JOE BIDDY
Suffern High School
Suffern High School’s track and cross country
history is legendary. With Hall of Fame athletes
such as Ervin Levine, Ralph Consiglio, and Tim
St. Lawerence, and coaches like Joe St.
Lawerence, Nick Mottola, and David Gaunt,
the foundations of the programs were in good
shape. Then along came Joe Biddy, and he
brought the programs to new heights.
Joe arrived in Suffern in 1967 and served as an
assistant coach for two years. In 1969 Joe was
elevated to the position of Head Boys’ Cross
Country Coach. After 40 years and a lot of
miles, Joe’s boys’ cross country team total stands
at 616 career victories (522 duals and 94 invita-
tionals), which is the New York State career
record. During that time his teams won 13
league titles, 13 county meet titles, 15 sectional
Class A titles, 2 New York State Public School
team titles(1993, 1999), and one New York
State Federation Team title (1993). From 1986-
1995 Joe Biddy’s Suffern boys’ team compiled a
132 dual meet win streak, which is still a record
for a Rockland County boys’ team. Individually,
Joe has coached over 75 first team All County
runners and one of his athletes, Justin
Romaniuk, went on to win the New York State
title in 1999.
In 1973, after only a year of the program’s existence,
Joe took over the reins of the Boys’ Indoor
Track and Field program. And when the Girls’
indoor track program was started in 1978, Joe
was appointed as the Head Coach of Boys’ and
Girls’ Indoor Track, a position, along with Boys’
Cross Country Coach, that he still holds to this
day. Joe’s boys’ teams have won 61 invitational
meets, 7 league titles, 9 Rockland County meet
titles, and 17 Sectional team titles. The girls’
teams have gone on to win 120 invitational
meets, 23 league titles, 24 Rockland County
meet titles and 18 Sectional team titles. During
that time, Joe has coached 106 Boys Rockland
County Individual Champions and 170 Girls
Rockland County Individual Champions.
On the State and National level, the Suffern
Boys’ and Girls’ Indoor Track Team coached by
Joe Biddy has been outstanding. The team has
had 126 sectional champions qualify for the
New York State meet. From that 126, 53 went
on to become New York State Champions. Joe
sent 46 Sectional relay teams to the New York
State meet and had 43 place winners. Suffern
has won 10 New York State Federation relay
titles at various distances and the Girls’ team
won the a State Federation relay title six years
in a row (2001-06), the only school, boys or
girls, to achieve that feat. On the National
level, Joe has had 2 individual champions and 3
relay champions.
In 2006 Suffern High started a Girls’ Golf team
and, because of his love of the sport, Joe
became the Girls’ Golf coach. In the three years
that Joe coached the Girls’ Golf team, they won
2 Rockland County tournament titles.
If you put together all of Joe’s championships,
the record is astounding: 43 league meet titles,
48 county meet titles, 50 sectional titles. In
addition to that, Joe was selected as “Coach of
the Year” by the Journal News over 40 times,
and, in 2000, he was selected by a committee of
county coaches as the “Boys’ Cross Country
Coach of the Millennium” Joe and his wife
Barbara, live in New City, and have two children,
Marci, 34 and Gregory 30.
 JEFF BROWN
Clarkstown South
When Jeff Brown first stepped onto the
basketball court, no one knew how far that first
step would take him. Now Jeff is one of the
most respected and successful college basket-
ball coaches in the North East.
During his high school years at Clarkstown
South, Jeff was a three time All-County selection.
In his senior year, Jeff averaged an astounding
26.9 points a game and set the Rockland
County career scoring record in 1978 with
1,428 points. This record lasted for nine years
until Bill Kurisko of Nanuet exceeded it by 16
points. Jeff then held on to the second spot in
career scoring for the next 18 years. He is gen-
erally acknowledged as the best basketball player
in Clarkstown South’s history. In his senior year,
Jeff lead his undefeated (20 wins) team into the
New York State regional finals against a power-
house and also undefeated Mount Vernon team
that boasted two future NBA players (the
McCray brothers). Unfortunately, Jeff and the
Clarkstown South team fell short of their goal
of a victory against Mount Vernon and a state
championship, but wound up as the number 3
ranked high school team in New York State.
Jeff earned a basketball scholarship to the
University of Vermont and went on to have a
highly successful career there. By the time he
graduated from Vermont, Jeff scored 1,336
points and became the third highest scorer in
the school’s history. Today Jeff ranks 10th on
the scoring list. Jeff captained his team his sen-
ior year, and was selected honorable mention
All New England. For these accomplishments
Jeff was inducted into the University of
Vermont’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
After graduation, Jeff spent three years as the
top assistant basketball coach at Manhattan
College where he built his reputation as a first
rate recruiter and strategist. In 1985 Jeff
returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach
for nine years. At Vermont his responsibilities
included advance scouting, player develop- ment, on the floor coaching, and game-day
preparations. In 1994 Jeff took over the head
coaching position at Bates College in Lewiston,
Maine. In 1997 Jeff landed the job as the head
coach at Middlebury College and is still there
today. This year Coach Brown was the unanimous
choice of the NESCAC (New England Small
College Athletic Conference) as Coach of the
Year after leading his team to its first conference
championship with a 24-3 record. He is now in
his 12th year at the helm of the Middlebury
Panthers, and over the last two seasons, the
Panthers have a record of 43-11 and two
straight NCAA tournament appearances.
When basketball season is over Jeff is also the
assistant Girls soccer coach at Middlebury
College, plus he donates his time to the
Middlebury Special Olympics and is a community
United Way fundraiser. He lives in Middlebury
with his wife Renee and three lovely daughters,
Vanessa 21, Michelle 19, and Nicole 15.
 JIM HORVATH
Ramapo High School
In the early 1970’s freshmen weren’t allowed to
compete in the varsity athletic programs at
Ramapo High School. That left Jim Horvath
only three years to make his mark in Rockland
County, and make his mark he did.
Jim was a man for all seasons. From the beginning
of his sophomore year in 1969 until graduation
in 1972, Jim earned nine varsity letters at
Ramapo High. On the football field Jim started
for Coach Chuck Scarpulla’s Gryphon’s all three
years. He was the team captain, and voted first
team All-County as an end and linebacker in his
senior year. Coach Scarpulla says of Jim, “He
was one of the toughest players I ever coached;
He played football and wrestled at 150 miles
per hour.” Chuck Scarpulla went on to state, “As
a coach, every time you saw a kid like Jimmy,
you smiled, because you knew he could do it
all.” In the spring Jim was a member of the varsity
track team. His event was the 440 yard dash,
one of the hardest events on the track.
It was on the wrestling mat that Jim attained his
greatest achievements. In his sophomore year,
after an 8-3 record during the regular season,
Jim entered the county tournament seeded
fourth. In the semi-finals he beat the number
one seed 8-0 and then went on to win in the
finals by a pin. For his efforts at the county
tournament, Jim was voted the Most
Outstanding Wrestler in the tournament and
received the Sol Gordon award. That year he
finished second in Section Nine. That sophomore
season was the start of a great career for Jim on
the mat. In 1971, his junior year, Jim again won
the Rockland County tournament, then the
Section Nine tournament. At the New York
State meet, Jim finished in third place, after losing
in the semi-finals to the eventual champion by
a score of 4-3. That would be the last loss for
Jim in his high school career. In his senior year,
Jim went on to win the Rockland County
Tournament, the Section Nine Tournament,
and Jim went to the New York State
Tournament and won in the 167 lb. weight class.
Upon graduation from Ramapo Jim accepted an
athletic scholarship to Southern Illinois
University in Carbondale, Illinois to play football
and wrestle. An injury kept him off the football
field so Jim decided to concentrate on
wrestling. Southern Illinois wrestled a top notch
schedule which included both Iowas, both
Oklahomas, Michigan State and Lehigh. Jim
was a four year starter on the wrestling team. In
his senior year, Jim won the Illinois Collegiate
State Championship, and the Western U.S.
Regionals, and was ranked as an Honorable
Mention All-American.. His senior record was
31-1-1. The Western Regional tournament victory
qualified Jim for the NCAA Division One
Tournament, where he won his first two matches
and lost 7-3 to the eventual NCAA champion,
which concluded his college career.
Jim currently lives in Richmond, Virginia with
his wife, Pamela. They have two children, a
son, Ryan, and a daughter, Jordan. Ryan, a three
sport athlete in high school, baseball, football,
and wrestling, recently graduated from William
and Mary College where he played football and
obtained a degree in finance. He now works for
Deutsche Bank in Jacksonville, Florida. Jordan,
a state champion swimmer (200IM), is completing
her junior year at East Carolina University with
a focus on Public Relations. Jim served his com-
munity as a pee wee wrestling and football
coach and still enjoys going into the local high
school wrestling room to work out with the team.
 MIKE LONGUIL
Nyack High School
Anyone familiar with the history of Rockland
County sports knows the name of Mike
Longuil. Mike has been associated with Nyack
High School and Rockland County since the
late 1940’s, first as an athlete, then a coach, and
finally as a track and wrestling official. His
career spans over 50 years.
As an athlete at Nyack High School, Mike
participated in three sports and earned 11 varsity
letters. While a member of the track team in his
senior year, Mike’s 880 yd. relay team broke the
RCPSAL and Section 9 record. Mike played
two years of varsity football, starting for Nyack
as a 135 lb. running back and linebacker. But it
was on the wrestling mat where Mike really
shined. Mike was a three time RCPSAL champion
and, in his senior year, he was undefeated and
had only one point scored against him all year
After High School Mike enrolled at Bowling
Green State University in Ohio to continue his
education. In his freshman year Mike was a
member of the freshman football, track, and
wrestling teams. In his sophomore year Mike
decided to concentrate on wrestling alone.
During his three year varsity career at Bowling
Green, Mike was elected co-captain of the
team, most valuable wrestler on the team, and
finished third in the Mid- American tournament.
After college, and a stint in the Army where he
participated and coached the base track team to
the Southern France championship, Mike
returned to Nyack to teach and coach. From
1956 to 1970, Mike was the varsity assistant
track coach, specializing in the jumping events,
hurdles and sprint relays.
During his tenure,
Nyack won many team and individual RCPSAL
championships in those events. As Joe McDowell
stated in his acceptance speech to the Rockland
County Sports Hall of Fame, “I would not be
here today without Rudy Rejholec and Mike
Longuil.” At the same time Mike was an integral
part of the famed Nyack High football program.
While a varsity assistant from 1961-70, Nyack
won 7 championships. He was responsible for
-11-
numerous All-County players and one All-
American. In 1957 Mike became the Nyack
High Head Wrestling Coach, a position he
held for 14 years. During that time Mike
coached many RCPSAL and Section 9 champions,
one New York State Champion and many state
place winners. He was the RCPSAL wrestling
chairman for two years and the Section 9
wrestling chairman for two years. Giving of his
time in the off season, Mike started and ran
novice tournaments in the area and coached at
many summer wrestling camps. When it was all
said and done, Mike coached three sports over
52 different seasons for his alma mater, Nyack.
Long after he was done coaching, Mike continued
to be a strong presence on the Rockland
County sports scene as a track and wrestling
official. Mike worked as a track official from
1957 to 1973. During that time he served as the
vice-president and rules interpreter for the
Rockland County Track Officials Association.
Mike was a qualified starter and officiated the
pole vault and long jump events at most county
and sectional meets. Mike is a charter member
of the Rockland County Wrestling Officials
Association which began in 1956, and was an
active member until 1990. From 1990 to 2005
Mike served as a supervisor for the active officials.
On the administrative side, Mike served as the
president, vice president, and rules interpreter
for Rockland County and Section 1. Mike
officiated at all of the Rockland County and
sectional tournaments from 1972 to 1990. In
1985 Mike was selected as the Section 1 official
to work the New York State High School
Tournament. In 2005 Mike made a “one time
only” comeback.
He donned the official’s gear and worked at the
George Fuge Kids Wrestling Tournament in
Suffern. At the conclusion of the event, Mike
received a standing ovation of appreciation
from the crowd, after which he removed his
official’s shirt, neatly folded it, and left it in the
center of the mat, never to be worn again. As a 2009 ROCKLAND COUNTY SPORTS HALL OF FAME
track and wrestling official Mike logged 67
different seasons.
Mike Longuil’s entire professional life has been
spent helping the youth of our area become
good athletes, ladies and gentlemen, and good
citizens. He is retired now and lives in Pearl
River with his wife, Charlotte. He spends most
of his time fixing and restoring fishing rods, and
occasionally gets to try them out on the water.
Mike feels that he has been privileged to be in
a profession which brought him association
with some of the finest people to be found anywhere.
 JANICE OLSZEWSKI
Nanuet High School
One of the first sports to manifest the impact of
Title IX gender equity was basketball. In the
mid to late 1970’s, women’s high school basketball
vaulted to a new level as top female athletes
gravitated toward a sport that had long been a
crowd pleaser on the male side. Athletes such as
Denise McGuire of Pearl River and Jane Ronner
of Clarkstown North were generating headlines
and attracting college scouts with their hoops
wizardry.
Then there was Janice Olszewski. No comparisons
can be drawn because there was no one like
Janice playing women’s high school basketball
in the late 1970’s. Six feet two inches tall, solid
as Mount Rushmore, Janice was an intimidating
physical presence who was close to automatic
when she got the ball in the low post.
Defensively, woe betide the opponent who
drove the lane for a lay-up only to see Janice
looming, blocking her path, and altering shot
selection merely by positioning herself in the
paint. Those were exhilarating days, and Janice
stood in the vanguard of the new era. “It was the
beginning of the spark of women’s sports; it was
finally coming into its own,” says Janice. “There
were a lot of good individuals and teams, and
the local coverage in the newspaper was very
strong. It was exciting to be a part of that.”
By the time she had concluded her high school
varsity career, Janice had rewritten the
Rockland County record book. She became the
first Rockland schoolgirl to score 1,000 points
and wound up with 1,520 points, which stood
as the Rockland County record for nine years.
“I’m surprised I held it for that long,” says Janice,
who was coached by Dale Abling her junior and
senior years, Julie Schaefer in her sophomore
year, and Lonnie Dall as a freshman. Janice set
the still standing Rockland County record for
scoring average in a season with 30.4 points per
game in the 1978-79 season. She scored 40 or
more points in a game five times, 30 or more
points in a game 18 times, and pulled down 282
rebounds in 20 games for an average of more
than 14 rebounds per game.
Besides the seasonal
scoring average, Janice also holds school
records for free throws in a game (17) and season
(137) and shares the record for field goals in a
game (18).
Janice made the first team All-County teams her
junior and senior years, second team All-
County as a sophomore, and honorable-men-
tion as a freshman. In addition to basketball,
Janice played varsity tennis all four years in
high school, doubles her first year and singles
her last three years.
Janice earned a full scholarship to LaSalle
University in Philadelphia, an NCAA Division I
Institution, where she played all four years on
the varsity. She was the first player off the
bench her first three years and cracked the
starting line up in her senior year. In her senior
year LaSalle won the East Coast Conference
championship to earn an automatic berth in the
NCAA tournament. Janice led the team in field
goal percentage her junior and senior years.
Janice now lives on Staten Island and has been
a member of the FDNY-EMS squad for 22
years. She is currently a Deputy Chief of
Division 5 (Staten Island/Coney Island). In
2003 Janice was a co-founder of the FDNY
Center For Terrorism and Division of
Preparedness. She was featured in the non-fiction
book, Women at Ground Zero, (Stories of
Courage and Compassion) that was published
in 2002 and describes the experiences of
women in emergency services during the terrorist
attacks of 9/11/01. Her sports activities are now
limited to low impact sports such as golf and
slow jogging due to a 2002 hip replacement.
 JOHN SOTTILE
North Rockland
After a highly successful high school career at
our Lady of Lourdes High School in
Poughkeepsie, where he was an All County
football and baseball selection, John Sottile
entered Wagner College in Staten Island, New
York. He was the starting centerfielder in the
late 60’s for the Seahawks in the highly competitive
Division I Met Conference against such perennial
powerhouses as St. John’s, Seton Hall, NYU,
LIU, Fordham, and Manhattan. In 1970 he
began his teaching and coaching career in the
North Rockland School District. Throughout
his tenure at North Rockland John coached at
all levels of football and baseball.
In 1991 John was appointed to the position as
the head baseball coach at North Rockland
High School. He held that position for 14
years. During his career as the head coach at
North Rockland he amassed a record of 281
wins, with only 78 losses. Along the way John
won 8 league championships, 6 Section 1
Championships, 5 Capital Region Championships
and 3 NEW YORK STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS.
He was the League IB Coach of the Year 7 times
and NYS Section One Coach of the Year in ’93
and ’94. The Journal News selected John as the
Rockland County Coach of the Year 8 times
and he was honored as the New York State
“Coach of the Year” in 1992, 1993, and
North Rockland
After a highly successful high school career at
our Lady of Lourdes High School in
Poughkeepsie, where he was an All County
football and baseball selection, John Sottile
entered Wagner College in Staten Island, New
York. He was the starting centerfielder in the
late 60’s for the Seahawks in the highly competitive
Division I Met Conference against such perennial
powerhouses as St. John’s, Seton Hall, NYU,
LIU, Fordham, and Manhattan. In 1970 he
began his teaching and coaching career in the
North Rockland School District. Throughout
his tenure at North Rockland John coached at
all levels of football and baseball.
In 1991 John was appointed to the position as
the head baseball coach at North Rockland
High School. He held that position for 14
years. During his career as the head coach at
North Rockland he amassed a record of 281
wins, with only 78 losses. Along the way John
won 8 league championships, 6 Section 1
Championships, 5 Capital Region Championships
and 3 NEW YORK STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS.
He was the League IB Coach of the Year 7 times
and NYS Section One Coach of the Year in ’93
and ’94. The Journal News selected John as the
Rockland County Coach of the Year 8 times
and he was honored as the New York State
“Coach of the Year” in 1992, 1993, and 1994.
Also in 1994 John was voted as the American
Baseball Coaches Association “Coach of the
Year” as well as the National High School
Baseball Coaches Association, “Coach of the
Year”. In 2000, his North Rockland High team
was invited to participate in the Upper Deck
Classic, a tournament in Anaheim, California
for the top teams in the nation. His teams were
ranked in the top 25 in the nation on three separate
occasions, finishing as high as 16th in 1994.
Many of his players have gone onto play in
college and seven have been drafted by Major
League teams.
John also coached for Diamond Pros New York,
a private organization that sends travel baseball
teams all over the world. He has taken teams to
Italy and competed in tournaments in Rivabella,
winning several times. In 2001 John took an
All-Rockland County team to the Torneo Estate
competing against 6 Italian teams and a strong
entry from California. In classic fashion this
team won an unprecedented 5th title. He is
currently the director of the Federazione
Italiano Baseball and Softball All Star Camp in
Rivabella, Italy. This year two of John’s campers
were members of the Italian team that made it
to the Little League World Series in
Williamsport, Pa. It was the first time an Italian
team made it that far.
John and his wife Mandy live in Stony Point
and have four children: David, 36, was a baseball
coach in Arlington and is now a Principal in the
Irvington School District; Gina, 34, is a personal
trainer and a member of the F.D.R. High School
Sports Hall of Fame; Joe, 31, is a teacher at
North Rockland and coaches the Farley Middle
School baseball team; and Gina, 19, is a second
year student at R.C.C..
After a two year hiatus, John returned to coaching
in 2007, as an assistant at the St. Thomas
Aquinas College in Sparkill. In his second year
at St. Thomas, the team won its first ever league
championship, was seeded first in the conference
2009 ROCKLAND COUNTY SPORTS HALL OF FAME
most wins in a season
This year John
decided to help his son Joe coach the middle
school baseball team. John continues to work
at baseball camps and gives private hitting and
pitching lessons. |
