ATHLETIC GREATNESS

In 1981, a young math teacher and coach by the name of Kevin Slaughter joined the Academy. During his short time here, he made a considerable contribution when he led the charge to establish a new Hall of Fame. The effort was designed to honor alumni who represent the ideal combination of student and athlete.

To get the ball rolling, Slaughter served as chairman of the committee and helped design the criteria used to choose the inductees. “Kevin was always interested in athletics,” said Barbara Vestergaard P’96 P’02, the office manager for Development and Alumni Relations at Cheshire Academy and friend of Kevin Slaughter. “He was a lifeguard in high school and college. He was a fantastic soccer player and later coach, and he really believed you could reach a student through sports.”

Vestergaard said that Slaughter was considered strict, and held his players to a high level of sportsmanship and responsibility. “But, his players loved him,” she said. “He and his wife Jeannie often hosted teams and boys from Von der Porten Hall in their apartment.” It was this love of athletics and respect for the game that inspired Slaughter to form a Hall of Fame that would recognize truly outstanding players.

“He scoured the yearbooks and found all sorts of great athletes,” noted Vestergaard. “It was basically a one- or two-person alumni and development office back then; the school was just starting to come back after a good 15 years of hard times, so the budgets were very tight.”

Kevin didn’t let that deter the development of the Hall of Fame that he envisioned. “He volunteered to go through yearbooks, create rosters, and look for athletes who would fit the criteria that he helped set for the fledgling society,” she said. Slaughter wasn’t alone in his efforts, though, with now former Senior Master Bevan Dupre ’69 by his side.

However, disaster struck before he could see his idea put into place. Slaughter tragically died in a scuba diving accident in 1986. His unexpected passing left a void at the Academy. “Kevin was a high-energy, driven, dedicated, loyal, and fun individual and he really made his mark here at the Academy in a short time,” Vestergaard said, and the school didn’t let his hard work go unrecognized. The school community continued to bring Slaughter’s vision for a Hall of Fame to life, and Dupre took the lead.

It was only fitting that those involved decided to name the new society after the man who made it possible. Former Athletic Director Bill Casson said, “Bevan became the the strongest advocate [for the project] and naming the Hall of Fame after Kevin was his idea.” Since 1987, 85 alumni, one coach, and two teams have been inducted into the Kevin Slaughter Memorial Hall of Fame. The original inductees were all male, but on the 10-year anniversary of the Hall of Fame’s founding, the first female athlete was honored, Maria Onofrio Amendola ’82. Since then, five other women have been recognized: Amy Solomon Dupre ’80, Lynn Alfonsi Flynn ’89, Gail Murphy Otis ’90, Bridget Thornton ’05, and Maria Farreras ’06. Farreras is the most recent alumna to be honored, having been inducted during the 2016 Reunion in May. She is the first professional female athlete to be included in the Hall of Fame, having played soccer for the Futbol Club Barcelona in Spain.

Consideration for the Hall of Fame

To be considered for nomination, alumni must have earned two varsity letters in either the same sport, or for one-year students, two different sports. In addition, nominees should have received outstanding recognition in their sport either at Cheshire Academy, in college, or professionally. Candidates must also have been active in one or more non-athletic endeavors and be a graduate of the Academy or hold a postgraduate certificate. Inductees are now chosen by the Hall of Fame committee. Two of the original committee members, Dupre and Vestergaard, are still active. Other volunteers have included representatives of the athletic department, Development and Alumni Relations Office, and former coach and Hall of Fame inductee, Stewart Lindsay Jr., who founded the lacrosse program at the Academy in 1962.

Hall of Fame Notables

Some notable inductees who played pro football are: John Zilly ’41 of the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles, John Panelli ’45 of the Detroit Lions, and Peter Perrault ’58, who spent nine years in the pros playing for various teams, including the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings.

Board of Trustees overseer Frank Motter ’61 P’97 played with the Montreal Alouettes and the Quebec Riflers, Frank Quayle ’65 went pro with the Denver Broncos, Tom Silvanic ’66 played for the Jets and the Cleveland Browns, and Pat McCaskey ’68 made a career with the front office of the Chicago Bears.

He really believed you could reach a student through sports.

Tennis greats who were inducted include board of trustees member Lenny Simpson ’68, the youngest man to play in the U.S. Open (see our profile of Simpson on page 46); Frank Shields ’30, grandfather of Brooke Shields, played at Wimbledon and in the 1934 Davis Cup Challenge; and David Markin ’48, a former USTA President.

Some baseball and basketball standouts are Dan Zailskas ’65, who played for the Philadelphia Phillies and is in the Boston College Hall of Fame, and round ball greats such as longtime college coach Howie Dickenman ’65; Lee Green ’90, a McDonald’s and Street and Smith All-American, and a pro player in Switzerland; and JoJo Outlaw ’91, a Nike Prep and Street and Smith All American who is currently a Special Operations Strategic Planner for the US Army. Wrestling has had standouts such as Werner Seel ’50, whose long career included both state championships in high school and college as well as being inducted into the Southeastern Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame and Delaware County Athletes Hall of Fame, and Tommy Scheer ’61, who has supported NCAA level wrestling for decades.

Cary Palulis ’64 is an inductee whose team won the Penn Relay Mile Championship in 1964 and was inducted into the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Hall of Fame. Other runners who have been honored are Teo Risquez ’68, who was a member of the Venezuelan Olympic team, and Toby Slocum ’91, who was born with spina bifida, but has finished both the New York and Boston Marathons a number of times.

Lacrosse inductees include Joe Della-Corte ’63, who was the national scoring champion in 1966 for Fairleigh Dickinson University, and former Lacrosse Coach Stewart Lindsay, who was named as a member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1976. Award-winning sports reporter Rick McGowan ’64, who was inducted in 2014, played for Lindsay.

Overcoming hardship, learning new skills, and, yes, training until near exhaustion, are just some of the overarching lessons that are shared by each and every member of the Kevin Slaughter Memorial Hall of Fame.