Enfield Athletic Hall Of Fame Welcomes 2026 Class

ENFIELD, CT — Six former athletes and coaches joined the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday as the organization celebrated its 29th induction class.

Jeff Beiler, Kathy Carbone, Jill Belding Greenleaf, David Sanchez, Ray Stoll and Leehna Ware were inducted during a ceremony at Topstone Golf Course in South Windsor.

Longtime Enfield journalist Tim Jensen posthumously received the George Daly Jr. Special Recognition Award. The 1984 and 1985 Fermi High School girls volleyball teams and the 2006 Fermi boys soccer team were also honored.

Beiler, a 1985 Fermi graduate, played football and competed in track and field before continuing his athletic career at Dean Junior College. He later returned to Fermi as a coach and built one of the school’s most successful wrestling programs.

During more than two decades leading the Falcons, Beiler coached 68 Class state champions, 19 State Open place-winners and one State Open champion. His teams collected more than 250 dual-meet victories, a school record.

Carbone founded Fermi’s girls volleyball program in 1977 and coached the varsity team until her retirement in 1995. Her teams went 151-50, won four CCC East championships and reached the state tournament 10 consecutive times. She also coached girls tennis at Fermi for 20 years.

Greenleaf, a 1995 Fermi graduate, was an All-State swimmer who went 70-13-3 in dual meets. She later earned All-America honors at Swarthmore College and has led the men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs at Skidmore College since 2002.

Sanchez earned four varsity football letters at Enfield High School and was named a Class M All-State wide receiver as a senior in 2001. He was the MVP of the 2002 Connecticut-Rhode Island All-Star Game after catching an 88-yard touchdown and finishing with 198 receiving yards.

Sanchez continued his career at UConn, where he returned the first punt in Rentschler Field history. He was also part of the Huskies team that defeated Toledo in the 2004 Motor City Bowl, UConn’s first Football Bowl Subdivision postseason appearance.

Stoll spent 35 years teaching in Enfield and coached boys golf at Enfield and Fermi high schools. His Fermi teams captured three straight CCC East championships from 2007 through 2009. The Hall of Fame noted that Stoll never cut a player from one of his teams.

Ware, a 2009 Fermi graduate, remains the only girls basketball player in school history to score 1,000 career points. She finished with 1,378 points and 1,123 rebounds while helping the Falcons compile a 65-27 record during her four varsity seasons.

Ware later became a personal trainer and competitive bodybuilder, winning several National Physique Committee events in Texas.

Jensen, a 1983 Fermi graduate, spent more than four decades covering news and sports in Connecticut. He was the founding editor of Enfield Patch and later oversaw Patch sites across north-central Connecticut.

Jensen was also a public-address announcer for Fermi and Enfield hockey, president of the Connecticut Sports Media Alliance and vice chairman of the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame for 16 years. He died in September 2025 at age 59.

The Hall of Fame recognized the 1984 and 1985 Fermi girls volleyball teams alongside Carbone, who coached both championship squads. The 2006 Fermi boys soccer team was honored after reaching the Class L state championship game.

Additional information about the inductees is available on the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame website.

For more Northern Connecticut news, follow Patch editor Jay Kenney.