GLEN RIDGE, NJ – The 2017 Glen Ridge High School Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Friday, May 5, at The Glen Ridge Country Club, located at 555 Ridgewood Ave. in Glen Ridge. The program will begin at 7 p.m. A full buffet dinner will be served. There will be a cash bar.
This year’s inductees are:
- Don Henningsen – Class of 1951
- Sally (Cavallaro) Kalksma – Class of 1980
- Marc Houser – Class of 1995
- Rachael (Miscia) Hogan – Class of 1996
- Alex Lopes – Class of 2005
- Maria DiCondina – Coach 1991-2010
- Mel Klein – The Danny Gleeson Award for Meritorious Service
Tickets are now available at www.glenridgeathletichallofame.com. Then send the form with a check, payable to GRHS Athletic Hall of Fame, to Glen Ridge Senior-Community Center, 228 Ridgewood Ave., Glen Ridge, NJ 07028. Please include contact information (e-mail address is best) to receive confirmation that your check has been received and that your seats have been reserved. For more information, call Glen Ridge Recreation Director Jim Cowan at 973-748-2924.
Here are the inductees’ bios:
SALLY CAVALLARO KALKSMA
As a four-year veteran of Glen Ridge High School varsity cross-country, indoor track and outdoor track teams, Sally Cavallaro Kalksma earned 12 varsity letters.
By graduation in 1980, she had helped to put Glen Ridge girls’ teams on the map by winning 18 individual medals in state, county and conference championship events.
She was a two-time participant in the New Jersey Meet of Champions in the 1977 mile run (15th) and the 1980 mile (10th).
In state Group I championship meets, she took second place in the 1977 indoor mile run, third place in the 1977 outdoor mile run, and fourth place in the 1978 outdoor mile run.
MARIA DiCONDINA
For 19 years between 1991 and 2010, Maria DiCondina was the girls’ varsity basketball coach at Glen Ridge High, where her teams won 272 games and consistently were ranked among the top teams in Essex County.
In addition, Maria was many times the conference coach of the year as her teams won five Colonial Hills Conference championships. During her tenure, she had three 1,000-points career scorers.
She also was the Glen Ridge field hockey coach for three seasons. Maria was named retired coach of the year in 2011 by the Essex County Athletic Directors Association.
DON HENNINGSEN
The oldest of three Henningsen brothers to compete in football and track at Glen Ridge, Don’s high school athletic career got off to a fast start, when he lettered in track his freshman year, finishing fifth in the low hurdles in the 1948 Group I State Championship. In Don’s senior season the team was undefeated in dual meet Suburban Conference competition, and had a signature non-conference win, beating Montclair, Bloomfield and Weequahic in a four-way meet. The Ridgers capped the 1951 season by winning the Group I State Championship.
While he cherished all three of his varsity football seasons, none compared to the 1949 team that won the Suburban Conference Championship. Playing wing back and defensive halfback, Don dislocated his shoulder in the opening game against Clifford Scott.
Not content to write off his season, he continued to attend every practice, until he was able to return for the next-to-last game against Caldwell. With the game tied 0-0 in the fourth quarter, Don threw the winning touchdown pass. Following the final game victory against Madison, Don was elected captain for the 1950 season.
MARC HO– USER
Baseball was Marc’s best sport, as evidenced by the fact that he was the cleanup hitter and rock-solid third baseman on the Glen Ridge High 1993 Group I state championship club, and the 1994 Ridgers squad which was ranked No. 13 in New Jersey.
A one-sport star, Marc was not. He was on the Glen Ridge wrestling team for two seasons, having been named to the All-Colonial Hills Conference team in 1992 and 1993. In boys’ soccer he was all-conference in 1994 and 1995, being named third team all-county as a senior.
ALEX LOPES
Alex Lopes was a standout three-sport athlete who earned 10 varsity letters (4 Lacrosse, 3 Football and 3 Basketball). He was a captain in each sport in his senior season and was selected as Glen Ridge’s Outstanding Male Athlete. At the time of his induction, he is the all-time Glen Ridge Boys’ Lacrosse scoring leader with 310 points (93 goals and 217 assists). His 217 career assists is the current all-time record for the State of New Jersey and the 94 assists he produced in his junior season is a state single-season record.
RACHAEL MISCIA HOGAN
The most decorated softball player in Glen Ridge High School history, Rachael Miscia Hogan is the owner of numerous Ridgers records.
She drove in 39 runs and batted .511 in the 1996 season, which made her an all-area and All-Colonial Hills Conference selection for a third consecutive year during which she served as the team’s captain. She also was selected as first team All-Essex, marking the third successive season in which she was named All-Essex (third team 1994, second team 1995).
Rachael’s career totals of 202 at-bats, 83 runs, 89 walks, 56 RBIs, 101 hits and a .410 batting average are what made her Glen Ridge’s leader in those categories.
She also played field hockey and girls’ basketball, earning 12 varsity letters. In 1995 Rachael earned all-conference honorable mention in field hockey. She was a member of the Glen Ridge team which won the Colonial Hills Conference girls’ basketball championship in 1995, and was honorable mention all-conference during the 1996 girls’ basketball season in which she served as team captain.
After graduating from Rowan University, Rachael returned to the Glen Ridge public schools system as a physical education teacher.
She has been a physical education teacher at Glen Ridge High School since 2002, and served as Glen Ridge High School interim athletic director during a portion of the 2015-16 school year.
MEL KLEIN
Mel was a longtime GRHS administrator in the 1960s.
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