FREEHOLD – Four graduates of Freehold High School, Freehold Borough, have been inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame.
Mary-Elaine Smith Tashjian, Bruce Carney, Patrick Preston and Jason Mumford were inducted into the Hall of Fame during a recent celebration. The induction was posthumous for Tashjian, who died in 2016.
A resolution honoring each graduate was passed by the Borough Council on June 3.
• Tashjian attended the high school from 1952-55. She graduated with honors and received the Freehold High School Merit Award. She was active in many artistic programs, played the lead role in the senior theatrical production and was crowned Freehold High School Queen at the 1955 prom, according to the resolution.
She was employed by the Freehold Borough K-8 School District as an art teacher’s aide and later as the assistant to the business administrator. Tashjian worked at the Around the Corner Art Center for 22 years. She was an award-winning artist whose work was displayed at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center and local galleries.
The Elaine Smith Memorial Scholarship was established in 2016 and is awarded to a Monmouth County student pursuing a career in the arts.
• Carney graduated in 1971. He played quarterback in football and pitched and played first base in baseball. Carney eventually played minor league baseball in Iowa and Tennessee, according to the resolution. Outside of sports, he owned a heating and air conditioning company for more than three decades and is currently a sales representative for a heating, ventilation and air conditioning distribution company.
After joining Lacey girls softball as a coach, Carney was president of the league for 22 years. During his presidency, player participation increased, a women’s league was started and funds were raised for field lights, according to the resolution. He also developed a premier fast pitch travel team program.
Carney is a former member of the Lacey Township School District Board of Education.
• Preston graduated in 1985. He played soccer for the Colonials from 1982-85. Preston helped the team win two Shore Conference division championships, reach three Central Jersey Group II state sectional championship matches and win Central Jersey Group II state sectional championships in 1982 and 1984.
Preston attended Old Dominion University in Virginia and was a starter as a freshman on a soccer team that was ranked in the top 15 of the NCAA Division I and, while he was in a defensive unit, allowed only nine goals in the season.
Preston transferred to the University of North Carolina-Greensboro as a junior as a midfielder and led his team to a No. 1 ranking in the NCAA Division II. In 1989, UNCG set a school record for goals scored, won the NCAA Division II South Regional Championship and advanced to the Final Four, where they were national finalists.
After college, Preston played with Freehold Soccer, NJ Americans and IFC Greensboro, which won a Carolina state championship. He has remained involved by coaching in the Freehold Soccer League for more than a decade, according to the resolution. Outside of soccer, he has been a senior resident director at Merrill Lynch for 27 years.
• Mumford graduated in 1991, lettering in football and track. On the track, he was the 60-meter Group II indoor state champion in 1991 and was part of a relay team that won a state championship in the 1989-90 season, as well as the team that won won the Shore Conference B South Division crown in 1990.
In football, Mumford was named first team All-Shore, All-Division and All-District, he rushed for more than 1,000 yards during his senior year and was a starting defender in the All-Shore football game. He attended college on a football scholarship and earned a bachelor’s degree in business.