SK’s Johnson Tabbed for RIIL Hall of Fame

Release courtesy of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League.

The following 11 distinguished athletes, coaches and administrators will be inducted into the Rhode Island Interscholastic League High School Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2013 on Wednesday, May 8 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick.

• Raymond E. Johnson - One of the state’s greatest prep basketball players, Johnson led the South Kingstown squad to three state championships in the mid 1960s. While at Providence College, Johnson played for legendary coaches Joe Mullaney and Dave Gavitt. Johnson also was a football standout while at Yarmouth (Mass.) Academy. Evan Crawley did a freelance piece for us on Johnson in 2011 – Click here to read it.
• Curt Bennett - The oldest member of the fabled Bennett brothers hockey stars, he was a Providence Journal All-State hockey and tennis player while at Cranston High School East in the mid 1960s. He was also a member of the ‘Bolt ice squad that played in the 1966 New England tournament. Bennett played hockey while at Brown University, and later played in the National Hockey League (NHL).
• Maura (McGonagle) Brown - While at Pilgrim High from 1992-96, Brown was a three-sport standout, earning Providence Journal All-State honors in field hockey and volleyball, and accolades in swimming. She was also a standout student-athlete while at Holy Cross.
• Jane Forman - Forman was a four-year Providence Journal All-State tennis star while at Wheeler School. She was also a nationally-ranked player, and is a full member of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
• Phil Kershaw - A Providence Journal All-State football player while at the former Deering High School, Kershaw was also a standout baseball player. Kershaw is also an official of some 30 years’ standing in football, soccer, basketball and baseball.
• Richard Lawrence - A winning coach of boys’ soccer and tennis at Mount St. Charles Academy, Lawrence is a member of both the RI Soccer and Tennis Coaches Halls of Fame. He is also the long-time athletic director at Mount St. Charles Academy.
• Laura (Turner) O'Hara - One of the best cross country and distance runners to come out of the state, O’Hara was an All-State and All-American track standout while at Portsmouth High School in the late 1990s. She was a two-time state cross country champ, and was twice a national Foot Locker harrier finalist. During her prep career, O’Hara gathered a combined seven Rhode Island state indoor and outdoor track records. She ran distances and the steeplechase while at Stanford University.
• Stephanie Perry - A three-time Providence Journal All-State basketball player at Central High in the early 1980s, Perry boasted a career scoring a total of 2,000 points in an era before the three-point shot was instituted.
• John Stellitano - One of the many sport luminaries to come out of Westerly High School, Stellitano was a three-sport star in the late 1930s and early ‘40s. He was a first-team Providence Journal All-State football player in 1940. As a basketball coach at Westerly, his teams won numerous state titles in the 1950s.
• Robert "Bobby" Thompson - A Providence Journal All-State running back on the Central High football team in the mid 1960s, Thompson was also a three-time All-State track star with the former 220-yard (now 200-meter) dash - and the long jump - as specialties. He also played professional football in Canada, and in the National Football League (NFL).
• Ron Wilson - At East Providence High in the early 1970s, Wilson excelled at baseball and hockey. He was a Providence Journal All-State baseball pick in 1973, and a two-time All-Stater as a member of the Townies’ hockey squad. Wilson was a four-year member of the Providence College hockey team.