Haverhill, MA (March 26, 2024) – Northern Essex Community College recently inducted its fifth Hall of Fame class in a ceremony held in the Hartleb Technology Center on the Haverhill campus on Wednesday March 20th in front of a crowd of family, friends and college representatives.

The class of 2024, included cross country standout and school record holder Larry Fowle, the 2016 NJCAA Baseball Player of the Year Colby Maiola and former men's basketball standout and professional team owner Sercan Fenerci.

LARRY FOWLE

The evening's first inductee Larry Fowle, a Haverhill native and 2003 graduate of NECC who went onto continue his studies at UMass-Lowell. Larry established the cross-country school record for 8,000 meters in 2001 under head coach Dawn Caputo and the record has continued to this day. Larry's record setting time in 2001 earned him an NJCAA National Athlete of the Wek honor. As a sophomore he finished third in the Northeast District cross country meet and led the men's cross-country team to their highest ever tam finish of 10th place at the 2001 national meet in San Antonio, TX.

COLBY MAIOLA

The evening's second inductee was North Reading native Colby Maiola, a 2016 graduate of Northern Essex who went on to continue his athletic and academic careers at UMass-Lowell. A two-time first Team All-Region 21 selection under coach Jeff Mejia, Maiola was named the NJCAA Baseball National Player of the Year in 2016 after leading the Knights to their first ever appearance in the national championship game. In the process, he was named All-American while leading the country in slugging percentage at .932, ranking third in on-base percentage at .587 and batting .435 with 29 extra base hits. Please welcome Colby Maiola to the NECC Athletic Hall of Fame.

SERCAN FENERCI

The final inductee of the evening was Turkish native Sercan Fenerci, who was the first international men's basketball player to suit up for the Knights. He played one dominating season under Coach Darren Stratton in 2003-04 where he was named All Region 21 First Team and ranked third in the country in rebounding at 13.1 per game before moving onto Angelo State University in Texas on a full athletic scholarship. Following his graduation from Angelo State, he made basketball his career becoming head coach at Lamar Community College and as National Team Coach for the Turkish Basketball Federation. He also spent more than six years in athletic administration at Bunker Hill and is now the President and CEO of the Providence Pirates ABA Basketball Team.

The Northern Essex Athletic Hall of Fame annually inducts individuals and teams that have made major contributions to the athletic program and meet the criteria for induction. Nominations are accepted throughout the year on the NECC Athletics webpage