UTICA, N.Y. - The Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2016.

Harts Hill Inn in Whitesboro will host ceremonies on Wednesday, May 18, to honor inductees Robert “Bob” Conklin, the late Richie Evans, and John Pitarresi.

The ceremonies, which include a cocktail hour and a buffet dinner, will begin at 5:00 p.m. and tickets are $40.00 per person. Those wishing to purchase tickets for the event can do so through the Hall of Fame’s website www.GreaterUticaSports.com or through the mail at PO Box 4607, Utica, NY 13504. The deadline for tickets is May 13th.

“This is an auspicious group of worthy nominees,” said Lou Parrotta, President of the Hall of Fame. “These new inductees, through their wonderful accomplishments in the sports world, are exceptional additions to the Hall of Fame.”

For more information, please email the Hall of Fame at GreaterUticaSportsHOF@gmail.com.

Bob Conklin

Entering the Hall of Fame in the Pre-Modern Athlete category, Conklin was a three-year letterman and 1958 captain of the Colgate University football team where he was named a UPI Honorable Mention All-American for the Raiders in 1958. Additionally, Conklin lettered three times in Track & Field at Colgate, was the founding football coach at Notre Dame High School in Utica in 1962, and after 5 seasons as the Jugglers’ field general, he moved on to coach from 1968-1976 at Utica Free Academy.

Richie Evans

Entering the Hall of Fame in the Modern Athlete category, Evans is known as the “King” of Modified Racing. He won (9) nine NASCAR Modified Titles in a 13-year span (1973, 1978-1985) and was ranked the No. 1 NASCAR All-Time Modified Driver in a 2003 poll. He amassed 30 championships at 11 tracks in 4 states, and was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. Evans was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame on June 14, 2011, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1996, the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame in 1986, the New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame, the FOAR SCORE Hall of Fame in 1986 (inaugural class) and the Oswego Speedway Hall of Fame in 2000.

John Pitarresi

Entering the Hall of Fame in the Outstanding Supporter/Promoter category, Pitarresi is a long-time sports reporter/columnist that began his career with the Observer Dispatch in the early 1970s and concluding in 2015. Throughout his career, he covered the numerous hockey teams that called Utica home and the Utica Blue Sox in the New York-Pennsylvania Baseball League. A champion of the outdoors, Pitarresi has penned an award-winning column that is the best source of information about our wondrous area resources and sportsmen and sportswomen.