WESTERLY — Seven new inductees will enter the Westerly High Athletic Hall of Fame on May 4
The induction ceremony will take place at The Haversham.
Tickets may be purchased by calling Deanna Fallon at the school. She can be reached at 401-315-1501.
Jackie Burr, Class of 2014
Burr was a four-year member of the cross country, indoor track and outdoor track and field programs.
She currently holds five track records at Westerly – three outdoors (3000, 3200, 5000) along with indoor marks in the 3000 and 3200.
Burr was a first-team All-State and All-New England selection in cross country in 2013, earned second-team All-State status in 2010 and 2011 and was a 3-time All-Division pick.
While competing in indoor track, Burr received All-State and All-Division honors in the 3000 as a junior and was a multiple-event All-Class selection in 2011 (3000), 2012 (1000, 1500, 4×800) and 2013 (1000, 1500).
She also received All-New England honors in the 3200 in 2013.
Burr was the Rhode Island Outdoor state champion in the 3000 in 2014 and 2015, finished second in the 3200 at the 2014 New England Championships and was a multiple-event All-Division and All-Class selection in her sophomore through senior seasons.
Burr competed in track and field at the University of Rhode Island.
She graduated with High Honors at Westerly and was a member of the National Honor Society.
Burr, who lives in Westerly, graduated with a MBA from Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School in 2021.
Robert Carson, Jr., Class of 1971
Carson Jr. was a multiple All-State and Southern Division All-League selection with the boys golf team and was All-League in boys basketball.
While competing with the golf program, he was a 3-time All-League recipient and 2-time All-State selection — first team (1971) and second team (1970).
During his senior year, he shot a 73 in the state tournmament at Newport Country Club and also qualified for three United States Golf Association Amateur Championships.
He averaged 10.6 points per game in his senior season with the basketball program earning second team Class B honors. During his junior and senior seasons, Westerly finished with an overall record of 35-15.
Carson Jr. attended college at Jacksonville University (1971) before transferring to Bryant University (1972-74).
While at Bryant, Carson Jr. received NCAA Division II honorable mention All-American honors in men’s golf and won the ECAC New England Regional individual championship and tied for the title at the ECAC overall championships in 1973.
Carson Jr was inducted into the Bryant University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990.
He also has won 13 club championships at Indianwood Country Club in Lake Orion, Michigan, won a Senior 4-Ball championship in 2018 and shot a course record (61) with eight birdies and a hole and one in Bonita Springs, Fla. in 2019.
Carson Jr. lives in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
John DiGangi, Class of 2011
DiGangi earned All-State honors in outdoor and indoor track in multiple events and also was a 4-year member of the football team, serving as teams captain his senior year.
While competing indoors, DiGangi was earned All-New England and All-State honors in the 600 meters as a senior where he set the program record (1:22.17) at the New England Championships that still stands today.
DiGangi, as a junior, was a member of the 4×400 and 4×800 relay teams that won Southern Division championships in 2010 and 2011.
Outdoors he earned first-team All-State honors in the 4×800 meter relay in his freshman and sophomore seasons.
DiGangi was also won the 400 meters at the Southern Division championships as a junior.
DiGangi competed in track and field at the University of Rhode Island where he contibuted to the Rams winning the Atlantic 10 indoor team championship (2012, 2014), outdoor championship (2013, 2014) and New England Championship (2012, 2015).
He was part of the first-place 4×800 meter relay squad in 2014 that won the ECAC Championship in the second fastest time (7:30.90) at that time in URI history.
DiGangi is also ranked sixth all-time for the 600 meters (indoors).
While teaching in New York he coached the cross country team at Long Beach Catholic and also was an assistant at Kellenberg High School in Uniondale, N.Y. before returing to Rhode Island in 2020. He also was the head coach at Tiverton High School (2021-22).
He also volunteered with special needs children and was part of a program that taught autistic children how to surf and in Hawaii worked with disabled veterans in ocean therapy.
DiGangi lives in Tiverton and is working as a Physical Education and Health teacher at Portsmouth Middle School where he coaches the chess team.
Christopher DiPaola, Contributor
DiPaola — an honor roll student and 1991 graduate of the Prout School — took over as owner of local radio station WBLQ 1230 AM/103.1 FM in 2009.
During his ownership, WBLQ broadcast between 800-1,000 high school sporting events, including 500-700 Westerly High football and basketball game broadcasts.
He made it possible for people around the country and the world to listen to livestreams of Westerly Athletics.
DiPaola realized the importance of high school sports to the Westerly and surrounding community putting athletics on the big stage.
WLBQ provided live coverage of the Game of the Week during the high school football season along with coverage of high school basketball games during the winter — including the annual WCCU Holiday Basketball tournament.
WBLQ also established the Most Valuable Player Award for the annual Thanksgiving Day game between Westerly and Stonington.
And DiPaola — often called ‘The Voice of Westerly’ due to his passion for live radio — fostered further development of local high school sports coverage through various on-air shows every Saturday morning including Sports Open Mic and the Saturday Morning Sports Report.
He supported a variety of community events and was always visible and willing to help the community in any way. DiPaola served on the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce and a two-time President of the Westerly Rotary.
DiPaola passed away in October 2022 at the age of 49.
Michael Intrieri, Class of 2009
Intrieri was an All-Division and All-State standout in both football and track and field.
He earned all-state honors in football and was named Rhode Island lineman of the year his senior year. Intrieri set the single season sack record (21), was named Defensive Player of the Decade and a Gridiron Club recipient.
Intrieri was the state champion his senior year in the shotput and held the school record – 52’8.
He played football at Dean College and the Univeristy of New Haven. At Dean, Intrieri was team captain and was first-team All-Conference at defensive end. He led the team in sacks and the Bulldogs, who won the NEFC Championship in 2011, were ranked sixth in the country in the NJCAA.
While at New Haven, Intrieri was a two-year starter, led the Chargers in sacks and is the all-time program leader in quarterback hits.
Intrieri lives in Pawcatuck and currently works for the Stonington Police Department. He previously worked as a police officer at the University of Rhode Island and with the Metro Nashville Police Office where he was the first responder on the scene of the Christmas Day bombing in Downtown Nashville in 2020 and was instrumental in the efforts to save countless lives and secure the area.
William Samiagio, Class of 1971
Samiagio was a offensive and defensive lineman at for Westerly football and was an assistant coach with the football program for 36 years (1980-2015). He also spent 10 years with the baseball program — eight as an assistant — and two as head coach (1988 and 1999).
Westerly made seven Super Bowl appearances winning five state titles (1985, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2001) during his tenure with the program under three head coaches — Jim Murano, Tucker Terranova and Chris Wriedt.
And in baseball, the Bulldogs appeared in two state championship series with one state title.
Samiagio spent four seasons as an assistant football coach at West Warwick High and is currently the head coach at Chariho. He also was inducted into the Rhode Island High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame.
Samiagio lives in Westerly.
Damian Wroblewski. Class of 1994
Wroblewski was an All-Division athlete in football — playing his junior and senior seasons — and a member of the track and field program.
While at Westerly, Wroblewski played for head football coach Tucker Terranova along with assistants Chris Wreidt and fellow 2024 Hall of Fame inductee William Samiagio.
Wroblewski played football collegiately at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania where he was a two-time Patriot League selection at center, was team captain his senior year and earned the team’s Stony Jones Award as the team Most Valuable Player as a senior. He was also All-Academic selection in the Patriot League as a junior and senior and earned a degree in history.
Following college, Wroblewski has primarily worked with offensive lineman in holding assistant football coaching positions at Bryant University (2000-02), the University of Pennsylvania (2003), Hofstra (2004-05) and Stonybrook (2006), University of Delaware (2007-11), Rutgers University (2012-13), Elon College (2014-18) and at James Madision University (2019-present).
Wroblewski was also an assistant head coach at Delaware, Elon and at James Madison where he was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2021 season.
In December, Wroblewski was named the interim head coach and coached the Dukes in the Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force in Fort Worth, Texas.
Wroblewski lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia with his wife Kara and son Damian, Jr.
Source link
credite