Camillus/West Genesee Community Hall of Fame announced
By Eric Bacon
Director of Parks and Recreation
On Saturday, Nov. 5, the Town of Camillus Parks and Recreation Department will host the 9th annual Town of Camillus/West Genesee Community Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
This year’s event will be held at Casa De Grande, 135 State Fair Blvd., Syracuse at 7 p.m. with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.
In order to be eligible for induction, a candidate must meet the following criteria:
“Candidates must be a recognizable and respected member of the Town of Camillus and/or West Genesee School District Community, either past or present that has made a significant impact in the areas of sports and/or recreation.”
This year’s class recognizes individuals and teams that have embodied these criteria and so much more.
Among those being honored is the 1990 West Genesee Boys Lacrosse Team.
The team earned 23 wins and 0 losses, won Section III and Upstate and New York State Championships and was ranked No. 1in the United States.
The team also boasts 11 All-League players and two High School All-Americans.
Fourteen members of the team went on to play Division I, one played Division II and 11 played Division III collegiate lacrosse.
In college many of these players set records, won championships, were championship game MVPs, were captains of their teams, are in their Hall of Fame, were Academic All-Americans, and have coached lacrosse at all levels.
The team was comprised of: Joe Adams, Matt Byrne, Joe Callahan, Scott Conklin, Brian Dattellas, Joe Dell, Tim DeMore, Brian Duffy, Jeff Evanchak, John Ivery, Jim Kelsey, Bill Krist, Chris Lamanna, Nick Licameli, Charlie Lockwood, Shawn Marsh, Rich Michaels, Rob Michaels, Ryan O’Shea, Bill Reed, Bill Reighter, Scott Reinhardt, Scott Renshaw, Rick Ryan, Dave Schneid, Dan Sheehan, Dave Signor, Geoff Simons, Dan Spillett , Shawn Stewart and Bill Wilson with coaches Mike Messere, Head Coach, Bob Deegan, Assistant Coach, Todd Oudemool, Timer: Charles DelCostello. Manager.
Mark Larkin. Stats: Jennifer Coughlin, Lisa Russo, Theresa Kinane, Missy Sorbello, Allison McGrath. Trainer: Steve Pritchard. Assistant Ball Boys: Mark Landry and Andrew Renshaw.
The team will be joined by Bill Wormuth.
Wormuth served as varsity lacrosse coach at West Genesee from 1966 to 1975.
During his tenure he earned a record of 121 wins and 31 losses.
Under his guidance teams also earned OHSL co-championships in 1966 and 1970 as well as OHSL championships in 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975 among other honors.
Wormuth was also recognized as coach of the years in 1968, 1971, 1973 and 1975.
Wormuth attended Syracuse University on a lacrosse scholarship from 1960-1964 where he was a three year letter winner and co-captain in 1964.
From 1965 until 1977 was a teacher and administrator in the West Genesee District. He finished his career at Lowville Central Schools where he served as superintendent and facilitated the development of the interscholastic sports program.
In addition he served in many volunteer capacities with not-for-profit, civic and community oriented organizations.
Bob Knapp will also be inducted.
Knapp was a teacher at West Genesee High School from 1971 until 1999.
During his career, he coached Junior Varsity Football and was a Dry Lands Instructor for the Swim Program.
During the 1990s, he served as the President of the Teacher’s Union where one of his goals was to insure that all coaches were compensated and treated fairly by the administration and the community.
Knapp worked hard to implement Title IX in the 1970s and insisted girls be given the same opportunities in athletics as boys.
Both Knapp and his wife Anne came from families that valued both high school Athletics and town recreation programs.
Throughout their lives, they have carried on this tradition by supporting both West Genesee Athletics and Town of Camillus Parks and Recreation programs.
Their dream is to see that their daughters and grandchildren continue on this family tradition by continuing to support and work for the betterment of each of these programs. Knapp believes that through sports youngsters will learn the importance of hard work, dedication and being a team player that allows for success not only on the field but most importantly in the “game of life.”
Knapp was a successful college athlete as well.
He attended SUNY Cortland where he played football for 4 years. In 1964 he won the Red Letter Award that was designated for the team Most Valuable Player. During his senior year, his team went 8 and 1.
The Camillus Youth Basketball Association, CYBA, will also be recognized.
Established in 1963, the CYBA was created to provide local children the opportunity to learn and play the game of basketball.
As one of the largest youth programs in the Town of Camillus, CYBA has focused on the important lessons of sportsmanship, hard work and dedication leading to success, and the ability to lose with dignity.
The following people have played a large role in the success of the CYBA program in making it the largest and longest running youth recreational program in the West Genesee School District and the Town of Camillus.
These and hundreds of other volunteers have given countless hours of their time to create a truly unique recreational program.
Greg Abdo, Bill Aiken, Pete Cost, Gary DeGroat, Paul DeLallo, Tim Flanders, Steve Forward, Richard Homeyer, Dale Keida, John Kelly, Bob Lane, Tim Schoonmaker, Rick Shirtz, Jim Stapleton, Tom Thompson and Larry Woolschlager will be recognized.
Daniel J. Sheehan will also be honored.
Sheehan graduated from West Genesee in 1991.
As a senior he was a 1st team All-League selection leading his team to a NYS championship while being named the game’s MVP.
In 1990 he was a member of the 23-0 lacrosse team that won the NYS championship as well as ranked as the No. 1 team in the United States.
In 1991 he was an Honorable Mention All-League basketball player and member of the 1992 under-19 World Lacrosse team.
Sheeehan has gone on to serve as Lemoyne Men’s Lacrosse coach from 1998 to the present. He has gone on to earn NCAA Division II National Championships in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2013 and 2016. He is currently ranked second in all-time winning percentage amongst active coaches at Division I, II, III at 85.39 percent.
His 269 victories are the 24th most in the history of NCAA lacrosse.
Judge David N. Hurd graduated third in his class from Camillus High School in 1955 where he was a four year starter in football (8 man), basketball and baseball. In his senior year, he was team captain in all three sports and was All-County in basketball.
He served as a United States Magistrate Judge from 1991-1999 and has served as a United States District Judge from 1999 to the present (2016).
In 1992, Hurd issued a decision which directed Colgate University to give varsity status to the women’s ice hockey club team pursuant to Title IX. It was one of the first cases under Title IX and created nationwide interest and helped pave the way for other female athletes. A few years after his ruling, the women’s Olympic gold medal winner in ice hockey thanked Hurd.
In 1980, Hurd took up running as a sport.
Since then he has run over 54,000 miles, more than twice around the globe. He has run the 15K Utica Boilermaker Race 35 consecutive times (1982-2016), completed 6 full marathons and participated in 352 races.
Hurd and his wife Connie have four children, Kristine, Jeffrey, Steven, and Melissa and two grandchildren, Shaun and Chance. All of the children were high school and college athletes.
Michael P. Bome or as his teammates called him “Bomezz”, was born in Syracuse and attended Fairmount Elementary School, WGJHS and graduated from WGHS in 1969.
He began his athletic career playing baseball and basketball in the Camillus youth program. At WGJHS he played soccer, basketball, baseball and was elected president of the student council.
In high school, Mike played 3 years of varsity baseball and soccer and two years of varsity basketball. He was named First team All County in soccer and baseball and received the Cornell Student Athlete Award.
He graduated from Ithaca College in 1973 with a BS in physical therapy.
At Ithaca, he played three years of varsity soccer, three years diving for the swim team and three years in the baseball program. He earned his MA degree from NYU. His master’s project was the development of a prototype skiing device for people with spinal cord injuries.
Bome was a past President of the Marcellus School Board, a volunteer assistant coach with the Marcellus baseball team, co-founder of the Marcellus youth softball program and coach and administrator with the Marcellus youth soccer, basketball and baseball programs.
He coached his son and daughter through youth sports and proudly watched them excel athletically and academically through college.
Nathan C. Romano graduated from West Genesee in 1960 where he was one of the most versatile athletes playing the following sports: Soccer for three years earning All-County honors in 1958, football for one year earning 2nd Team All-County honors in 1959, baseball where he earned FRirst Team All-County honors in 1960 and basketball Second Team All-County honors in 1960.
He went on to SUNY Oneonta where he lettered in soccer, basketball and baseball for all four years. Led Soccer and Basketball Teams in assists during his career. He was the Oneonta Male Athlete of the Year in 1964. He was inducted into the SUNY Oneonta Hall of Fame in 2004.
Earned a Bachelor’s Degree, two Master’s Degrees and nearly completed his Ph.D. but was unable to complete his dissertation due to illness. Was a member of the Phi Delta Kappa fraternity.
Although he lived and worked in many places throughout this country, his heart was always true to his Camillus roots. His automatic response to any person’s inquiry about where he was from was always “Camillus, NY.”
