The Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018 is a testimony to the variety of paths that can lead to success and acclaim.
The Class of 2018 officially will be inducted during a banquet at the Frank J. Pasquerilla Conference Center on Saturday July 7.
The Class of 2018 includes:
Fran Urban, who was judged to be too small and didn’t play high school sports. But a late growth spurt allowed him to blossom while quarterbacking his U.S. Army football team in Germany to a conference title. He then went on to play for Frank Kush at what is now Arizona State, going 10-1 as a senior and playing in the postseason Copper Bowl all-star game.
Size wasn’t a problem for Maebeth (Schalles) Altman. As a 5-11 junior she helped lead Ferndale to a runnerup finish in state Class A basketball. She went on to play four seasons at Robert Morris University, where she was Northeastern Conference Tournament MVP in 1991 as the Colonials won the championship. She also was inducted into the Robert Morris Hall of Fame in 2002.
LaRod Stephens-Howling was an All-State selection at running back while at Greater Johnstown High School, the Pennsylvania MVP in the Big 33 Game, and went on to a standout career at Pitt. He played five seasons in the NFL, four of them with the Arizona Cardinals, and led the NFL in kickoff return yardage for the 2010 season.
Dana Heinze, Chris Stewart and Chris Peduzzi have been parts of championship-winning professional sports teams, in behind-the scenes capacities.
Heinze, equipment manager for the Pittsburgh Penguins, has seen the franchise win the Stanley Cup in 2009, 2016 and 2017 during his tenure. He also was part of the equipment staff for the 2004 Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
Stewart is the Penguins’ head athletic trainer. Like Heinze, he has been with the franchise for three Stanley Cup triumphs. Stewart’s fourth Cup experience came in 2006, when he was with the Carolina Hurricanes in their championship season.
Peduzzi was the head athletic trainer for the Philadelphia Eagles since 2013 and was on hand when the Eagles won the most recent Super Bowl. He’d been with the team’s training staff since 1999. Peduzzi resigned in late February.
The Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame also will recognize two distinguished high school girls basketball teams.
The 1987-88 Ferndale team, on which Altman played, was PIAA Class A state runner-up, and had a 28-game winning streak ended in that title game loss. Bishop McCort’s 1987-88 girls team, one of the two squads to defeat Ferndale that season, was PIAA Class AA state runner-up.
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