JACKSON TWP — Denny Stewart still gets a gleam in his eye when he talks about the 1983 Seneca Valley boys cross country team — and with good reason.

The squad brought home the school's first team state championship.

"From the start of that season, the team's goal was to win states," said Stewart, the team's coach. "I knew we had a chance. Of course, it takes a little bit of luck. We stayed healthy."

Stewart was one of six people inducted into the Seneca Valley Sports Hall of Fame Saturday night.

The others included: Lynnette McBride, Charles "Chuck" Stevens, Tom Heckendorn, Amanda Smith and Jose Raymundo.

Coaches usually have to push their athletes to give more of themselves.

That wasn't the case with Stewart.

"I had to level them off, keep them from working too hard," he said. "That's what kind of kids we had. They had the commitment to get better."

Seneca Valley's performance at the state championships that season was truly dominating.

"Gus Nicholl won the individual state championship for us that year," said Stewart. "But you could have taken him out and we still would have beaten State College, the second-place team."

n Heckendorn was a varsity coach in the earliest years of the school's existence.

He was head football mentor at Evans City High when it merged with Zelienople High in 1964 and kept that same position at the newly formed Seneca Valley.

He had the task of turning former rivals into teammates.

"It wasn't that bad with the team. The kids got along well," said Heckendorn. "Now the school board, which was made up of board members from both Evans City and Zelie, that was a different story."

The Raiders went 1-6-1 in that first season.

"Back then, each school did its own scheduling, and the only teams we could get on our schedule were the bigger Class AA schools — the joint schools that had already been together for four or five years," Heckendorn said.

"But we never told our kids that we were outmanned or undersized," he added. "We just told them to go out and give it their best."

n Stevens was a senior tackle in 1964 and a co-captain on that first Raiders football team.

"Coach Heckendorn was my coach at Evans City and Seneca Valley and he was a good one," he said. "I wanted the schools to merge. The facilities were bad in both schools (Evans City and Zelienople)."

In its first two years, the Seneca Valley football team ran the Wing-T and went a combined 2-12-2.

"You've heard the saying, 'Three yards and a cloud of dust,' added Heckendorn. "Well, that didn't work for us. We went to a spread offense in 1966."

That also proved to be the first winning season in SV football history as the team went 4-3-1.

• Smith, a 2002 graduate, remains the most decorated athlete in the history of the school.

She won five WPIAL Class AAA swimming titles and three state titles (two in the 200 individual medley and one in the 500 freestyle).

Her presenter Saturday was former Seneca Valley swimming coach Tom Donati.

"I've been coaching for 21 years and if there's a top five list of WPIAL swimmers, she's all over it," Donati said.

As a junior in 2001, Smith broke the state record in the 200 IM with a time of 2 minutes, 1.36 seconds.

"That's the moment I remember most," said Smith. "My family and coaches were there and I got a standing ovation from the crowd."

Smith, who also starred at the University of North Carolina, recently became head coach of the Seneca Valley Swim Club.

"It's a great feeling," she said. "I wanted to give back to the place where it all started for me."

• McBride made a lasting impression on her coaches.

The 1987 graduate competed in basketball, cross country and track and field.

"She ran the 100, 200 and in the relays, but her best event was the long jump," said former SV track coach Wayne Roccia.

McBride, who lives in New York City and was unable to attend the induction ceremony, was represented by her parents.

She made the WPIAL championships in the 200, 400 and the long jump, and placed sixth in the state in the long jump her junior and senior seasons.

"The WPIAL has an all-time top 25 list and Lynnette is still on there in the 400 (57.9 seconds) and the long jump (18-Z\x)," said Roccia. "She is one of the best female athletes to ever come through Seneca Valley."

• When it comes to boys tennis at SV, Raymundo remains the standard.

He won the WPIAL Singles Championship as a senior in 1989 before playing at Notre Dame.

Saturday's event offered him the opportunity to do more than simply accept his induction.

"I moved back to Pittsburgh about six years ago, but didn't get back to the Zelie-Harmony area," he said. "Coming here today, it's like a real blast from the past. I got to see some of my high school teachers.

"You never forget your roots," he added. "This is a very humbling experience."