The New Utrecht High School Football Hall of Fame will induct six new members during Alumni Day on Sept. 20.
The ceremony will be held at the New Utrecht High School auditorium at 10 a.m., following breakfast in the walk-in cafeteria at 9 a.m. The public is welcome.
The inductees are:
Jimmy Shannon (posthumous): ’69-’72, QB Captain, All-City 2nd Team. He stepped in as starting quarterback as a sophomore, in 1970. With no varsity playing experience, won four games that year. He started at quarterback two more years and pushed the Utes into winners in the early ‘70s.
Rich Indelicato: ’70-’73, OT/DT All-City. He was a key part of the historic 1973 undefeated team. He had excellent speed for a big man – 6-2, 225. In ’73 the Utes had the best defense in the city and Indelicato was one of the team leaders in tackles – which is rare from the DT position.
Ross Hargett: ’82-’84, DE/TE, Captain. Big 44 selection (’83 & ’84). He was a huge target at 6-4 with excellent hands. As a senior, Hargett helped carry the Utes to the ’84 “B” Division Championship games vs. John Jay. He played TE at Western Connecticut.
Eddie Visone: ’91-’94, QB, Captain, All-City 2nd team ’94. Set Utes’ record with 1,659 passing yards in ’94 (led city) with a 70% completion rate and 17 TDs. He joined the team as a freshman kicker – he had a soccer background; and led the Green and White to its first-ever “A” Division playoff win in 1994 against rival Fort Hamilton High School.
Chris Ferrara: ’98-’01, WR/DB Captain, All-Brooklyn as a junior and senior; three-year starter – he was only 5-3, 135; as a sophomore recorded four sacks against James Madison High School. Was third in New York City as a senior with 487 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. He also had three interceptions. Played four years at Wagner College.
Alexander Warden: ’04-’07, RB/S; First-Team All-City in 2007 at both running back and safety. A three-year varsity starter (’05-’07) at both positions. Had over 2,500 rushing yards in his career. Helped lead the Utes to the “A” Division semi-finals vs. Curtis High School. Played college football at Central Connecticut State – recently passed the BAR exam.
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Former Lafayette High basketball and baseball coach celebrated birthday No. 91 last week – July 24.
Earlier this year, he was the winner of the first annual Lou Carnesecca Lifetime Achievement in Coaching Award. It is a singular honor celebrated in South Florida, where he and wife Debbie have retired. It was presented by the South Florida Basketball Association at their annual luncheon.
From 1961 through 1976, Gil Fershtman won 204 games in 279 tries (.731) and was Coach of the Year in 1975-76 when he led the Frenchies to a 19-1 record.
As Lafayette’s baseball coach, his 1972 team went 28-2 and won the Public Schools Athletic League City Championship. Two years later, they went 32-1 with another city title.
The ‘73 and ’75 teams were Brooklyn champions, and the ’76 team won a divisional crown.
He coached girls’ softball at Madison High for 10 years,. He won nine consecutive divisional championships and one Brooklyn championship.
One part of the Fershtman puzzle is missing – his spot in the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.
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LIU’s Ethan Greenwood has earned 2025 FCS Preseason Third-Team All-American honors, FCS Football Central announced. The redshirt junior quarterback from Baldwin, New York, now has earned his second preseason All-America nod as an all-purpose selection. He was previously named a preseason second-team selection by Stats Perform last month.
Last season, Greenwood earned Third-Team All-America recognition by Stats Perform, and Second-Team All-Northeast Conference honors at quarterback. He ranked third in the NEC and led all quarterbacks with 913 rushing yards and 76.1 rushing yards-per-game. Both marks ranked Greenwood within the top 50 in the FCS statistics and third-best among all FCS quarterbacks.
Through the air, Greenwood threw for 921 yards with six touchdowns and just two interceptions. He accounted for 13 of the Sharks’ 35 touchdowns last season, tacking on five rushing scores while catching two more.
Long Island University opens the 2025 season against the University of Florida, Saturday, Aug. 30 7 p.m. – their home opener is Saturday, September 13 against Sacred Heart University at noon.
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Tony Trifonov, the 2024 Northeast Conference Coach of the Year and 35-year coaching veteran is the new head women’s volleyball coach at LIU. He joins the Sharks after five seasons as the head coach at Chicago State University (2020-2024).
In 26 years as a Division I head coach, Trifonov boasts a 384-273 overall record (.584). This past season, he led Chicago State to the NEC regular season and tournament titles, with a 13-1 conference mark; becoming the first team in school history to reach the NCAA tournament. In five years with the Cougars, Trifonov won two Coach-of-the-Year crowns (2024, NEC & 2021, WAC), set a single-season program record for wins (17, 2021), coached two conference players of -the-year – Patrycja Lagida, 2024, NEC & Yanlis Feliz, 2021, WAC — coached two All-Americans (Lagida & Feliz), and coached one conference setter of-the-year (Wiktoria Zagumny, 2024), all while his teams maintained at least a 3.0 GPA in every semester.
He is the only head coach in Chicago State women’s volleyball’s 30-year history to record a winning season – a feat he accomplished three times in five years.
Prior to coaching, Trifonov played professionally for 11 seasons and was a member of the Bulgarian national team that placed sixth in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He earned a Bachelor of Science in physical education at the National Sports Academy “Vassil Levski,” Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1990.
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The Medgar Evers College women’s volleyball schedule will feature 19 matches, including seven City University of New York Athletic Conference contests and 12 non-conference clashes.
The Cougars open their 2025 slate on the road against non-conference foe Yeshiva University in a contest that will unfold from Baruch College’s ARC Arena, Wednesday, Sept. 3. Medgar Evers will play its home opener Friday, Sept. 5 against Yeshiva University. The Cougars host the Bloodhounds of John Jay College in their CUNYAC opener, Sept. 16.
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BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: The Long Island University men’s and women’s rowing teams claimed three gold medals at the 2025 New York State Collegiate Rowing Championships this season on Fish Creek.
The duo of Kylee Gross and Krista Graziano led wire-to-wire in the Women’s Double (2x) — both races – finishing nearly seven seconds ahead of second place.
Heat (11:08 AM): 1st place – 9:27.750
Final (2:54 PM): 1st place – 8:53.930
Women’s Freshman 4+
The all-first year crew of Molly Thornton, E’lise Lyrse, Samantha Antonios, and Amanda Cayea, coxed by Lacey Minihan, captured gold with a time of 8:30.630 in the Freshman Four final, finishing more than 13 seconds ahead of the next closest rival.
Women’s Novice 4+
Returning to the water later that afternoon, the same crew coxed by Melanie Campos won the Novice 4+ with a time of 9.03.000, holding off crews from RIT, Rochester, Union, and St. John Fisher.
Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] X: @AndyFurmanFSR
