Five new members inducted into Arlington Sports Hall of Fame | ARLnow.com

Maybe what Kas Allen said rang true for the other Arlington Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 inductees, too.

The former Wakefield High School girls basketball standout mentioned in her acceptance talk that everything she learned about life had resulted from her involvement in athletics.

“There were so many life skills I gained through sports,” she said. “I am flooded with gratitude [about this honor].”

Allen, now a physical therapist, was one of five honorees recognized at the annual induction dinner the night of Oct. 9 in the crowded Knights of Columbus Hall. All were welcomed by Hall of Fame president Peter Weilenmann.

Allen explained how, after she was cleated in the thigh playing youth soccer, she changed sports to basketball. It was a fortuitous switch, as Allen became a standout on the court at Wakefield and then George Washington University.

The other new inductees that night were Olympic judo bronze medalist and USA Judo Hall of Famer Jim Bregman; multiple-sport Wakefield High standout Michelle Duhart Robinson, also a member of the NCAA women’s national championship Purdue University basketball team; Arlington and Division I college baseball star (University of Kentucky) and coach Dan Pototsky; and Bishop O’Connell High School graduate and two-time Olympic swimmer Kate Ziegler.

Bregman talked about how his mother enrolled him in a judo and self-defense class after he was bullied and suffered from bronchitis and dyslexia, and was feeling “less than anything.” He eventually became a gymnastics standout in high school.

“You can’t survive in athletics all by yourself,” Bregman said in his acceptance remarks. “You need a lot of help.”

A physical-education teacher in Arlington, Pototsky’s acceptance was on the lighter side. The hitting standout mentioned having a goal of someday becoming a baseball big-leaguer.

It didn’t come to pass, but “if you teach elementary P.E. in Arlington, you are a big-leaguer,” he said.

Duhart Robinson thanked her former Wakefield basketball head coaches Noel Deskins and Marcia Richardson, who attended, for believing in and pushing her to success. She also mentioned her father, who she explained told as many as he could that his daughter played for Purdue.

Ziegler lives in Tennessee and was unable to attend the banquet. Her mother, Cathy, and father, Don, accepted the award in her absence, thanking many.

Also at the event, there was a recognition and tribute to the late Eric Sievers, also an Arlington Hall of Famer.

The rotating and portable Arlington Sports Hall of Fame display of some of the inductees was set up inside the hall.

The event’s master of ceremonies was Washington Capitals radio announcer John Walton.

The Hall of Fame, established in 1958, has 73 inductees. Nominations for the 2025 Hall of Fame class are due by March 1.