Lansing Hall of Fame inducts Class of 2024

On November 30, the Lansing Athletics Hall of Fame inducted the Class of 2024. Of the five inductees, four are female athletes who made a name for themselves in the late 2000s: Megan (Palladino) Dake, Rachael (Palladino) Poletti, Ellyn Grant-Keane, and Jocelyn (Ford) Toomey.

Rachael Palladino was the most prolific goalscorer in Lansing girls soccer history. The 2009 graduate netted an astonishing 188 goals, which is still the all-time record in Section IV history and is currently the tenth-most all time across the state. Her scoring prowess continued at Ithaca College, with her 63 goals also the most in program history. Palladino praised her teammates with both the Bobcats and Bombers for those staggering numbers.

“I was blessed with all of the people that I played soccer with growing up,” Palladino said. “You only get better by the team around you and the people you have supporting around you, so I think that they really helped me with that. Obviously I can’t score goals without a strong team behind me, and that’s what I had for the entirety of my career, which was a blessing and also just really fun. It helped me succeed and get all these accolades that I was able to get. It’s not only me. It’s the team behind me that helped me succeed.”

At both Lansing and Ithaca College, Palladino played alongside her twin sister Megan. With Rachael being a productive attacker and Megan being a stalwart defender, they complemented one another and helped improve each other’s game.

“We’re like best friends,” Dake said. “We have a very close relationship, and I could not imagine life without her just because I’ve always had her. We were both very competitive, and I feel like we kind of just fed off of each other in a healthy way. I know it can kind of go the other way sometimes, but we were like our biggest cheerleaders for each other, and we pushed each other to work hard. We always had a workout partner during the offseason, so that made it really easy to go and do our workouts to get ready for the next season. It was really nice to have that built-in support system with a best friend that I played sports with throughout my

whole life.”

Dake was just as instrumental to the Bobcats’ triumph. In five years on varsity, Dake won 95 games and helped the Bobcats capture three IAC and sectional titles each. In terms of individual accolades, the 2009 graduate was a four-time IAC All-Star and a two-time All-State selection. She gave plenty of credit to her coaches (Maureen Whitehead and Lamarr Peters) for making her time at Lansing so memorable and setting her up for success at Ithaca College.

“They really instilled in us to work hard,” Dake said. “They had great technical skills, so technique was important to them, which both of those definitely carried over into my collegiate career. You have to have the skill to compete at that level, but then you also have to be willing to work hard and kind of compete for your spot on the playing field there.”

The Palladino twins also teamed up with Grant-Keane at both Lansing and Ithaca College. The 2010 graduate was a starter on four straight IAC and sectional title-winning teams with the Bobcats. She earned three IAC All-Star nods and two All-State selections. Joining forces with the Palladinos on South Hill—where she became the all-time assists leader with 30—helped make the transition from high school to college soccer smoother.

“They immediately made me feel comfortable joining the Hill,” Grant-Keane said. “Megan and Rachel are incredible soccer players, but they’re also incredible human beings. They made me feel right at home, and they also made me feel challenged. That summer between senior year and freshman year in college, they were on the field with me training with me, doing strength and conditioning work, and I knew I had to step up another level.”

In the winter, Grant-Keane and the Palladino twins played basketball alongside Ford for multiple seasons. Ford is the second-leading scorer in program history with 1,218 points and earned three IAC all-star honors, an IAC MVP award her junior year, and two All-State selections. Ford went on to play at both Le Moyne College and Bloomsburg University, something that she says wouldn’t have been possible without her Hall of Fame coach Stuart Dean.

“He always pushed me to be the absolute best version of myself as a person and as a player,” Ford said. “That ties into me being able to fulfill a dream that I wanted to have and go into playing college as well. He was a huge influence on me being able to get to where I got.”

The lone team inductee in the Class of 2024 is the 1975-76 boys basketball team. Coached by Hall of Famer Fred Caliel, the Bobcats had a 19-3 record, captured an IAC divisional title, and won both Section IV Class B championship and the regional championship.