JEWISH SPORTS HERITAGE ASSOCIATION IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE CLASS OF 2025 INDUCTEES:
JOHN COHEN - current Athletics Director at Auburn University; John is the only coach (baseball), in SEC history to win a SEC championship, SEC Tournament title and advance to the College World Series as a player and a head coach;
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NATE EBNER - three-time Super Bowl champion safety and special teams player with the New England Patriots and a member of the U.S. national rugby team;
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BESS GREENBERG - two-time basketball All-American at Binghamton who is the school's all-time leading scorer who played professionally in Europe and Israel;
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MICKEY GREENBERG - the first 1,000 pt. scorer in Binghamton basketball history; Harpur College "Athlete of the Year" in 1962 and 1963; played professionally for Washington Generals; coached for 50 years;
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AGNES KELETI - while representing Hungary at the Olympics, Agnes won 10 Olympic medals including five gold, three silver and two bronze; Agnes is 103 years old;
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BARRY LANDERS - for 17 years Barry was the radio voice of the New York Islanders; at WCBS Radio Barry covered six Olympic Games as a sportscaster;
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CLETUS SELDIN - junior welterweight boxer with a record of 27 wins against 1 loss; known as "The Hebrew Hammer;"
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DANIEL WOLFSON - Daniel is an Israeli lawyer who was the first Israeli woman to summit Mt. Everest (2021); Daniel is also the first Israeli to summit the seven highest peaks across the globe's seven continents.
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The Dr. Bruno Lambert Jewish Good Guy in Sports Award will be presented to Gus Ornstein, the Director of Athletics at the Fieldston School. Gus played college football and baseball as well as in the NFL and the baseball minor leagues.
​ The Jay Fiedler Outstanding Jewish College Athletes of the Year:
DAHLIA LEVINE - Brown University senior rower, a Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association First Team All-America ('23-'24; '22-'23), First Team All-Ivy ('23-'24), CRCA Scholar-Athlete ('23-'24; '21-'22), raced with the Varsity 8 for the entire season and helped the crew finish fifth at the NCAA Championships and finish fourth at the Ivy League Championships.
JUSTIN FINKEL - A Connecticut College junior swimmer, Justin had a tremendous swim season, he captured national titles in the 500 free and 200 fly and was named D III Swimmer of the Year by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. Justin was also tabbed NESCAC Swimmer of the Year for the second straight season after winning three conference titles. Justin was named a CSC Academic All-America.
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​ The Michael Freedman Outstanding Jewish High School Athletes of the Year:
LACIE SALTZMANN - a junior at Laurel Springs Academy in California, Lacie is a nationally ranked gymnast having placed 3rd on the balance beam at the 2023 XFinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships and 2nd on the beam at the '23 Core Hydration Classic.
JAKE SUSSBERG - a Scarsdale High School senior, this 6'5" guard has been a member of the varsity basketball team since his freshman year, the first frosh to do so in 17 years. Jake averages 18 ppg, 9 rpg and 2.5 assists/game. Jake has committed to attending Princeton.
The Marty Riger Outstanding Jewish Coach of the Year:
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JENNA COSGROVE - Jenna is the Head Women's Basketball Coach at Rhode Island College. She begins her seventh season at Rhode Island and she owns a 111-41 (.730), career record. In '23, Jenna led the Anchorwomen to the program's best-ever season, with a 28-4 record and they won the program's third consecutive Little East Regular Season and Tournament titles and reached the NCAA D III Championship's Final Four for the first time in program history.
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This year the Jewish Sports Heritage association will be recognizing the accomplishments of nine Jewish Pioneers/Veterans of Sports, and they will also be inducted into the Jewish Sports Heritage association on April 6, 2025. These Inductees are:
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Auto Racing - MAURI ROSE - Winner of the Indy 500 three times (1941, '47 & '48). He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America;
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Baseball - LIPMAN PIKE - The first Jewish professional baseball player and the greatest slugger of the game's early days. His six year National Association batting average was .321 and his five season National League average was .306;
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Basketball - HARRY BOYKOFF - The first big man - 6'9" - superstar of college basketball. A consensus All-American three seasons at St. John's;
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Boxing - MAXIE ROSENBLOOM - World Light-Heavyweight champion from 1930-1934. "Slapsie Maxie" was the busiest title holder in ring history, fighting 106 times during his four and a half year reign;
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Football - SID YOUNGELMAN - a 6' 4", 250 lbs. lineman at Alabama, he was named third team All-SEC in 1954, the same year he captained the Crimson Tide football team. Youngelman turned pro and played in both the NFL and AFL, appearing in over 100 games during his career;
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Golf - HERMAN BARRON - One of the top professional golfers of the 1930's and 1940's, Barron won his first major tournament, the Philadelphia Open, in 1934, and his last, the World Seniors Championship, in 1963;
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Hockey - HY BULLER - One of the top NHL defensemen of the early 1950's, with the New York Rangers Buller set an NHL record for most points by a rookie defenseman (35), and was selected to play in the 1951-'52 All-Star Game;
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Horse Racing - HIRSCH JACOBS - One of horse racing's premier trainers, breeders and owners, Jacobs saddled 3,569 winners in his lifetime, more than anyone in the history of thoroughbred racing until the time of his death; and
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Soccer - BELA GUTTMANN - Guttmann won more honors with world class teams in Europe and South America than any coach in soccer history. Guttmann's teams won 2 European Cups, 10 National Championships and 7 National Cups.
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The Seventh Annual Jewish Sports Heritage Association Induction Ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 6, 2025, beginning at 10:30 a.m., at Temple Israel,
Laswrence, N.Y. The event is open to the public and Free of charge and will also be available via Zoom.
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Alan Freedman, Director of the Jewish Sports Heritage Association has spoken on the subject of "Jewish Sports Legends," to a wide variety of groups over the years, and with COVID-19 he is still available to speak to your group, these days probably on Zoom. We have added something new, we have included a number of Jewish athletes, coaches and others from the sports world, who are available to join us for these talks. The list of those who have already committed to speaking is posted below, and as others come on-board they will be added to this list. Those with an * next to their name ask for an honorarium (please contact us for that information), otherwise, as with Alan Freedman speaking, there is NO charge.
Speakers:
Yael Averbuch, Professional Soccer Player
Herb Brown, Basketball Coach
Preston Goldfarb, Soccer Coach
Jonathan Halpert, Basketball Coach
Sara Whalen Hess,* Professional Soccer Player
Eric Holtz*, Baseball Coach
Shawn Lipman, Rugby Player
Boyd Melson*, Professional Boxer
Ron Mix*, Professional Football Player
Josh Pastner, Basketball Coach
Dmitriy Salita*, Professional Boxer
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