Former Sachem athletic director Pete Blieberg headlined this year’s inductees of the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame. Honorees were recognized at a ceremony on Friday at the Radisson in Hauppauge, N.Y.
Joining Blieberg in the hall is Sachem alum Linda Detlefsen-Nicosia, a highly accomplished track and field athlete.
Blieberg retired last year from his post at Sachem after originally starting his career in the district in the early 1980s. He also spent time in East Islip and Kings Park between the bookends of his Sachem career.
An inductee of the Sachem Athletic Hall of Fame and Kings Park Athletic Hall of Fame, Blieberg has been heavily involved in the Boomer Esiason Foundation as the game coordinator for the annual Empire Challenge all-star football game which raises awareness and fundraising in the fight against cystic fibrosis.
He will begin his post as the assistant executive director of Section XI, Suffolk County athletics, in July.
Detlefsen, who graduated from Sachem in 1980, set the New York State mile record in 1979 and was a four-time All-League and All-County runner, as well as an AAU cross-country All-American.
At the University of Georgia she was the 1984 NCAA Division I Indoor Champion in the 1,500-meter run.
As a professional runner she was an Olympic Trials Finalist, and competed in the 1987 World Championships in Rome, held the Prefontain Classic meet record in the mile at 4:29.09, among many other achievements.
Detlefsen is also a member of the University of Georgia Hall of Fame and the Sachem Athletic Hall of Fame.
Sachem has had more inductees in the Suffolk Hall than any other school district and has had inductees for five straight years.
Other inductees include Karen Dromerhauser, Gene Heeter, John Pacella, Ray Searage, Mark Semioli and Brett Ziegler.
Complete list of Sachem inductees in Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame
- John “Jumbo” Elliott (football player), 1993
- Joe Cipp Jr. (football coach), 1996
- David S. Rothenberg (administrator), 1996
- Neal Heaton (baseball player), 1997
- Diane Nelson (equestrian), 2000
- Fred Fusaro (football coach), 2003
- Jack Mahoney (wrestling coach), 2004
- Bill Batewell (baseball coach), 2010
- Risa Zander (basketball coach), 2013
- Jeff Ruland (basketball player), 2013
- Nicole Kaczmarski (basketball player), 2013
- Tom Sabatelle (administrator/athlete), 2014
- Doug Shanahan (lacrosse player), 2014
- Nick Schroeder (interim administrator), 2014
- Ken Freidheim (gymnastics coach), 2015
- Rick Mercurio (lacrosse coach), 2015
- Rich Cimini (media), 2016
- Maria Michta-Coffey (Olympian), 2016
- Laura Gentile (media), 2016
- Isaac Ramaswamy (wrestling coach), 2016
- Pete Blieberg (administrator), 2017
- Linda Detlefsen (track and field), 2017
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro