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05/11/2019 12:00 AMThe Guilford High School Athletics Hall of Fame will induct six new members as part of its Class of 2019 during a ceremony at The Woodwinds on 29 School Ground Road in Branford at 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 9. This year’s inductees are Peter Mario Capezzone, Jay Koloseus, Brian T. Mahoney, Jonathan “J.D.” Rhode, Lecia Rusconi Scranton, and Brianna “Breezy” Rooney Wille. The cost to attend the ceremony is $45, and tickets can be purchased by contacting the high school Athletic Department at 203-453-2741, Ext. 4103. The deadline for ticket purchase is Monday, June 3. No tickets will be sold at the door.
Peter Mario Capezzone (Class of 1979)
Peter Mario Capezzone graduated from Guilford High School with 11 varsity letters between his careers with the Indians’ football, wrestling, indoor track, and outdoor track teams. As a senior, Capezzone served as a captain for Guilford’s football, indoor track, and outdoor track squads. He also captained the outdoor track team as a junior. Capezzone was a first-place finisher in the 110 high hurdles and the discus in the Shoreline Conference. He also received postseason recognition in both the pole vault and 4x400 relay. Capezzone held the Indians’ school record in the State Decathlon.
In his junior year, Capezzone was selected to the All-Shoreline Conference Team. In his senior season, he led the outdoor track team to its second-consecutive Shoreline Conference crown and the Class L state championship. Capezzone was named All-State Second Team and selected as Guilford’s Most Valuable Player. Capezzone was also named to the All-Shoreline Conference Team for football in 1978, along with earning All-State Honorable Mention and Guilford’s MVP Award. Capezzone held scoring records as a running back, was the team’s kicker, and also played safety.
After college, Capezzone began teaching and coaching at Old Saybrook High School, where he is currently a special education teacher, as well as a head coach for cross country and track. In his tenure at Old Saybrook, Capezzone’s cross country, indoor track, and girls’ outdoor track teams have won multiple Shoreline Conference championships. To date, he has coached 27 All-Shoreline Conference athletes, 83 All-State athletes, 13 All-New England Team athletes, and three All-American athletes. Capezzone is a two-time Shoreline Conference Coach of the Year, two-time CIAC Coach of the Year, and two-time runner-up as National Coach of the Year. He has been named the New Haven Register Coach of the Year and The Day Coach of the Year twice. In addition, Capezzone runs track and field instructional camps for children in the shoreline area.
Capezzone is the father of Kara and John and also has two grandchildren, Greyson and Noah. Capezzone and his wife Gayle live in Ivoryton.
Jay Koloseus (Class of 2006)
Jay Koloseus graduated from Guilford High School as a 12-time varsity letter winner while competing in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track. Koloseus won a combined total of 19 state and New England championships with the Indians. He led Guilford to cross country state titles in 2003, 2004, and 2005. At the 2004 State Open, Koloseus finished in second place. The following year, he won the race to become the first Guilford runner to place first at the Open. Koloseus finished that season as runner-up in the New England Cross Country Championship. He qualified for the National Championship in San Diego, California and earned All-American honors by finishing 20th overall.
On the track, Koloseus was twice named an All-American, set state records in the indoor 1,600 and 3,200, and also set the state record for the outdoor 3,200. Koloseus graduated from Guilford as the most decorated distance runner in the school’s history. After high school, Koloseus accepted a full athletic scholarship to Syracuse University, where he won multiple Big East Conference championships and a Northeast Regional cross country championship.
While working on his master’s degree at Syracuse, Koloseus began his coaching career at Auburn University. He went on to start the cross country and track programs at Louisburg College in North Carolina. Koloseus was named the 2016 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association East Regional Coach of the Year. Koloseus lives in Des Moines, Iowa and is the associate head coach at Drake University.
Brian T. Mahoney (Class of 1986)
Brian T. Mahoney was a three-year letterman for the Guilford boys’ soccer team and played a crucial role when the Indians won state championships in 1983 and 1985. As a senior in 1985, Mahoney was a co-captain, an All-Shoreline Conference First Team selection, and scored a goal in the state title game. Mahoney was also a three-year letterman for the Guilford baseball team, serving as a captain for the Indians as a senior in 1986.
Mahoney works for the Philadelphia Phillies as a director of advertising sales. He lives in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania with his wife Alicia, his daughters Elizabeth, Sophia, and Alexandra, and stepson Noah.
Jonathan “J.D.” Rhode (Class of 2000)
Jonathan “J.D.” Rhode was a three-year varsity letter winner in soccer at Guilford High School, as well as a two-year varsity letter winner in outdoor track and a one-year varsity letterman for indoor track. During his soccer career, Rhode earned All-SCC Hammonasset Division and New Haven Register All-Area honors. In his senior year, as captain, Rhode led the Indians to an SCC Tournament championship and the state final while collecting All-Hammonasset, Register All-Area, All-State, All-New England, and All-American accolades. He scored 35 goals and had 30 assists in his career, helping Guilford post a record of 54-4-5 during that span.
During his indoor track season, Rhode competed in the 800 and the 4x800 relay for Guilford. Rhode’s 4x800 relay finished in first place at the SCC Championship. At the Class M State Championship, Rhode placed as runner-up in the 800 while helping the 4x800 take first place. The 4x800 relay went on to place second at the State Open Championship. At the New England Championships, Rhode and his relay finished third while earning both All-State and All-New England honors. The 4x800 later ran a time of 8:05.25 at the National Championship. In outdoor track, Rhode placed third in the 1,600 at the SCC Championship with a personal-best time of 4:29.23 during his junior year.
Rhode spent seven years as an assistant coach for the Guilford boys’ soccer team. In 2011, he was named head coach of girls’ soccer at Jonathan Law High School, where he taught special education for 11 years. Currently, Rhode is an assistant coach for indoor and outdoor track at Law.
Lecia Rusconi Scranton (Class of 1978)
Lecia Rusconi Scranton earned nine varsity letters as an athlete at Guilford High School, including four in field hockey, three for softball, and two in basketball. As a member of the field hockey team, Scranton was a four-year starter, served as a captain in her senior year, was the Indians’ high scorer in her junior and senior years, and garnered All-Shoreline Conference honors as a junior. Scranton played the outfield for the softball team and was a guard in basketball. After graduation, Scranton attended Eastern Connecticut State College, where she was a starter on two Division III national championship teams.
Following college, Scranton returned to Guilford to continue making an impact on the town and the high school, becoming involved with Guilford youth sports groups and adult sport leagues. In 2005, Scranton began working in the Guilford High School Athletic Department, where she is currently responsible for all facets of the day-to-day workings for both the high school and middle school sports programs in her role as an administrative assistant. In 2010, Scranton received the John Moffitt Award from The Guilford Sideliners in recognition of her long-term, continuous, and significant support of Guilford athletics. Scranton joined The Guilford Sideliners in 2018.
Scranton lives in Guilford with her husband Bruce. She is the mother of twin daughters, Erica and Lindsey, and a son, Kyle.
Brianna “Breezy” Rooney Wille (Class of 2005)
Brianna “Breezy” Rooney Wille was a varsity soccer and basketball player for four years at Guilford High School. She holds school records as the all-time leading scorer in both sports with more than 1,400 points scored for the girls’ basketball team and 70 goals as a member of the girls’ soccer team. In basketball, Rooney Wille was named Connecticut’s Gatorade Player of the Year and was a McDonald’s All-American nominee during her senior season. She helped the Indians win Class L state championships in her freshman and sophomore seasons and had scored 1,000 points by the end of her junior year.
Rooney Wille was named to the All-SCC Team and the Tap-Off All-Area Team for all four years of high school. She earned All-State and New Haven Register All-Area recognition during her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. In soccer, Rooney Wille helped Guilford claim the Class L state crown as a junior. She was named All-State in 2002 and 2003, made All-Area in 2002, and earned All-SCC honors from 2002-04.
Wille is an elementary school teacher in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She is married to Christopher Wille and has a daughter, Peyton, and a son, Declan.