Monessen to celebrate local graduates with 3rd annual 'Wall of Fame' induction
Being inducted into the local hall of fame is not new for Monessen native Charel Allen.
She was inducted into the Mid Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2019, after a career that saw her playing professional basketball with the WNBA and multiple teams overseas.
“My mom signed me up for tap, piano lessons, gymnastics, and none of those were interesting to me,” Allen said. “I went to visit my aunt in Connecticut at one point, she put a basketball in my hand and the rest is history.”
She will be inducted into the Monessen City School District’s 2025 Wall of Fame class this month.
Allen is the second all-time leading scorer in WPIAL girls’ basketball history, and fifth on the statewide list. During her time at Notre Dame, she became the first player to amass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 200 steals. She was drafted in 2008 by the Sacramento Monarchs and played eight seasons internationally with pro leagues in Bulgaria, Turkey and Israel.
Allen said she learned a lot from her pro experiences.
“The WNBA is the most competitive league,” she said. “You have the best of the best among both Americans and foreigners. But the leagues overseas are also competitive in their own right, and I’d encourage any athlete who wants pursue a professional career to try overseas. It teaches you a lot of life lessons you don’t always learn in America, and it forces you to grow up.”
In 2017, Allen pivoted to coaching, joining the staff at Cal State Fullerton before signing on with Notre Dame in 2022.
“When I was graduating Notre Dame, our coach, Muffet McGraw, said she felt I should look into coaching,” Allen said. “At the time, I was fully focused on going pro, but I have always wanted to stay around the game and give back, whether it was through coaching or mentorship.”
Allen said her favorite aspect of coaching is the relationships she’s developed with players.
“I’m lucky enough to coach at my alma mater now, but I’ve met a whole lot of great people during the past eight years,” she said.
In addition to Allen, this year’s Wall of Fame inductees are:
• Randall Marino, Class of 1973 (educator category) — Marino taught for more than three decades at Monessen’s elementary and junior high levels and worked as a principal at the middle and high schools. He also created the nonprofit Mon Valley Paws, which provides emergency grants and offers assistance to senior citizens to help their pets in need. The group has distributed nearly $200,000 to local shelters and rescues.
• Stephanie Urchick, 1972 (trailblazer category) — Urchick began her career at Westmoreland County Community College and California University of Pennsylvania, where she was director of career planning, placement and career services. In 2008, she started a consulting business, Doctors at Work, hosting training sessions throughout the region in customer service, public speaking and leadership skills. Through her work with local Rotary clubs, she has helped provide immunizations in India and Nigeria, helped build an elementary school in Vietnam and installed water filters in the Dominican Republic. Urchick is also the second female Rotary International President, serving her term in the current 2024-‘25 year. She is the first woman from the U.S. to hold the position.
• Stephen “Ron” Chromulak, 1960 (military category) — Seven days after graduating from Monessen, Chromulak was at Air Force boot camp in Texas, where he would begin a military career lasting more than two decades. Chromulak worked in life support systems, learning and teaching survival, escape, evasion and combat rescue techniques to pilots. He participated in the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam War, the capture of the U.S.S. Pueblo by North Korea and the evacuation of the American and British embassies in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war. After retirement, he worked for Pennsylvania as a veterans’ service representative. He has also served as president of the Monessen Chamber of Commerce, has commanded every veteran organization in Monessen and is chair for the War Veterans Memorial Trust.
• Gary Caruso, 1966 (government category) — After graduating from Monessen and earning his law degree from Duquesne University, Caruso practiced law in Monessen and Rostraver in the 1970s and ’80s. He was president of the Conference of State Trial Judges in 2000 and 2001, and served as a commissioner on the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing. He was also a hearing officer with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board and served as president judge of the court from 2012-2014.
The induction ceremony will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 18 in the high school auditorium, 1245 State Road in Monessen. Tickets are $15 and are available through Eventbrite.com. Monessen students are admitted free, and a limited number of tickets will be available at the door.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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