team ever assembled in the town’s history. Tersavich was the captain of that team and its anchor.

Judy Van Scheldt Jones’s remarkable success as a field hockey, basketball and softball player at WLHS and Providence College made her an easy selection for the committee. In 1978, for example, Van Scheldt Jones pitched and won every single game for the high school’s state championship season. Later at Providence College, she was a 3-year starter as goalie for the PC field hockey team and a 4-year starter as a pitcher on the college’s softball team; Van Scheldt Jones captained both teams as a senior.

Her incredible 0.62 ERA remains the lowest ever in the history of Providence College. Fellow hall of famer and high school batterymate, Holly Storms Muehlenkamp, presented Van Scheldt Jones for induction.

The Hall of Fame Committee also bestowed a special award to longtime Windsor Locks residents Carl and Carol Schiessl. Married now for 58 years, the Schiessls have probably witnessed more athletic contests than anyone else in town history, remaining loyal to the town’s athletes well after the competition for their own children ceased.

The Hall of Fame Committee’s principal fundraiser—a scramble format golf tournament—will be held next June 16 at Suffield Country Club. Also, anyone wishing to nominate a candidate for future induction should visit the town’s website and follow the link to the hall of fame to download the necessary form.

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