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Coaldale inducting four members

The Carbon County Sports Hall of Fame will induct its 2013 class on Sunday, May 26 at Memorial Hall in Jim Thorpe.

The doors will open at 12:45 with cocktail hour from 1-2 p.m. Dinner will be at 2 p.m. with the induction ceremony to follow.Anyone looking for tickets to the banquet can contact any of the following people: Art George 610-826-2830; Jake Boyer 610-751-6634; Danny McGinley 570-325-3550; Tom Wehr 570-366-2694; Trevor Lawrence 570-645-4722; Ted Bortnick 570-645-9575; Emmett McCall 570-645-2093; Bob Gelatko 570-645-8652; Tom McGrath 570-668-2237; Gary Clemson 570-668-1066; Tom Pilla 570-669-6666; Bill Gardiner 570-669-6564.This year's class includes the follow members:TAMAQUA - Mike Hromyak Sr., Robert "Bob" Clemson, Sean Love.JIM THORPE - Peggy Sue O'Donnell, Joe Morgan, Jack Morgan.NESQUEHONING - Joe Ligenza, Bill Morgan, Charles Zabroski, Tom Pilla.LEHIGHTON - Jim Tkach, Larry Mertz, Jennifer (Harleman) Lopata.SUMMIT HILL - Joe Leonzi, Ed Kusko, Frank Santo.PALMERTON - Billy Heydt, Bruce Kocher, Steve Kocher, Steve Barilla.LANSFORD - Caszy Kosciolek, Roberta (Spezialetti) Porambo, Bill Maynard.COALDALE - Pete Radocha, Diana Demianenko, Joseph Ozefovich, John Posta.Over the next several Saturdays, the TIMES NEWS will run brief biographies of this year's class.Following are the inductees from Coaldale:PETER J. RADOCHA JR.Radocha attended Panther Valley High School from 1969 to 1972. He earned 10 varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball.In football, Radocha played quarterback, fullback, wingback, linebacker and defensive back. He was also the team's punter and place kicker.Radocha passed for 920 yards and ran for 950 yards as a senior, earning First Team Anthracite defensive back, First Team All-Reading Eagle, and Second Team All-State honors. He was named to the Big 33 team in 1972, kicking an extra point in his team's victory over Ohio.In basketball, Radocha earned First Team All-Anthracite recognition as a guard and was First Team All-Reading Eagle. As a guard, he scored 42 points in one game, which was a school record at that time. He finished with 953 career points.In baseball, he played four years and compiled an impressive .398 career batting average. He was named First Team All-Schuylkill County for three years.In 1972, Radocha earned a football scholarship to Temple University but transfered to East Stroudsburg University where he played football and baseball for three years.In football, he rushed for 2,047 yards, scored 27 touchdowns, kicked one field goal and averaged 37.8 yards per punt.He earned ECAC player of the week eight times and twice was named All-PCAC First Team running back. In 1976, he was named Little All-American. He was the school's MVP for the 1975-76 season. He was the school's first 1,000 yard rusher. He was named captain of the 1976 team.In baseball, he had a .312 batting average in 85 games, which included 68 walks, eight home runs and 59 runs batted in. He was voted MVP in 1975-76. He was First Team All-PCAC third baseman in 1975 and First Team All-PCAC catcher in 1976.In 1987, he was elected to the East Stroudsburg University Hall of Fame.Radocha played semi-pro baseball in the Blue Mountain League from 1973 to 1986. In 1989, he was elected into the Blue Mountain Hall of Fame on the first ballot.After college, Radocha returned to the Panther Valley area. He has coached multiple sports at a number of schools, including Panther Valley, Tamaqua, Cardinal Brennan and Marian.Radocha is part owner of Peter J. Radocha and Sons, Inc.He is married to his wife Margie for 32 years and they have two children - Tony and Stephanie.DIANA DEMIANENKODemianenko, born in Coaldale in 1932, is a true pioneer regarding the final acceptance of women's athletics at the high school and college.During her matriculation at Coaldale High School from 1946 through 1950, Demianenko was not given the opportunities of high school athletic competitions available to males. However, she was an outstanding student, gymnast and basketball player.Demianenko attended East Stroudsburg University, where she excelled in varsity basketball, varsity field hockey, and in track and field. She graduated with honors in the field of education.Upon graduation from East Stroudsburg University, she joined the faculty of Clifton Heights High School, teaching health and physical education. She coached women's basketball there from 1954 though 1958. During this time, Deminanenko competed at the state and national level in track and field, specializing in the discus, shot put, and javelin throw. She qualified as an alternate for the United States Women's team for the Helsinki, Finland Olympic Games in 1958.Demianenko qualified for Officers Candidate School of the United States Marine Corps. Promoted to First Lieutenant, she was on the forefront of significant changes which would occur in the roles of women in the USMC.After earning a Master's Degree in Guidance at Glassboro State College, Demianenko joined the faculty at Deptford High School in New Jersey. She taught and coached field hockey, softball, and basketball in addition to her teaching assignments. Her love was basketball, however. She advocated changing the classical six player women's basketball to the five person boys' basketball rules. This was adopted by the Southern New Jersey Conference as the result of her efforts.During her tenure at Deptford High School from 1963 through 1994, her basketball teams won eight conference championships with a record of 237 wins and 94 losses. She was honored a "Coach of the Year" by the New Jersey Coaches Association. As an assistant coach in field hockey her teams won six championships in the New Jersey Field Hockey Conference. In 1996 Demianenko was inducted into the Deptford High School Hall of Fame.JOHN POSTAPosta was a stellar high school and collegiate athlete.After spending his early years at SS Cyril and Methodius School, Posta moved on to Coaldale High School where he lettered in football, basketball and track, while also being named to the National Honor Society. In track, he pole-vaulted, high jumped, and threw the discus and javelin.On the gridiron, Posta played both offense and defense as a lineman while doing the team's punting. During his tenure, the Tigers enjoyed a 23-game win streak. His outstanding play earned him a selection to the All Star Dream Game.Following his 1952 graduation from Coaldale, "Posty" received a full four-year scholastic and athletic scholarship to George Washington University where he played both ways as starting tackle for three years. In his final season, after an early loss to Florida University, GW had seventh ranked West Virginia on the ropes before bowing 13-7, after leading most of the game.An active member in the Theta Phi fraternities and Student Government, Posta earned a Becahlor of Science Degree in Engineering. He served as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent Office and went to night law school at GW, where he obtained his LLB and Juris Doctor Degrees.Posta left for California in 1961 to be Patent Counsel at Whittaker Corporation, before going into private practice of Patent and Trademark Law in Encino, CA. He was admitted to the California Bar, U.S. District Court of California and U.S. Supreme Court.Posta resides in Thousand Oaks, CA, with his wife of 49 years, Patricia, a California native; four children, Jennifer Terry of Mill Valley, CA; Dr. Katrina Bradford of Dallas, TX; John and Patrick of Los Angeles, and four grandchildren.He has been retired for 15 years, dabblling in horse breeding and racing.JOE "OSCAR" OZEFOVICHOzefovich was a standout three-sport star at Coaldale High School.In basketball, Ozefovich played center, and was a noted rebounder and passer.In track and field, he ran the 100 yard dash, anchored the mile relay and threw the shot out, garnering firsts in all three events in several meets over his first two years in high school. In his last two years in track, he was a standout in the 100 and 220. He also anchored the mile relay and his team frequently took firsts in that event too. He still holds the record on the retired Coaldale cinder track for the 100 (tied at 10.3 seconds) and 220 (24.4 seconds). He ran a 10.1 second 100 yard dash in a meet where 10-flat took first place.After not playing football his freshman year, Ozefovich turned into a standout on the gridiron his final three years of high school. In the 1955 season, the Tigers posted a 6-3-1 record. Ozefovich ended the season with seven touchdowns. It was a great football season for the Tigers, ending with a defeat of their archrival, Lansford, 13-0, on Thanksgiving Day.In his senior year in high school, Ozefovich received 26 full scholarship offers from colleges and universities to play football. Included on the list were all the military academies, all the Ivy League schools, and many universities in the Northeast. At graduation ceremonies from high school, Ozefovich received the school's award for the Coaldale High School athlete earning the most letters during their high school career.Ozefovich attended the George Washington University on a full scholarship. Ozefovich was a standout on the freshman team. Ozefovich started at halfback/fullback in succeeding seasons, but cracked a breastbone received during his junior year sidelined him for the remainder of the 1958 season and limited his play in 1959, his last year of eligibility.Ozefovich graduated from GWU in 1961 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and joined Dr. Robert S. Ledley at the National Biomedical Research Foundation in Silver Springs, MD, performing research on the use of computers in biology, medicine and dentistry. In 1963, following the Cuban missile crisis, Ozefovich joined the CIA.Ozefovich resides in Vienna, VA, with his wife, Sally Fay, his three stepsons, Chris, Cody and Will.

Copyright 2013