Chemung County Sports Hall of Fame to add 12

Another 12 athletes, coaches and contributors have been selected for induction into the Chemung County Sports Hall of Fame in December.

The inductees were picked by the Hall's selection committee and will be honored Dec. 28 during the Josh Palmer Fund Elmira Holiday Inn Classic basketball tournament at Elmira High School. The ceremony is scheduled to start at approximately 7:45 p.m., following a 6:30 boys National Division game between Horseheads and Mars (Pennsylvania).

This year's class includes contributor Leo Ferris, coach Greg Grund and athletes Kelly D'Angelo Bednarski, Patrick Manuel, Johnny Evans, John Ford, Stacy Johnson, Jason Manwaring, Erica Schiefen, Jason Thomas, Jeremy Thomas and Ron Vosburg.

The inductees:

Leo Ferris: He was a founding father of the National Basketball Association and was instrumental in the creation of the 24-second shot clock still used by the league. Ferris also helped integrate professional basketball by signing William "Pop" Gates to play for the National Basketball League's Tri-Cities Blackhawks. Ferris grew up in Elmira, graduated from Elmira Catholic High School in 1934 and was a finalist this year for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He died in 1993.

Elmira's Leo Ferris helped shape the NBA

Greg Grund: A 1970 Elmira Free Academy graduate, Grund has coached track in the Elmira City School District since 1987. His teams compiled a record of 105-12 from 1987-2014 and won 21 league titles. Grund is also an established marathon runner and a teacher in the district.

Kelly D'Angelo Bednarski: A three-sport standout at Southside High School, she played six seasons of softball, five seasons of basketball and five seasons of volleyball. As a softball pitcher, she threw two perfect games in 2001 among three no-hitters, had 20 strikeouts in one game and struck out 371 batters during the season. Her ERA was 0.37. She went on to play collegiately at American International, earning team MVP honors there in 2004 while topping NCAA Division II in strikeouts.

Patrick Manuel: A 2002 graduate of Elmira Notre Dame, Manuel played four seasons each of football, basketball and lacrosse. He was a Class B all-state Third Team quarterback, an Interscholastic Athletic Conference basketball All-Star and a two-time all-league pick in lacrosse. His honors included the Joel Stephens Five C Award for football. He went on to become an all-league quarterback for the University of Rochester.

Johnny Evans: Evans graduated from Southside in 1958 and excelled in baseball and basketball for the Green Hornets. He played baseball for two seasons at St. Bonaventure University and was a fast-pitch softball standout in Elmira for nearly 30 years. Evans also was the catcher for the legendary Ty Stofflet whenever the hard-throwing pitcher was in the area. He was inducted into the Southside Hall of Fame in 2000.

John Ford: Ford was a standout in three sports at Elmira Free Academy. He played goalie at Division I Canisius College from 1995-1998 and his 7.39 saves per game still ranks 18th in Division I men's soccer history. In his senior year, Ford played basketball for Canisius as a walk-on. Ford, who battled and defeated a rare form of cancer, is a trial lawyer with the O'Brien Firm in Buffalo.

Stacy Johnson: Johnson is an award-winning athletic director at Corning Community College who starred in soccer, basketball and softball at Southside. The 1988 Southside graduate was an All-Sullivan Trail Conference goalie in soccer, scored 1,034 points while earning all-conference honors three times in basketball and was a three-time All-STAC pick in softball. She went on to pitch at Ithaca College, which inducted Johnson into its Athletics Hall of Fame this year.

Jason Manwaring: The Elmira High School varsity baseball coach was among the top hitters in Section 4 during his time at Horseheads High School. He earned all-state honors in 1997 and 1998 and was an honorable mention All-American. He also wrestled for the Blue Raiders. Manwaring went on to play at Mansfield University and is in the university's athletics hall of fame.

Erica Schiefen: Schiefen played volleyball and competed in track and field at Thomas A. Edison, where she was best known as one of Section 4's dominant basketball players before graduating in 2005. She finished her five-year stretch as the Spartans' all-time leader in scoring and rebounding, then played at Division I St. Bonaventure, where she started her final two seasons. Schiefen holds Edison's record in the discus as well.

Jason Thomas: He is a 1992 graduate of Elmira Free Academy, where he was an all-state quarterback in football and helped the Blue Devils to the state final four in basketball. Thomas continued playing basketball at Cortland State, where he was an All-American and the SUNYAC Player of the Year.

Jeremy Thomas: The brother of Jason Thomas, Jeremy also was a major force for Academy's highly successful basketball teams. He was named Star-Gazette All-Twin Tiers Player of the Year in 1991 and 1992. In football, he was a two-time All-Twin Tiers pick and an all-state selection. He was part of a bronze-medal winning basketball team in the Empire State Games and went on to play at Corning Community College.

Ron Vosburg: Vosburg was recently inducted into the SUNY Brockport Athletics Hall of Fame. He won Division III national titles for the Golden Eagles in 1996 and 1997 and was a three-time All-American. Vosburg lettered in three sports at Elmira Free Academy, where he was a state champion in wrestling at 119 pounds in 1992.

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