MIDDLESEX COLLEGE INDUCTS LATEST CLASS INTO ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME

On May 20, five inductees and one team were celebrated as the most recent inductees into the Middlesex College Athletics Hall of Fame.

The class consisted of athletes, Wooldy LaPointe (Men's Soccer), Steve Bonsall (Wrestling), Angela Bradley (Women's Basketball), Melissa Gromek (multisport), Head Baseball Coach Mike Lepore, Sr. and the 1981 Softball Team.

The Hall of Fame class was honored as part of the Colts Achievement Awards, which is the department's annual year-end celebration of current student-athletes, teams and coaches. Connecting the past and present Colts was a big part of the evening's theme, said Athletic Director Rocco Constantino, who served as the host for the evening.

"We have made it a priority over the past few years to really connect with the people who laid the groundwork for Middlesex College Athletics," said Constantino. "We think it's important to recognize and honor those who came before us and built a foundation here. I thought it was wonderful for our current student-athletes and coaches to learn about these great athletes. I hope they look up to them and can relate their own fantastic accomplishments to what our inductees had done themselves over the previous six decades at Middlesex."

Lepore Sr. is the only person at Middlesex College to have his jersey officially retired. He started at Middlesex County College as an assistant baseball coach from 1988 to 1997, then became the head coach in 1998 until 2013. He won 350 games in his career at Middlesex College.

"My dad was loyal to Middlesex," said Lepore Sr.'s son Mike Lepore Jr. himself a Middlesex College alumni. "He loved being there. He put his heart and soul into that place. He did things that no one even knew. He tutored athletes because that was what he loved to do."

Lepore Sr. died in 2017 at age 75. Lepore Jr. said the family is touched by the honor.

"We all miss him and this is something that can give us a little piece of him to remember that he's being recognized by Middlesex College," said Lepore Jr. "He really put his heart and soul into that school."

LaPointe was born in Haiti before moving to New Jersey when he was nine. He was a star midfielder at Hamilton West High School, but couldn't play his senior year of high school soccer because he was over the age requirement. He turned to Middlesex College in 1998 to revamp his career.

LaPointe led Middlesex to a 10-9 record that season and the #4 seed in the Region 19 Tournament. He registered 18 goals and 11 assists on the season and became the first Middlesex College Men's Soccer player to be named NJCAA First-Team All-American. To this date, he remains just one of two men's soccer players to have earned that award at Middlesex.

He got connected to Middlesex through his club coach and played two seasons before transferring to Montclair State where he was named Division III All-American in 2001.

"I could have gone elsewhere and I wouldn't be the same person, but because of the care and attention I received at Middlesex, they helped create the man I am today," LaPointe said. "You don't know where you're going when you go to college. They kept me in line. I appreciate them all for investing that time in me."

LaPointe now runs a transportation business based in Princeton.

Bradley grew up in Edison and was a standout basketball player at JP Stevens before graduating in 1994. After the birth of her son, Sharif Birch, she enrolled at Middlesex where she was a two-year starter. She later transferred to Virginia Union.

"At Middlesex, we were always referred to as student-athletes," Bradley said. "That stood out to me."

In 1997, Bradley was named the Region 19 Women's Basketball Player of the Year in addition to receiving First Team All-Garden State Athletic Conference, First Team All-Region 19 and First Team All-American honors. Bradley averaged 17.3 points and led the Colts to their first NJCAA National Tournament. Middlesex finished the season 21-8.

That year, Bradley led Middlesex to a Region 19 Women's Basketball regular season and postseason title, scoring 31 points and adding 13 rebounds as the Colts registered a come-from-behind win against defending champion Ocean County College. The Colts finished the regular season with a record of 19-6 and finished 4^th at the NJCAA Division III Women's Basketball National Tournament. She was named to the NJCAA Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team.

She was named the Division III Women's Basketball Player of the Year as a freshman and sophomore by the New Jersey Collegiate Basketball Coaches Association as well.   

Bradley is now a master lab technician, who still lives in Edison. 

"When I got the phone call about the Hall of Fame, it was a great day, I said this is a blessing," Bradley said. "I got a lot from Middlesex, the classes were interesting and made me think about staying in school longer."

Bonsall is not only one of the top wrestlers in Middlesex College history, but also one of the finest wrestlers to come out of Region 19. Bonsall came to Middlesex after a stellar career at Franklin High School in which he placed third and fourth in the New Jersey State High School Wrestling Championships in 1971 and 1970, respectively.

He was the first of six NJCAA National Champion Wrestlers, capturing the 177-pound title as a freshman in 1972. During that season, Bonsall went a perfect 32-0, including tournaments, with 20 of his wins coming via pinfall. He was also selected for the prestigious East-West Junior College All-Star Meet.

As a sophomore, Bonsall placed third in the NJCAA National Tournament and captured the tournament's Sportsmanship Award. He lost by one point in the national quarterfinals, but wrestled all the way back to take third. His record as a sophomore was 36-1, making him 68-1 over his two-year career at Middlesex. Of his 68 wins, 47 came by pin.

After leaving Middlesex, Bonsall went on to star for the Rutgers University Wrestling team where he was a two-time Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association place winner and the 1975 Wilfred-Cann Award recipient as the Most Inspirational Athlete in the Rutgers Wrestling program.

Gromek was a three-sport star for Middlesex College, succeeding tremendously in basketball, softball and tennis. The South Plainfield native played one year of softball at the NCAA Division II level before transferring to Middlesex, where she immediately changed the fortunes of the teams she was on.

In basketball, Gromek led a team that at times had just five or six active players to a successful campaign that saw them ranked in the NJCAA National Top 10 at times during the season. In tennis, Gromek went unbeaten at first singles during the fall of 1992 and earned a spot at the Junior College Nationals in Texas.

Gromek led the 1991-92 Middlesex College Women's Basketball Team to a 16-11 record and a berth in the Region 19 Tournament where she scored 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the team's only tournament game. She was selected to as a New Jersey College Basketball Coaches Association First-Team All-Star and was an All-American honoree.

A star softball player as well, Gromek set the Middlesex single season hit record in 1993 with 51 base hits.

The 1981 Middlesex College softball team becomes the first team to be inducted into the Middlesex College Athletics Hall of Fame as one of the early dominant Colts teams in women's sports. The softball team steamrolled their way to a 25-3 record, with two of those losses coming at the NJCAA National Tournament in St. Louis.

Middlesex rolled through the regular season and region playoffs, outscoring their opponents 220-84 on their way to a 25-1 record. They went 5-0 in regional and interregional tournament play, outscoring opponents 48-16 in those five games. Middlesex topped Orange County CC 7-1 to clinch a spot in the NJCAA National Tournament.

Led by second-year Head Coach Dale Dalrymple, the Colts success came as a surprise as they failed to qualify for the playoffs the previous season. Middlesex was led in the circle by pitcher Cathy Coyle as well as All-Region performers Mary Powers, Evelyn Clancy and Mona Hickson. Maureen Shamy, Joann Zelasko, Barbara Hayden, Lisa Kleber and Diane Szeliga were also key players for the Colts.

"One of the things I enjoyed most about the evening was seeing our Hall of Fame inductees share the evening with their family and friends," said Constantino. "The crowd was so enthusiastic and I loved seeing our inductees proudly show off their plaques to their guests. I also thought it was great to see our Hall of Famers and guests cheer on our current athletes and coaches for their accomplishments. The evening bridged generations in the Middlesex College family just like I hoped it would."