Crime & Safety
Popular High School Coach, RHS Hall Member Passes Away Suddenly
A popular track and field coach at Tolland High School and an RHS Hall Of Famer has passed away.
![Corey Pusey at his RHS Hall of Fame Induction in 2017.](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/103600/20190911/110539/styles/patch_image/public/pusey-from-rahof___11110328363.jpg)
TOLLAND, CT — The Tolland High School sports community on Wedensday was mourning the loss of polular track and field coach and Rockville HIgh School Hall of Fame member Corey Pusey.
Pusey died suddenly, according to a post by the Eagle football program. Family, colleagues and friends indicated on social media posts it was from complicaions from a stroke.
Here is the post:
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Pusey is listed as a coach for both the boys and girls programs on the Tolland High School web site.
A parent of a cross country runner said Wednesday the THS athletes were "devastated."
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"Everytime we saw him, he had a smile on his face," she said.
Pusey was elected to the Rockville High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017. He's a member of the Rams' Class of 1998.
Pusey played five sports at RHS, including four years as a starter and two-years as an All-CCC basketball seleplayer.
He was a three-season thrower and jumper on the track and field team, and played two years as a sweeper back under in soccer.
A member of the Class L state co-champions in track and field team as a senior, Pusey earned All-CCC and All-State recognition twice in the discus, and as a junior, achieved All-New
England honors in both the discus and triple jump, taking second in the discus.
As a sophomore, he claimed Class L outdoor titles in the triple jump and discus and was third in the javelin. His winning throw of 164-0 as a senior in the discus in the Class L outdoor championships remained a state record until 2015.
Pusey went on to a successful collegiate career at the University of Connecticut before turning to high school coaching.
In 2015, he was named the Connecticurt High School Coaches Association Outdoor Track and Field Assistant Coach-of-the-Year in 2015.
"He was an excellent coach but an even better person ... gentle giant with a heart of gold. He touched so many athletes during his 16 years at Tolland high school," said Todd P. Zenczak, the supervisor of athletics for the Tolland public schools.
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