Greater Binghamton Sports Hall of Fame reveals 12 individuals, team as 2025 inductees

Posted by author March 3, 2025 Sports

Spread the love

Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin

The inductees represent a variety of sports, including auto racing, basketball, football, field hockey, skiing, track and field, fencing, and wrestling.

The Greater Binghamton Sports Hall of Fame class of 2025 was announced Thursday at the DoubleTree by Hilton.

Inductees include 12 individuals and one team.

The class of 2025: Bob Bucher, Steve “Red” Chanecka, Gary W. Farnetti, Karen Cornell Funk, Dave Hogan, Brenda Buglione Kirwood, Emily Mackay, Clarence “Bucky” McGill, John A. Moreau, Brad Penrith, Vickie Sax, Alesha Widdall, and the 1970 Triple Cities Jets football team.

Bob Bucher

Bucher, who died in 1981, was known as the “Binghamton Bullet” and had more than 50 first-place finishes as a Road Racing Sports Car driver from 1953 to 1966. He was Sports Car Club of America national champion in 1961 and SCCA Northeast A class sports-racing champion.

He won an F-Modified championship and holds the record for most wins at Watkins Glen International with nine. Bucher is enshrined at the Watkins Glen Drivers Walk of Fame in downtown Watkins Glen.

Steve “Red” Chanecka

Chanecka, who died in 2000, played basketball at Binghamton Central High School, then played and coached in the Eastern Basketball League and American Basketball League with the Wilkes-Barre Barons. He was part of the Barons’ EBL championship team in 1947-48 and ABL championship team in 1949-50.

Chanecka was a club champion in golf at Wyoming Valley Country Club for six years and is a member of the Luzerne County and Pennsylvania Sports halls of fame.

Gary W. Farnetti

Accolades for Farnetti while playing linebacker at Binghamton North included All-Southern Tier Athletic Conference, New York all-state, and Scholastic Magazine All-American. He helped Binghamton North to a title in 1966.

Farnetty played at Harvard University, where he was team captain and team Most Valuable Player. He was named to the All-Ivy League and UPI All-East teams, and was heavyweight boxing champion at Harvard. He is a member of the Harvard University Athletic Hall of Fame.

Karen Cornell Funk

Funk was founder of the Marathon High School field hockey program and has coached 51 years, compiling more than 600 victories. Her teams won nine New York state titles, 12 Section 4 championships, and 25 league or division titles.

She played on the USA national field hockey team for seven years. Funk is a member of the following halls of fame: National Field Hockey Coaches, New York State Public High School Athletic Association, Section 4, SUNY Cortland C-Club.

Dave Hogan

Hogan, the current Chenango Forks football coach and athletic director, has compiled a record of 172-23 over 17 seasons as football coach. He has guided the Blue Devils to 12 Section 4 titles and five New York state championships, earning state Coach of the Year honors five times.

In 2024, he received the New York Football Giants and Gatorade Lou Rettino High School Coach of the Year award.

Brenda Buglione Kirwood

She is a former American alpine skier and was a member of the U.S. ski team for five years. Kirwood secured first place in the Nor-Am Cup and won the slalom title in 1980-81. She was a four-time All-American at the University of Colorado, and competed on the U.S. pro tour and World Cup circuits.

She is host of “Snow Motion,” an award-winning TV show with an average distribution of more than 80 million households.

Emily Mackay

Mackay competed in the 1,500 meters at the 2024 Paris Olympics after becoming a five-time All-American in track and cross country at Binghamton University. She won seven America East individual titles.

She won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Indoor Championships and became the 13th American woman to break 4 minutes in the 1,500 with a time of 3 minutes, 55.9 seconds.

Mackay, who turned pro with New Balance Boston in 2022, was the 2014 New York state indoor champion in the 1,500 at Union-Endicott.

Clarence “Bucky” McGill

He played offensive tackle and defensive end for Binghamton North’s 1966 championship football team, then played defensive end at Syracuse University.

McGill was recipient of the Chancellor’s Medal as part of the Syracuse 8 in 2006, a group recognized for taking a stand in 1970 in a bid to have a Black assistant coach added to the staff, along with better academic support and medical care. Syracuse established the Syracuse 8 Courage Award the next year, given annually to a student-athlete who shows “courage in the face of adversity.”

John A. Moreau

Moreau, a member of the Binghamton University Athletic Hall of Fame, has made his mark as a fencer, modern pentathlete, coach and official. In fencing, he competed in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics in men’s team epee and was a seven-time national champion in team epee.

He led what is now known as Texas State University to 15 state championships as coach and is a member of the U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame. Moreau is also a top international judge for the modern pentathlon.

Brad Penrith

Penrith won a state title at Windsor High School in 1981 and competed at the University of Iowa, where he captured the 126-pound national title in 1986. Penrith was a three-time All-American at Iowa and twice a national runner-up who helped the Hawkeyes to the 1986 national team title and three Big Ten championships.

Penrith won a silver medal at the 1991 World Championships and gold at the Pan American Games in 1989 and 1991.

He was inducted into the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021 and was head coach at the University of Northern Iowa from 2001 to 2010. He received a Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award from the New York chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Vickie Sax

Sax has coached more than 42 years at the scholastic and college levels in four sports, accumulating more than 850 victories.

She guided Vestal’s field hockey team to two state titles and nine Section 4 championships over 23 seasons. Sax has been named New York State Coach of the Year in field hockey and softball. Last season she coached Vestal to the Class AA state final four in softball after taking the Golden Bears to the Class A championship game in 2022.

Sax is the winningest softball coach in Colgate University history. She guided the program to three Patriot League titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances over 13 seasons.

Sax was a three-sport athlete at Vestal High School and competed in two Division I sports at the University of Iowa. She is a member of the Vestal Athletic Hall of Fame.

Alesha Widdall

Widdall was a goalie in field hockey at Whitney Point High School, the University of Massachusetts, and for the USA National team (2011-2018).

While at UMass, she was a two-time All-American and Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2011. Widdall was an alternate for the 2016 Rio Olympics and won gold medals in the 2013 World League Round in Brazil, the 2014 Champions Challenge in Scotland, and the 2008 Junior Pan American Games in Mexico.

Triple Cities Jets 1970 Football Team

The semi-pro Jets went 12-0 in their inaugural season, outscoring opponents by a combined 731-13 in winning the Empire Football League championship.

The team was founded by Ray Stanton, who was general manager, head coach, and quarterback. Stanton was inducted into the Greater Binghamton Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.