Beisel, Cooley among 12 to be inducted into the RIIL Hall of Fame

Two of the state’s most famous faces will be honored by the Rhode Island Interscholastic League this fall.

Olympic swimmer Elizabeth Beisel and Providence College men’s basketball coach Ed Cooley are two of the 12 people who will be inducted into the RIIL Hall of Fame when the league has its annual banquet this October.

The Class of 2022 is filled with some of the best athletes the state’s ever had, as well as star athletes who continued to contribute to Rhode Island high school athletes as officials or administrators.

Beisel, the best swimmer to have competed in Rhode Island, swam at North Kingstown High School while chasing her dream of competing in the Olympics. She won eight individual gold medals while competing for the Skippers, setting several state records and destroying pool records all over the state.

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Following her sophomore season, Beisel qualified for the 2008 Olympics. She went on to swim at the University of Florida and competed in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. Beisel finished fourth in the 400-meter individual medley in 2008 but won a silver medal in the same event in 2012 and was third in the 200-meter backstroke in the same year.

Before becoming the most popular man in Providence, Cooley was a two-time All-Stater at Central High School and helped the Knights win boys basketball state championships in 1987 and 1988.

Cooley was named tournament most valuable player both years and went on to play at Stonehill College before starting his coaching career. He just wrapped up his 11th season as head coach at Providence and last season was named the National and Big East Conference Coach of the Year.

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Ten others will be inducted this fall, including some of the best to ever compete in their respective sports in the state.

Barrington’s Jamie Gresh, a three-time boys tennis state champion who did not lose a match during his final three seasons, is among the inductees. Joining him is Bethany O’Dell-Peloquin, who was an All-Stater in field hockey but was noted more for her basketball talent. She scored 2,431 points at Lincoln, led the Lions to back-to-back Division II titles and was named the Gatorade Rhode Island Player of the Year in 2006.

Bill Habarek, the godfather of Chariho track and cross country, also will be honored. Habarek coached the sports at the middle school and high school level for five decades, producing countless All-State performers. He earned several Coach of the Year honors and helped guide the Chargers to the 2011 Outdoor Track and Field State Championship as well as the 2012 Indoor Track and Field State Championship.

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Manny DaSilva was an All-State baseball and football player at Bristol High School and will be honored, as will former Central Falls All-State basketball star Claudia DeFaria, who will add this Hall of Fame honor to her spots in the Central Falls, CCRI, Rhode Island College, New England Basketball and Little East halls of fame.

Kelli Fay-Wolfe was a two-time All-Stater and an All-America basketball star at Cumberland but also shined on the track. She was the first girl to win four individual titles in a single Outdoor Track and Field Championships, accomplishing that in 1987 as the Clippers went on to take the state title.

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Two groundbreaking athletes also will be inducted. Margaret "Bootie" Conaty was part of the first generation of girls to play high school sports and tried them all. Conaty was named Smithfield’s Most Outstanding Female Athlete in 1972, leading the Sentinels to the first RIIL Girls Basketball State Championship and a track title that spring.

Kathy Kelley was one of the first girls to play high school sports at Central Falls in 1975 and was a star, earning All-State honors in basketball before going on to a Hall of Fame career at Rhode Island College. After her graduation, she returned to her home city and was a teacher, athletic director and coach of several programs at Central Falls.

Frank Caparco also contributed to high school athletics in his native state. He was a key contributor to the Cranston East hockey teams that won state titles in 1966 and 1967, as well as a New England championship, and went on to play at Roger Williams. Caparco remained involved in hockey, serving as an official for youth, high school and college hockey programs for more than 40 years and officiated more than 140 playoff games from 1973 to 2015.

Also among the 12 honorees is Thomas Mezzanotte, who had a 30-year career as a teacher and administrator in the Providence school system before he was named executive director of the RIIL in 2004, a position he held for 16 years.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Elizabeth Beisel, Ed Cooley to be inducted into the RIIL Hall of Fame