Hall of Fame
The late Adam Zalonka was a four year letterman in both football and track and field.
In football he lettered his freshman year in 1935 as a key reserve tackle. The Red Raiders won the Pennsylvania Conference championship that season.
He started in 1936 and helped the team limit the opposition to just 15 points in route to a 7-1 record. The Red Raiders shut out the opposition six times that season.
In 1937 Shippensburg went 5-1-2, shutting out the opposition six times again, and in 1938 the team finished with a 6-6-1 record.
Zalonka was frequently mentioned in the newspaper accounts as making tackles behind the line of scrimmage. In one game Zalonka blocked a punt that rolled through the end zone resulting in a safety for Shippensburg and on an other occasion against Lock Haven he blocked punts on successive plays.
In track and field Zalonka was one of the top weight throwers in school history. In 1936, his freshmen year, he took second place in the shot put at the conference championship meet. He then won the conference title three years in a row in that event. In 1937 he had a toss of 43-8 ¾. In 1983 he won with a toss of 44-10 and in 1939 he set the conference record with a throw of 46-6 ½. In addition he finished second in the discus throw in 1937 and third in that event in 1938 and 1939.
Zalonka pursued a career in the Air Force and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. He flew combat missions n three different wars, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He died in 1980. His hometown was Pottsville, Pa.
