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The following distinguished athletes, coaches, officials, administrators, and journalist were inducted into the Rhode Island Interscholastic League High School Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2019 on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 at the Crowne Plaza, Warwick, Rhode Island.
David Belisle – After enjoying his own All-State hockey career at Mt. St. Charles, Belisle returned to coach at his alma mater. Over the next 39 years either as the assistant coach or co-head coach with his father Bill, Belisle helped guide the Mounties to 32 State Championships, including 26 straight from 1978 to 2003.
Will Blackmon – An All-American defensive back/running back and Gatorade R.I. Player of the Year at Bishop Hendricken, Blackmon went on to have a record-setting career at Boston College, followed by 11 years in the NFL that included stints with the Green Bay Packers, N.Y. Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Redskins. He now works as an analyst for the NFL Network.
Brian Boucher – Before playing 13 seasons in the NHL and then becoming a television analyst, Boucher established himself as one of the best goaltenders ever to play for Mount St. Charles, backstopping the Mounties to their 29th state championship in 1994.
Ed Bradley – Before going on to coach the URI men’s soccer team to 10 Atlantic-10 titles and six NCAA tournament appearances, Bradley served as the Barrington High School boys soccer coach for 13 years, guiding the Eagles to three state championships, one state runner-up finish and seven league titles and earning himself induction into the R.I. Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame.
Linda Cimino – She then enjoyed a record-setting basketball career at Adelphi University, where she earned her Master’s in health education, and has been a college women’s basketball for the last 13 years, currently at Binghamton University.
Jerry Dandeneau – Beginning with his days as the girls basketball and boys soccer coach at the R.I. School for the Deaf in the mid-1970s, Dandeneau has served the state’s high school student-athletes for the better part of five decades. He also served stints as the North Providence High School and Scituate High baseball coach, has been a basketball official since 1984 and has served as the RIIL’s sport director for Unified Basketball and Unified Volleyball since 2010.
Bill Falk (posthumous) - A nationally-respected pole vault coach, Falk was involved with cross country and track & field for more than six decades, including six years at Hope High School in the early 1960s and nearly 20 years at the University of Rhode Island. For the past decade, the co-founder of M-F Athletic sponsored the RIIL’s state championships in cross country and indoor and outdoor track through the establishment of the Bill Falk Fund.
John Gillooly – An award-winning sports columnist and author of the 2005 book "Pride on the Mount: More Than a Game,'' Gillooly chronicled the exploits of Rhode Island’s high school athletes for a half-century at the Providence Journal, covering countless games and overseeing the newspaper’s Honor Roll Awards program.
David Harrington – The 1974 Providence Journal Honor Roll Boy, Harrington was a five-time All-Stater in baseball, hockey and soccer at Cranston East, then went on to star in both baseball and hockey at Yale University.
Robert Littlefield – Littlefield’s career as an educator, coach and administrator dates back to the 1970s and includes 18 years as a football, cross country and track coach, 18 years as principal of Portsmouth High School and 21 years as a member of the RIIL’s Principals Committee on Athletics.
Chelsea Marandola – Still the all-time leading scorer among Rhode Island high school female basketball players with her 2,631 career points, Marandola was a two-time Gatorade R.I. High School Player of the Year and four-time first-team All-Stater while playing for Johnston from 2001 to 2005. Also playing soccer, softball, volleyball and track there, she led the Panthers to the 2002 Division II basketball title and back-to-back Division I Final Four appearances. She finished her career at Providence College third on the Friars’ all-time leading scorers list with 1,795 points.
Bill McCagney – A two-time All-State football/two-time All-League baseball player at Barrington High School in the early 1970s, as well as an All-Yankee Conference linebacker at URI, McCagney has coached football, baseball and golf at his high school alma mater. During his time as Barrington’s head football coach from 1990 to 2014, he guided the Eagles to 7 league championships, two co-league championships and five Super Bowl titles.
Deb McMullen – An All-Stater in field hockey and softball and All-Division selection in basketball at East Greenwich High School in the early 1980s, McMullen returned to her alma mater after graduating from Springfield College and has been teaching and coaching there ever since. She has enjoyed some of her greatest success as the Avengers’ field hockey coach, guiding them to five state titles and a total of 11 appearances in the Division I Championship over the last 31 years.
Richard Stapleton – A health and physical education teacher in Warwick for 22 years, Stapleton coached the Toll Gate girls gymnastics team from 1975 to 1990 and then the R.I. College women’s gymnastics team from 1992 to 1998. He has judged high school gymnastics for the last 18 years, formerly serving as the RIIL’s co-director of the sport and currently serving as co-assignor of officials.
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