Capital Area Hall of Fame class includes two-time Purple Heart recipient Dennis Helsel, former U.S. National team soccer player Jim Pollihan

The Capital Area Chapter of the PA Sports Hall of Fame will honor its Class of 2025 on June 14 at the Red Lion Hotel in Harrisburg.

Reservations to attend the dinner can be made via cachof.wordpress.com or by calling 717-805-0852.

Below is a closer look at the 10 inductees.

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Jason Bryant

Bryant was a standout defensive end at Steelton-Highspire High School and a four-year starter at free safety at Morehouse College. At Morehouse, he finished in the record books with 298 tackles and 29 career interceptions, including a game against Savannah State where he had 20 tackles and two interceptions.

Bryant was named all-conference first team three times and was a two-time Black College All-American. He played four years professionally in the CFL with British Columbia, Montreal, and won the Grey Cup in 1995 with the Baltimore Stallions, the lone American team to win a CFL champion.

Rob Deibler

A three-year starter at quarterback for Steel-High, Deibler led the Rollers to a 1982 state championship. He threw for over 4,100 yards and 37 touchdowns and was the starting QB in the 1984 Big 33 game. He was also a three year starter for Steel-High basketball.

As the head football coach for 12 years at Steel-High, he won 117 games, including 9 division championships, seven District 3 championships and 2 Pa. championships. He was also head coach at Middletown, and an assistant at Bishop McDevitt and McCaskey.

Larry Etter

From 1979 to 2021, he spent 42 years as the sports writer for the Press and Journal, covering every Middletown varsity football game from during that time. Between varsity, JV and junior high, he covered over 500 football games and 1,000 basketball games for the Press and Journal in addition to other varsity sports.

Etter earned four Keystone journalism awards from the PA Newspapers Association. He is also the current President of the Blue and Gold Club in Middletown. Etter is also a Veteran, who served in the PA Army National Guard.

Mike Gaffey

Longtime Central Pa. basketball coach and current boys head coach at Mechanicsburg, winners of the 2024 District 3 championship. The 1982 Bishop McDevitt grad also played two seasons at Penn State Dubois where he was named team MVP his sophomore season.

He has been a varsity head coach at Susquenita, Steel-High, Annville-Cleona, Bishop McDevitt and Palmyra, where he won a district championship in 1996. Gaffey was also the head coach of PSU-Harrisburg and NEAC Coach of the Year in 2011 and an assistant at Alvernia College in 2002. His overall coaching record is 480-361.

Dennis Helsel

The late Helsel, of Harrisburg, was a West Point graduate who served as the head coach of the Army West Point softball team. He spent 18 years as a coach in softball, basketball, baseball, volleyball and the 150-pound football team with the U.S. Army. He was also head softball coach at Penn State in 1981. He spent 35 years as an Intercollegiate Athletic Administrator at Penn State, Old Dominion, Syracuse, Akron, Maryland and Chowan, and served on numerous NCAA committees.

While serving his country – 11 years active and 17 years as a reservist –Helsel earned the Bronze Star and 2 Purple Hearts in Vietnam and retired from the military as a Lt. Colonel. He was also the former President of “Team Focus”, a faith-based group that mentors fatherless boys. Helsel died in January.

Amy Holman Hempt

A three-sport athlete at Middletown High School (’85), Hempt competed in field hockey, basketball and softball, earning 12 varsity letters. She scored 1,232 career points, leading Middletown girls basketball to the PIAA second round. The Patriot News Travers Award Winner lettered for University of Pittsburgh women’s basketball team and captained her senior year.

She was a PIAA referee for field hockey and coached multiple programs, including Camp Hill girls basketball and Cumberland Valley Middle School. She’s a three-time champion in golf at the West Shore Country Club Women’s Championship.

Terri Mitchell

The Harrisburg native and prolific women’s basketball coach was a standout basketball player at Bishop McDevitt from 1981-85, scoring over 1,000 points, receiving Big 15 Honors while her teams won 127 of 133 games. She was a four-year letter winner and co-captain at Duquesne University from 1985-89. The all-time winningest women’s basketball coach at Marquette, Mitchell spend 18 years at the helm of the Golden Eagles program with 348 wins while leading the team to the postseason 15 times.

She earned conference coach of the year honors three times while leading the Golden Eagles to 20 or more wins 10 times, along with seven NCAA Tournament appearances and eight trips to the WNIT (2008 champion). Mitchell also served as Associate Head Coach at Pitt and was on the staff at Arizona State. She is in the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and Marquette University Hall of Fame.

Jim Pollihan

The late Pollihan was a former United States men’s national team soccer player and the first head coach of the Harrisburg Heat indoor soccer team from 1991-1999. He was also the Vice President of Operations from 1999-2003. In 1995, he led the Harrisburg Heat to an American Division Championship but fell short in the NPSL Championship. Before his days with the Heat, he played for the Baltimore Blast, Houston and outdoor with Rochester and New York and against soccer great Pele. He also served as an assistant coach with the Baltimore Blast. Pollihan scored the first-ever goal in MISL indoor history. He played on the U.S. men’s national team from 1976-79, earning 15 caps. After retiring, he was a soccer referee in the Central Pennsylvania area and continued to play in local men’s leagues. Pollihan passed away in February 2023.

Kiley (Kulina) Strohm

The former field hockey standout starred at Lower Dauphin, earning first team All-American and All-State honors. At Penn State, she was a three-time first team All-Mideast Region player, two-time Big Ten All-Tournament player, two-time 1st Team Big Ten Conference, two-time All-American, and the 2001 Big Ten Player of the Year. Strohm played three years on the U21 National Team and the 2022 U.S. women’s national team.

As a coach for 10 years at Lower Dauphin, she won six District 3 titles and three PIAA championships. After a stint at Milton Hershey, she returned to Lower Dauphin as a volunteer coach, winning three more district titles and another state championship.

Jeff Sweigard

The former head wrestling coach at Susquehanna Township and Central Dauphin amassed 589 wins. He has coached 58 District 3 champion wrestlers and 10 PIAA state champion wrestlers.

His teams won the District 3 championship 13 times and the PIAA team championship four straight times from 2008-2011. He was named AAA Coach of the Year by the PIAA four times and was inducted into the District 3 Wrestling Hall of Fame.

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