Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame will hold its 2026 induction ceremony Oct. 7 at the Crest Hollow County Club. Here’s a list of some local honorees in alphabetical order. For more information, tickets and a full list of honorees, go to www.sectionviii.org/halloffame.
TOM ABRUSCATO
The list of Abruscato’s coaching achievements at Clarke is mind-boggling. During his 26 years at the helm, the Rams have won 531 baseball games with an .801 winning percentage and 23 conference championships. Clarke has captured eight Nassau titles, three Long Island crowns and two state championships during his tenure. He was named conference Coach of the Year 23 times, and Nassau Coach of the Year eight times.
STAN BUJACICH
Bujacich is second on Nassau girls basketball all-time victory list with 448, trailing only Farmingdale Hall of Famer Pete Cerrone (600.) A member of the New York State Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, Bujacich’s Wantagh teams have captured three county crowns in 2005, 2006 and 2025 and reached the county finals three more times. The Warriors won the Long Island title in 2025. From 2013-2015, they won 34 straight conference games and went 43-3 overall.
JEFFREY DINGLE
Dingle possessed one athletic skill that can’t be taught: speed. In 1985 for West Hempstead football, he averaged an amazing 7.6 yards-per-carry for 1,045 yards. Good enough to be named first-team All Long Island. That’s not all. He was a finalist for the Thorpe Award as Nassau’s top player. He was also a 300- and 400-meter county track champion, and a 300-meter indoor and outdoor state finalist.
JOHN HAMILTON
Hamilton spent 18 years as a wrestling coach, 10 at East Meadow, five at Calhoun, two at Mepham and one at Oceanside. His teams won 193 dual meets and many team and individual championships. He coached soccer for 14 years, earning Nassau’s Coach of the Year honor in 1993. Hamilton was a superb grappler at Central Connecticut State. H’es a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
JAMES HEGMANN
Hegmann was unlike most basketball players. For one thing, he was 6-foot-11 when he showed up at Carey in the 1960s. For another, had to work hard on his craft. Until he got to Carey, he hadn’t played organized basketball. He scored 11 points per game as a junior and pulled down 13 rebounds per game. The measure of his improvement was demonstrated the next season, when his scoring soared to 20 ppg and 16 rpg.
KRISTEN HOFFMAN
Hoffman was one of the most unique high school athletes in Nassau history, excelling in basketball and swimming at Long Beach. She swam on the varsity team for six years, competing in the 200 and 500 freestyle, the 400-yard freestyle relay, and the 200 medley relay. She was a state qualifier and a three-time All-County selection. She a two-time All-Conference basketball player and averaged 17 ppg as a senior when was named All- County.
MICHAEL O’NEILL
O’Neill was a lacrosse scoring machine at Massapequa in the early 1970s. It would not have been a stretch to assert that he was the best high school attack in not only the county but the country. O’Neill was a scoring machine at the collegiate level at Johns Hopkins and led the Blue Jays to the NCAA championship in 1978. A four-year starter for Hopkins, he scored 237 career points with 138 goals and 99 assists. As a senior, he earned Division I Player of the Year honors.
KRISTYN SANDBERG
Sandberg is one of the finest softball players ever developed on Long Island. She earned All-County honors as a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior at West Hempstead. In 2008, she put together one of the greatest offensive seasons in Nassau history. She hit .784 with 11 home runs. Sandberg had a star-studded career at the University of Georgia, leading the Bulldogs to two College World Series appearances with a .355 batting average, 19 homers and 51 RBI as a senior.
MICHAEL STANLEY
Stanley took over an excellent Carey football program in 2007 and made it better. He’s guided the Seahawks to a pair of Rutgers Cups, awarded to the best team in the county, including in 2013 when they defeated Riverhead to win the first-ever Long Island title in program history. One year later, Carey repeated as Nassau’s Conference II champion and then rolled to an incredible 41-7 victory over East Islip, giving the team its second consecutive L.I. title. In 19 years, Stanley’s teams have totaled 138 wins.
KATIE STARSIA
Starsia was a standout defender when South Side won an amazing four straight New York State girls soccer championships in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. She was voted the Most Outstanding Player in the 2006 state tournament. Her greatness as a soccer player did not diminish her outstanding skills in basketball and track. In track she earned All-County in the 800 meters as a senior, and was twice All-County in the 4x800 relay. Starsia played soccer at the University of Virginia but her athletic career didn’t end there. Since college, she has completed marathons in New York, Boston, Chicago, London, Berlin, Sydney, Philadelphia and Orlando.
BRUCE STEGNER
Coaching 18 years and winning 14 Nassau County championships. Many coaches go a lifetime without winning one title. Only four times in 18 years has a Stegner-coached team not won a county title. Stegner’s tenure at Massapequa has been beyond amazing. Aside from the 14 county crowns, he has guided the girls soccer team to eight Long Island championships and five New York State titles. He has been named the state’s Coach of the Year five times. His overall record is 260-46-35.
