Circle of Pride

The “Circle of Pride” is dedicated to those who have achieved great success in their athletic careers at Oceanside High School and beyond. Not only does this group include athletes from Oceanside High School but it includes coaches as well. The “Circle of Pride” will be inducting new members annually in order to continue and expand this program.

Jay Fiedler, a former Oceanside High School student, played football, basketball, and ran track. While in high school he was a two time State Champion Pentathlon and was all county in basketball and football. He received the Scholar-Athlete Award from the National Football Foundation and was inducted into the [OHS] Hall of Fame in 1989. Jay Fiedler attended Dartmouth and graduated in 1994 with a degree in engineering sciences. There he continued to excel in both football and academics. Fiedler has played in the NFL since 1994 for both the Eagles and the Jaguars. For years, he was starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins and was signed to the Jets in 2005 and the Bucanneers in 2006 but was released from both due to an injury. (http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/1236)

Steve Friedman wrestled for Oceanside High School and went on to win the title of All-American Wrestler. He was a student at Cornell University and graduated in 1959. There he won the Eastern Collegiate Wrestling championship and participated in the finals three years in a row. In 1961, he was the AAU national champion and won the gold medal at the Maccabiah games. He received an NCAA Silver Anniversary Award for outstanding athletic and career achievements in 1984 and was then inducted into the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame. His career in investment banking took him very far and he was recently appointed economic advisor to President Bush.

Patty Hanlon was a Nassau County high school gymnastics All Round Champion in her senoir year at OHS, 1972, and was named to "Faces in the Crowd" by Sports Illustrated for excellence in gymnastics. In 1976, she was named All-American gymnast at the A.I.A.W. National Collegiate Gymnastics Championships while a member of the Elite Women's Gymnastics Team at Southern Illinois Univertity.

Frank Januszewski, popular OHS phys. ed. teacher during our time, was, at times, coach of our soccer, baseball, and tennis teams starting in 1956, but his passion was basketball for which led the Sailors to two Nassua County championships and five league titles and was named Nassau County Coach of the year during the 1959 championship year and again in 1961. "Coach Jan" was the creator of our Hall of Fame, which was dedicated to Charles Mosback.

Jill Januszewski (daughter of our Coach Jan) was a Rutgers’ graduate and played volleyball and basketball while she attended there.

Dennis Leonard was born in Brooklyn, New York and was a standout baseball player at Oceanside High School. He attended Iona College in New Rochelle, NY, before being selected in the 1972 summer draft by the Kansas City Royals. He was a 3-time 20-game winner and was named Royals pitcher of the year in 1975, ’77, ’79. He was recently inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Ruth Lewis coached every girls’ sport in the 1950s as a volunteer. She was a teacher from 1925 to 1955 at Oceanside High School.

Charles Mosback was the first football coach in OHS history. From 1933-1940, he taught phys. ed., was Director of Athletics, and he coached and lead the football Sailors to a county championship in 1939 and a .630 winning percentage. After his coaching, he was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy during WWII, and then he returned to OHS to become principal, which is how we all knew him.

Ernie Vandeweghe played 6 seasons for the New York Knicks from the years of 1949-56. Ernie received the All American title in 1949 at Colgate University. Vandeweghe, number 11, was one of 4 Colgate athletes to have his number retired.

Art Wright could be defined as the finest soccer coach in Long Island history. Born in Oceanside and a 1944 graduate of OHS, he was a phys. ed. teacher at Oceanside Jr. High School and various elementary schools in the district and soccer coach for 27 years at OHS. In those years, he won 315 games including 19 league, 11 South Shore, 9 Nassau, and 4 Long Island Championships. He also won 6 consecutive county titles and led the team to be undefeated in 1959, 1969, and 1973. Art Wright was also one of the co-founders of Oceanside Little League Baseball in 1950.

Christine Andrews	Roy Chernock	Chris Graff
Anna Meyer	John Morley	Melissa Pearsall
Angie Plaia	Stephen Poleshuk	Bill Pless
Andy Scerbo	Jim Trenz	The Lucas Family

Paul Fardy ('59)	Kathy Gallagher	Ken Hendler
Roy Kessenich	Nicky Polanco	Lisa Shafran
Richard Speckmann