The Adams County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame announces the inductees for the class of 2026. The recipients of this honor are: Sarah Gates-Adams, one of the best volleyball players the area has ever seen. She also played basketball and competed in track and field for Delone Catholic High School; James Smith, Delone Catholic football star and state champion wrestler; Ryan Anderson, New Oxford High School three-sport standout athlete in football, wrestling, and baseball, who is now the Athletic Director at New Oxford ; Jennifer Poist, 2016 Paralympic Gold Medalist in wheelchair basketball, from Delone Catholic; Andy O’Brien, outstanding 1,000-point scorer from Delone Catholic and star player at York College; and Barry Jacoby (deceased), multi-sport athlete in football and track and field from Biglerville High School. The Hall will also be recognizing the 2026 PIAA State Champion baseball team from Bermudian Springs High School.
The induction dinner for this exceptional class will be Saturday, November 7, 2026 at the Atrium on the campus of Gettysburg College. Doors will open for a social time at 5:30, dinner will be served at 6:30, and the induction ceremony will follow. Meal reservations may be purchased for $38 by sending a check, made out to ACSHOF, to Ed Riggs, Historian, 30 W. Broadway, Gettysburg, PA 17325. If the check is for multiple persons, please be sure to include the name of each attendee. Deadline for reservations is October 30, 2026. Space is limited, and a large crowd is expected, so early registration is suggested.
Go to the ACSHOF website at www.adamssportshall.org to find out more.
Sarah Gates-Adams
Gates-Adams graduated from Delone Catholic High School in 2000, then went on to Radford University. She excelled in volleyball, basketball, and track and field in high school, and competed well in Division I volleyball in college. Gates-Adams was a key player in Delone’s runner-up finish in the 1999 and 2000 District III basketball tournament. In track and field, she placed in the top six at districts in the javelin, shot put, 4 x 100, and 4 x 400. She was district javelin champion in 1998 with throw of 133’4”, and in 2000, the Squirettes 4 x 400 placed second at the PIAA state championships. But it was in volleyball that she showed her mettle. Gates-Adams was first team All-Area for the Hanover Sun and the Gettysburg Times for three years. She was the Times and the York Daily Record Volleyball Player of the Year in 1999, and was named to the All-State first team. She also was named the Gettysburg Times Most Outstanding Female Athlete in 1999-2000. At Radford, her volleyball team was undefeated in 2001 and was Big South champion. She made the Big South All-Tournament team in 2001, and was voted the team’s Best All-Around Player in 2003.
James Smith
Smith is a 1972 graduate of Delone Catholic High School, playing football for three years on a team that went 20-6-1 during his tenure. His junior year he was on the team that finished undefeated at 9-0 and was South Central League champion. He was selected and named co-captain of the Big 33 Team. Smith also wrestled, and competed for four years, piling up a regular-season record of 30-8-2, with 18 falls. In the 1971-72 season, he was PCIAA (Catholic) Eastern Regional champion at heavyweight, winning all three rounds by fall. That year he was PCIAA State champion at heavyweight, beating the defending champion in the final, and becoming Delone’s first state champion in any sport. Smith was awarded a full football scholarship to University of Pittsburgh, where he was injured. Ever persistent, he then wrestled at Pitt briefly before being injured again, ending his athletic career.
Jennifer Poist
Poist graduated from Delone Catholic High School in 2007, and went on to the University of Arizona. A spinal cord tumor at age seven confined her to a wheelchair, and it is as a Paralympic athlete that she exceled in sports. Poist played wheelchair basketball and sled hockey for the Bennett Blazers, an adaptive sports program in Baltimore, MD, from 2003-2007. Her teams in both basketball and sled hockey won national championships during that tenure. Poist continued her playing at Arizona, joining the wheelchair basketball team. Her U-25 basketball team won the gold medal in 2011, helping her qualify for the national Paralympic Team in 2012. That team finished fourth at the 2012 Paralympics in London, but her 2016 team won Paralympic Gold at the Rio Paralympics competition. She was also on the team that won the 2015 Parapan American Games gold medal. Poist currently plays for the Arizona Storm, a member of the wheelchair basketball league in Arizona, while she works as a pharmacist in Tucson.
Ryan Anderson
Anderson graduated from New Oxford High School, and went on to Dickinson College, graduating in 2007. Anderson earned 11 varsity letters at New Oxford, competing in football, wrestling, and baseball. In football, he started three years as outside linebacker, twice being named All-Conference in YAIAA-1. His senior year, he played quarterback, leading the team to the league championship. He was named Gettysburg Times and Hanover Evening Sun Player of the Year, and was on the PA Football News All-State team. As a wrestler, Anderson had 89 career wins, and was a three-time District III qualifier, placing fourth at 160 pounds his senior year. He was named to all-area teams by the Times and Evening Sun. In baseball, he played 81 games, starting all four years, being named All-Conference three years. He graduated ranked in the top five in school history for games played, at bats, hits, RBI, runs scored, and batting average. Anderson was New Oxford and Gettysburg Times Male Athlete of the Year in 2003. At Dickinson, he won four varsity football letters as a standout on defense, starting 41 consecutive games. The Red Devils were Centennial Conference champions in 2004 and 2006, making the NCAA playoffs in 2006. He also won four letters in baseball, playing in 94 games and finishing with a .273 batting average. Anderson coached football at four colleges from 2007-2016. He is now the Athletic Director at New Oxford.
Andy O’Brien
O’Brien is a graduate of Delone Cathlolic High School (1999) and York College (2004). In high school, he scored 1,003 career points and led the Squires to the PIAA playoffs his junior and senior years. Delone was 19-10 his senior year. In college, O’Brien blossomed, as he became York’s all-time leading scorer with 2,001 career points, averaging 19.8 points per game for his career. O’Brien was a three-time All-Capital Area Conference selection, and finished his career as the all-time leading scorer in the conference. He played in 101games, shot 45.5% from the field (716 FGs), 37.3% from the three-point line (205 three-pointers), and was 364-443 (82.2%) from the free throw line. He had 542 rebounds, 340 assists, and 157 steals. He is now an NCAA basketball referee, refereeing Big10 and Big East games, along with some mid-major games.