The Attica Athletic Hall of Fame welcomed its Class of 2023 Saturday, Sept. 30 at Hidden Valley Adventures in Varysburg.
Sponsored by the Attica Sports Booster Club, inductees are selected by committee based on their achievement and contribution to the district’s athletic programs.
This year, the committee chose to induct six individuals and one team.
Commemorative plaques honoring each inductee will be installed in the High School in the near future.
Michael Lavarnway
Before graduating in 1971, Michael Lavarnway thrived as a three-sport athlete competing in football, basketball and track.
In football, Lavarnway was a three-year varsity player out of the fullback position. In 1969, he helped lead the Blue Devils to their sixth consecutive league title and second straight tri-county championship.
During his senior year, Lavarnway led the squad to the newly-created Genesee-Orleans League title as team captain and was named a league all-star.
In basketball, Lavarnway played center and was likewise a three-year varsity player and a two-time captain. In 1971, he was named a league all-star and helped the Blue Devils achieve contender status in their league.
During the final of his four years as a member of the varsity track team, Lavarnway led the Blue Devils to an undefeated regular season record and Genesee-Orleans League title before a narrow defeat to Batavia at sectionals to finish the season 13-1.
After graduation, Lavarnway served as a New York State corrections officer for 29 years. He still lives in the Attica School District.
Michael Lavarnway is pictured above in photos from his senior yearbook.
John Perl
During his time at Attica, John Perl competed as a member of the varsity football, basketball and baseball teams.
In football, he was a starter at tight end and defensive end during his junior and senior years.
Growing up, baseball had always been Perl’s favorite sport. His passion for the sport and skill at third base helped the Blue Devils to two league championships.
However, Perl’s love of baseball started sharing space with basketball his sophomore year once he was called up to the varsity team after earning the Junior Varsity Most Valuable Player Award at the 1989 Attica Christmas Tournament.
As a varsity basketball player, Perl was named a team captain twice, a Genesee Region all star in 1991 and 1992 and earned an All-Greater Rochester honorable mention recognition following his senior year season in 1992. That same year, Perl was named the 1992 Attica Central Schools Male Athlete of the Year.
Perhaps his most notable basketball accomplishment was when he became the district’s all-time leading scorer with 894 points - a record that would stand 14 years.
Perl lives in Cowlesville with his wife and three children. He continues to share his love of Attica Central Schools’ athletics programs by coaching and assistant coaching baseball and basketball.
John Perl is pictured above in photos from his senior yearbook.
Laurie Jennings
Laurie Jennings thrived as a four-sport athlete in soccer, volleyball, basketball and softball before graduating from Attica in 1979.
In soccer, Jennings was a four-year defensive starter and a captain her junior and senior years. She received team Most Valuable Player and Genesee Region League all star recognitions over the course of her soccer career.
In volleyball, she was a two-year starter who always brought a competitive edge to the court.
In basketball, she was a four-year starter who contributed heavily towards her team’s success.
In softball, Jennings was likewise a four-year starter who was chosen as a league all star and voted the team’s most valuable player all four years. From 1976 to 1979, she helped lead the Blue Devils to four consecutive Genesee Region League titles.
Jennings continued her athletic career at Genesee Community College where she was a three-sport athlete in volleyball, basketball and softball.
In 1980, Jennings transferred to Eastern Kentucky University where she ultimately earned her bachelor’s degree. She now lives in Batavia.
Laurie Jennings is pictured above in photos from her senior yearbook.
William Powers
William Powers was a three-year varsity basketball starter and a two-year varsity football starter during his time at Attica and was named a team captain and Genesee Region League all star in both sports.
Powers was a member of Attica’s 1971 football team that went 8-0 (six shutouts), scored 358 points and allowed only 24.
During his three years as a varsity basketball starter, Powers scored 674 points without the benefit of a three-point line. His career points total currently stands at the 14th highest in district history.
After graduating in 1972, Powers had a 38-year career in the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, starting as a corrections officer and retiring as a superintendent. He earned his master’s degree in criminal justice in 1987.
In retirement, Powers continues to work in the correctional field serving as a consultant for the American Correctional Association and VitalCore Health Strategies.
Powers is a lifelong resident of Attica. He lives with his wife, Melanie. He has two daughters and four grandchildren.
William Powers is pictured above in photos from his senior yearbook.
Margaret “Peggy” Sisson
Margaret “Peggy” Sisson began her teaching and coaching career at Attica Central Schools in 1973 after earning degrees from Genesee Community College and Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa.
From 1973 to 1976, Sisson coached girls volleyball, basketball and softball.
In her very first year at Attica, she coached the girls basketball team to the Section V Class A Large School sectional title. The championship run included a 52-49 win over previously undefeated and defending sectional champion Pittsford Sutherland, which also happened to be on a 56-game win streak.
At one point during her coaching tenure, Sisson’s girls basketball squad had a 43-game win streak.
During the 1974-75 season, Sisson led the varsity girls volleyball team to an undefeated season and a Section V Class A Large School sectional title.
After leaving Attica, Sisson continued her teaching and coaching career at SUNY Fredonia from 1979 to 1987. In 1988, she returned to GCC, her alma mater, where she served as the head coach of the women’s basketball team from 1988 to 2004.
At GCC, Sisson was a six-time Region 3 Coach of the Year and a five-time District C National Coach of the Year. She led the Lady Cougars to six NJCAA National Tournament appearances, coached five All-Americans, 90 All-Region players, 101 All-Conference players and nine Players of the Year.
In 2005, Sisson became the Director of Athletics at GCC, retiring in 2012. She resides in Fredonia.
Margaret “Peggy” Sisson is pictured above in images from Attica's 1974 and 1976 yearbooks.
Ronald L. Phillips
Ronald Phillips and his wife, Linda, came to Attica Central Schools in September of 1966 to coach and teach.
A former All-American soccer player in college, Phillips volunteered to help out with Attica’s soccer program. He continued to coach in the district for the next 28 years including for boys and girls soccer, tennis, girls basketball and track.
Attica’s girls soccer team won the Genesee League title in 1993 while Phillips was a coach.
In 1995, Phillips was chosen as the league’s Coach of the Year. He was also instrumental in helping to start the AYA co-ed summer soccer and girls basketball leagues in town.
Phillips was a four-year member and two-year captain of SUNY Fredonia’s men’s soccer team. During his college soccer career, he was a three-time All-State selection, a two-time Division III All-American and earned an invite to the U.S. National Soccer Team tryout in Mexico City in 1968.
His athletic versatility also led him to cross over and play four years of semi-pro football which ended with a tryout with the Buffalo Bills as a kicker. Phillips relied on this experience while helping student athletes at Attica who would go on to kick for the Blue Devils football team.
Phillips and his wife, Linda, still reside in the Attica School District.
Ronald Phillips is pictured above in a photo from Attica’s 1994 yearbook along with his Genesee League title-winning girls varsity soccer team.
1973-74 Varsity Girls Basketball Team
The 1973-74 girls basketball season proved to be one of which fairy tales were made of.
Coming off a previous varsity season of only two victories, the 1973-74 varsity girls basketball team blew away any and all pre-season expectations to go 14-0 and capture the Section V Class A Large School sectional title.
In the pre-quarterfinals of the sectional tournament, Attica defeated 9-5 Geneva, 61-28.
In the quarterfinals, the Blue Devils took down undefeated Madison, 57-56, before topping undefeated Webster Thomas, 49-36, in the semifinals.
In the finals, Attica tamed previously undefeated Pittsford Sutherland, 52-49, ending Pittsford’s 56-game winning streak and capturing the Class A title.
Attica was coached by 2023 Hall of Fame inductee Margaret “Peggy” Sisson.
Team members included Donna Miller, Monica Embt, Linda Miller, Lynn Herman, Kathleen Sonricker, Vicki Jenson, Susan Moeller, Mary Ziegler, Cynthia Merlau, Bonnie Brunner, Joanne Jensen, Anna Kirkpatrick and M. Fenney.
The 1973-74 Lady Blue Devils will forever be labeled as the Attica ‘Giant Killers’ as they took down some of the biggest schools in Section V.
Attica’s 1973-74 varsity girls basketball team is pictured above in a photo from the district’s 1974 yearbook.
Members of the Attica 1973-74 varsity girls basketball team pose for a photo above during their team’s Attica Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday, Sept. 30 at Hidden Valley Adventures in Varysburg. From left are Kathleen (Sonricker) Judd, Joanne (Jensen) Maxwell, Vicki Jensen, Cynthia (Merlau) Hynes, Anna (Kirkpatrick) Romesse, Linda (Miller) Papke and Coach Margaret "Peggy" Sisson.