Butler County Hall of Fame Class of 2025: Meet the 8 inductees to be honored in April
BUTLER TWP — Eight new inductees will join the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame at the organization’s 58th annual banquet at 6:30 p.m. April 26 at Founders Hall on the campus of Butler County Community College.
The inductions of Joella Baker, Jeff Christy, Larry Dillon, Joe Lewandowski, Art Monteleone, Tom Phillips, Scott Stoner and Melissa Sopher Williams will bring the amount of individual hall of famers to over 400.
The BCSHOF was founded in 1966 and is the longest continually running county sports hall of fame in Pennsylvania.
Tickets to the banquet are $35 in advance, or $40 at the door, the latter depending on availability. Tables of eight may be purchased at a discounted rate. Tickets will soon be available at butlersportshall.com or at the following ticket outlets: Butler Radio on Pillow Street in Butler, Saxonburg Drug, Maddalon Jewelers in Zelienople and Parkers Appliance in Chicora.
Here is a synopsis of this year’s inductees:
A Quigley Catholic graduate and a Team USA triathlete, Baker founded Get Fit Families, based in Zelienople, years ago and works with triathletes of all ages along with individuals or families who simply want to improve their physical fitness. A triathlete coach and former runner for Duquesne University, Baker has competed in 15 marathons and five ultra-marathons despite being diagnosed with Lupus in 2001.
A Freeport athlete and former standout NFL center, Christy owns nine school records with the Yellowjackets, including a state record of 208 points scored in a single high school football season. He was a fullback, linebacker, kicker and punter at Freeport, compiling 2,842 yards rushing and 340 career tackles.
After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, Christy played center for the Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings. He won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay and was selected for the Pro Bowl three times.
A Butler graduate, Dillon became a standout high school and YMCA swimmer despite dealing with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, a physical condition in which he could not perspire. He became a prep swimmer at the Butler YMCA in the 11-12 age division and went on to compete at YMCA Nationals, placing in the 1,650-yard freestyle.
Dillon went on swim at Westminster College, reaching the NAIA Nationals before ending his swim career his sophomore year. He went on to graduate from law school and served as assistant attorney general in New York for 21 years.
A standout basketball player at Butler County Community College and Slippery Rock University, Lewandowski went on to play professional basketball in Denmark. He coached high school ball at Butler and Deer Lakes, college ball at Point Park and BC3. He guided the Pioneers to a 20-4 record, Region 20 title and No. 7 National Junior College Athletic Association national ranking in 2023-24.
A longtime USA 3-on-3 basketball coach, Lewandowski coached the men’s 3-on-3 team in the 2024 Summer Olympics and has coached teams to numerous medals in international competition.
A former Butler Area Midget Football League coach, Monteleone has gone on to a lengthy career as a high school basketball and football official. He has been a high school official for 54 years and was honored for 50 years of officiating games by Moniteau High School in 2021. He continues to officiate games today.
After enjoying 15 years of dirt track racing, including three track championships at Lernerville Speedway, Phillips turned his attention to volleyball. He played coed volleyball and competed in leagues before becoming girls volleyball coach at Freeport. Phillips has guided the Yellowjackets to 18 consecutive section titles, seven WPIAL crowns and two PIAA championships.
Phillips has been coaching Freeport volleyball for 24 years.
A standout wrestler at Slippery Rock University, where he won more than 80 matches, Stoner took over a Butler High School program that finished 3-23 in 1993. He quickly turned the program into a winner and is in his 32nd season as head coach. Stoner has a career record of 447-202, his win total ranking first among active Pennsylvania high school wrestling coaches. Stoner has coached three WPIAL individual champions.
A Slippery Rock High School graduate and a standout hurdler and relay runner in track and field, Sopher went on to a stellar track career at Slippery Rock University. She competed in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles in the PIAA Track and Field Championships in high school and was a national qualifier in the 400 hurdles at SRU. She also ran a leg of the 2006-07 PSAC championship 4x400 relay team and on the school-record setting 4x800 relay unit.
