RHS Athletic Hall of Fame
Members of the Ridgewood High School Athletic Hall of Fame are those that have made a lasting impact on the school’s sports program as either student players, coaches, or supporters. Often the student players have continued to influence their chosen sports after high school by ongoing participation in athletics.
Charlie Yennie, 2006 Inductee
Charlie Yennie coached RHS teams to winning records in three sports over a 13-year span and also made important contributions to athletics in Bergen County. His basketball teams compiled a 150-102 record over 11 seasons (1945-56) and won Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League championships in 1951 and 1955. He never had a losing season.
He was the founder of the Oscar F. Thompson Memorial Jamboree, the Bergen County Boys Basketball Tournament. He coached soccer from 1944 to 1956 with an 81-63 record and two state championships (1944 and 1953). He was a founding father of both the Bergen County Soccer Coaches Association and the Bergen County Soccer Officials Association and was instrumental in starting the Soccer State Playoffs. He coached baseball from 1943 to 1945, with a record of 32-8 and a state title in 1945 when nine different players pitched an inning in a 3-2 victory. He served as Athletic Director of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School.
The Haledon native graduated from Paterson Central High School and Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) in 1936. He was inducted into the TCNJ Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986 for his accomplishments in football, track and golf. He started the Ridgewood Recreation Basketball Program and was recreation director for a number of years. All-told, he gave 42 years to Ridgewood youth as teacher and coach and in the Parks and Recreation Department. He coached at Clifton and East Orange before he came to RHS and had five state championships for his career. Charlie and Dorothy Yennie had two sons, Doug, retired after a 34-year career coaching basketball and golf at Bergen Community College, and Bo, a ski instructor in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Charlie died at age 86 in May of 2001.
Download: 2006 Banquet Book!
Lynne Collazo, Chuck Johnson, Patricia Putnoky Piotrowski, Tyler Roten, Kelci Smesko, Brett Sowers,
2022
Patti Auger, Eric Benedict, Eunae Jo, Peter McGinley, Karla Mixon, Clair Nowakowski, 1983 Softball Team, Joe Pedone, Julia Rappa
2020
Carlos Peay, Louis Edward “Eddie” Peay, Kelly Conheeney, Samantha Cermack, Chris Rae, Chelsea Steinberg, Mark Strittmatter, Andrew Clarke, Jim Dee, Phil Ross Sr.
2018
2016
Maureen Greico, Larry Coyle, Jacob Brown, Richard Bennett, Toshiko D’Elia
2014
John Marshall, Jim Bruni, Mark Romeo, Jean Hughes, Chris Van Note, Nancy Hogan, RHS Football Team 1913, Don Taylor, Rachel Grygiel, John Cerf, Paul Tornatore, Michele Marangi, RHS Boys Lacrosse 1990-92
2012
Craig Halyard, Tom Flatt, Tricia Pappalardo, Mike Henderson, Kandie Latham, Leigh Jester, Tom Dusel, Roger Sweeney, Linda Zabielski, Patty Capasso, Dennis Sullivan, Nick & Dottie Capasso, Track and Field (Bain-Daley-Oliver Era)
2010
Primo “Duke” DeRochi, Debbie Paul, George Monro, Bill Dunne, Amy Lyons, James Sullivan, Michael Culver, Keith O’Connor, Josh Kauke, Patti Mileski, Mary Ellen Mileski
2008
Kitty Batterson, Henry Blauvelt, Frank L. Bradley, Jr., Lucia Cancelmo, Chris DuFlocq, Renee DuFlon, RHS Girls’ Basketball 1922-1923, Harry Grundy, Jim Jones, Joe LeMay, Jen McDermott, Shannon McGarrigle, Tony Napier, Margaret Niemann, Vince Robertiello (Jamie Roberts), Damian Ross, Mike Springer
2006
Mario Ferraro, Paul Ferraro, Don Haldane, Wendy Hartwig, Tom Hopper, Bob Keino, Frank Mozeleski, Tim Mullen, Jenna Rogers, Donna O’Connell, Carin Cone, Charles Yennie
2004
Paul Arrigoni, Pete Campbell, Doug Cook, Becky Deetz, Otis Grendler, Jodi Hartwig, Gene Links, Debbie O’Connell, Aimee McGuire, Walt Perdue, Tom Simos, Kazbek Tambi, Jack Van Yperen, Bob Whitaker, Margaret Scutro