Nanuet High School Sports Hall Of Fame Marks 12th Year

The Nanuet High School Sports Hall of Fame marks its 12th year with the induction of one coach, three athletes, one team and one Distinguished Service Award honoree. The event takes place on Saturday at the Pearl River Elks Club from 6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. 

The inductees are: Karen Leitner, Chris Annesi, Phil Carpenter, Ryan Conklin, the 1973-1974 Boys’ Basketball Team and Kevin Connolly.

Girls’ Lacrosse Coach Karen Leitner guided Nanuet’s Knights from 1994 to 2009 to a record of 204 victories, 96 losses and 13 ties. Leitner’s teams produced 15 winning campaigns in succession. Four times she guided the Knights to Section 1 and Regional championships and appearances in the New York State Final Four. She has been a physical education and health teacher at Nanuet High School for 20 years. Leitner played on Clarkstown South High’s School first lacrosse team and was inducted into South’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Chris Annesi, Class of 1991, is being honored for his achievements. on the football and baseball fields. He was the quarterback of the undefeated 1989 team, which had a 10-0 record and the 1990 Section One champion squad. His pitching won All County and All League honors and he posted an 11-0 record as a senior.  

Phil Carpenter, Class of 1965, was a three-year varsity player in football as a two-year starter at tight end and defensive end. He co-captained the 1964 team and earned first-team All-County honors at tight end. Carpenter won four varsity letters in wrestling. 

When he joined the track team, Carpenter earned its Most Improved Award as a sophomore, became a front-line scorer in the 180-yard low hurdles as a junior, and co-captained the 1965 spring track squad, Nanuet’s first Rockland PSAL team champion in any sport. He made second-team All-County in both the hurdles and 880-yard relay, placed third at the County meet in the hurdles, and set a school record in that event at 20.9 seconds.

Ryan Conklin, Class of 2001 is being honored posthumously for football and wrestling. In football, he was a three-year varsity athlete who started at defensive back all three years and at halfback for two years. As a senior he was first-team All-State defensive back, first-team All-County linebacker, All-League and All-Section 1 for a Golden Knights team that captured the League title and advanced to the Section 1 Class C championship game. During his varsity career Nanuet won three straight League crowns, compiled a 22-5 record and also claimed a Bowl championship. 

Over the course of a six-year varsity wrestling career, Conklin amassed 173 victories, a Nanuet record that still stands. Of the 173 victories, 103 were pins. He was also Nanuet’s first seventh grade varsity athlete. 

The 1973-1974 boys’ basketball team rolled to 17 victories in 21 games, the most for a Nanuet team playing in a Class A league. The team posted a 12-3 record in the Rockland PSAL to finish second behind Spring Valley in the American Division and third overall.

The starting lineup consisted of center Paul Tiedemann; forwards Scott Rand and Kevin Kelly; point guard Felix Del Valle and guard Jose Guadalupe. Guard Steve Klein, who won the team’s Sixth Man Award, and forward Bruce Jensen and center/forward Lee Rogers contributed to the team’s success as well. 

Kevin Connolly, Class of 1983, is receiving the Ralph and Mary Smith Distinguished Service Award. He was the football team manager for three years and class president all four years at Nanuet High School. He has held various leadership roles with the Pearl River Elks Lodge. 

Connolly was born with Cerebral Palsy but did not let that deter him from his goals. His duties as football team manager included equipment repair person, medical kit overseer, water boy, timekeeper, audio-visual technician, negotiator, inventory control clerk, laborer and procurer of needed items. He also set up the communications phones from the field to the press box and laid out the uniforms and cleats before games

Greg Mooney will serve as master of ceremonies and hand out the awards. The Nanuet High School Jazz Knights will perform through the evening. Tickets for the event including cocktail hour, dinner and dessert cost $55 and are available by contacting JP Bonomolo are jpbny1@aol.com or 845-623-3189.