Each year the Vineland High School All-Sports Booster Club inducts a female, a male and a posthumous person into our hall of fame. The requirements for this induction are: the person must have participated in athletics in high school, graduated from Vineland High School at least 10 years ago and contributed to the community in some way. A committee meets each year reviewing nominations submitted by members of the community and/or information provided in athletic record books.
Female Honoree
2001
Our inductees this year had much to do with breaking and setting school records. Our first inductee, Krista Ferrera, was a member of the track and cross country teams. She lettered as a freshman making 1st team all conference and all area. She won the All American Coaches Award, broke the 9 year old school record in the 400 meter dash and was elected to the 1st team Cape-Atlantic All Stars. As a sophomore she continued her winning ways by setting new school records in the 400 meter dash and the 800 meter run. She was again voted All Area All Star, Cape Atlantic All Star, All Group IV and All South Jersey. Krista was presented with a gold watch for running the fastest time in the state in the Woodbury Relay Spring Medley and was also awarded a plaque for coming in first in the Penn Relay 1600 meters.
In cross country she was named to the All Conference/Cape Atlantic American Division 1st team and was presented the coaches award. Coach Baruffi is quoted as saying, "it seemed like she could run forever".
As a junior, Krista began the season slowly due to injuries during cross country but still managed to come back strong in track where she was the individual trophy winner in the Marines Invitational in Toms River and was again voted to the Cape Atlantic All-Star 1st team. She was the 1st State Champion in Vineland High School history coming in first in the 800 Meter run in the South Jersey Open in Pennsauken, first in the 400 meter run in the South Jersey Sectionals, first in the 400 meter and 800 meter runs in the county and first in the relay and 400 meter runs in the state. That year all the girls on the relay team qualified for the meet of champions.
As a senior, since there were no other records to be broken, Krista started breaking her own. She broke her own record in the 800 meter run for the 3rd time, set a new school record in the 1600 meter and many new relay records. She was voted Most Valuable Female Athletic Runner at the Woodbury Relays, Runner of the Year in South Jersey and ran the 4th fastest time in the United States in 1991. She was voted "all everything" in both track and cross country, won the Coaches Award for both sports and received a full athletic scholarship to the University of Indiana where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science and Public Policy. She continued on to earn a Master's Degree in Secondary Education.
While at Indiana University, Krista continued her winning ways on the women's track and field team competing in the Nationals several times. She earned All American honors in the 800 meter run in 1997, was captain of the women's track team and holds the university's school record for sprint medley.
Krista is now a biology teacher in Eminence, Indiana and also high school boys and girls track coach. She conducts track clinics during May and July, still runs and trains. She lives in Bloomington, Indiana but says she still misses the Penn Relays.
Male Honoree
2001
Our next inductee into the booster club hall of fame is Brian Forrest. He began swimming in his freshman year. As a result of his commitment and dedication, he qualified for the Meet of Champions in both the 200 yard individual medley and 100 yard breaststroke in his freshman year. He swam the breaststroke leg in the 200 yard medley relay which took 3rd place in the Meet of Champions.
As a sophomore, Brian broke the team record in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:01.99. His breaststroke time of 1:00.80 was also a team record. The highlight of the Meet of Champions, was Brian swimming the breaststroke leg in the relay, winning the State Championship. In his junior year, Brian was the first clan swimmer to break the minute barrier in the breast stroke with a time of 59.60.
This year the medley relay team took second with Brian swimming the breaststroke leg in team record time of 1:38.45.
During
his senior year, in the state sectional semifinal dual meet, Brian
established a new national short course meter record in the 100
meter breaststroke with a time of 1:05.80, a record he held until
just a few years ago. Brian helped his team defeat Cherry Hill
East for their second sectional title. In the State Meet of Champions,
Brian placed second in the 100 yard breast stroke with a lifetime
best of 58.91. His time and his individual medley times are still
Clan records today. This year Brian again swam the breaststroke
leg in the medley relay helping his team to their second State
Championship title. Their time of 1:37.91 is still the team record,
earning the relay team All American honors.
Brian's breast stroke time also earned him All American honors.
That year he was named "swimmer of the year".
His swimming resume includes: 9 time Cape All Star, All South Jersey First Team in breast stroke his senior year, Scholastic All American, 4 time Daily Journal All Star and record holder in several other events during his 4 year career.
After graduating from Vineland High, Brian entered the United States Military Academy at West Point where he participated in the varsity swimming program. He set an academy record as a member of their medley relay team; he was a member of the Eastern Collegiate Championship team and placed 6th on the all time top 10 list in academy history in the 100 yard breast stroke.
The South
Jersey Coaches Association honored him as the 1990 Collegiate
Swimmer of the Year.
After graduating from West Point in 1994, he graduated from flight school as a Black Hawk pilot in 1996. Brian is currently a Captain in the United States Army stationed in Germany commanding a company responsible for maintaining 27 Black Hawk helicopters. He states one of the highlights in his life "was coaching one of my swimmers at the 1996 Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, Indiana". He and his wife, Suzanne, are the proud parents of two children; Grace and Alex.
Male Honoree
2001
Our next
honoree is also a swimmer. According to Coach Casadia "Tom
Forrest came in as an average swimmer his freshman year."
Through hard work and dedication by the end of his sophomore year
he had not only qualified for the State Meet of Champions but
won the consolation finals in the 100 yard butterfly by beating
his freshman time by 7 seconds. He was also a member of the State
Championship 200 yard medley relay his sophomore year. In his
junior year, Tom was second in the 100 yard butterfly at the State
Meet of Champions and a member of the medley relay and 400 free
relay that won the
State Meet of Champions.
In Tom's senior year, he was the first VHS male swimmer to win an individual State Meet of Champions title in the 100 yard butterfly. He was also the anchor on the state championship 400 free relay. Tom was selected All South Jersey for 3 years and was selected All South Jersey Swimmer of the Year his senior year. He has won more State Meet of Champions titles than any other male athlete in VHS history. Tom was a totally dedicated team swimmer and an excellent role model for his teammates.
After graduating from VHS, Tom attended Villanova University on a full athletic scholarship. He was a member of the Big East Conference Championship Team and was voted most valuable player. He received Academic All-American honors. A member of the US National Champion Fort Lauderdale Swim Team, Tom was ranked in the top 100 in the world's best performances. In 1994 he transferred to the University of Alabama where he was a two-time NCAA Championship qualifier and was named men's team Captain. He competed at the 1996 Olympic Trials.
In 1998,
he graduated from the school of the Art Institute in Chicago with
a BFA in Art and Technology. At graduation he was the recipient
of the James Nelson Raymond Fellowship. Tom currently lives in
New York where he is an applications consultant
for internet companies. When in Vineland, tom finds time to stop
by to visit his former coaches and to give some pointers to current
swim team members.
Posthumous Inductee
2001
Each year we induct someone posthumously into the Hall of Fame. The family of the person receives a plaque and we have a headstone that will be placed in our Walk of Fame, which is located in front of the 11/12 building. This year our posthumous inductee is Mr. Carl Haught. Mr. Haught has set basketball records at Vineland High that still stand. He was regarded as many as the best basketball player to ever wear the red and gray of Vineland High School.
Mr. Haught was born in Martinsville, West Virigina but fortunately for us, his family moved to Newfield. Carl attended Vineland High where he graduated in 1945. While at VHS, he was an outstanding basketball and baseball player, playing varsity for 4 years. It was the first time in the history of the school that Vineland won the Camden Suburban League Basketball Championship winning both halves of the league schedule. Carl was elected captain of the team and was voted the most valuable player in the league. Starting the 1944-45 season, he was 358 points shy of 1,000 points in his high school career. To reach 1,000 points seemed almost an impossibility but during his senior year he racked up a grand total of 426 points for the Clan for a career total of 1,068. He was the leading scorer in the Delaware Valley and one of the outstanding players in the state. He was one of two players from South Jersey to be named to the All Group IV team. A quote taken from the Vineland Times Journal, December 10, 1942, cites Haught as "the inspiring warrior for the clan who not only led the team but who was the center of operations in passing, ball-handling and floor work".
Considered a scholar/athlete and a very intelligent player, Carl shot an underhand lay-up that was considered "poetry in motion". His "fast break was the most feared maneuver in and out of the suburban circuit."
Francis "Spitz" Sparagna, team captain of Sacred Heart at that time, stated: "I'm happy to play on the All Star Team with Carl instead of against him." Carl was voted "all everything" in basketball and was a candidate for All State but was ignored by the North Jersey newspapers. Haught won the Naismith award two years in succession marking the first time since the Naismith club had been in existence that the same player had been honored two seasons in a row. He was also voted All State for his athletic prowess in baseball.
Haught was offered many scholarships his senior year but decided to enlist in the air force after graduation. After being discharged from the Air Force, Carl entered Temple University where he completed four years of college in three. Much to the disappointment of his coaches, he graduated still having one year of elegibility. He married his college sweetheart and moved to Vineland where he worked at Kimble Glass and eventually opened his own glass factory. He continued playing basketball for local teams and also played on the team that traveled with and played against the Harlem Globetrotters.
He played baseball with a triple a league in Baltimore.
This 6' 2 forward, described as quiet, shy and humble, always thought of those less fortunate than himself. Donating sports equipment to poor children so they could benefit and become successful in life was another of his contributions to society and to his community.
His basketball coach, the late Clarion Cosh, stated: "Haught has been an inspiration in the eyes of his teammates and underclassmen. He not only ran the show; he was the show".