LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commending the six honorees upon the occasion of
being inducted into the Rome Sports Hall of Fame on July 28, 2013

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize and pay
tribute to those exemplary athletes, coaches, and administrators who
have distinguished themselves and their schools through outstanding
commitment, attaining unprecedented success and the highest level of
personal achievement; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to honor the
six honorees upon the occasion of being inducted into the Rome Sports
Hall of Fame on July 28, 2013; and
WHEREAS, The six distinguished inductees are: Anthony F. Abone, Peter
V. Arnold, Ellen Potocki Liss, Jim Pinti, Thomas J. Rakowski, and Joe
Sherman; and
WHEREAS, Anthony Abone, a talented baseball player in his own right,
has gone on to excel in the sport as a coach; in his high school days at
RFA, he was an all-state player, batting over .500 in his senior year as
an infielder and being honored as the team's most valuable player; he
went to Le Moyne College in Syracuse, where he was an all-star and made
two appearances in the Division II College World Series, winning the
championship in 1979; and
WHEREAS, Peter Arnold quickly established himself as one of city's
outstanding young athletes and by the time he graduated from RFA in
1965, he had been an all-star tight end in football, a record-setting
basketball player who scored 429 points in one season and once grabbed
42 rebounds in one game, and a track and field champion in the triple
jump; in his senior year he was honored with the Joe Borden Award given
to RFA's most outstanding male student-athlete and was a high school
honorable mention All-America basketball selection; he went on to
continue his successful sports career at Hartwick College, where he
played basketball and served as a team co-captain his senior year and
was also a member of the track and field squad whose events included the
shot put, discus throw and triple jump; and
WHEREAS, Ellen Potocki Liss is perhaps the most successful female
swimmer in the history of RFA; she developed her skills on YMCA travel
teams, and as a seventh-grader joined the RFA varsity and went on to
establish herself as one of the best swimmers in the area, breaking
records throughout; after gaining prep school All-America honors at
Mercersburg Academy, Pennsylvania, where she also played water polo and
tennis, she accepted a scholarship to Syracuse University and was chosen
a NCAA Division I Academic All-American swimmer and was team captain in
her senior year; and
WHEREAS, Jim Pinti was a force on the high school level as a four-year
starting hockey defenseman for RFA; a team captain, he was a key player
in the late 1980s when the Black Knights captured two state champion-
ships and drew national media attention with a 49-game winning streak;
after graduating from high school, he later went on to SUNY Fredonia,
where he was a four-year starter and team captain in his junior and
senior years, helping Fredonia reach the Division III national semi-
finals and compile a record of 29-1-4 in his last season; and
WHEREAS, Tom Rakowski was among the leading performers for the domi-
nant RFA football teams of the 1960s; he was a two-way interior lineman
for the Black Knights who lettered for three years, and never lost a
game while on the varsity as his teams went 24-0 over the 1965-1967
seasons; he was also was a talented wrestler and track and field
athlete, who after high school went on to attend Cornell, where he wres-

tled and played football and was an all-Ivy League defensive tackle in
his senior year when he helped lead the Big Red to an 8-1 record and a
share of the league championship; and
WHEREAS, Joe Sherman was on the RFA swim team from 1974-1977, where he
set school records in the 50 and 100 freestyles, 200 medley relay along
with the 400 freestyle relay, and served as team captain in his junior
and senior years; he went on to attend Niagara University, where a
shoulder injury ended his swimming career and after graduating in 1982
with a degree in physical education, he returned to Rome and was hired
as the Rome Family Y's director of aquatic services, and would also
coach the RFA girls gymnastics team; and
WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body that when individ-
uals of such noble aims and accomplishments are brought to our atten-
tion, they should be celebrated and recognized by all the citizens of
the great State of New York; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend the six honorees upon the occasion of being inducted into the
Rome Sports Hall of Fame; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the aforementioned honorees.