University of Connecticut Athletics
Mahoney To Be Inducted Into the CHSCA Hall of Fame
9/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Sept. 3, 2009
SOUTHINGTON, Conn. - University of Connecticut softball assistant coach Ellen Mahoney will be inducted into the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Aqua Turf in Southington. Seven other coaches and one media member will join Mahoney as the Class of 2009.
This will be Mahoney's fourth Hall of Fame induction in her storied career.
Mahoney has been a part of the Connecticut sports world since 1964 when she competed at the Norwich Free Academy and was voted Class Athlete. She went on to attend UConn where she was a member of the Volleyball, Basketball and Softball teams and majored in physical education.
After graduation, Mahoney taught phys-ed at the Lebanon Elementary School from 1972-75. She moved on to be a physical education teacher at Ledyard High School where she remained until her retirement in 2007.
At Ledyard, Mahoney founded the Ledyard softball team in 1976 earning a career 355-84 record and helping her team to 12 E.C.C Championships, 10 state final appearances and four consecutive titles from 1993-96 (1993-94 Class L; 1995-96 Class LL). Her teams also recorded a 105 game regular season win-streak.
In addition to her softball coaching responsibilities, Mahoney was also the head coach of the tennis team from 1980-1993 where she earned a 178-36 record, helped her team to eight E.C.C. Championships and won one fall state title.
Also during her time with Ledyard, Mahoney found time to join the UConn Softball coaching staff where she has remained since Fall 1996. Using her expertise, Mahoney helped the Huskies to a 2001 BIG EAST title and a 364-327-2 record.
Mahoney has already earned a slew of awards in her career. In 1996 she was inducted into the City of Norwich Sports Hall of Fame followed by a 2001 induction into the Norwich Free Academy Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1989, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996 she received a Special Congressional Recognition for Softball. She was named Amateur Baseball Woman of the Year by the U.S. Baseball Federation in 1992 and Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance Female Coach of the Year in 1994.
After her fourth straight state title, Mahoney was one of eight finalists for the National High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year award in 1996. During that same year, she was inducted into the Connecticut Scholastic and Collegiate Softball Hall of Fame.
Mahoney and the rest of the UConn coaching staff earned the Speedline Northwest Regional Coaching Staff of the Year award after winning the BIG EAST Championship in 2001
Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class of 2009 inductees:
The coaches:
- Charlie Bentley (Harding-Bridgeport), 624-137 record in boys basketball, nine state titles, 16 conference titles since 1977.
- Paul Davis (Amity-Woodbridge), 351 swimming wins, four league titles, 12 state runner-up finishes as boys (1979-1993) and girls 1979-2003) coach.
- Mark Logan (RHAM-Hebron), five girls cross country and two girls track state titles, 639 wins, 46 league titles in 1981-2009.
- Ellen Mahoney (Ledyard), 355 softball wins (1977-96), seven state titles, 12 Eastern Connecticut Conference titles, and 178 tennis wins (1980-93) and eight ECC titles.
- Lou Marinelli (New Canaan), seven state football titles and 241 wins at New Canaan and two high schools in New York since 1981.
- Marty Roos, most career hockey wins in state history with 511 combined at Fairfield Prep (1971-89) and Notre Dame-Fairfield (1991-2009), and six state titles.
- Gil Varjas (New London), 430 baseball wins, 12 ECC titles, four state titles and four state runner-up finishes.
- Bill Wallach (Guilford), 220 boys soccer wins in three stints at Guilford, including six state titles and 11 Shoreline Conference titles.
Inducted from the media will be Ken Lipshez, who has covered high school sports since 1991 with the Bristol Press and New Britain Herald.
Tickets for the dinner are available from the CHSCA office at P.O. Box 632, Southington 06487, by calling 860-628-4122 or by e-mailing John Fontana at jfontana01@snet.net.
