2021 Inductees

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Curtis GMM
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Jeanne Lebold Suber
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Jeanne Lebold Suber
Jeanne Lebold Suber-1985
Jeanne Lebold Suber was a 3-sport athlete while attending North East High School. She was a 4-year letter winner in Cross-Country and Track, and a 2-year winner in Basketball.
In Cross-Country, Jeanne led the 1982 team to its first PIAA State title by finishing in 5^th place in the state.  The following year she helped the team win a second consecutive PIAA State title while finishing 11^th in the state.  The 1984 team finished 5^th and the 1985 team finished 3^rd in the state.  The team also won 4 ECL and 4 District Championships while Suber was on the team, and she was one of the top performers.
In Track and Field, Jeanne ran the 800, 1600, and 3200 while also running in the 1600 and 3200 relays.  She was the ECL Champion in the 1600 in ‘83 and the ECL Champion in the 3200 in ‘82 and ‘83, along with being the District Champion in ‘83. She has the second fastest time in the 3200 in school history. 
She was a member of the 1600 relay team in ’84 and ’85, contributing to their win at ECL and District Championships. The ’84 team finished 4^th in the state and currently holds the fastest time in school history.
Jeanne was also a member of the 3200 meter relay for all four years at NEHS, and part of the teams that won four ECL and District Championships and finished 1st in the state in ’83 and ’84 and finished 2^nd in ’82 and ’85. All of these 3200 relay teams hold four of the top five fastest times in school history with the ‘83 team holding the fastest.
Jeanne was also a member of the JV basketball team for two years and the varsity team for two years.  During her senior year the basketball team made it to the state playoffs, losing their first round to the number one seed by one point. She also earned first team all-County honors during her senior year and led the team in scoring.
After graduating from Penn State University, Jeanne moved to northern Virginia and now resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband Derek, and two sons Taylor and Sean.
It is an honor to induct her into the 2021 North East Athletic Hall of Fame.
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Michelle Miller
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Tom Priester
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Tom Priester
Tom Priester- Successful Athlete, Coach, and Official -1962
Tom Priester’s interest in athletics spans decades and ranges from playing, coaching and officiating a variety of sports.
As an athlete, Tom played Varsity Basketball and Track & Field for North East High School and went on to Slippery Rock University, where he played soccer all four seasons; graduating in 1962.  He started his professional career at Southwestern High School in New York and amassed an impressive coaching resume.
Priester coached Cross Country from 1965 – 2007.  During that time his boys’ teams were Division Champs for three years, two-time Sectional Champions and County Champions in 1996.  His girls’ teams were League Champions from 1985 – 1987, and again in 1989. His overall record was 410-255, not counting invitationals.
Tom also coached Track & Field from 1966-1974.  He coached two-time State Champion Hull in 1973-1974.  Tom’s teams won a County Championship and two sectional championships. Also, he coached tennis, winning two sectional championships as well as volleyball and bowling, winning a county championship and two sectional championships. 
Priester distinguished himself as an outstanding track & field official from 1975 to the present day. He has officiated NCAA Division I, II, III Track & Field Championship meets, as well as National and International meets, including two U. S. Olympic trials. He also officiated the World University Games in 1993, the World Veterans’ games in 1995 and the 2011 World Masters.
Two awards Tom received were the New York State Track Officials Dick Ferzinger Award for distinguished service in coaching track & field in 2007.  He was also given the Outstanding Service Award from the Niagara Association of USA Track & Field in 2009. He earned the Outstanding Official Award by the National Official Committee in 2016.  Tom was inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 and it is an honor to induct him into the 2021 North East Athletic Hall of Fame.
 
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Michelle Miller
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Brian Whitten
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Brian Whitten
Brian Whitten-1981
Brian Whitten graduated from North East High School in 1981 and was a four-year, three-sport athlete and letterman in Cross Country, Basketball, and Track & Field. 
Whitten continues to hold the school records in the 800-meter run (1:55.8) and 3200-meter relay (7:51.56).  Brian was also a half-miler, and an Erie County League Champion, District X Champion, and two-time PIAA State Medalist. More notably, he contributed significantly to two State Champion 3200 meter relay teams, both teams setting PIAA State records along the way to gold medals. 
Brian was also a leader for NEHS Basketball. As a crafty and consistent scorer, he was selected to the Erie County All-Star team his senior year.  The principles emphasized while training and competing with teammates with a common commitment and goals, under notable leadership and coaching follow Brian and have served him well throughout his life.
He continued his competitive running career at Cornell University where he was a Cross-Country and Track & Field four-year letterman and his efforts supported the team winning the 1985 Outdoor Heptagonals (Ivy League Championships).  With personal bests of 1:51.44 (800 meters) and 3:48.34 (1500 meters), Brian competed both nationally and internationally, running in such venues as Madison Square Gardens, Millrose Games, Penn Relays, Drake Relays, and on the Iffley Road Track, Oxford.
Whitten went on to complete a 28-year career with the U.S. Navy as a Naval Flight Officer, logging over 2800 hours of training, operational and combat flight hours.  He continued to compete early in his career running in the Boston and Berlin Marathons. He now enjoys his fitness regime of easy 9-minute mile warm-ups; gravel biking, mountain trekking, and coaching basketball at the German Bundesliga level.
He currently works for U.S. Africa Command and lives with this wife (Karen Ruska of Dunkirk, NY) in Stuttgart, Germany. They have three children, son Colin, and daughters Morgan and Erin.
It is an honor to induct Brian Whitten into the 2021 North East Athletic Hall of Fame.
 
 
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Michelle Miller
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Sarah Edwards Kobielski McElroy
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Sarah Edwards Kobielski McElroy
Sarah Edwards Kobielski McElroy-1996
Sarah was a three-sport letter winner in Track, Basketball, and Volleyball at North East High School.
In Track and Field, Sarah is the school record holder in 100 Meter High Hurdles at 14.67.  She was ECL Champion and District 10 Champion in Hurdles her senior year and finished 2^nd at the PIAA State Championships in 100 Meter Hurdles.  She was also a member of the 4x100 team that was ECL Champs in 1995, and District Champs in ’95 and ’96.  This team was 4^th in PIAA State Championships in 1996. Sarah was a key member of the 1996 Girls’ Track team that finished Runner-up at States, and this is the only girls’ track team that ever finished in the top two at the PIAA State Championships.
In Basketball, Sarah was a three-year letter winner. She was a starter in her junior and senior years. During both seasons, these teams were 20 games winners and PIAA playoff teams.  She was awarded Most Outstanding on the team, 1^st Team All-County her senior year, and Erie County Women’s Foundation Award for basketball.
In Volleyball, Sarah was MVP for NEHS her senior year and held the record for most saves in a season.
Notably, Sarah was Athlete of the Year 1995-1996 for the Metropolitan Erie Chapter PA Sports Hall of Fame plus scholarship recipient for 1996.
She was a scholarship recipient for track for Bucknell University 1996-2000.  She obtained a PhD in Clinical Child Psychology at Bowling Green State University in 2000.  Presently, Sarah is a Clinical Child Psychologist in Richmond, VA, and continues athletic activities.  She is on the James River Women’s Rugby Football Club from 2007 to the present. JRWRFC is a Division II team for USA Rugby.
Sarah’s advice to athletes at North East is…
 “Believe in yourself, and just keep putting one foot in front of the other"
It is an honor to induct her into the 2021 North East Athletic Hall of Fame.
 
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Michelle Miller
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Tom Setcavage
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Tom Setcavage
Joe Setcavage- Successful Athlete and Coach
Joe played high school football at Mahonoy City High School and was captain of the team his senior season. In college he played football at Duquesne University as a Quarterback and Defensive Back; lettering his junior and senior seasons.
In 1943, Setcavage played for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the NFL. His position was Blocking Back, and Joe started six games and played in 10 games of the regular season.  At the conclusion of the season, his contract was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he was never activated.
He coached high school basketball and track and taught business education classes at North East High School.  Joe ranks as one of the top head coaches in North East history.  He had a record of 51 wins, 39 losses and 3 ties at North East.  He had eight winning seasons out of 11 and won three Erie County League Championships. This ranks him second most successful in NEHS football history as Head Football Coach. Joe had the highest winning percentage (56.6%) of North East football coaches who served more than five years in that position. 
In 1984, Setcavage was inducted into the Jerry Wolman-Norther Anthracite Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, as the Erie Chapter did not start until 1986. It is an honor to induct him into the 2021 North East Athletic Hall of Fame.
 
 
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Michelle Miller
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