Arlington Sports Hall of Fame
Announces Class of 2020 Inductees
The Arlington Sports Hall of Fame is proud to welcome its six newest members, adding to the fifty athletes, coaches and contributors who have been inducted into ASHOF since its founding in 1958.
Kristy Burch Bergmann (Bishop O’Connell HS Class of 1986) was a dominating softball pitcher in the 1980s at Bishop O’Connell and Miami of Ohio University. At O’Connell, she was two-time All-Met in 1985 and 1986, and finished her senior year with a 0.38 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 111 innings. She went on to Miami, where she was named two-time All-MAC, graduating with 18 single-season and career records. She is a member of the Hall of Fame at both schools. She is now at teacher in Arlington, named Teacher of the Year at Francis Scott Key Elementary School (2019), and gives pitching lessons in Northern Virginia.
Alfred J. Forman (W-L Class of 1967) was a standout four-sport athlete at W-L, then worked for Arlington Parks & Rec for over 25 years as a sports coordinator for the Langston-Brown Community Center. He organized athletic teams to include basketball and softball. His youth basketball teams won more than ten county championships. He was also an avid official and served as a member of the Eastern Board of Officials and the National Federation of State High School Associations Football Rules Committee, and as a member of the Arlington Sports Commission. He coordinated the Halls Hill Turkey Bowl for 40 years. He died in 2014.
Charles E. “Chuck” Harris, a member of the Virginia chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, coached at Yorktown, Wakefield and O’Connell over a span of five decades. His Yorktown teams won eight district championships in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Overall, his teams had four top-three finishes at the state tournament. He also served as President of both the Northern Virginia Wrestling Coaches Association and Northern Virginia Wrestling Officials Association. Coach Harris died in 2014 at age 95.
Jesse O. Meeks was a long-time gymnastics, football, track, tennis, golf and basketball coach in Arlington, but his greatest success came at Yorktown, where his boys gymnastics teams won eight state titles from 1963 to 1973. He was on the VHSL rules committee and was instrumental in developing gymnastics as a varsity sport. He was also the first head football coach at Yorktown, compiling an 85-63-7 record. His best teams were from 1967 to 1970, when his YHS squad won two district titles in 1967 and 1968 and then finished 9-1 in 1970. Coach Meeks died last year at age 92.
William G. (Bill) Murray (W-L Class of 1966) excelled in baseball and football at W-L before heading to Randolph-Macon, where his team was declared co-national champion. He is a recent inductee into the W-L and Randolph-Macon Athletic Halls of Fame, and his 1968 R-M football team from college is in that college’s Hall of Fame. He has been an Arlington baseball coach and administrator for decades, particularly with Babe Ruth Baseball. Co-founder of the Arlington law firm Manning & Murray, he has served as chair of the Arlington Sports Commission and co-created the Arlington Sports Foundation. He is currently the president of the Better Sports Club of Arlington, and was its 2012 Sportsman of the Year.
Mary Denise White, a founder of the Arlington Women’s Soccer League in 1977, has coached youth girls teams to great success at state, national and international competitions. At age 51, she began to compete in running events at the local and national levels. She has set records at the Northern Virginia Senior Games in sprints for her age group, and has been ranked Top Ten nationally for the 50, 100 and 200-meter distances. The Masters soccer team she plays for has earned national recognition as well.
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The 2020 ASHOF inductees will be honored, along with all its living and deceased members, at the ASHOF’s annual Induction Banquet, co-sponsored with the Better Sports Club of Arlington and scheduled for September 9, 2020 at the Arlington Knights of Columbus Hall. The event is open to the public. More details will be forthcoming.
On September 5, 2019, the first-ever physical Arlington Sports Hall of Fame was unveiled at the Arlington Central Library. This year the new mobile Hall of Fame has been exhibited at Arlington’s Marymount University (Jan. 29-Feb. 5), Yorktown High School (Feb. 6-25), the Arlington Education Center (Feb. 25-March 2), and Washington-Liberty High School (March 2-9), as well as at an Arlington Kiwanis luncheon on Jan. 15.
The Arlington Sports Hall of Fame honors Arlingtonians who have excelled in their field of sport as an athlete, coach, contest official or other contributor, and who through such achievements have gained state or national recognition. Established in 1958, The Arlington Sports Hall of Fame, Inc. is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more about the ASHOF at www.arlsportshof.org. Contact: Richard Arnold [email protected] or Jim Smith [email protected],703-855-4183.
Kristy Burch Bergmann (Bishop O’Connell HS Class of 1986) was a dominating softball pitcher in the 1980s at Bishop O’Connell and Miami of Ohio University. At O’Connell, she was two-time All-Met in 1985 and 1986, and finished her senior year with a 0.38 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 111 innings. She went on to Miami, where she was named two-time All-MAC, graduating with 18 single-season and career records. She is a member of the Hall of Fame at both schools. She is now at teacher in Arlington, named Teacher of the Year at Francis Scott Key Elementary School (2019), and gives pitching lessons in Northern Virginia.
Alfred J. Forman (W-L Class of 1967) was a standout four-sport athlete at W-L, then worked for Arlington Parks & Rec for over 25 years as a sports coordinator for the Langston-Brown Community Center. He organized athletic teams to include basketball and softball. His youth basketball teams won more than ten county championships. He was also an avid official and served as a member of the Eastern Board of Officials and the National Federation of State High School Associations Football Rules Committee, and as a member of the Arlington Sports Commission. He coordinated the Halls Hill Turkey Bowl for 40 years. He died in 2014.
Charles E. “Chuck” Harris, a member of the Virginia chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, coached at Yorktown, Wakefield and O’Connell over a span of five decades. His Yorktown teams won eight district championships in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Overall, his teams had four top-three finishes at the state tournament. He also served as President of both the Northern Virginia Wrestling Coaches Association and Northern Virginia Wrestling Officials Association. Coach Harris died in 2014 at age 95.
Jesse O. Meeks was a long-time gymnastics, football, track, tennis, golf and basketball coach in Arlington, but his greatest success came at Yorktown, where his boys gymnastics teams won eight state titles from 1963 to 1973. He was on the VHSL rules committee and was instrumental in developing gymnastics as a varsity sport. He was also the first head football coach at Yorktown, compiling an 85-63-7 record. His best teams were from 1967 to 1970, when his YHS squad won two district titles in 1967 and 1968 and then finished 9-1 in 1970. Coach Meeks died last year at age 92.
William G. (Bill) Murray (W-L Class of 1966) excelled in baseball and football at W-L before heading to Randolph-Macon, where his team was declared co-national champion. He is a recent inductee into the W-L and Randolph-Macon Athletic Halls of Fame, and his 1968 R-M football team from college is in that college’s Hall of Fame. He has been an Arlington baseball coach and administrator for decades, particularly with Babe Ruth Baseball. Co-founder of the Arlington law firm Manning & Murray, he has served as chair of the Arlington Sports Commission and co-created the Arlington Sports Foundation. He is currently the president of the Better Sports Club of Arlington, and was its 2012 Sportsman of the Year.
Mary Denise White, a founder of the Arlington Women’s Soccer League in 1977, has coached youth girls teams to great success at state, national and international competitions. At age 51, she began to compete in running events at the local and national levels. She has set records at the Northern Virginia Senior Games in sprints for her age group, and has been ranked Top Ten nationally for the 50, 100 and 200-meter distances. The Masters soccer team she plays for has earned national recognition as well.
* * *
The 2020 ASHOF inductees will be honored, along with all its living and deceased members, at the ASHOF’s annual Induction Banquet, co-sponsored with the Better Sports Club of Arlington and scheduled for September 9, 2020 at the Arlington Knights of Columbus Hall. The event is open to the public. More details will be forthcoming.
On September 5, 2019, the first-ever physical Arlington Sports Hall of Fame was unveiled at the Arlington Central Library. This year the new mobile Hall of Fame has been exhibited at Arlington’s Marymount University (Jan. 29-Feb. 5), Yorktown High School (Feb. 6-25), the Arlington Education Center (Feb. 25-March 2), and Washington-Liberty High School (March 2-9), as well as at an Arlington Kiwanis luncheon on Jan. 15.
The Arlington Sports Hall of Fame honors Arlingtonians who have excelled in their field of sport as an athlete, coach, contest official or other contributor, and who through such achievements have gained state or national recognition. Established in 1958, The Arlington Sports Hall of Fame, Inc. is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more about the ASHOF at www.arlsportshof.org. Contact: Richard Arnold [email protected] or Jim Smith [email protected],703-855-4183.