Hall of Fame honors Monica, Misuraca, Holy Rosary High

    Frank Misuraca, who served Jesuit High School for 46 years in multiple roles as a coach, assistant to the president and athletic director, was one of four inductees to the 2012 Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame on Aug. 4.
    Sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the hall of fame also added former Cohen High School and New Orleans Jazz basketball standout Aaron James,  New Orleans Saints All-Pro lineman Willie Roaf and legendary Covington High School head football coach Jack Salter to its membership.
    Plaques, which recognize the achievements of the inductees, will be mounted on the walls of the newly renovated Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
    The Sugar Bowl also honored St. Charles Catholic head football coach Frank Monica as the Outstanding Prep Coach, State of Louisiana, and presented the coveted Eddie Robinson Award to Holy Rosary High School for its achievements in Class C track and field during the 2012 season.
    Misuraca began his career as an assistant football, basketball and baseball coach at Jesuit in 1962. He was named the head baseball coach in 1964, and before leaving the field for an administrative position in 1981, he led the Blue Jays to two state and three American Legion championships.
    As an athletic director, Misuraca became the dean of Catholic League ADs and was selected to serve on the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s Executive Committee as President of the Louisiana High School Coaches Association.
    Frank Monica led St. Charles Catholic to its first perfect (15-0) football season, including the 2011 Class 3A championship, a title it won  by defeating Amite, 9-8. His 2005 and 2008 teams were Class 2A runners-up.
    The Eddie Robinson Award, named in memory of Grambling’s longtime head football coach, is awarded to the person or team that exhibits the ability to “do more with less.”
    When Holy Rosary High School’s seven-man track and field team scored enough points to finish second in the 2012 Class C championship meet by out-performing 23 other schools, the choice for an award to bear Robinson’s name was evident.
    Holy Rosary opened in 2005 and joined the LHSAA a year later.
    Christi Orgeron, a Mount Carmel graduate and Louisiana-Lafayette All-American softball player, was a double honoree as the Outstanding Female Amateur and the Female Corbett Award Winner.
    Orgeron was named the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year for leading the country in runs batted in (94) for the second consecutive season while ranking fourth in runs scored (66) and seventh in home runs (22) while bating .351.           

    The Allstate Sugar Bowl also recognized 12 athletes for monthly awards. Among them were the following:
    July 2011 – Former Archbishop Shaw defensive back, Tommy Connors, a four-time all-conference player for Southeastern Louisiana;
    September 2011 – Former St. Augustine and LSU defensive back Tyrann Mathieu during the Tigers’ 4-0 record during that month;
    October 2011 – Leonard Fournette, a sophomore running back at St. Augustine, for rushing for 971 yards and scoring 10 touchdowns, including five TD runs of 50 or more yards;
    February 2012 – Archbishop Rummel wrestler Scott Gibbons, who won his third consecutive weight class state championship. Gibbons finished his senior season with a 40-0 record;
    March 2012 – Mason Katz, a Jesuit graduate and an outfielder, who was named the National Player of the Week by Baseball America after batting .684 (13-for-19) with five doubles, three home runs and eight RBI to open the month. He also set an all-time LSU and SEC record by reaching base in 17 consecutive at-bats.