The athletic department at Abington Heights High School is creating a sports archive for Clarks Summit and Abington Heights High School.
Randy Hanyon, athletic director at Abington Heights High School, explained how the sports archive project came into being.
“Abington Heights has a great athletic history. When I was hired, I quickly recognized the success but wished we had a central location to recognize our history of great teams and athletics,” he said.
Hanyon is looking at all records for Clarks Summit/Abington Heights High School and has records dating back to the 1950s. The department is looking at years and coaching staffs for each sport and team records – including league, season and overall, team championships – as well as players accomplishments, such as record breakers, league, regional, all-state recognition and district champions.
“I have been reviewing yearbooks, coaches notes, past awards ceremonies and newspaper articles,” said Hanyon. “Basically, any documentation I can find here at the school and online. I recently discovered old scrapbooks.”
“I played varsity football for Abington Heights from 1983 to 1985, and Ray Ronchi was my coach,” said Mark Pronitis. “I also played junior varsity baseball. Playing sports was a great experience. I think the sports archive project is great, and it should have been done years ago.”
“I play varsity football and Joe Repshis is my coach,” said Abington Heights student Brian Pronitis, the son of Mark Pronitis. “I also play lacrosse, and Andrew Billen is my coach. I think the sports archives will be informative and educational. My friends don’t know the history of sports at Abington Heights and what teams were competitive. You see the banners hanging in the gym, but they are just names, numbers and years. They were playing before me. This project will bring it home.”
Jack Malone ran track and cross country from 2011 to 2016 with Mike Ludka as the coach. “I think the sports project is terrific,” he said.
Stephanie Walkowski reflected on her children playing sports at Abington Heights and after they graduated picking up a camera and photographing Abington Heights sports for 10 years until she retired.
“My son Brian graduated from Abington Heights in 2004 where he played football, soccer and ran track. He was part of championship teams in football and soccer and was a gold medal winner in track. My daughter, Heather, graduated in 2007 where she lettered in cheerleading and track. She won a district medal in track,” she said. “I kept news articles for both kids and was able to share what I had with Randy Hanyon. I was also able to share with him other students that had competed with my kids as they were also listed in the many articles I had. I think it is great that he is archiving all the great accomplishments of all the Abington Heights athletes over the years.”
Kevin Malone, a 2014 graduate of Abington Heights, reflected on his time playing sports at Abington Heights and his thoughts on the sports project.
“I think it is a great project for Abington Heights,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of successful athlete’s and teams come through different sports programs. Everyone always had a ton of pride for the Comets, and it’s nice to have an archive that documents athletes’ experiences.”
“My daughter, Krista Matsko, was a track and field athlete for four years and graduated in 2010,” said Steve Mmatsko. “Her coach was Frank Passetti, and that girls’ team set a few records and went to states a few times. This project of a sports archive is a great idea. It will be great to access any sport, event or game and see what previous athletes were able to accomplish and what standards were set.
“In my personal opinion, I’d add an additional segment that would be an alumni section for accomplishments that these high school athletes may have accomplished after graduation. Something current athletes could strive for.”
Mike Malone graduated from Abington Heights in 2020 where he played football and basketball. He was a member of the basketball team that won the state championship.
“I have not heard of the sports archive project, but think it is a good idea,” he said.
“The information will be displayed on the Abington Heights athletic website for everyone to reminisce and enjoy,” said Hanyon. “I hope to keep this open for the public to send information. It will be a live document updated daily and never fully completed and we will keep adding. I am appreciative of those in the public who have already submitted documents.”
