VERNON, N.J. (by Dan Cleary): There was no internet or social media around when Kris Peat splashed onto the athletic scene at Vernon Township High School in the early 1980s as a standout on the boys soccer and hoops team. If it did exist at the time, Peat would have been a viral sensation. From amazing saves on the soccer pitch to a no-look pass or dazzling move to the basket, Peat would have been a viral-moment waiting to happen.

But talk to people who played with, against, coached or watched Peat work his magic, the highlights live forever in their minds. For his amazing efforts during his time at VTHS, Peat will be inducted to the first class of the Vernon Township High School Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 23 at the Red Tail Lodge in Vernon. He joins classmate Dan Murray as inductees from the Class of 1984.

Joining Peat and Murray are athletes Jan Michaels (1979), Catherine Stone (1980), Gail Werner (1985), Lisa Parak (1987), Catherine Basso (1991) and Ryan Olsen (2004). Also being honored are Gary Sparta (Athletic Director) and Kris Michaels (1980) as contributors and coaches Bob Trenz and Stefanie Gastaldello.

"For me it is a huge honor to be recognized with such great athletes," said Peat, also a member of the Sussex County Sports Hall of Fame along with Murray, Stone, Parak, Trenz and Kris Michaels.

"Growing up in Vernon gave us interesting opportunities and for me it was soccer which took me from Vernon to Kearny (Thistle club team), to college to the pros and now coaching," added Peat, who is the Associate Head Coach of the women's soccer team at the University of Denver. "I have great memories of my time in Vernon."

After an All-American career at VTHS, he attended North Carolina State from 1984 to 1987. In high school he was all SCIL from 1980 through 1983 and All State Coaches Association first team in 1982 and 1983. He was starting goalkeeper for the U.S. National Team Under 18 from 1982 to 1984. At North Carolina State, where he was starting goalkeeper for four years and captain in 1986 and 1987, he holds the record for most saves in a single season with 145 in 1987. Peat played professional soccer for several teams from 1988 until his retirement in 1999.

Peat played with the Albany Capitals of the American Soccer League, Los Angeles Lazers and Cleveland Crunch of the MISL, LA United of the World United Soccer League, and the Wichita Wings from 1989-99, where he earned all-star status during the 1992 and 1993 seasons. Peat retired in 1999 from professional soccer and his jersey was retired by the Wichita Wings organization in 2000.

Peat's coaching career began with Wichita United in Wichita, Kan. He coached several boys and girls teams with the club and served as their goalkeeper director from 1992-99. After leaving Wichita, Peat accepted a coaching position at DU as the assistant men's coach and women's goalkeeper coach. He was also very active in youth soccer in Denver, where he was the goalkeeper director for Littleton United in 1999 and held the same position with the Colorado Rush in 1999-2000.

He also coached with the Atlanta Beat of the defunct women's professional league which featured World Cup star Brianna Scurry. And he ran the city of Atlanta's soccer association. But his love of the game started in the Sussex Hills section of Vernon. His father, Craig, a great athlete himself at Clifton High School, was a teacher and coach at Sparta High School. Craig and his wife Pat, who were great supporters of the Viking Club, would often host great athletes from Sparta before VTHS opened in 1975 to work out and it had an effect on Peat and his younger brother by a year, Kirk, who also had an outstanding career at VTHS and NC State.

"A lot of top athletes would come over and work out with my father and it was cool to see them progress and perform," said Peat.

He credited his neighbors, former Vernon star soccer player Billy Orts, and Joe Ash, a tremendous hoops player, for getting him going. Ash was a member of the 1979 SCIL boys basketball championship team and his father, Joe, a well-respected coach who finished his career at the NBA level.

"The deal was Mr. Ash would not park his car in front of the hoop in his driveway so we could play," recalled Peat. "And if it snowed, we had to shovel his driveway."

Peat said he played with guys five-to-seven years older than him in both sports and it made him a better and tougher player. Peat, who was also a terrific baseball player until soccer became his No. 1 passion, started four years in hoops and soccer and played in the field his first two years in soccer before making the switch to goalie, where he allowed just three goals his senior season. It is safe to say Peat, who played for Thistle in Kearny with future NC State roomie and United States National Team star Tab Ramos along with John Harkes, future Rutgers men's soccer coach Dan Donegan, and long-time Kearny boys coach Billy Galka, was the "Godfather" of the Vernon soccer dynasty under John Ryan that lasted into the 2000s.

"We tried to set the bar and establish a culture at Vernon," he said. "I always say it's the stuff you do when no one is watching that makes the difference. And I'm most proud of that.

"John Ryan was a young coach at the time and we went through trials and tribulations trying to get better and that was special," Peat said of the winningest boys soccer coach in Sussex County history.

Peat was also an outstanding artist and was a member of the National Art Society and he said his former teacher Judy Hornstra was also a huge influence on him. As for favorite memories, he chose hoops when Vernon won consecutive SCIL Festival titles in 1983 and 1984.

"Winning the last two basketball championships was special because you had your classmates involved in the stands and playing in front of big crowds. They stick out the most."

Peat was a member of a talented Class of 1984 both on and off the playing fields as noted with he and Murray going into the Hall as charter members.

"It was a transcendent class in many different ways," said Peat. "It changed the course of Vernon sports forever. It was a great group and a special class."

Peat currently lives in Colorado with his wife, Desiree, and his son, Kellen, who is a standout baseball player at Minot State in South Dakota, where he was an academic All-League selection.