Saint Mark’s High School will induct seven individuals and three teams into its Athletics Hall of Fame during a ceremony on Feb. 9 at the school. This is the fifth class of inductees. Registration to attend the event and more information is available at https://www.stmarkshs.net/news–events/saint-marks-athletic-hall-of-fame.
The inductees are profiled below, with information supplied by Saint Mark’s.
Tom Lemon, a member of the first graduating class at Saint Mark’s in 1973, led the Spartans to the first four of their 14 state championships. He played baseball at Saint Mark’s under Gene Alessandrini.
He succeeded Bob Fischer as the Spartans’ varsity baseball coach in 1982 and became one of the most respected coaches in the state. During his 16 years at the helm, his record was 244-75, and he won titles in 1985, 1988, 1994 and 1997. He also coached the Delaware team to victory in the inaugural Carpenter Cup, a 16-team tournament comprised of high school players across the Delaware Valley.
Lemon produced 24 first-team all-staters and five players who signed with pro teams after being selected in the MLB draft. He is a member of the Saint Mark’s Hall of Honor, the Delaware High School Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame, and he was ranked 39th on Delaware Online’s list of top 125 coaches of all time.
Steve Bastianelli spent 23 years at the helm of Saint Mark’s wrestling program, turning it into a national powerhouse. During that time, he went 201-79-2 in dual meets, won 10 state titles, and finished second eight times. He coached 58 individual state champions and 131 runners-up. Two of his wrestlers became first-team college all-Americans, including Sheldon Thomas, Delaware’s only NCAA Division I national champion.
The Delaware Wrestling Coaches Association named Steve its coach of the year three times. He has been inducted into the Sussex Central High School Hall of Fame, the Delaware Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame, and he was ranked No. 11 on Delaware Online’s list of the top 125 coaches of all time.
Katherine Bushey, a member of the Class of 2002, finished her tennis career 74-1 at Saint Mark’s, going undefeated in her final three seasons. She lost her only regular-season match her freshman year and went 13-0 as a senior, never dropping more than one game in a set.
She became the first freshman to win a state championship in first singles. She was named Delaware’s tennis player of the year all four years and became the first female in 35 years to win the first singles state title four years in a row.
Bushey attended the Air Force Academy where she was named Mountain West all-conference as a senior for the Falcons. She was voted team MVP in 2005 and 2006 and was on the conference all-academic team all four years. As a high school junior, Kat made it to the semifinal round on Teen Jeopardy! after she was chosen as one of 15 students from 13 states.
Bruce Kelly had a spectacular career as a Saint Mark’s wrestler. The 1998 graduate was a four-time state champion and named wrestler of the year by the News Journal in 1998. He captured four Independent Conference titles and two Mid-Atlantic Classic (Beast of the East) titles. He set a state record for most career wins (141) and defeated more than 50 state champions during his time as a Spartan. He was ranked as high as second in national polls, and his Saint Mark’s teams were three-time state champions.
Bruce continued his success at Lehigh University and was inducted into Delaware’s Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2010.
The 1996 boys soccer team, led by coach Tom DeMatteis, won the state championship in a triple-overtime thriller against rival Salesianum when Chris Ricevuto slid in to finish off Dan Keane’s shot toward the far post in the 103rd minute, giving the Spartans the decisive golden goal.
The win earned the school its sixth state championship and the first of six in a row.
Goalkeeper Joey Iudica had a school-record 13 shutouts, and the Spartans finished 19-0-1, setting a state record for the winningest season ever. They also set a new team record for fewest goals allowed in a season, outscoring their opponents, 78-7.
In the final National Soccer Coaches Association rankings, they stood at No. 13 after climbing as high as 11th during the regular season. This ranking made them the highest nationally ranked team in any sport in state history up to that point.
The 2000 girls soccer team, also coached by DeMatteis, won the school’s first state championship by a score of 3-2 after falling behind, 2-0, during the first three minutes of the title game vs. A.I. duPont. They finished with a 19-1 record and outscored their opponents, 72-13, while recording 11 shutouts. They won the inaugural Catholic Conference title for girls soccer with a perfect 8-0 record and were ranked 18th in the nation by the National Soccer Coaches Association.
The team’s roster included three of the next four state players of the year and 12 freshmen who would finish their Saint Mark’s soccer careers as four-time state champions.
After starting the season 1-2, the 1994 Saint Mark’s baseball team, paced by steady defense, timely hitting, and dominating pitching, would go on to set a school record by winning their final 14 regular season games.
The Spartans shut out Middletown, 3-0, in the semifinals en route to the championship game, which, for the first time in history, was held at Frawley Stadium. In front of a then-record crowd of 1,300, Saint Mark’s blanked Caesar Rodney, 4-0, and captured the state championship.
Five Spartans were named all-state and, in another first in the history of baseball in Delaware, three members of the team were drafted by professional teams. Brian August (Orioles), Rob Borkowski (Mets), and Jamie Nichols (White Sox) ended their season with what they would call “the perfect weekend.” In the span of 72 hours, the trio were each chosen in the Major League Baseball draft, won a state championship, and graduated from Saint Mark’s.
The win marked the third state championship for both Saint Mark’s and coach Tom Lemon.
Katelyn Falgowski, who graduated in 2007, has one of field hockey’s most decorated careers of all time. As a Spartan, she was named first-team all-state all four years and was a four-time NFHCA all-south region selection, second-team all-American as a freshman and first-team all-American her remaining three years.
Her college career at North Carolina was just as remarkable. She led the Tar Heels to NCAA titles in 2007 and 2009 and graduated as their all-time leader in assists. Falgowski was the ACC freshman of the year in 2007, first-team all-American in 2009 and 2011 and the Division I national player of the year as a senior. The school later retired her No. 23 jersey.
She had an extensive career with the USA national team, beginning as the youngest member of the under-20 team at age 14. A year later she was the youngest member of the national team. She is a three-time member of the United States Olympic field hockey team (2008, 2012 and 2016).
Pedro Swann, a 1988 alumnus, helped lead Saint Mark’s to the 1988 state baseball championship by hitting the game-winning home run in both the semifinal and final games for the Spartans. He was twice named all-state and, after his career at Delaware State University, he was drafted into professional baseball with the Atlanta Braves.
He played 16 years of professional baseball, highlighted by stints in the majors with the Braves, Blue Jays and Orioles. He hit one major league home run off star pitcher Roger Clemens.
In his four years as a Spartan, 1999 graduate Jason Dzielak was the leading scorer on three nationally ranked state championship soccer teams. He scored four goals in a game three times and his career total of 73 goals make him the leading scorer in the history of Saint Mark’s soccer.
He was voted all-state three times, including back-to-back first-team honors his junior and senior years. After his final season, he was named player of the year by the Delaware High School Soccer Coaches Association, earned all-American recognition from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and awarded the Gatorade Player of the Year. During Jason’s three years as a varsity soccer player, his teams posted an incredible record of 55-2-3.
All photos are courtesy of Saint Mark’s High School.
