Palmerton names Hall of Fame inductees

Four former athletes, a coach and the 1987 wrestling team will be inducted during the fourth Palmerton Area High School Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Wednesday, Feb. 7 between the boys and girls varsity basketball doubleheader at the Palmerton High gymnasium.

The inductees are Bradley Browne (1977 graduate), Anne (Searles) Reel (1984), Styles S. Butz (1920), Charles “Biddy” Romig (1964), and Coach William “Bill” Piper. Also, the 1987 wrestling team earned the “PHS Team of Excellence Award.”

A a brief capsule on each inductee follows:

Bradley Browne

Brad, a 1977 graduate, began his running career in the fall of 1973 as a freshman cross country runner at Palmerton Area High School under coach Bill Piper.

In the spring of his freshman year, Bradley joined the track team under coach Art George Jr. Two years later, Browne had a breakout season as the Blue Bombers won the Centennial League Dual Meet Championship and finished with a 9-0 record. The team also won the Centennial League Meet and Carbon County Meet Championships.

Running the mile run at the PIAA Championships in his final race his senior year Browne won the gold medal in the state finals. He ran a 4:26.4 in the trial heat to reach the final and then ran a 4:15.57 to win the race setting a state record at the time.

Browne set school records in the 880-yard run (1:56.9), mile run (4:15.57) as a two-mile relay team member (8:11.50), and the distance medley relay (17:30.02).

He also set track records at many of the Bombers’ opponents schools.

At the 1976 AA District Meet, Browne anchored the two-mile relay team to a second-place finish and set a new district record in the mile run (4:26.6) to qualify him for states. At states, he won his heat and then finished eighth in the final.

In 1977, Browne finished undefeated in the 880 and mile run in dual meets. He won the 880 in record fashion in the Centennial League Meet (2:02.7), also won the mile run (4:35) and also anchored the winning two-mile relay team. During the district meet, Browne won the 880 (1:59.3) and the mile (4:21.5).

He scored 317 career points to put him near the top of the all-time Palmerton track list.

In 1975, Browne placed first or second in every cross country dual meet, placed in the top 10 at districts and placed 20th at the state meet. The team finished undefeated and won the Centennial League championship.

In 1976, the Bombers were undefeated again and repeated as Centennial League champs. Browne finished undefeated during the regular season, won the Tri-County championship, setting a course record; was the Lehigh University Meet champ; was the District 11 AA champ; and was second at the PIAA Championships.

Anne Searles Reel

Anne graduated from Palmerton Area High School in 1984 and was a three-sport standout for the Bombers. She earned a combined 10 varsity letters in field hockey, basketball and softball.

As the team’s leading scorer (18 goals), she ked the field hockey team to Centennial League and District 11 Championships during her senior season. The team amassed a 18-1-1 record along the way.

As a four-year letter-winner on the hardwood, Anne scored over 1,000 points and helped her team to a pair of Centennial League and District 11 titles. In one game, with her team trailing by 12 at the end of the third quarter, Searles made a buzzer-beater to score her 1,000th point, then outscored the entire Salisbury team 27-25 in the fourth quarter to lead the Bombers to the District 11 title game.

She also paced the softball team leading in RBIs and home runs. In a game against Pocono Mountain, she hit three home runs and a triple.

After serving as captain of the field hockey, basketball and field hockey teams, she earned first-team Centennial League honors in all three sports and was selected as the Palmerton Outstanding Female Athlete in her senior year.

Styles S. Butz

Styles was the founder of basketball at Palmerton Area High School.

Upon entering high school back in 1916, his classmates urged him to ask permission to organize a team. The school board was petitioned and permission was granted, but money had to be raised.

Butz took charge of what was known as an Activity Fund and ordered the first uniforms and arranged the first games.

All home games were played at the Neighborhood House.

Styles played four years of varsity and never missed a game, playing in 67 straight.

He also competed in sprints, high jump and shot put in the Carbon County Track Meet. He won the shot put twice.

Styles also played baseball in high school and on town teams.

Charles “Biddy” Romig

Charles graduated from Palmerton Area High School in 1964 and participated in football and track and field.

Participating in the pole vault and high jump, Romig took the art of pole vaulting to “new heights” as he jumped into a sawdust pit, using straight poles made of either bamboo or aluminum. Besides his own personal records and accolades, Romig contributed to the success of teams, as they claimed Lehigh Valley League Dual Meet season titles twice, won four Lehigh Valley League Meet Championships and four District 11 Class B championships.

In his junior year at the 1963 District 11 Class B Meet, Romig took first place in the pole vault, clearing 11-6, to qualify him for the PIAA state meet. There he became the school’s first pole vaulting state champion clearing 12-6.

In his senior year, Charles was undefeated in the pole vault in 12 meets. At a home meet against Stroudsburg, he set a school record at the time with a vault of 13-1/2. At the annual Lehigh Valley League meet, he set a meet recording finishing firstd at 12-5. He also won the high jump clearing 5-10. At the district meet, he also won both events and broke the District B record clearing 13-1 in the pole vault. He also went on to win the pole vault at states again clearing 12-8.

William “Bill”Piper

Bill came to Palmerton Area High School in the fall of 1968 taught geometry for 30 years and retired from teaching in the spring of 1998.

Piper, a 1964 graduate of Pen Argyl and a 1968 East Stroudsburg University graduate, was not only a successful teacher, he was also successful teaching fundamentals to his boys’ cross country and girls’ basketball teams.

As a girls’ basketball coach, Piper was known for saving and using his timeouts late in games, helping him get wins where they could have easily been losses.

Piper started the boys’ cross country program at Palmerton serving as the first coach from 1970 to 1978. He finished with a record of 67 wins and 34 losses.

His teams captured Lehigh Valley League championships in 1970, 1971 and 1975, won the Centennial League title in 1976 and were district runners-up that year. In 1975, the Bombers won the district title.

Piper coached the girls’ basketball team for 24 years from 1970 through 1993. His overall record was 351 wins and 199 losses.

His teams won plenty of titles which included Lehigh Valley League champs (1971 and 1972), Centennial League champions (1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1985 and 1987), and District champions (1981 and 1982). His teams were district runners-up in 1976, 1984 and 1988.

1987 Palmerton Wrestling Team

The Blue Bombers made history this season by winning their first Centennial League championship. They finished 8-0 in the league and 16-1 overall.

The Bombers took second place in the Jim Thorpe Christmas tournament with Frank Zelinsky and Ryan Heimbach winning championships.

In the league tournament, Gary Dieter, Dave Lucykanish and Frank Zelinsky won championships.

At districts, Frank Zelinsky won his third straight title, while Dave Lucykanish and B.J. Nalesnik finished third.

At the Southeast AA Regional, Frank Zelinsky won his third title and Lucykanish finished third.

Lucykanish finished first at states and Zelinsky third.

Rick Anderson was the head coach and Jim Tkach was his assistant.

Team members included Ryan Heimbach, Rich Musselman, Eugene Eckhart, Bill Ehret, Jay Zelinsky, Dave Lucykanish, Gary Dieter, Frank Zelinsky, Blake Campbell and B.J. Nalesnik.