Archive: Sports

The Lansing Athletic Hall of Fame inducted the Class of 2011 at a ceremony Saturday between the JV and Varsity basketball games that pitted Lansing against Union Springs.  Master of Ceremonies and Chairman of the Selection Committee Marty Christopher presented individual plaques to former three-sport star from the class of 1957 Don Worsell, and former Coach and Athletic Director, Ed Redmond. The 1983 Section IV Championship football team was also inducted, with nearly two dozen of the former team members returning for the induction ceremonies. This is the fourteenth annual induction ceremony since the first one in 1998.

Prior to the inductions, Athletic Director Adam Heck presented outgoing committee chairman Christopher a plaque of commendation for his 10 years of service, and Lansing School Superintendent Dr. Stephen Grimm also presented Christopher with a token of gratitude from the school district for his years of community service.

Don Worsell

Don Worsell, a member of the Lansing class of 1957, was a three-sport athlete earning 8 varsity letters in high school, but will always be remembered for his outstanding football career. He lettered 3 times in football, and during his senior year Don set the bar high for all future Lansing running backs. While leading the Bobcats to a perfect 6-0 record (teams only played 6 games and no playoffs), Worsell scored 130 points; 114 by rushing, passing, and receiving touchdowns; and 16 extra points. His final game on the gridiron was most memorable, as he was responsible for 5 touchdowns in a 40 to 6 win over Fabius High School.  He passed for 2 touchdowns, rushed for 2, and scored the other on a 77 yard kick-off return.  He also earned the football MVP Award both as a junior and a senior.

Worsell also earned 3 varsity letters in baseball where he was a feared power hitter, usually hitting out of the #3 spot in the order, playing shortstop and second base. The limited number of games played (only 6-8) kept his home run totals down, but those who remember say Worsell hit the ball as far as anyone in the Tri-County League. In fact, as a senior he smashed 3 home runs in a game against Dryden.

Worsell was a member of the varsity basketball squad both as a junior and senior. A relentless rebounder, he turned into a scorer as a senior, averaging over 12 points per game to lead the team. During his junior season, he played an integral part on the Hall of Fame team that finished 18 and 3, losing in the finals of Section IV playoffs to Bainbridge. To date, Worsell is the only Lansing athlete on two teams, as well as earning the individual honor.

Ed Redmond

Ed Redmond takes his place in the Athletic Hall of Fame along with Stan Sobus and Fred Caliel, as a legendary Lansing coach. He served as Coach, Athletic Director, and Dean of Students, during his two and a half decades in Lansing.

He spent 24 years as baseball coach, compiling an incredible 496 wins with only 112 losses, an 81% winning percentage, and never had a losing season. His teams won 17 division titles, 16 overall IAC titles, 9 sectional titles, and 3 regional titles, while reaching the NYS final in 1995. During those 24 seasons, Redmond coached dozens of IAC All-Stars, many who continued successful careers in college. His 1989 baseball team was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. Perhaps his finest team, they finished a 24 and 1 season with a team batting average of .397, while averaging 13.8 runs per game.

While he was head football coach for 14 seasons, his teams won 101 games with 31 losses and 2 ties. The Bobcat eleven under Redmond won 7 division titles, 2 sectional titles, 1 regional title, as well as 4 sectional runner-ups.
Former High School Principal Bill Rankin remembers Redmond as being a great motivator. Rankin said “he was capable of getting students to do things they didn’t know they were capable of.” Redmond himself states “that the most important thing to him during his coaching years at Lansing was the relationships he developed with student athletes, and that he was honored to coach a lot of great ones.” In 1998 Redmond founded the Athletic Hall of Fame, and served as the chairman of the selection committee for the first 4 years.

The 1983 Football Team

The 1983 Football Team finished a perfect 10 & 0 year in dramatic fashion. In the Section IV championship game at Cornell’s Schoelkopf Field against Deposit High School, the Bobcats won in overtime 12 to 6 on a 94 yard fumble return for a touchdown by Buddy Balog. The fumble was forced by Tom Vliet, Rick Pinney, and Rich Smith, as Deposit drove for the winning touchdown. Deposit had been undefeated entering the game, ranked #5 in the state averaging 32 points per game.

This victory culminated a perfect year under the tutelage of Coach Matt Steenberg and Assistant Coach Charlie Weaver, that saw the Bobcats lead the IAC in scoring, finish 2nd in team defense, never allowing more than 13 points to an opponent. They outscored their opponents by over 21 points per game. They had two rushers, Randy Roberts and Steve Lehr, in the top six in the IAC. Roberts was #4 in rushing with 1,077 yards and 12 touchdowns. Lehr finished #6 with 877 yards gained, scoring 7 touchdowns.

Bobcat quarterback Bill Biata finished #3 in passing yardage and led the league in touchdown passes with 13. The Bobcats had 7 team members selected to the IAC All-Star team; Blaine Bowers, Carl Coates, Steve Lehr, Rick Pinney, Randy Roberts, Richard Smith, and Pat Tierney. They finished #11 in the final New York State rankings for all small schools.

When asked what he remembered most about his 1983 team, Coach Matt Steenberg replied, “We had a unique mix of personalities. We were very talented. We were an extremely physical team.”




The Athletic Hall of Fame Selection Committee members are the following, as of January 15th, 2012: Adam Heck, Bill Rankin, Billie Downs, Carrie Moore, Gary Christopher, John Longhouse, Katie Mayo, Lisa LiVigne, Steve Colt, and Steve Lehr. At this time a chairman has not been selected.

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