Millville Sports Hall of Fame to induct its Class of 2023
The Millville Sports Hall of Fame will induct its Class of 2023 on Saturday, Nov. 25 at the Thunderbolt Club
The event will start at 6 p.m.
The inductees are: Melissa (Gale) Mann, John Pelechety Jr., Dan Gale, Cliff Johnson, Steve Horin, O'Connell Brown, Kay Cossaboon Ayres and the 1998 boys’ track and field team.
Bios provided by the Millville Sports Hall of Fame.
More: Football 2023: Check out all our content for the South Jersey high school season
Melissa (Gale) Mann (2000s)
Melissa Mann graduated from Millville in 2006 where she was a standout in track and field, specializing in the pole vault. Upon graduation, she held the indoor (11-7) and outdoor (11-4) records for Millville and the Cape-Atlantic League.
Mann was undefeated in career dual meets (26-0) and was a three-time All-Conference, CAL champion, Cumberland County champ and Penn Relays qualifier. She won the indoor state title in 2005 and was a two-time relay state champion in 2005 and 2006. In 2005, she was a sectional champion in the outdoor pole vault.
She was named the Daily Journal and Millville News Winter Track Athlete of the Year in both 2005 and 2006 when she led the team in points scored both seasons.
Mann received an academic and athletic scholarship to Temple University where she continued to pole vault and graduated with the indoor (12-3) and outdoor (12-1.5) records while winning two conference titles.
She is currently the head track and field coach in Manteo, N.C., where she resides with her husband Tanner and their two children, Blake and Pennington.
John Pelechety Jr. (1990s)
Pelechety had a remarkable athletic career at Millville High School.. From 1995-1999, he earned 12 varsity letters in football, wrestling and baseball. He was captain of all three sports in his senior year.
A three-year starter at linebacker for the football team leading the squad in tackles as a junior and senior; and was an All-Conference, All-Group 4 and All-South Jersey selection as a senior in 1998.
As a wrestlers, Pelechety was a four-year starter and finished with 90 career wins. He was a District 31 champion, placed second at Region 8 and finished fifth in the state as a senior.
Pelechety was a four-year starter in baseball, earning All-Conference, All-Group 4 and All-South Jersey selections as junior. He was also selected to play in the prestigious Carpenter Cup.
He and his wife Joy have two sons, Logan and Dalton
Dan Gale (Lifetime achievement)
Gale was a standout scholar athlete at Millville Senior High School, graduating in 1978. While in high school, he participated on the football and track and field teams.
Gale began his coaching career at the Holly City Midget Football League and stayed for 19 years. He also coached the pole vault at Millville Senior High School for 10 years and was named Assistant Coach of the Year two times by the Daily Journal.
He also coached area youth in soccer, T-Ball, Little League and Babe Ruth. He was involved in summer track programs and coached high school football at Millville. He served as a volunteer pole vault coach at Temple University and Widener College for seven years.
Gale is currently an assistant track and field coach at Manteo High School in Manteo, North Carolina. With Dan’s coaching throughout his career, the Thunderbolt Club recognizes him with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Cliff Johnson (1970s)
Johnson was an outstanding scholar athlete at Millville High School, graduating in 1970, and winning three varsity letters on the boys basketball team.
He was a starter on the 1968-69 basketball team which won the South Jersey Group 4 championship and finished with the best record ever (26-1) at Millville. That year, Johnson averaged 15 points per game and was named third team All-State.
As a senior, Johnson was a co-captain and averaged 23 points per game for a team which finished a 23-4. He was fifth in scoring average in South Jersey, but had the fifth highest point total. At that time, his points per game was ninth on the New Jersey all-time list. He also averaged 16 rebounds per game and shot 77 percent from the free throw line. Johnson was selected to the All-South Jersey first team and was the Millville Thunderbolts Club Scholarship winner.
For his career, Johnson became the third player in Millville history to score over 1,000 points (career total was 1,146), and at the time, was the second highest point scorer in school history. He amassed a 66-9 record in high school and was named to the All-Century Team of the Cape-Atlantic League. As president of his senior class, Johnson received a full scholarship to Temple.
Steve Horin (Coach)
Horin coached 26 seasons at the freshmen, junior varsity and varsity levels. He coached freshmen football and basketball teams to undefeated seasons. His freshmen boys basketball teams to a combined record of 159-74 over 12 seasons.
As a varsity girls basketball coach, his 1989-90 team won the Cape-Atlantic League title, with a 17-5 record and overall the Bolts were 31-15. The team also won the league’s Sportsmanship Award. He won the Courier-Post Coach of the Week and the Daily Journal Coach of the Year awards.
Horin was the head boys basketball coach for four years highlighted by a victory over powerful Atlantic City. This team also won the Sportsmanship Award.
A native of Millville, Horin played football in high school, graduating in 1970. Following college, he returned to teach in the District for 37 years. He and his wife Diane have two daughters, Amy and Christa, and three grandchildren, Tyler, Macy and Andrew.
1998 boys’ track and field
The Thunderbolts finished with a regular-season record of 8-2 and earned the NJSIAA state Group 4 co-championship with Elizabeth.
Following a second-place finish at the South Jersey Group 4 sectional meet, and led by outstanding performances by juniors Robert Jordan, Raffael Craig and Troy Maddox, the Thunderbolts emerged as the first Millville boys’ track and field team to win a state championship.
Coached by Bill Hoover, the members of the team were Nic Karisko, Nick Tarasevich, Jamal Wallace, Diandre Bogan, Josh Lamanteer, Jason Camp, Matt Davis, Matt Sartorio, Mario Santiago, Azim Smith, Wesley Jordan, Charles Harper, Antony Victor, Nate Parent, Andre Lee, Terrance Williams, Al Chard and Dan DeTullio.
O'Connell Brown (1960s)
Brown was an outstanding scholar athlete at Millville High School graduating in 1960. He competed in track and field, excelling in the sprint events.
In 1960, Brown was the state champion in the 100-yard dash in a state-record time of 9.9 seconds. the state champion in the 200-yard dash in a state-record time of 21.6 and a member of the state champion 880 relay team, a member of the mile relay champion at the Penn Relays, the South Jersey Coaches Invitational Relays champion, the Atlantic City Carnival Relays champion, the Woodbury Relays champion and the Bridgeton Carnival Relays champion.
Dubbed "the best dash man in South Jersey" by Coach John Choko, Brown was also the Thunderbolt Award winner in track and field in 1960 and was named a "Living Legend" by the Port Norris Historical Society in 2016.
Kay Cossaboon Ayres (Legacy)
Ayres participated in an era when females had very few opportunities to play high school sports. Basketball was available to her to play in high school and she excelled. She was mostly self taught and developed many of her skills playing the sport with the boys and held her own. In addition to high school, Ayres played in the YMCA Church League with a team called the "South Millville Lassies". She was named first team All-Tournament in 1951 and Most Valuable Player in 1952. Ayres was the Outstanding Female Athlete in high school and graduated in 1953.
Ayres graduated from Washington College in 1956. While there she participated in field hockey, basketball and badminton. She worked as a chemist, a certified braille instructor, and transcribed textbooks for children.
Ayres became an accomplished golfer and bowler, winning several championships. She and her husband Jim have a daughter Susan.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Class of 2023 to be inducted into Millville Sports Hall of Fame
