The 2023 Sachem Athletic Hall of Fame class was inducted on Saturday, December 16, 2023, during a ceremony at Sachem High School North.
From Sagamore water boy to All-County, John Allen became an early building block in the foundation of Sachem Athletics with toughness, will & desire. A three-sport athlete, two-sport captain, two-sport team MVP, three-sport All-League & All-County selection, he was a four-year varsity wrestler, three-year varsity track & field performer, and a two-year varsity football player. Earning nine Varsity Letters, he was also The Richard Van Norr Memorial Award honoree, given to Sachem’s top male senior athlete.
During his junior year in football, he was team co-defensive MVP with fellow Hall of Famer Joe Murphy. As Senior team captain, he was a two-way starter at offensive tackle & middle linebacker. He was the first All-County football player from Sachem in League One and a Team MVP as a senior; the same year, he played in the Suffolk County PAL North-South All-Star game and was defensive MVP playing with future NFLers John Scully & Chris Dietrich.
As a young cub at 13, John was brought up to wrestle as a Sachem varsity heavyweight under the direction of 1st-year coach Jack Mahoney. He broke Sachem’s school record for fastest pin in 17 seconds, then broke it again in 15 seconds. In track and field, he broke the Suffolk County shot put record.
John is thankful to all his teammates who helped pave the way to athletic success & is both fortunate as well as grateful to have been a Sachem athlete playing for Coach Fred Fusaro, Bill Batewell, Carl Kielbasa, Giggi Walters, Steve Tuttle, Mike Westcott, Alex Piccirillo, Jack Mahoney, Charles Chapman, Kevin Spellman & Bruce McDonald.
John was advised to attend Prep School at Suffield Academy, where he was an All-State & All-New England linebacker. He was 29-0 on the mat with 24 pins en route to State, Western New England, New England & Prep School National Championship Titles. In track & field, John broke the Suffield shot put record on his way to winning gold in the State & Class B New England Championship.
At the collegiate level, he attended the University of Massachusetts as a two-sport athlete & was accepted to the Isenberg School of Management as a Marketing Major. In Football, John was recruited by legendary NFL / College Hall of Fame coach Dick McPherson and was a four-time linebacker & nose guard on three Yankee Conference Championship teams & one-time runner-up. They were also 1978 Lambert Cup Winners in the NCAA DIVISION 1 AA National Championship Game & Pioneer Bowl.
During his senior year at UMASS, John was one of the team’s leading tacklers at nose guard on a nationally ranked top-ten defense, playing for future NFL coaches Jim Reid and Clarence Brooks.
One of the winningest wrestlers in school history, he was a three-time Division I New England Conference Champion. As a two-time team captain & two-time team MVP at UMASS, John wrestled in three NCAA Division 1 National Championships. This led to a College record of 117-10-3, with two losses to future USA Olympic Greco-Roman Gold Medalist Jeff Blatnick. As a senior at UMASS, he was named Outstanding Senior Male Athlete & Samuel S. Crossman Award as best school athlete
After UMASS, John was a volunteer coach in the Smithtown, Central Suffolk & P.A.L. Youth Football Leagues with an undefeated & un-scored championship team. He is extremely proud of his nephew Mikey, who was Sachem North’s football manager; brother Bobby, who was on Sachem’s State Cup wrestling team; Sister Jackie, an All-County soccer player; Sister Debbie for her endless support & Niece Leah Rose, who was on Sachem North’s National runner-up & Championship cheering teams. He thanks his parents for all their encouragement, time & support from day one.
Lance Banfi comes from a wrestling family as his brothers Joe and Bill Banfi wrestled in the late 70’s under legendary coach Jack Mahoney. Lance has always been around the mat and the wrestling room representing Sachem through our kid programs BYAC and Sachem Three-Style Club. In middle school, he suffered a fracture in his neck wrestling in the JR Nationals in Montana. He underwent months of physical therapy and continued succeeding in high school. Lance was a three-time All-County place winner and a two-time Suffolk County Champion. He was also a two-time New York JR Freestyle Champion, two-time All-State place winner, and the 1988 119-pound New York State Champion while going undefeated his senior year at 37-0-1. He has a career record of 97-7-1 overall.
Lance had one of the toughest state tournaments by defeating the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place finishers. In the quarterfinal match, he pulled off one of New York State wrestling championships’ greatest upsets by taking the defending two-time state champion and the two-time “Most Outstanding Wrestler” of the tournament to double overtime. Troy “Buzzsaw” Bouzakis was undefeated at 99-0 in the quarterfinal match. Lance battled Bouzakis to a scoreless double overtime tie and won on a referee’s criteria decision on a crucial stalling warning in that second overtime. Lance received the 1988 ”Section XI Wrestler of the Year” award from the Suffolk County Wrestling Coaches Association and made Wrestling USA Magazine High School All-American.
He went on and wrestled Division I at Central Connecticut State University. He was a four-time varsity letter winner, a 1992 ECWA Championship Team member, and co-captained the CCSU Blue Devils in 91-92 & 92-93, earning All-East Coast Conference honors both years. Finished his senior year at 21-4 and was Central Connecticut’s assistant coach the year after. Lance was also an assistant coach at Berlin High in CT, head coach of the Empire State Games scholastic division, assistant coach of the Sayville Freestyle Club, and a volunteer assistant coach at Sachem North for a few years and was awarded as one of the 2013 Varsity Coaches of the Year in League II. Lance is a senior fiber Optic Technician and a telecommunications journeyman for Local Union 25.
Michael Brantley graduated as and remains Sachem’s all-time leading wide receiver. His numbers are eye-opening in an era where passes were not called as much as running plays.
Michael holds Sachem records for career receptions with 107, career receiving yards with 1,342, and single-season receiving yards with 880 in 1994 as a senior. He was Team MVP, a two time Offensive MVP, two time All-League and All-County, and All-Long Island.
Michael played four years at Division I Iowa State in the Big 12 and recorded 30 receptions for 532 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Today, he works in athletic administration in Florida.
Sean was a multi-sport varsity athlete, competing in wrestling, gymnastics, and track and field. He was an All-County gymnast and a two-time All-League wrestler. In 1972, he was runner-up for the Van Norr Award as Sachem’s top male student-athlete. The winner that year was fellow Sachem Hall of Famer Ed Fabian.
Sean has been dedicated to the sport of wrestling as a Suffolk County official for nearly half a century. He has been an official since 1975 and voted as the top-ranked official in the county 35-plus times. He has refereed 44 consecutive wrestling county finals and 12 New York State tournaments.
He was inducted into the New York State Wrestling Officials Association Hall of Fame in 2014.
Sean has served as a Section XI lacrosse official since 2005 and has refereed seven county final games and seven Long Island championship games over the last 18 years.
His daughter Jenna is a Sachem alum and founded the field hockey program at Eastport South Manor. His son TJ is the head wrestling coach and an assistant football coach at John Glenn. His son-in-law Matt is a Sachem alum, former Sachem football player and football coach at Ward Melville.
Michelle Cocchiaro was a two-sport Sachem standout in field hockey and softball. She was a three-time All-League, two-time All-County, and All-Long Island in field hockey. A team MVP, she captained Sachem to a 1993 Suffolk County championship. She was also Suffolk County Rookie of the Year earlier in her varsity career. Michelle was a USA Field Hockey Future Development Junior Olympics selection in 1992 and 1993. She was also featured as a Newsday Spotlight Athlete of the Week in 1994.
A four-year varsity softball player, she was a two-time All-County player and an All-American, Team MVP, and also led this team to a Suffolk County and Long Island Championship in 1992. She was Suffolk County Rookie of the Year in softball as well. Michelle played with Long Island in the two Empire State Games, winning a bronze in 1992 and a silver in 1993.
At Dean College, she continued her two-sport prowess and was a two-time Team MVP and All-American selection in field hockey and a two-time Team MVP and captain in softball.
Michelle continued her athletic career at SUNY Cortland, playing field hockey and softball. Her softball team qualified for three NCAA Championship Tournaments and one College World Series in 1998.
She has been a physical education teacher and coach at the Nightingale Bamford School in New York City, coaching volleyball, squash, and softball. She also coached softball and field hockey at Middle Country and Shoreham Wading-River. She continues to play dek hockey and field hockey and still wins championships.
Kristin Doherty is among the best basketball players in Sachem and Suffolk County history. She averaged 21 points, 5.3 steals, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game for Sachem East and hall-of-fame coach Matt Brisson. She was an All-American, three-time All-State, three-time All-Long Island, four-time All-County, and five-time All-League. She also played in the WBCA High School All-American game.
She scored 2,277 points, the most in Sachem history (Kaz had 2,193) of any boys or girls player. For historical purposes, the legendary Nicole Kaczmarski had 2,193 at Sachem, if you’re wondering. Kristen ranks sixth all-time in Suffolk basketball history scoring, again for any boys or girls player, and 16th all-time in Long Island history … and they have been playing organized public school basketball here for more than 100 years, so to be ranked 16 out of roughly 250,000 hoops players all-time is quite remarkable. She also holds Sachem basketball records for career steals with 571, career foul shots made with 403, most two point shots made with 643 and most three point shots made with 192. Most importantly to her, she led Sachem to Suffolk County, Long Island, and New York State titles in 2010. Sachem was 97-15 overall and 59-3 in League I during her five years of varsity ball.
She was the No. 12 ranked recruit in America and signed to play at Division I Boston College, putting up 1,278 career points and averaging 10.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. She was a co-captain as a senior and started 115 of 117 games she played in four seasons.
Kristen reached double figures in 69 of her college games. Her career points rank 14th in program history, and she is the second guard in Boston College history to score over 1,000 points and grab 600 rebounds. She is also seventh in program history in three-point shots made, ranks 10th in assists, and second in steals.
Today, she is a teacher and coach in West Islip.
Tommy Evans was a two-year starting point guard during one of the most dominant stretches in Sachem basketball history. An All-State, All-Long Island, All-County, and All-League selection as a senior, he and teammate Jeff Ruland were just the second teammates in Newsday history to be selected All-Long Island.
As a senior, he averaged 15.9 points and 7.4 assists per game en route to an appearance in the Suffolk County championship. Sachem was ranked second in the county that season and fifth on Long Island, one of their best single seasons in history. He still has the fourth most assists in a season in Sachem history with 148 in 76-77.
He is thankful for the coaches who made a difference in his life, including Sachem Athletic Hall of Famers Tom Sabatelle, Dom Savino, Steve Rich, Tim Clouser, and Luke Morgan.
He played for NBA Hall of Famer Bobby Wanzer at St. John Fisher University in Rochester.
Professionally, he has worked in the automotive aftermarket for over 40 years. He represents manufacturers and is a district sales manager for NTN Bearing Corporation. He has the same competitive spirit at work that he did on this court all those years ago.
He has been married to his wife, Geralyn, for 39 years, and they have two children and two grandchildren. They have lived in Bohemia for the last 24 years.
Bob Graetzer is one of the top male runners in Sachem history. A star in cross-country and track and field in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was All-State in cross-country in 1990 and was an integral part of the 1989 and 1990 Sachem state qualifying teams. He placed fifth at the state championships in 1990.
On the track, he was a Suffolk County champion in the 3,200 and a member of the 4×800 county championship relay team, both in 1991. He won the 3,000-meter Northeast Regional Yale Invitational, placed third in the states in the 3,200, and competed at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships.
He competed at Division I University of Houston from 1991 through 1993 before injuries ended his competitive running career.
Bob has worked in IT for the last 26 years, 23 with Thomson Reuters and the last three with GEHA as their lead technical major incident manager on the operational intelligence monitoring team.
Bob has been married to his wife, Stacey, for 24 years. They have three children, two of whom are Sachem alums and one who will graduate from Sachem North in 2025. His daughter Ashley ran track and cross country. His son Thomas serves in the U.S. Marine Corps, and his daughter Kaitlyn is on the varsity soccer and track teams.
As a three-year lacrosse varsity starter, he was an All-American, All-County, and All-Conference. Corey Harned still holds the Sachem record for career goals with 161 and single-season goals with 62 as a junior in 1999. He also played Sachem football and was a dominant running back.
Corey played lacrosse at Johns Hopkins University, where he was an All-America long stick midfielder and a 2003 NCAA All-Tournament Team member. His Blue Jays lost in the National Championship to Virginia that season.
As a pro lacrosse player, he spent six years in Major League Lacrosse with the Long Island Lizards and New Jersey Pride before retiring in 2000.
He joined the NYPD in 2005 and has been a highly decorated veteran detective for 18 years. In 2018, he moved back to Sachem with his wife, Lori, of 10 years, and three beautiful children, Kendall, Hunter and Brady. He is heavily involved in the community through youth sports as the director of boys lacrosse with the Sachem Sports Club, coaching several boys and girls lacrosse teams and boys and girls flag football and tackle teams.
An All-County football and baseball player during one of Sachem’s most successful eras, Ralph Isernia played for Hall of Fame coaches Fred Fusaro and Bill Batewell. Both teams won Suffolk County championships his senior year, and the football team took home a Rutger’s Trophy as the top team in the county. He was also student body president all four years and a member of the National Honor Society.
He attended Davidson College and played Division I football and baseball, earning All-Big South conference honors in both, and was the first two-sport captain in school history. A four-year starting running back, he led the team in several stat categories, including rushing, receiving, scoring, and punt return yardage.
He has been a highly successful college football coach for 30 years. After spending six years at the University of Charleston as an assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, and interim head coach, he became the head football coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2013. He has built RPI into a nationally ranked Division III program. He has also coached at Bucknell, Mansfield, Defiance, Methodist, and Western Connecticut State.
His teams have won numerous league and ECAC championships and have made NCAA playoff appearances. Isernia has been named the Division III National Coach of the Year, Regional Coach of the Year, ECAC Coach of the Year, and League Coach of the Year. He has coached hundreds of All-Conference, All-Americans, Academic All-Americans, and professional athletes. Isernia is also an author, renowned clinician, and national leadership and team-building consultant. His wife Lynn and children Rett, Grace, and Ryan have been his biggest supporters. He is grateful for his father, Jim, and his late mother, Mary, who always supported and encouraged him. He shares his love of education, sports, and family with his brothers Jim, Warren, and Jon, all Sachem graduates.
A three-sport athlete in football, wrestling, and lacrosse, Jay Mauro took home honors in each sport. Most notable for his lacrosse career, he was a three-year varsity member. As a senior, he was Team MVP, All-Division, All-County and All-American. He also played in the National North-South All-American Game. He played on the Gold Medal-winning Long Island team at the 1998 Empire State Games.
Jay was a two-time All-Great Western Lacrosse League selection and a three-year starter at Division I Butler. He finished his collegiate career at Dowling College, where he was All-Conference and, again, an All-American.
On the football field, he was Sachem’s Outstanding Offensive Lineman in 1999, All-Division, and played in the Boomer Esiason Outback Challenge Game. He was a three-year varsity wrestler, was a two-time All-League, three-time Empire State team selection, and had the most pins on the team as a junior en route to over 30 wins that season.
Jay has been a teacher at Sachem North since 2005. He was the head varsity lacrosse coach from 2005 through 2015, amassing 113 wins, and his teams were 7x Super Seven Champions and twice made it to the Suffolk County Final Four.
They made it to the Suffolk County Class A quarterfinals seven straight seasons, and he sent over 100 student-athletes to play college lacrosse, including Penn State, UMass, Maryland, and Dartmouth, among many more.
He was also head coach of the 2010 Long Island team that won gold at the Empire State Games, head coach of the Suffolk County New York State Shootout team in 2009, assistant coach for the Long Island Under Armour Underclassman team in 2013, was named Suffolk County Division I Coach of the Year in 2014, and has been a presenter at the IMLCA Coaches Convention. He has coached four Academic All-Americans.
At the collegiate coaching level, he was an assistant at Stony Brook University from 2016 through 2018. The Seawolves were ranked No. 14 nationally when he was on the staff and was part of the America East regular season championship team in 2018 as their co-defensive coordinator.
He has also served as one of the Deans at Sachem North in recent years. Jay lives in Lake Grove with his wife Tara, a Sachem alum and former student-athlete, and children, Brody and Kaylee, who attend Wenonah Elementary.
One of the best Sachem soccer players during an extremely successful period in the program’s history, Jill McMeekin was a three-time All-league, two-time All-County, and All-State selection. She was also honored with NSCAA High School All-American status.
Jill helped Sachem win a New York State title in 1993 and a Long Island championship in 1995. She was the team’s defensive player of the year in 1994 and Team MVP in 1995.
A three-year starter on the Long Island team of the Empire State Games, she helped the Island win a gold medal in 1993.
As a sweeper on defense, she scored four goals and added 16 assists during her Sachem career. Jill was also a three-year starter on the volleyball team.
She started for four years on scholarship on the Division I Rutger’s University soccer team.
In 2003, Jill moved across the country and started her nursing career. She has lived and worked in Oregon and Seattle and lives in Elk Grove, California, where she works as an Emergency Room RN. Her daughter Keira is 9 and loves playing soccer, too.
As a freshman, Glenn Nathan was one of Sachem’s original student-athletes to play a varsity sport. He is also the first to be inducted into the Sachem Athletic Hall of Fame for tennis.
After four varsity letters at Sachem, he played at Suffolk County Community College and won the program’s first state championship. Unfortunately, he discovered his kidneys were failing while playing tennis at Suffolk. Glenn graduated from Suffolk in May of 1980, and in July, he started dialysis. Part of his motivation during this trying time was to figure out a way to keep playing. After adjusting to home dialysis, he trained himself to play competitive tennis again. He got accepted to Adelphi University for Physical Education. On the first day of practice, he was walked into the Athletic Director’s office and was offered a partial scholarship as a walk-on.
Glenn continued to teach others as an Assistant Tennis Pro at Miller Place Racquet Club and Stony Brook Racquet Club. He also became the Associate Instructor for Adelphi University Summer Tennis Programs, the Assistant Tennis Pro at Old Westbury Country Club, and the Head Tennis Pro at Bellport Country Club. He also was the Director of Tennis, running the Future Stars Summer tennis programs.
Glenn became the Head Women’s Tennis Coach at Southampton College and the men’s and women’s Assistant Tennis Coach at SUNY Old Westbury, where they were the conference champs in 2000. After this, he coached at St. Joseph’s College for 17 years. While at SJC, Glenn accrued an impressive combined Men’s and Women’s record of 122-72. Glenn had five women’s teams reach the Skyline Conference Finals, and in 2018, the team won the Conference and went on to the NCAA Championships. Glenn was the first coach in SJC history to guide his men’s tennis teams to three consecutive NCAA tournaments and the second to ever win in the tournament’s first round. He is also a four-time Skyline Conference Coach of the Year.
With all of his accomplishments, Glenn has had three Kidney Transplants in 1988, 2000, and 2012, and he continued to raise a family, work full time, teach tennis, and work as a Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach. In 2014, Glenn was recognized by the United States Tennis Association: Eastern Long Island division and awarded the Charles Karp Award, which is given to an individual for overcoming adversity.
Glenn has also won Gold and Silver Metals in Tennis and Bowling while participating in the National Kidney Foundations Transplant Olympics from 1994-2000 and won the Gift of Life Celebrity Tennis Tournament at Long Boat Key in 1983.
After SJC, Glenn returned to Suffolk Community College to spend 3 seasons at the helm of the women’s tennis program. He made an immediate impact, guiding the Sharks to the Regional finals in 2018 before winning the region and finishing as the national runner-up in 2021. Glenn is in his second year as the Women’s Tennis Coach at Molloy in Rockville Center.
He lives in Shirley with his wife Denise, who has always been there by his side for 36 years. They have three beautiful daughters, Alyssa, Lindsay, and Courtney. Glenn works full-time for Brosco as a Sales Rep selling Millwork Products on Long Island.
Denise Raab was a winter and spring track & field team member from 1995 through 1999. As a senior, she was the indoor and outdoor team captain. Denise scored valuable points, helping the indoor team win the League 1 Championship all four years. She was named all-league indoors all four years. Denise’s notable county achievements include placing 3rd in the 55M Hurdles and Long Jump as a freshman. Her standout year was her junior year, where she placed 1st in the 55m Hurdles, 1st in the long jump, and 2nd in the 55M Dash. Her performance was most impressive since the 55M and 55M Hurdles were 3 rounds each (6 races in 1 day!). Denise outscored several schools at the County Championships as an individual. Denise was named all-county her sophomore year for the long jump, her junior year in the 55M hurdles, 55m dash, and long jump, and her senior year for the 55m hurdles, 300M, and Long Jump. She was also selected as Section XI’s Outstanding Track & field athlete.
In her junior year, she was named all-state and all-federation for the 55M Hurdles. In her senior year, she was named all-state and all-federation in the 300M dash. Denise’s team awards include “Rookie of the Year” her freshman year, Outstanding Track & Field Athlete her sophomore year, and Team MVP her junior and senior years. She was also named to the NYS Scholar-athlete team. Her notable outdoor achievements include helping the team win the county championship in 1999 and being named Suffolk County MVP. In her sophomore year, she placed 2nd in the 100M Hurdles, 1st in the long jump with a season-leading 18’ ¼” leap, 2nd in the 200M, and 2nd in the 4x100M at the Division 1 championship meet. She placed 3rd in the Heptathlon at the 1998 USATF Outdoor Junior Olympics. She held several indoor records, including the 55M, 55M hurdles, 60M hurdles, 200M, 4x200M, indoor pentathlon, and outdoor records, including the 100M hurdles, 200M, 4×100 relay, and pentathlon. She also held top 10 times in more than 15 events.
Today, Denise resides in NYC and stands out in the wine and spirits industry. She currently holds a leadership position at the ADM Group, managing a client that generates nearly $50 million in revenue. She owns a consulting agency helping start-up beverage alcohol clients with brand strategy and sales plans and is a strategic advisor for Canadian finance company SponsorOne’s alcohol division.
Steve Schoen was a three-sport athlete and Team MVP in soccer, baseball, and swimming. He started in all three sports.
He was a two-year starting goalie and team captain for legendary Sachem soccer coach Don Woolley and an All-League selection. He captained Sachem’s first swim team and was also the first Sachem swimmer to place first in a meet. He competed in the 100-yard butterfly and team medley. On the baseball diamond, he was a two-year starting centerfielder and All-League with a .363 career batting average.
At Clemson University, Steve started in goal as a freshman and received Second Team All-ACC honors during his collegiate career. On a professional level, Steve was one of the first Sachem alums to play pro soccer. He attended training camps for the NY Cosmos and Chicago Sting in the NASL, and played five years for the Connecticut Yankees in the ASL. He also played six years in the NYC Semi Pro German American League, played in three matches against Greek D1 teams in Greece, and played against the Polish, Irish, and Israeli National Teams.
As a coach, he was a Hofstra Women’s Soccer Volunteer Assistant Coach for six years and helped the Pride win a CAA championship in 2005. He coached in the Empire State Games for two years, served as an assistant at Longwood High School, and was a Long Island Select Soccer coach for various age groups for many years.
He worked for 43 years in the telecommunication industry, including 23 in management, developing and building the fiber optic internet on Long Island. He was married to his wife Debbie for 45 years and lives in Middle Island. He has two daughters and four grandchildren.
Alec Sole won the Yastrzemski Award as the top baseball player in Suffolk County during his senior season in 2011, the same season he led Sachem North to a Class AA Suffolk County championship. That season solidified his place as one of the best baseball players this community has ever seen.
Alec hit .505 his senior year, recorded 28 RBI, scored 29 runs, and hit safely in every game he appeared in. He was also 6-2 on the mound with a 1.23 ERA. He was All-League, All-County, All-Long Island, All-State, and All-Northeast for his efforts. In the county championship game, he pitched a four-hit shutout and was 2-for-2 with 2 walks at the plate.
He took his skills to St. Louis University, where, as a freshman in 2012, he set a school record with 197 defensive assists in 2012 and as a sophomore, led the Billikens with 10 steals and became the first Billiken in school history to record 200+ assists in a single season (209) and was named All-Atlantic 10. By his junior year, he led the team with a .352 batting average, had 20 multi-hit games, and ended the season with a 26-game on-base streak.
It was no surprise when the Tampa Bay Rays selected Alec in the 18th round of the MLB Draft in 2014. He became the ninth and latest Sachem alum to get drafted by a Major League team. His professional career lasted five seasons, and he made it as high as Triple-A. He finished his career with our hometown, Long Island Ducks in 2018. He works in finance in Nashville, where he lives with his wife and three children.
Nina Troglio Cunningham started swimming competitively with the Sachem Swim Club and the Town of Islip at 5 years old and carried that dominance in the pool through her varsity career, graduating as one of the top swimmers in Sachem history.
She was among the top 10 swimmers in Metro/NY State and the Country and qualified for Senior Mets, Junior Nationals, Empire State games, and Zones. Nina won gold at the Empire State Games, and in 1983, she became the first female swimmer on Long Island to break the minute mark in the 100-meter backstroke.
Nina was a varsity swim team member for 5 years – qualifying for the State meet all 5 seasons. She was a four-year All-American USA Swimmer, Team MVP in 1982 & 1983, a team captain, and helped Sachem win Suffolk County titles from 1977 through 1983. As a senior, she was Section XI MVP and Outstanding Swimmer in 1983. How good was Sachem with Nina on the team? They were undefeated her entire high school career! She set High school records in 200 Medley Relay, 50 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke, and 400 Freestyle Relay and held the Sachem 100-backstroke record for approximately 15 years and was also the Suffolk County Record Holder.
Nina received swim scholarship offers from Purdue, Colgate, and Bucknell, where she eventually swam for four years. She medaled in various relays and the 100 backstroke. Nina was a founding member of the girl’s water polo club, named 1st Team All-Conference, and was the team’s leading scorer and second in assists as well as Team Captain. In 1985, Nina competed on the silver medal US Olympic Festival water polo team and represented the U.S. as a member of the National B Water Polo team in tournaments in both the United States and Canada.
As a coach, she spent time at Queens College and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and was a USA Swim Official and judge from 1988 through 2022. In 2004, Nina started coaching for Team Suffolk, where she coached the national and elite groups for 14 years. She also coached the Hauppauge Swim Team and the varsity girls and boys at Half Hollow Hills, guiding the girl’s team to their only Suffolk County Championship and the men’s team to two State Titles and three consecutive League and County titles. Nina was named Newsday’s Long Island Coach of the Year in 2017. She retired from coaching in December 2022 – forever grateful for the opportunity to be involved in the sport she loved since she was a little girl.
Off the pool deck, Nina has been a community volunteer for the various PTA units in her home school district of Half Hollow Hills. She received a LifeTime Achievement award for her dedication to the students of her community in 2020. Nina is married to Rich, a Sachem 1985 grad, and is the proud mother of her sons – Matthew and Zachary.