For more information, call or email
Kevin Cook
(914) 231-4564
Since 1968 the Westchester Sports Hall of Fame has honored more than 200 outstanding professional and amateur sportsmen and sportswomen, living or deceased, who have gained prominence in their fields and who have made substantial contributions to sports in Westchester County.
Nominations for consideration by the Hall of Fame Committee are solicited from the public.
Nominees are reviewed, and the committee selects those who best meet or exceed the criteria of the Hall of Fame. A prospective candidate must be at least 25 years old and should be a person of integrity and good character who has gained prominence in either professional or amateur sports as a player, coach, manager, official, owner, sports media.
Individuals selected are inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame during the fall of each year. Each is presented with a Hall of Fame trophy and their name is inscribed on a plaque in the first-floor gallery at the Westchester County Center in White Plains.
A wealth of outstanding people in Westchester are eligible for the Sports Hall of Fame. If you know someone you feel is qualified, please use the nomination form on the reverse side.
Nominations for the Hall of Fame committee are solicited from the public. The nominees are reviewed, and the committee selects those who best meet or exceed the Hall of Fame’s criteria.
The Sports Hall of Fame is sponsored by Westchester County Parks. For tickets to the awards dinner and more information about the Westchester County Sports Hall of Fame, please contact Kevin Cook at 914-231-4564 or kdc2@westchestercountyny.gov
Congratulations to our 2024 inductees!
Joseph E. Ceglia
Joe’s athletic resume at Yorktown High School includes playing football, basketball and being an All-American lacrosse player. As a senior, Con Edison named him a Scholar-Athlete. In lacrosse at Syracuse University, Joe was an All- American defenseman, USILA Scholar All-American and on the National Championship team, all in 2000. On the professional level, Joe played lacrosse for eight seasons, including a National Lacrosse League title with the Philadelphia Wings (2001) and served as team captain on back-to-back Major League Lacrosse Championship teams with the Philadelphia Barrage (2006/2007). He’s a member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Hudson Valley Chapter. As an administrator with the Rye Neck UFSD since 2009, he’s the director of physical education and health and the director of athletics. Joe restarted Rye Neck’s lacrosse program after 25 years of dormancy.
Saniya Chong
In 2009, when Saniya was a freshman at Ossining High School (OHS), its girls’ basketball program was good but not the best in the state. She was the driving force that got OHS to the top, where it stayed for 10 years. Saniya was a four-year starter on OHS’s varsity girls’ basketball team. She played in all 97 games and led the team in every category all four years. She averaged 31 points per game and never scored fewer than 10. In four games she scored over 50 points each; her highest was 61. With Saniya on the team, OHS’s team record was 83-14. When Saniya was a senior, OHS won the section, region and state championships. She scored 2,988 career points, which put her as the all-time leading scorer in Section One history and the No. 1 all-time scorer. She made 718 career assists, 562 rebounds and 492 steals. Saniya received numerous accolades in 2013. She was named player of the year by Gatorade, the NYS Coaches Association, and Naismith and Parade magazines. She was also named a WBCA All-American. Saniya got a full scholarship to the University of Connecticut, where she played for four years and helped it play in four NCAA Final Fours and win three NCAA national championships. As their starting point guard her senior year, she led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio. She left UConn with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She then played two years for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings and then pro ball overseas for a few years.
Melissa Gonzalez
Melissa graduated from Lakeland High School in 2007 and the University of Connecticut in 2011. At Lakeland, she was a Con Edison Award honoree, a U.S. Lacrosse All-American, an All-Section pick in soccer as a freshman, won the NYS Field Hockey Championships in Class A in 2003 and 2006, and earned 1st Team HS All-American her junior and senior years in fi eld hockey. Melissa competed in the Empire State Games for three years in fi eld hockey and won three Scholastic Gold Medals. Melissa went on to star collegiately in fi eld hockey for UConn. During her senior year in 2010, she was a fi rst team All- American, Mideast Region Player of the Year, Big East Defensive Player of the Year and a fi nalist for the Honda Sports Award. She was a three-time All- American, four-time All-Mideast Region selection, two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year and four-time All-Big East honoree in her collegiate career. Melissa helped the Huskies win two Big East Tournament Championships and make four appearances in the NCAA Tournament. UConn advanced to the national semifi nals once and the national quarterfi nals once. The Huskies had an overall record of 74-16 (.822) in her four seasons. After graduating from UConn, Melissa excelled for Team USA, competing in the Olympics in 2012 (London) and 2016 (Rio de Janeiro). She made her U.S. National Team debut in 2010 and helped Team USA earn gold medals at the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games.
Margaret “Meg” Kaplan
For more than 35 years, Meg has worked tirelessly to promote swimming and diving. She has often gone above and beyond to ensure the success of programs and, more importantly, her athletes. At John Jay High School in Cross River, she was the girls’ head coach of Varsity Swim & Dive from August 1988 to July 2021. Her 256–52 record included fi ve League, fi ve Conference and one Sectional championship, as well as 28/33 Top 10 Sectional fi nishes. Meg earned impressive coach of the year awards: two from The Journal News and one from the New York State NFHS. As the boys’ head coach from November 1988 to October 1998, her record was 74-26; three League, three Conference and two Section championships; and 10/10 Top 10 Sectional fi nishes. She earned both boys’ coach of the year award from The Journal News, and coach of the year award from Section One. Meg joined Chappaqua’s Horace Greeley High School in November 2000. As the boys’ varsity swim and dive coach, her record so far is 182-18-1; 17 League, 18 Conference and 12 Sectional championships; three New York State and Federation championships; and 22/24 Top Five Sectional fi nishes. She’s been the girls’ head coach since August 2021. Meg’s record so far is 24-6: one League, one Conference, one Sectional championship, one New York State Championship and 3/3 Top Three Sectional fi nishes.
Jim San Marco
As a student at Edgemont High School (EHS) in the early 1960s, Jim starred in football, basketball and baseball, garnering all-star recognition while winning the Con Edison Student Athlete Award in baseball. After graduating from Ithaca College, he returned to EHS, where he taught and coached for more than 44 years. As athletic director from 1988 to 2004, he grew the athletic program to 51 teams and was recognized by his peers as the Section One Athletic Director of the Year in 2004. He coached soccer, basketball, baseball and tennis, compiling over 500 wins and a .809 winning percentage. At one point, his boys’ tennis team won 95 matches in a row. Jim focused on teaching all of his players life lessons on the fi eld that would help guide them as adults. He lived following one of his many “San Marcoisms”. Kids don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care. In 2012, the Edgemont community showed their love and respect for Jim’s contributions by donating $345,000 in his name to modernize the EHS gym; the gym where he played as a student and coached basketball. Jim co-authored the highly acclaimed book (Coaching Kids to Play Soccer: Everything You Need to Know to Coach Kids from 6 to 16 Simon & Schuster, 1987, 2007).