FITCHBURG — The Fitchburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame, which honors and remembers the greats in Red Raider lore, has announced its 12th Induction Class. The induction ceremony and banquet will be held Nov. 3 at the Great Wolf Lodge in Fitchburg.
A total of 12 Individual athletes, including three posthumous inductions, highlights the class, with three total female student-athletes honored in one year for the first time since the first induction class in 2001. Two teams are also being inducted for the third time in the last four classes, and fourth time overall. The inductees are: Harold Hecker (1939, posthumous): One of the top five tennis players in the first 13 years of the Fitchburg High Tennis program, Hecker never lost a singles match and only lost one doubles match in 16 matches during his interscholastic career.
Seven of his singles wins came in gritty, three-set fashion. Played on the undefeated 1938 tennis team and 8-1 1939 team. Harold died in World War II during a bombing mission over northwestern Poland in October 1943.
Charles Sharos (1950, posthumous): The savior of an otherwise lackluster 1948-49 FHS basketball team, the 5-foot-7 Sharos became the first full-season captain in a number of years during his senior year, and was a Northern Worcester County All-Star. Was also a slick fielding third baseman for Hall of Fame coach Marty McDonough. “Dino” went on to coach at South Windsor (Conn.
) High School, where he won three state championships in basketb.
