GLEN RIDGE, NJ (updated Friday April 7, 3:45 p.m.) – The 2017 Glen Ridge 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 $65 each at www.glenridgeathletichalloffame.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 973-748-2924.
Here are the bios of the inductees:
SALLY CAVALLARO
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. Among her many accomplishments were:
- 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, second place 1977 indoor mile run, third place 1977 outdoor mile run, and fourth place 1978 outdoor mile run.
- In Essex County meets, fourth place 1976 cross country, second place mile run and third place two-mile run in 1979.
- In state Group I sectional meets, 1979 second in two-mile and fourth in mile, 1980 third in 800 and sixth in mile, as the team won championships in both years.
- In Colonial Hills Conference meets, second in 1977 mile, second in 1978 mile and second in 1978 two-mile runs.
As a captain of the 1980 Ridgers girls’ outdoor track team, she led the squad to a 12-0 dual meet record. She became the school record holder in the mile and two-mile runs and was part of setting four relay team records.
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.
Her long-time assistant coach, Mike Sammon, perhaps offered the greatest praise of Maria when he said: “I wish my own daughters were coached by her. She loved every player she ever coached, and she was an advocate for learning every fundamental of the game of basketball. Most importantly, she treated her players with respect and dignity.”
Maria came to Glen Ridge from Paramus Catholic, where she coached girls’ soccer for eight seasons, highlighted by a 1990 state championship. In 11 years as girls’ basketball coach there, her teams won three state championships, five North Jersey sectional titles and three Bergen County crowns. She was inducted into the Paramus Catholic Hall of Fame in 1996.
Maria currently is chairman of the Glen Ridge High School physical education department.
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.
Being fast and versatile, Don often would compete in six events during the regular season, but was limited by conference rules to only three events in championships. In a dual meet against North Arlington during his senior season Don scored 24 points, winning the 100 and 220 yard dashes and the javelin, while finishing second in the high hurdles, low hurdles and broad jump. As a sophomore he had the memorable experience of running the lead-off leg on the Penn Relays division-winning GRHS mile relay team.
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.
Don went on to attend the University of New Hampshire, where he took up lacrosse. He became a starting midfielder on the UNH 1955 team that went 14-1, and won the Class C National Championship. A member of the Air Force ROTC program at UNH, Don later spent 25 years as a fighter pilot. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel, having flown 163 combat missions during the war in Vietnam.
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.
In addition to the fact that he was a three-year starting pitcher who recorded 20 wins, Houser was a significant hitter on three teams which accumulated an 80-16 mark during that period. His career batting average was .419. After being undefeated as a pitcher in his sophomore (6-0) and junior (7-0) seasons, he went 7-3 with five saves for his senior year team which won 13 games.
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.
“As a Glen Ridge High School athlete, I took great pride in being a ‘team player.’ It was an honor to wear Red and White and to represent all the athletes who paved the way for my individual and team success,” Marc said of his Glen Ridge career.
Marc matriculated to Montclair State where he posted a four-year baseball batting average of .342. In the process, he became one of three Glen Ridge athletes to play on a state championship high school team and a national championship college team.
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. His 310 overall points are 15th most in New Jersey history. In his junior season, he led all NJ scorers with 126 points. He led NJ in assists both his sophomore and junior seasons and was ninth in the state in his senior campaign. He was all conference his sophomore, junior and senior seasons and was the Conference Player of the Year his junior season. He was all state in his junior and senior seasons. Most importantly, he was a leading contributor to a team that won two conference championships and made three appearances in the state playoffs.
On the football field, he was a vital contributor to the team that returned the Ridgers to the winning ways of the past. He was the starting quarterback for three seasons. During his tenure, the Ridgers progressed from 1 win to 7 wins. As a senior he threw for 1,500 yards and had 10 touchdown passes. He was voted to All Conference all three years, First Team as a senior. After his senior campaign he was named Third Team All Group 1 and Second Team All Essex County.
On the basketball court he was relied on to do the “dirty work”. He was a three-year starter who was known for his tenacious defense and excellent passing and rebounding skills. He led the team in assists and steals his junior and senior seasons. Alex went on to a successful Division 1 Lacrosse career at St. Joseph’s University. At the time of his induction, he is first in games played and ninth in assists for the Hawks. He led the team in assists in both his sophomore and junior seasons. Alex has coached lacrosse at the collegiate level for seven years and is currently a Division 1 Offensive Coordinator at Jacksonville University.
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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