Hillsborough's fifth Hall of Fame class

I attended Hillsborough High School's fifth hall of fame induction Saturday night at the Redwood Inn in Bridgewater.

Just a few notes from the event:

Shawn Mayer, the former Raider star quarterback/defensive back, who went on to have a standout career at Penn State, was one of the inductees. He's in Europe trying to catch on with a NFL Europe team.

He won a ring as a member of the New England Patriots team that beat Carolina 32-29 in Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston. He had a key tackle against another Hillsborough High graduate and hall of famer -- Ricky Proehl, who had an outstanding NFL career as a receiver.

Jared Jones, a 2000 Hillsborough graduate, was also inducted. Jared is now playing for the Albany Conquest in the arenafootball2 league. Jones was a three-sport star at Hillsborough before going to Syracuse. His father, Warner, inducted him and had several humorous stories about his son. Eric Jones, a 1995 HHS graduate, and Hillsborough standout quarterback/defensive back, was inducted in 2004.

Former wrestling star Brian Robinovitz, Hillsborough's all-time career leader in wins, was also inducted. He was a third-place state tournament place winner as a senior. He was presented by Raider head coach Steve Molinaro, who said that Robinovitz "put Hillsborough on the map state wide."
Robinovitz, who now lives in Howell, went on to be a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference place winner at the University of Maryland. He now works in the mortgage business and lives in Howell.

"I'm sure Brian remembers that his teammates called him Robo," Molinaro said. "Everybody thought it was because it was the first four letters of his last name, but I think it was the way he approached the sport. He set a school record for the most wrestling partners he went through in a season."

Robinovitz, a four-time state tournament qualifier, and three time Region 5 champ, had a 105-16 career record.

Hillsborough girls basketball coach Jim Reese presented Stephanie Shoop, a 1999 HHS graduate, who finished with 1,232 points for her career. Shoop eventually graduated cum laude with a biology degree from Brown. She's now a teacher and head coach at South River.

Jinny Gill Strawderman, who also played at Brown, and a 1986 HHS graduate, was presented by former Raider coach Barb Hudock.
"I'm glad that coach Hudock kept me at guard in high school rather than move me to the post," Strawderman said. "She knew where my future was in college."

Track star Tierra Hicks, now an assistant coach at her alma mater, was also inducted and presented by Raider coach Rick Refi. She teaches health and physical education at Hillsborough. She was a four-time varsity letter winner and four-time school team MVP. She went on to Montclair State University where she holds school records for the 400 and 400-meter hurdles.

Former coach Fred Mountjoy and longtime Hillsborough contributors Jack VanCleef and Bruce Wayne were also inducted. Mountjoy started the Raiders' boys' track team and was also on the first football staff at Hillsborough. In just the third year as a varsity program, the boys track team went 14-0 in 1972.