Latest Rockville High School Hall of Fame Class Announced

VERNON – Seven former athletes representing nine sports and one pioneering administrator and faculty

member comprise the Rockville High School Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2017.

Committee chairman Scott Smith (Class of 1988) announced the selections this week. It is the fifth hall of fame class.

This year’s social/induction ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 17 at Rockville High School. A 2
p.m. ceremony in the school’s auditorium will follow a 1 p.m. social in the school’s lobby. Tickets are
priced at $35.

Among this year’s eight-person induction class is the late Clare M. Albom ’37, who pioneered the
advancement of girls’ sports at the local, state and national levels as a member of the RHS physical
education staff from 1952 until her retirement in 1981.

Joining Albom in this year’s induction class: William G. (DiPietro) Corrente ’78, Douglas J. Domian
’82, Donald B. Edmondo ’45, Steven A. Emerson ’81, Karen E. Ewald ’91, James P. Formica ’92,
and Corey R. Pusey ’98.

In addition to the inductees, former RHS athletic department facilities maintainer and groundskeeper
Ehrhardt J. “Cookie” Koelsch will receive the John R. Williams Jr. ’62 Exceptional Service Award.

As the first RHS Hall of Famer from the wrestling program, Corrente was also a four-year member of the
varsity football program and three-year track & field performer in the weight and throwing events. As a
four-year captain in wrestling, Corrente won three State Open titles at 145 pounds and earned AllAmerica
honors as a senior. Also as a senior, he placed in the top six in the national freestyle event and
earned awards for the fastest pin and as outstanding wrestler. As a senior guard in football, the team
captain was named to the all-conference team.

The first golf inductee, Domian also played basketball and later went on to an All-America career as a
four-year member of the golf program at the University of Hartford. At RHS, Domian earned All-CVC
honors a total of three times in two sports. In golf, he played No. 1 in each of his final three seasons,
helped the Rams win one CVC title, captured one individual CVC championship, and earned All-State
recognition as a senior.

Described as a scholar and a gentleman, Edmondo played soccer, basketball and baseball, was a college
baseball teammate of former President George H.W. Bush as a Chemical Engineering major at Yale, and
went on to a 35-year career as an executive on the west coast at Chevron Corporation. Playing under RHS
Hall of Famer Francis E. Geissler, Edmondo helped launch the basketball mad era in Rockville as a
senior, when the Rams enjoyed their best season to that point as a contender for the state Class “B” title.

Emerson played under RHS Hall of Fame coaches Chuck Saimond (soccer), Harry Geraghty (basketball)
and Art Wheelock (baseball), earning All-CVC honors at least once in each sport and gaining All-State
honors as a senior in soccer. The three-time team captain was named RHS’s Most Athletic Senior when
he helped pitch the Rams into baseball’s state title game.

Ewald starred in soccer, basketball and softball. She was named first-team All-State in soccer as a senior
striker when she powered the Rams to their first state tournament win ever, and first-team All-State in
softball when she batted .437 with 41 RBI as a senior catcher. The five-time team captain was a
sophomore member of a CCC championship basketball team under RHS Hall of Fame coach Jim
Martello.

Formica’s career was punctuated by individual and team championships as a sprinter and middle distance
runner in track & field and as a wide receiver and safety under RHS Hall of Fame coach Tom Dunn in
football. As a senior in track, he made a clean sweep with CVC, Class “L”, State Open and New England
800 meter outdoor championships, repeating that year as the Class “L” champ and also winning the Class
“L” title at 400 meters. His New England title in the 800 followed a second-place showing as a junior. As
a senior captain indoors, Formica captured the state title at 800 meters and ran to second place in the New
England 600-meter race. In football, he helped the Rams to consecutive CCC titles and to the state title as
a junior. Formica was the team leader in interceptions on each of those CCC championship teams, and was named All-CVC as a senior safety when he was voted RHS’s Athlete-of-the-Year.

Pusey played five sports, including four years as a starter and two-year All-CCC basketball selection at
center, three seasons in the throws and jumps in track & field, and two years as a sweeper back under
Saimond in soccer. A member of the Class “L” state co-champion track & field team as a senior, Pusey
earned All-CCC and All-State recognition twice in the discus, and as a junior, achieved All-New England
honors in both the discus and triple jump, taking second in the discus. As a sophomore, he claimed Class
“L” outdoor titles in the triple jump and discus and was third in the javelin. His winning throw of 164-0 as
a senior in the discus in the Class “L” outdoor championships remained a state record until 2015. Pusey
went on to a successful collegiate career at the University of Connecticut and a successful high school
coaching career, where he was named CHSCA Outdoor Track & Field Assistant Coach-of-the-Year in
2015.

David Smith, former RHS coach and faculty member, will once again serve as master of ceremonies. Tickets must be reserved prior to Sept. 13 by contacting Scott Smith at 860-604-6618 or at
smithsc33@sbcglobal.com.

Photo Credit: RHS