On September 20th 2025, I had the pleasure of attending Mepham’s inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony held in the foyer.The Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony is a way to honor those who have attended Mepham high school and have had significant athletic contributions in and outside of the school. These people included coaches and former students alike. The ceremony was organized and run by Mr. Pefanis. At the ceremony six people were inducted: Coach Frank “Sprig” Gardener, Coach Rich Anderson, Mike Muscara,  Amos  Zeroeue Heather Maselli Castellano, and Jillian Maselli Vausikauskas. 

The event began with words from Mr. DeMartinis and then after that the reigns were passed over to Mr. Pefanis. The inductees were sitting at the front of the room and were each invited up to make a speech during the ceremony. The first member inducted was Amos Zeroeue.  Amos was the running back for the Mepham football team. He was named Nassau County’s top football player with Thorpe Awards in 1993 and 1994.Other achievements of his included All Long Island and All County honors. He was also inducted into the Nassau County Hall of Fame.  Amos went on to play at West Virginia University and then the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, and New England Patriots. The next member inducted was Heather Maselli Castellano. Mrs Castellano is currently an English teacher here at Mepham High School. During her time as a student at Mepham she recorded two career no-hitters and received All Conference,  All County honors, along with a Newsday scholar athlete honor.  Heather played at St. Peter’s College  and returned to Mepham as an English teacher back in 2005. She spent 9 years as a softball coach at Mepham along with Calhoun High School. A highlight of Heather’s speech was the admiration that she had for her sister and fellow inductee Julian Maselli Vasikauskas. Julian Maselli Vasikauskas was the next member inducted into the athletic Hall of Fame, Julian was also a softball player at Mepham.Julian was one of the most accomplished softball players in the history of Mepham High School she pitched three no-hitter games, earned multiple All Conference and all County honors and her team went on to the all-conference in 2003. She then went on to play for Concordia College.  

The next three inductees were all wrestling coaches. Mike Muscara was a wrestling coach from 1982 to 2017, a softball coach from 1983 to 2016 where he achieved 407 wins, as well as Mepham’s athletic coordinator from 1994 to 2013.  Mike was originally a special education teacher and then moved on to being an athletic coach. He currently holds the title of the longest-tenured wrestling coach in Mepham’s history. Unfortunately not everybody was able to attend the ceremony. Two inductees were posthumously inducted.  The first of those was Coach Rich Anderson,  Rick Anderson served as a wrestling coach from 2005 to 2016 it was named Nassau Coach of the Year in 2012.  One of his achievements was coaching a two-time New York state champion team. Two of his other accomplishments were coaching Nassau County Champions and 29 All County wrestlers. The other posthumous inductee, along with the final for the event was Coach Frank “Sprig” Gardener. Frank coached wrestling from 1936 to 1958.  His record touted an impressive 254 wins with only five losses in one tie. His record also included 106 sectional titles and 40 tournament titles with his team.  One of the most impressive things about his career is that he was undefeated in dual meets for 20 years. Coach Gardener is also a part of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. The ceremony concluded with words from Mr Pefanis, and the unveiling of the cabinet housing the plaques for each inductee.

The Mepham Athletic Hall of Fame not only celebrates the inductees and their accomplishments but also celebrates the Mepham community. At the event, the sense of community, the feeling of love was very apparent, everybody there valued and honored one another and it was wonderful to see the unity with those in and out of the Mepham athletic community. Congratulations to all the inductees.