OLEAN — The Olean High School Wall of Fame will add five more names on Saturday morning.
Paul Vecchio, Mike Abdo, Jennifer (Raimondi) Tucker, Janine (Davie) Papili and Ashley Turner will be inducted at 9 a.m. Saturday in a ceremony at the OHS cafeteria.
Here are the profiles of the latest inductees:
PAUL VECCHIOClass of 1984Jamestown Community College 1988SUNY Brockport 1990SUNY Buffalo 2011Vecchio lettered in golf at OHS, but made his name covering Olean and local sports at 16 for the Olean Times Herald and WHDL radio. He took pride in his role as a young sportswriter and broadcaster promoting many of his peers and the successful Olean sports teams during his high school career.
Vecchio went on to JCC, where he participated on the basketball team and earned an associate degree in social sciences. He then transferred to Brockport, where he played volleyball and received a bachelor’s degree in communication in 1990, which led to initial jobs in media as a sportswriter and assistant sports editor.
Vecchio spent three years as the sports information director at Alfred University before moving on to the University at Buffalo, where he spent 17 years on the school’s athletics administration staff from 1995-2012, helping to oversee its transition to Division I. The 1984 OHS grad has received several NCAA citations as an athletics administrator/SID, including the prestigious Executive Degree from the Sports Management Institute in 2008.
In 2012, Vecchio returned to Alfred in the capacity of Director of Athletics, continuing an already distinguished career in athletics administration. He continues to be an avid follower and proud sponsor of OHS, where his brother Phil currently serves as head football coach.
MIKE ABDO
Class of 2002Jamestown Community CollegeUniversity of Pittsburgh at BradfordAbdo lettered in football, basketball and baseball at Olean, earning recognition in football and baseball with multiple team, league, sectional and state awards.
An exceptional football player, Abdo was named the Defensive Player of the Year by both the Big 30 and Section 6 Class B South as a senior and earned all-league honors in three seasons while making First Team All-Western New York and Third Team All-State in 2001. Additionally, he received the prestigious ‘41-’42 Club George Burlingame Award as team MVP and the Kevin Whitehead Memorial Award for dedication and leadership.
A four-year starter on the baseball team, Abdo was named First Team All-League in both his junior and senior campaigns while leading Olean to a Section 6 Class B-2 title in 2001 and the Expressway Conference title in 2002. As a senior, he was selected MVP of the CCIAC league and Expressway Conference and named the Cattaraugus County Player of the Year as a senior while garnering First Team All-Western New York honors.
Abdo was voted the OHS “Outstanding Male Senior Athlete” in 2002 and participated on the Western New York baseball team in the Empire State Games in 2001. He went on to play one season of baseball at Pitt-Bradford, where he was named the team’s Rookie of the Year. A proud supporter of OHS athletics, Abdo continues to donate, volunteer give back as a youth sports coach.
JENNIFER (RAIMONDI) TUCKERClass of 2002SUNY Buffalo 2006, 2009Tucker was an exceptional swimming and track and field athlete at Olean, lettering in varsity swimming for six straight years while earning CCIAC league all-star honors in all six seasons.
Tucker formerly held team swim records in a number of events, including the 100 and 200 freestyle and in multiple relay events. She dominated the CCIAC, winning multiple individual and team championships, and was also a 12-time Section 6 Class B champion and a three-time New York state representative (1998-2000).
A top-flight discus thrower, Tucker captured both the CCIAC and Section 6 discus titles in 2006 and represented the section at the New York State Championships as a senior in 2002. She was named the OHS “Outstanding Female Senior Athlete” in 2002 and was a National Honor Society Member who received a NYS Merit Scholarship and many other academic and community service awards.
Tucker continued her academic and swimming career at D-I Buffalo, where she was voted Most Improved Swimmer as a freshman and named a captain as a senior. There, she was a member of the National College Athlete Honor Society and served as a volunteer with the Special Olympics, Buffalo YMCA, National Girls and Women in Sports and Pediatric Cancer Research Center, among others. She earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from UB, leading to a successful career in the PT profession.
JANINE (DAVIE) PAPILI
Class of 2003Monroe Community College 2005Eastern Kentucky 2008An outstanding soccer and track and field athlete at Olean, Papili was a six-year letterwinner in varsity soccer and played as a seventh-grader on the 1997 team that won the Section 6 Class B championship.
Named a soccer team captain as a senior, Papili led the Huskies with 17 assists from the center midfield position. Additionally, she earned CCIAC Division I league all-star honors in five straight seasons, was tabbed as the OHS “Most Outstanding Player” in 2002 and participated in the Empire State Games for the WNY team.
In track and field, Papili was a former program record-holder in the 100 and 400 hurdles and on various relay teams and was a multi-year Section 6 qualifier as a hurdler. She was the team MVP and point leader as a sophomore in 2001 and again as a senior and was a Junior Olympic Track participant.
Papili went on to play soccer collegiately at Monroe Community College, where she was named to the All-Region Team as a freshman and was a member of the 2004 NJCAA National Championship team, the event at which she earned All-Tournament team accolades. While at MCC, she was named an NJCAA All-American, team captain and scholar-athlete.
Papili played her final two collegiate seasons at D-I Eastern Kentucky, where she was a team captain and scholar-athlete. She later served as an assistant coach at both EKU and St. Bonaventure and as a varsity assistant at Alexander. Papili has gone on to a successful career in education as an elementary school teacher.
ASHLEY TURNER
Class of 2004SUNY Buffalo 2008Turner was a standout multi-sport athlete who earned 14 varsity letters in four sports at Olean. She excelled in soccer as a five-year starter, achieving CCIAC Division I all-star status in each of her five seasons while being named a team captain as a junior and senior.
She was also a three-year varsity basketball star, guiding Olean to a perfect 36-0 mark in CCIAC Division I play, three league titles, three IAABO Tournament championships, a trio of Section 6 titles and an overall record of 63-10 while being named a CCIAC Division I First Team league all-star, a Big 30 all-star and an All-WNY honorable mention selection.
A four-year member of the track team (from seventh through 10th grade), Turner was a team point-winner, a member of multiple record-setting relay teams and multi-year sectional qualifier. Additionally, she played two years of varsity softball, earning an all-league honorable mention nod as a senior.
Turner advanced to play soccer collegiately at Division I Buffalo, where she twice received the UB Female “Bull” student-athlete award and was named the team’s Offensive Player of the Year as a senior. Named a team captain in 2006 and ‘07, she participated on the UB Student-Athlete Advisory Council, serving as both vice president and president, and was UB’s representative at the NCAA National Student-Athlete Leadership Council.
The third member of her family to be inducted into the OHS Athletic Wall of Fame, Turner now works for the NBA’s Orlando Magic, where she currently holds the position of Director of Premium Activation.
