Palmerton will have three new inductees to Carbon Hall

The 25th Annual Carbon County Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and banquet will be held Sunday, May 27, at Franklin Township Fire Company social hall.

The doors will open at 1 p.m., with the dinner to start at 1:45, followed by individual inductions of 25 who attained athletic accomplishments.

This year’s inductees are:

Coaldale – Ted Bortnick, John Horoschak, Mike Paslawsky and Jack Sweeney.

Jim Thorpe – Clinton Getz and Danny McGinley.

Lansford – Gary Karnish, Emmett McCall and James Steber.

Lehighton – Corey Schaeffer, Matthew Schaeffer and Larry Stern.

Nesquehoning – Jimmy Mikovich, Jim Paluck and Gene Snisky.

Palmerton - Billy Cyr, Barbara (Jones) Larvey and Wendy (George) Nalesnik.

Summit Hill – Rodney Lechleitner, Tony Maholick and Tom Miller.

Tamaqua – Erika (Barron) Davis, Adam Knoblauch, Joseph Romano and Tom Rottet.

Banquet tickets can be purchased from the following Hall of Fame committee members: Danny McGinley 570-325-3550, Emmett McCall 570-645-2093, Vince Spisak (570-645-4542), Art George (610-826-2830), Jake Boyer (610-751-6634), Trevor Lawrence (570-645-4722), Bill Gardiner (570-669-6564), Bob Gelatko (570-645-8652), Evan Evans (570-645-7716), Tom Bonner (570-386-2516), Herb Welsh (570-760-1744). Tickets are $35 for adults. For children under 12, the cost is $15.

The following will be inducted representing Palmerton:

Billy Cyr

Billy Cyr is a 1981 graduate of Palmerton Area High School and is one in a long list of fine distance runners to have participated in the school’s track and field and cross country programs under Art George Jr., Bill Piper and Jan Sosik.

He was a three-time Centennial League champion who won 74 individual distance races during his high school career and set numerous school and course records during his four-year career. He was also the captain of the cross country and track teams in both his junior and senior years and was named Palmerton’s Outstanding Male Athlete in 1981.

Billy’s defining strengths were his durability, determination and endurance. As a cross country runner, he won 33 separate races during his four years of high school participation. He set the course record on every course but one (8 different courses) that he ran during his senior year dual meet season, and also won the Centaur Invitation and Centennial League championships. He was also a two-time state qualifier in cross country.

In track, he ran four middle and long-distance races in every meet during his sophomore, junior and senior years, including anchoring whichever relay the coaches needed him to run to maximize the team’s point total. By the time he graduated, he held the school record in the 1600 and 3200-meter runs. He won a total of 41 individual distance events during his four years, including winning the Centennial League Championship in both the 1600 and 3200 during his senior year. He also participated in numerous 1600-meter and 3200-meter relay wins. He even scored points in the 400-meter run and trained as a high jumper (clearing 5-10 in practice, but never competed as a high jumper because he was more valuable in his distance events).

As a result, his career total of 293 points is the fourth highest total among Palmerton distance runners all time, behind only Jeff Dobias, Shane Anthony and Brad Browne. As of 2016, Billy ranks as follows in the school’s Track and Field Elite Club: is among the top 15 in the 800-meter run; fourth in the 1600-meter run (4:36.7); fourth in the 3200-meter run (10:11.05); and eighth in the 3200-meter relay (8:49.35). He is also part of the 3200-meter relay team that set the school’s track record in 1981 in a time of 8:49.35, running a 2:04 in the anchor leg.

Billy went on to run track and cross country at Princeton University, which was in the Top 25 of Division 1 programs during much of his four years. He ran cross country all four years and competed in indoor and outdoor track for three years. In track, he ran the 1000-meter and 1500-meter runs in indoor track and he predominantly ran the steeplechase in outdoor track.

Following Princeton, Billy has succeeded in business and served as the CEO of two different multi-national companies, the Sunny Delight Beverage Company, which he ran for 11 years, and Freshpet, the fast-growing, publicly-traded pet food company that Billy leads today.

Barbara (Jones) Larvey

Barbara (Jones) Larvey was a two-sport head coach at Palmerton Area High School. She first coached the Bombers’ field hockey teams from 1980-81 through 1991-91, sporting an overall record of 94-81-19, including a league play record of 78-72-19. These were the most games coached, as well as won and played, by any coach in the sport at the school at that time.

Her coaching season in 1983 was the team’s best in school history as they were 18-1-1, including 13-0-1 in the Centennial League, placing first and being named league champions. The team went on to win the District 11 AA championship as well as the East Stroudsburg Invitational Meet championship. They played their way into the PIAA State Field Hockey quarterfinals but were defeated in a “double flick off: to eventual state champion Springfield-Montco High School.

Barbara took six of her coached field hockey teams into District 11 AA play during the seasons of 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1990. She also had two teams qualify for the PIAA State AA Field Hockey playoffs in 1983 and 1988.

In 1989, Barbara’s team hosted for the very first time a District 11 AA Quarterfinal PIAA Field Hockey game, bringing pride to her team, school and community.

Barbara’s second head coaching sport was spring softball, where she coached from 1980 through the 1990 season. She coached the most games at the school at the time, 187, and coached the most wins in the sport, 75, at the time. Her overall coaching record was 75-112, including a league record of 69-109.

Barbara also brought much interest to the sport, bringing numbers of young ladies out for the sport. Because of this, the school started a jayvee softball program in 1982.

In the 1988 spring season, she coached the team to the most wins in school history to that point with 13 victories. The team qualified for the District 11 AA tournament for the very first time in school history. They defeated Mahanoy Area 11-4 before losing to a fine Northwestern Lehigh team by a 5-4 score.

In the 1988-89 season, the team’s 17 wins set a school record for the most wins in any season. They also qualified for the District 11 AA Softball tournament for the second time in school history. It also turned out to be the school’s first District 11 AA Softball championship as they defeated Northwestern Lehigh, 7-6, and advanced to the PIAA State AA Softball Tournament. In it, the Bombers defeated Muhlenberg Township 7-6 in the first round of the tournament. Their season though ended with a 4-1 loss to South Williamsport in the state quarterfinals, ending the campaign with a fine 17-5 record.

In the 1989-90 season, the team had a 13-5 record, including 12-4 in the league, and qualified for the District 11 AA tournament play again. At districts, they defeated Nativity 4-1 before losing to Northern Lehigh in their next game by a score of 3-1.

Barbara proved to be the right head coach for both sports with her reign at the helm of each sport.

After her two head coaching stints, she also assisted the boys’ and girls’ track and field program for a period of time.

Wendy (George) Nalesnik

Wendy (George) Nalesnik graduated from Palmerton Area High School in 1983. As a student/athlete, she left her mark in each sport in which she participated. Although most of her accomplishments were in girls’ basketball, she contributed to help her teams gain championships in cross country and track and field as well.

In cross country, the teams on which Wendy participated were Centennial League champions in 1980, 1981 and 1982. They were Centennial League meet champions in 1981 and 1982, and, in 1982, the team was the District 11 champion.

In track and field, she participated in running the 800 meters and throwing the shot put and discus. The team won the Pocono Mountain Invitational in 1980; were Centennial League champions in 1981, 1982 and 1983; copped the Centennial League Meet championships in 1980, 1982 and 1983; and were Emery Relay champions in 1982 and 1983.

After moving up to girls’ varsity basketball after her freshman year as a starter, the team in 1980-81 became Centennial League champions. They also were the District 11 Class AA champions after defeating East Stroudsburg, Blue Mountain and Stroudsburg. The team went on to defeat Scranton Prep and Cocalico out of district play before losing to Pottstown by two points, finishing 25-5. Afterward, Wendy was named to the Second Team All Centennial League.

In 1981-82, the team once again won the District 11 AA championship, defeating Northern Lehigh, Stroudsburg and West Hazleton. In out of district play, they won games over Mt. Carmel and Scranton Prep before bowing to Riverside by nine points, ending up 24-6. For her role in that campaign, Wendy was selected to the First Team Centennial League.

In 1982-83, the team won its third straight Centennial League Championship and ended up with a 23-6 record. Wendy led the team in scoring with 636 points that year, finishing with a career total of 1,276, which was the top total for girls at Palmerton High at the time. Presently, she is fifth on the girls’ career points scoring list at Palmerton, having played only three varsity seasons. She was selected First Team All Centennial League and chosen to play in the season-ending LARC All Star Game.

Wendy attended Elizabethtown College for 1-1/2 years and played for the Blue Jays. In her freshman year, the team lost out for its division’s national championship on a last-second shot, losing by one point in a game played at Scranton University.

Wendy is married to Bernard “BJ” Nalesnik. They have two children, Jacen and Cammi. They reside in the Lehighton Area School District.