Apr 9, 2015 3 min read

One made her mark on the basketball court and the other in the swimming pool.

What pulls Gina Naccarato and Kaitlyn Orstein-Fife together now is that the two will be part of this year’s class for the WPIAL Hall of Fame.

Seventeen athletes, coaches and past teams will be honored at induction ceremonies, which will be held Friday, June 12 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Green Tree.

A ceremony to announce the inductees was held at the Heinz History Center in the Strip District of Pittsburgh Thursday.

“I was incredibly surprised,” said Orstein-Fife. “I’m really excited to be among all those talented individuals.”

At Mount Lebanon, Orstein-Fife made All-America status 25 times in individual and relay events. She won a state championship in the 100 breaststroke four years in a row and twice won the 200 individual medley.

She went on to swim for her father, Mike, at Washington & Jefferson College, where she was a 14-time NCAA Division III All-American. She won eight NCAA titles at W&J and held the NCAA Division III national record in the 200 IM for five years.

“There were so many things I enjoyed in my career,” said Orstein-Fife. “Swimming for my dad, the whole team aspect, it was a great team environment.”

Naccarato is one of just nine players in the history of Pennsylvania girls basketball to score 3,000 points and left Monessen as the WPIAL’s all-time leading scorer with 3,364 points.

“You look at all the people in (the Hall of Fame) and it’s obviously a great honor,” said Naccarato, the girls basketball coach and athletic director at Monessen.

Naccarato thought the accomplishment in 1995, when Monessen’s boys and girls team won WPIAL basketball titles, was a highlight of her career.

“Anytime you do that, it’s a great accomplishment,” she said. “We’ve always had great support from our community, too, and we’re really fortunate for that.”

Athletes joining Naccarato and Orstein-Fife in this class are:

• Missie Berteotti, a two-time WPIAL golf champion and one-time PIAA champion from Upper St. Clair

• Jeff Christy, a multisport athlete from Freeport who went on to a career as a center in the NFL.

• Paul Failla, who led North Allegheny to WPIAL and PIAA football titles and was named Player of the Year in baseball.

• Joe Lafko of Frazier, who still holds the state high school record for career interceptions in football with 37.

• Tom Tumulty, a Parade All-American at linebacker for Penn Hills.

• Joe Hamilton, who guided Blackhawk to four WPIAL football titles.

• Ed Olkowsi, who led Midland to six consecutive WPIAL basketball titles in the 1970s.

• Corky Semler, who guided North Allegheny to 26 WPIAL and nine PIAA titles.

• Dave Warner, who coached Brentwood girls basketball to 536 victories.