Last month, Olympian Christina Epps got the key to Morristown.
Next month, she’ll receive another early Christmas present: Induction into the Morristown High School Athletic Gallery of Honor.
The 2009 graduate, who competed in the triple jump in the Rio Olympics, will be inducted on Dec. 17, 2016, along with other illustrious names from the Colonials sporting past.
They include Carter Mobley, ’65 (football, track, basketball); Joe Thorpe, ’82 (track & field); Jamal Cochran (’00 football) and Connor Lade ’08 (soccer), who has played in the pro ranks.
Also going in: The 1947 boys tennis team — Coach Edward Wicks and players George Banks, Robert Callahan, Marty Gould, Clyde Mitchell, Thomas Mowbray, Donald Pollock, Stewart Pollock, Joe Prussack, Bill Terry and Stephen Wiley
And then there are the Flynn Boys–alumni who played for legendary football coach William Flynn in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. Some of them played on the 1948 championship team.
Over the decades they have met monthly, raising money for numerous athletic causes at MHS and helping establish the school’s Heritage Club and Alumni Association.
Flynn Boys scheduled to be honored at the ceremony include Michael Barry ‘50, Albert Garcia ‘50, James Hennessey ‘53, John Loia ‘50, Michael Lucia ‘50, Daniel Myers ‘50, James Vance ‘50 and Charles Warner ‘53.
The gallery honors student-athletes “who meet academic requirements and perform on the field in accordance with the highest standards of fair play,” according to the school.
MHS girls tennis and softball coach Pat Mattos will be honored, too, along with three special volunteers: Ted Baldanzi, and Sandra and Charles Gibson.
Baldanzi, owner of the 70 South Gallery in Morristown, continued volunteering his photography and videography talents to the girls field hockey and lacrosse programs long after his daughter graduated in 1999.
The Gibsons of Morris Plains are parents of three MHS graduates. Sandra, a retired teacher from the school, and Charles have helped the swim program in various capacities since 1982.
Established in 2003, the Morristown High Athletic Gallery of Honor is co-sponsored by the Alumni Association and the Morris School District.
Gallery co-chairs are Ed Myers ’85, president of the Alumni Association, and Smitty Horton, MHS Athletic Director.
The ceremony and reception are scheduled for 10:30 am in the school auditorium. Light refreshments will be served; the public is welcome. The Athletic Gallery of Honor is in the hallway near the swimming pool.
Class of ’47 Tennis Team included Joe Prussack – He was my father’s first cousin and related to the Newmark, Schlosser & Litwin families.