Fox Chapel Hall of Fame banquet offers taste of history
BLAWNOX: When he was inducted into the Fox Chapel Area Schools Sports Hall of Fame last year, David Natali suggested that it might be a good idea to invite some of Fox Chapel's current student-athletes to future induction banquets.
It would serve as a way to connect Fox Chapel's athletic past with the present and future.
Several accepted the invitation and attended Sunday's induction banquet at the Holiday Inn at RIDC Park.
It gave them a chance to rub shoulders with some of the best athletes in Fox Chapel history.
Tom Bluemling, Virgil Christian, Bettina Finn-Sipe, Rick Strom and Steve Swanson were honored for their accomplishments at Fox Chapel and later in college and professional sports.
Bluemling, a 1968 Fox Chapel graduate, was an outstanding soccer goalkeeper who helped the Foxes win the WPIAL championship in 1967 and later starred at Slippery Rock University. He went on to coach Mt. Lebanon's girls to two WPIAL titles and a state championship.
Bluemling recognized several former teammates from that WPIAL championship squad who were in attendance, as well as his old coach, Ed Boyle.
"You have defining moments and people in your life, and for me Mr. Boyle was one of those," Bluemling said. "If it wasn't for him, I never would have gotten involved in soccer, I never would have gone to Slippery Rock, and I never would have met my wife."
Bluemling saved a gold medal from his 2000 WPIAL championship with Mt. Lebanon's girls, and he called Boyle forward and presented it to him.
Christian, a 1981 graduate, teamed with J.R. Pitcairn to win the WPIAL tennis doubles championship in 1979 and the state title in 1980. He went on to an outstanding college career at Penn State before coaching at the University of Pennsylvania and eventually settling in Peachtree City, Ga., where he is tennis director of the Peachtree City Tennis Center.
"This is home, and it feels good to be back," said Christian, whose family moved to Fox Chapel from Delaware when he was a 10th-grader. "I was welcomed here and felt like part of the community, and that instilled in me a desire to do my best."
Finn-Sipe, a 1986 graduate, was an all-American soccer player who won a WPIAL title at Fox Chapel and an Ivy League crown at Cornell.
Finn-Sipe read a poem she wrote to honor her teammates and coaches from that 1985 WPIAL championship squad.
"I felt like we were the role models that helped pave the way for the successes that came later," she said. "And because of soccer, I set high standards for myself."
Strom, a 1983 graduate, was an outstanding quarterback at Fox Chapel and Georgia Tech University before playing five years for the Pittsburgh Steelers and one season with the Buffalo Bills.
"I had a chance to do something I always dreamed of doing - play football for the Pittsburgh Steelers," said Strom, who received a congratulatory note from Bill Cowher, his coach for his final two seasons with the Steelers.
Swanson, a 1972 graduate, was a standout basketball player at Fox Chapel and Roanoke College. He spoke of the foundation in athletics he received while playing three sports at Fox Chapel.
"It showed me what hard work, teamwork and discipline were all about," he said.
Also recognized at Sunday's banquet was Mitch Baseman, the winner of this year's Frank Fuhrer Family Athletic Scholarship. Baseman, who will play football at the University of Rochester, will receive $2,500 for each of his four years in school.
Fox Chapel juniors Christina Pettinato and Mike Killian were awarded Shirley Campbell Family Athletic Sponsorships, which will assist them in choosing a college through the College Bound Student Alliance.
