Norwin honors soccer stars in hall of fame Class of 2024

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 | 5:17 PM

The 2024 Norwin Athletic Hall of Fame class shines a light on the school’s propensity for producing soccer talent.

Five of the nine individuals pegged for induction played soccer for the Knights.

The class includes Carter Breen (soccer, Class of 2019), Waylon Davis (football, 1998), Dana Dellefemine (soccer, track and field, 2010), Adam Hadbavny (football, track and field, 2002), Tia Hernandez (soccer, 2000), Tom Parker (contributor), Jody Schuchert (soccer, 1998), Tommy Shirley (baseball, 2007) and Sam Wexell (soccer, 2018).

Two track and field relay teams also will be inducted: the 1977 boys two-mile relay of Bill Opdyke, Jack Cade, Jim Madson and Rick Opdyke and the 2017 boys 1,600-meter relay of Nick Coleman, Josh Coleman, Gianni Rizzo and Kyle Turcovsky.

The Norwin Athletic Hall of Fame only takes into consideration an athlete’s achievements from high school.

• Breen was an all-state player who scored a school-record 68 career goals.

• Davis played quarterback and led the WPIAL in passing yards in 1996 with 2,037. He is the school’s second all-time leading passer (4,650 yards).

• DelleFemine was an all-section soccer players and a two-time WPIAL champion in track.

• Habnavy is a former WPIAL discus champion.

• Hernandez was a two-time all-state player who scored 55 goals and had 40 assists.

• Parker is a former announcer for various Knights’ sporting events.

• Schuchert played on teams that won WPIAL and PIAA championships.

• Shirley was a pitcher who had a 14-4 record and struck out a school-record 207.

• Wexell played goalkeeper on WPIAL and PIAA title-winning teams, earned all-state honors and posted 53 career shutouts.

• The ’77 relay won a WPIAL title and took second in the state.

• The ’17 relay won WPIAL and PIAA championships, the latter in a school-record time of 3 minutes, 18.26 seconds.

The hall of fame banquet will be Sept. 26 at Stratigos Banquet Centre. Doors will open at 5:45 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased here.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

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