RMHS Athletic Hall of Fame honors 2013 Inductees

RMHS Athletic Hall of Fame honors 2013 Inductees 

On Saturday, November 23rd at the Wyndham Hotel in Andover MA., Reading Memorial High School inducted eight new individuals and two teams into their Athletic Hall of Fame.  With the induction of this year’s class there are now an even 100 members that have achieved this distinction at RMHS. 

Prior to the evening festivities there was a morning viewing at the Hawkes Field House of the inductee’s permanent spot on the Hall of Fame wall which was well attended by the recipients and their families. 

The main event was held before a gathering of over 250 guests, and was emceed by Mike Moscariello who has stepped up to the microphone for all ten of the event ceremonies dating back to 1997. 

The evening was highlighted by the inductee videos that were narrated by Moscariello and contained newspaper clippings, pictures, film and memories of the honored recipients. 

Inductee’s received their framed awards presented by Athletic Director Tom Zaya and all offered heartfelt appreciation of their RMHS athletic experience, teammates, coaches, mentors and families. 

This year the Hall of Fame committee started a new tradition of presenting all honorees and team members present with a commemorative coin depicting the HOF logo and the Town of Reading seal. 

In addition to the inductee awards, each cycle the “Cliff Allen Award” is bestowed upon an individual  who has unselfishly volunteered their time to the benefit of RMHS athletic programs much in the manner that the award’s late namesake did for countless years in the Reading community. 

This year the award was presented to Rick Carter, for his fundraising efforts with the Reading Baseball Club and Girl’s Basketball program.  Carter’s diligence with the RBC lead to funding of several significant projects at Reading baseball fields, most notably Morton Field. 

Class of 2013:

 John Meehan (Class of 1963)- Football, Hockey, Baseball

Meehan was a three-sport athlete and two -sport captain who was the school’s first all-league hockey player an honor he achieved twice.  He also quarterbacked the football team and was an all-league catcher in baseball. The Viet Nam veteran, and Naval captain went on to become the youngest CEO at the Hartford hospital at age 41. 

Mike Jackson (Class of 1967)- Football, Basketball, Baseball

Jackson was simply described as “Mr. Everything” in the high school yearbook and his leadership skills were on display as class President and as captain of both the basketball and baseball teams.  He was part of six Middlesex league titles squads in three sports and in baseball he was named all-league twice and his teams progressed to the state finals twice. 

Janice Coates (Class of 1986)- Basketball, Softball

Coates was a gifted natural athlete who didn’t start organized sports until late but ended up making an indelible impression on the court and diamond in her prolific career. She achieved all-league status in both basketball and softball in her both her junior and senior years, and was a member of the 1986 state champion softball team. 

Paul Sacco (Class of 1988)- Hockey

Sacco was an all-league and all-scholastic defenseman for RMHS during a three year run of hockey who’s record is still unmatched in the annals of Reading hockey history.  He was known for his stellar defensive work that arguably is the best that has ever been seen at the school. He helped lead his team to the state final in 1988 and went on to be a captain at Northeastern followed by a pro hockey career. 

Courtney Campbell (Class of 2003)- Field Hockey, Softball

Campbell was a dogged competitor who used hard work and smarts to become one of the most decorated girl athletes in the school’s history.  An all-scholastic in two sports and five time all league selection; she also was a two-sport captain and member of the 2001 state champion softball team. 

Steve Gath (Class of 2003)- Football, Basketball, Baseball

Gath was the prototypical “character” athlete which he combined with gifted talent and leadership qualities. The three-sport captain was a two-time all-league defensive player in football and achieved all-league status in baseball twice as well as statewide all-scholastic honors.  By the time he was finished at RMHS he either lead or was in the top five in eight different career statistical categories for baseball. 

Virginia Bartlett (1958-1986)- Coach, Pioneer

Bartlett was a pioneer and strong advocate for women’s sports at a time when no one was doing much about the inequity of opportunities that were available for young women. The school’s first field hockey coach she also coached four other sports at RMHS and was at the forefront of organizing several intramural leagues and girls leadership organizations.  Bartlett also served as interim Athletic Director during her influential career at RMHS. 

Phil Vaccaro (1981-2012)- Coach, Athletic Director

Vaccaro was known affectionately as the “Godfather” of RMHS athletics during his incredibly successful run at RMHS.  He combined a focus on winning the “right way” with excellence on the field and a motto of “sportsmanship the winning point”.  He received many statewide honors including “Athletic Director of the Year”, and the school received eight sportsmanship awards while attaining ten state team championships and two Ames awards. 

1974 Football Team

Lead by Hall of Fame Coach John Hollingsworth, this team was the school’s first Super Bowl team while attaining a perfect 10-0 regular season.  The team was buoyed by the coach’s son Ken who was an All-Scholastic two-way player, a record setting quarterback in Tom Dwyer and all-league players Don Rice, Dave Johnson and Tom Hunt. At the end of the regular season the team was ranked as the no. 1 team in D1 football. 

1994 Baseball Team

Many consider this team the most talented team ever to take the field in the Pete Moscariello era. The 21-2 squad started the season with an historic run going 6-0 while outscoring the opposition 74-0. The co-Middlesex champ was prevented from a state championship title due the fact that the only team to best them all season resided in the town next door (Stoneham) who ended up as the eventual state champ. Captains Tom Fratto and Dan Robinson were the backbone and future Hall of Famer pitcher Steve Langone was virtually unhittable.

 The Reading Memorial HS Athletic Hall of Fame is a 501c3 non-profit organization, to see more information about them check out their website at www.rmhshof.com