Hall of Fame
Mr. John Tehonica is one of the most successful three-sport coaches in New York State high school athletics. Mr. Tehonica was a coach, athletic director and physical education teacher at Heuvelton Central School (Section 10) for 31 years (1968-1999).
He began his coaching career following graduation from St. Lawrence University where he received his Bachelors Degree in 1967 and Masters Degree in 1969. A Governeur High graduate of 1963, Tehonica has accumulated over 900 career victories in the sports of varsity baseball, varsity basketball, junior varsity basketball, and varsity soccer.
His baseball career includes 12 Section 10 Championships and 14 Valley League championships. His teams have appeared in four NYSPHSAA Baseball State tournaments, one of which was a championship game appearance. From 1994-96, Tehonica had one of the best winning streaks ever recorded in high school history. During that three-season span, his Heuvelton teams won 40 straight games against Valley League opponents and appeared as the #1 ranked team in Class D in New York State according to the New York State Sportswriters Association poll. While racking up a 313-124 career baseball record, Tehonica was also honored in 1999 as the National Federation Interscholastic Coaches Association New York State Baseball Coach of the Year and Section 1 Distinguished Service Award recipient. In 2000, Heuvelton Central School District named its new baseball field after Mr. John Tehonica.
As a basketball coach, Tehonica owns a 354-286 career varsity record and has amassed 225 more wins as a junior varsity coach. Over the years, his varsity basketball teams appeared in two NYSPHSAA Tournaments and captured eight Valley League championships. Tehonica’s top year came during the 1994-95 season when Heuvelton went 21-2 overall and won the Section 10 championship. He also garnered a number of coaching plaudits including New York State Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1991-92 and Section 10 Coach of the Year in 1978-79 by the Watertown Daily Times.
Tehonica, born in Carthage, also spent nine seasons as the varsity soccer coach at Heuvelton and guided the school’s varsity 8-man football team for six more years.