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Wesleyan Selects Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees
released: 06/27/02
Four exceptional athletes have been selected for induction into the West Virginia Wesleyan College Athletic Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place during Homecoming Weekend in October 2002.

Those selected for enshrinement are Edward "Irish" Garrity, class of 1926; Edward Hood, class of 1955; Patrick Mistretta, class of 1964; and Janet Chernenko-Mears, class of 1985.

Edward "Irish" Garrity, a native of Mannington, West Virginia, was an outstanding football player, coach, and official for 45 years. Garrity was a star in football, basketball, and baseball at West Virginia Wesleyan College from 1922-1925. In 1924, he scored the winning touchdown to beat Navy, a notable football upset at the time.

After graduating, he went on to coach high school football at Hinton from 1926-1935 and at Charleston from 1936-1938. Following his coaching career, Garrity devoted himself full time to football officiating. He also umpired in the Mountain State Baseball League, served as President of the W.Va. Football Officials Association in 1942, and served on the Board of Appeals of Secondary Schools Activities Commission from 1966-68.

Edward Hood starred in basketball from 1952-55, becoming the first of several 1000-point scorers under Hank Ellis. He averaged 22.1 PPG as a junior and 20.6 as a senior. Also, Hood served as a reliable relief pitcher for the Bobcat baseball team.

While at Wesleyan, Hood lettered in basketball four times and twice in baseball, cross country, and track. Hood also established several basketball statistical numbers that were records at the time including: most points in a game (38), which he achieved twice; most points in a year (578); most points in two years (1088); most points in 3 years (1263); most points in 4 years (1375); and highest average in one year (22.1).

In 1954, the newly formed track team placed second at the Conference track meet with a team of five. Hood won the 220- and 440-yard dashes. The track team won the Conference Championship in 1955, during which Hood again won the 220- and 440-yard dashes and set school records in both events.

Hood was first-team all-conference basketball in 1953-54 and 1954-55, first-team track in 1954 and 1955, and named to the all-time players 50th anniversary teams in basketball and track. Hood worked as a general supervisor for U.S. Steel before retiring. He currently lives in Homestead, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Kay. They have a son, Edward, and a daughter, Mary Frances, who played on Wesleyan's basketball team in the 1970s.

Patrick Mistretta was a strong rebounder on the Wesleyan basketball team in the early 1960s. He was an All-WVIAC end in football and part of the championship team in 1961. In baseball, he posted a 13-8 mark as a starting pitcher.

Mistretta lettered ten times in football, basketball, and baseball. He was captain of the basketball and baseball teams, all-conference in football and baseball, and chosen by the WVIAC for their all-half century team. During his junior and senior years, Mistretta was voted "best athlete on campus" by Pharos, the College newspaper.

Mistretta retired from his position as director of athletics at Manchester Community College and lives in Manchester, Connecticut, with his wife, Nancy. They have four children: Anne, Sheila, Jay, and Jimmy. He is also enshrined in the Manchester Sports Hall of Fame and the Greater Hartford Twilight League Hall of Fame.

Janet Chernenko-Mears twice won the WVIAC No. 1 singles championship in the league tennis tournament. In 1984, when she won her second championship, Chernenko-Mears finished the season with a perfect 13-0 record. In 1982 and 1983, she also won No. 1 doubles titles with Julie Willison.

In 1983, Chernenko-Mears was a singles quarterfinalist at the NAIA National Collegiate Championship in Kansas City, a tournament she qualified for 1982 through 1985. She also won the Davis & Elkins Welcome Back Classic singles championship in 1984.

Chernenko-Mears was twice named WVIAC Player of the Year, in 1983 and 1984, and she received WVIAC All-Conference honors 1981-1984. Chernenko-Mears served as team captain in 1984. In 1985, she was a Dapper Dan sports honoree for outstanding tennis at Wesleyan and was the West Virginia Wesleyan College Outstanding Female Athlete award winner.

Chernenko-Mears was formerly the head tennis professional at The Greenbrier Hotel/Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., at Fripp Island Racquet Club/Resort in Fripp Island, S.C., and at the Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort in Howey/Orlando, Fla. She is currently owner of and a tennis professional at Centre Court Professional Tennis Services in Huntington, West Virginia. She and her husband, John Mears '85, have a daughter, Meredith, and a son, Cullen.