The St. Edmund Prep H.S., Sheepshead Bay, community gathered Jan. 26 at El Caribe Country Club Caterers in Mill Basin to induct the Class of 2017 of its Athletic Hall of Fame.
This year’s distinguished class includes five individuals and one team that have lived out the Eagle way.
Here’s a closer look at this year’s inductees:
Chris Kelly, ’70, was a four-year basketball standout at St. Edmund’s back when basketball was the only competitive sport offered at the school.
During her senior season, she was team captain as well as team MVP. She continued her hoops career at Kingsborough Community College in Manhattan Beach, and Brooklyn College, Midwood.
While she was influential during her time as a student-athlete at St. Edmund’s, she cemented her legacy in the New York City sports world as a coach and an official. She began as the head softball coach at CW Post (now LIU Post), Greenvale, L.I., from 1979 through 1984.
Her teams finished with an overall record of 101-51, and she guided her squad to the 1980 New York State Championships and the 1981 Division II College World Series, finishing as national runner-up.
She was also an assistant women’s basketball coach at Post and coached basketball, volleyball and softball at the Empire State Games.
Kelly’s career as a basketball official began while she was still a student at St. Edmund’s. She began officiating Catholic Youth Organization games and eventually rose through the ranks to work Division I women’s basketball games in several northeast conferences.
Through the years, she has served as a mentor, trainer, supervisor and assignor for area officials. She currently assigns games in both the CHSAA and Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) and serves as the PSAL borough supervisor for girls’ basketball in Queens.
She was inducted into the CHSAA Hall of Fame in 2005.
Cathy Viverito, ’78, was a standout two-sport athlete at St. Edmund’s who is already enshrined in the school’s Hall of Fame as a member of the 1977-1978 girls’ basketball team.
Her hoops teams won back-to-back diocesan championships under coach Ruth Ann Gerdes. The 1976-1977 team earned the first title in school history after an undefeated season. The following year, St. Edmund’s repeated the feat, with Viverito and fellow Hall of Famer Jeanne Sullivan Toomey combining for 47 pts. in the championship victory over St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows.
Viverito, a 1977 and 1978 Tablet All-Star, was selected as The Tablet’s Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the 1977-1978 season.
In addition to basketball, she was part of the first-ever girls’ softball team, which was formed in the spring of 1978.
She received a basketball scholarship to Wagner College, Staten Island. After seven years as a teacher, she joined the NYPD, retiring in 2011.
Lou Welsh, ’99, is regarded as one of the most successful student-athletes in St. Edmund’s history. He played baseball and basketball, was part of two city championship teams and was named the school’s Male Athlete of the Year in 1999.
He was a three-time CHSAA All-Star in baseball. As a sophomore pitcher, he finished the season 8-3, included a no-hitter against Bishop Loughlin, Fort Greene, and wins in the semifinal and championship games of the ‘B’ city tournament. He also batted .410 with a team-high 20 RBIs.
He went on to post a school-record 1.88 ERA as a junior and led the CHSAA with a .519 batting average as a senior. He still holds school records for wins (20), innings pitches (164.0), strikeouts (234) and complete games (15).
In addition to his time on the mound, Welsh played two seasons of varsity basketball for the Eagles, culminating with an ‘A’ division city championship in 1999.
He attended Queens College, Flushing, on a baseball scholarship. While there, he posted an 11-9 record. After college, he served as pitching coach for St. Edmund’s JV and later varsity baseball teams.
Victoria LaCerra Trancho, ’99, has been a fixture in the local cheerleading scene since she entered St. Edmund’s in 1995. She cheered all four years and was a captain her final three years, including the 1998 season in which the team won the diocesan CHSAA competition.
She went on to cheer at St. Joseph’s College, Brooklyn, before later returning to St. Edmund’s as cheerleading coach for the past 13 seasons.
LaCerra Trancho has guided her teams to six top-three finishes in diocesan competitions and two regional appearances.
She has spearheaded a service mentality among her team members as well. Since 2009, the cheerleaders have participated in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Walk at Prospect Park and have raised over $12,000 for the Making Strides Foundation.
She became the chairperson for CHSAA cheerleading and step in 2011 and has also contributed significantly in transitioning cheerleading from an activity to a sport.
Matt Vitale, ’02, was the second boys’ basketball player in school history to score 1,000 career pts. and remains the only hoops player in school history to play in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
In his three seasons on the Eagles varsity team, he guided the squad to a 52-27 overall record and an appearance in the 2001 ‘B’ city championship game. He averaged a double-double for his career at 14.2 pts. and 10.1 rebounds per game. He was twice name a CHSAA All-Star.
Vitale received a basketball scholarship to Wagner College, Staten Island. He was a member of the school’s only Northeast Conference championship team, thus earning a ticket to the NCAA Tournament in 2003. After his junior year, he was selected to be a part of the National Invitational Tournament All-Star Team, which traveled to England and Ireland to compete against European professional teams.
Vitale joined the NYPD in 2007 and currently assists with training new hires.
The St. Edmund’s 2006-2007 ice hockey team cruised to an undefeated 20-0 season, which culminated in a CHSHL ‘B’ division championship. The team defeated Christ the King, Middle Village, in the semifinals before taking down St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows, in the championship on an overtime goal by leading scorer Matt Galeano. The squad remains the only undefeated boys’ team in school history.
The team members included Anthony Alloggio, Salvatore Annunziata, Christopher Brown (assistant captain), Joseph Calabrese, Andrew Carazo, John D’Adamo Jr., Michael Davie, Kevin Drudy (captain), Matthew Duffy, Joseph Forcina, Matt Galeano, Frank Grisanzio, Kyle Goonan, Michael Kress, Michael Lermer, Patrick Mead, Gerard Rayder (assistant captain), Ryan Rader, Edward Sosnowski, Michael Strenk, Nicholas Vitale, Jesse Wynn and Justin Yacono. The team was led by head coach Danny Borgia and assistants Harry Kamna, John D’Adamo Sr. and Eric Drake.
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