Lawrence Academy ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME INDUCTION
Saturday, June 6, 2015
2015 INDUCTEES WILLIAM J. STEWART, JR. CLASS OF 1939 THOMAS WARNER CLASS OF 1975 RICHMOND BAKER FACULTY 1955–2001 VICTORIA WELLINGTON HANNA CLASS OF 1997 CRAIG MACDONALD CLASS OF 1995 ANTHONY VOCE CLASS OF 2000 TENNIS TEAM 1965
Reunion Weekend
ATHLETICS AT LA Athletics at Lawrence have come a long way since James Lawrence donated the first gymnasium equipment in 1878. Used by both boys and girls, the gym—which also served as study hall, theatre, and faculty meeting space—featured horizontal bars, dumbbells, and Indian clubs and the like. There were no fields until 1900, when Shumway Field opened, so outdoor “sports” were limited to walking and running. There was, however, a tennis court, which the Student Aid of June, 1889 called “one of the pleasant features connected with our school.” Football had been played informally since around 1880, though the Principal, Mr. Ball, quickly banned it because of the destruction it wrought on the lawns, proposing croquet in its place! With a new field created in 1901, however, the sport caught on quickly. Out of a total school enrollment of 28 boys, 13 were on the team during that first season. Baseball thrived in those days as well, and basketball became a team sport within a few years. The modern era of LA athletics really began with the arrival of young Norman Grant in 1929. He added lacrosse as a varsity sport, and in 1940 the school started construction of the Spaulding-Stearns Athletic Fields. By the end of that decade the Fred C. Gray Building opened, providing the Academy’s first dedicated athletic facility. It included squash courts and a wrestling room, anticipating the addition of that sport in 1950. The athletic program expanded again with the return to coeducation in 1971–72, and the construction of the Stone Athletic Center in 1993 provided up-to-date facilities for both boys and girls. The Academy’s first year in the Independent School League, 1976, saw undefeated football and cross-country teams; football shared the ISL championship. That winter, moreover, boys’ varsity hockey won the ISL Keller Division title. Lawrence’s athletes that year ushered in a new level of competition and recognition. Since that time, Lawrence has celebrated numerous boys’ and girls’ championship teams in the ISL and the New England Division. In addition, many individual athletes have aspired to achieve greatness beyond their days at LA, in collegiate sports and with national teams, both as amateurs and professionals. * * * At this 2015 Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony, we recognize outstanding Lawrence athletes from the old days and the new, carrying out the organization’s mission “to honor and perpetuate the memory of individuals and teams that have made outstanding contributions to the quality of LA athletics and have helped bring recognition, honor, and excellence to the Academy and its athletic program throughout
its history.” As the mission statement concludes, “The Athletic Hall of Fame will highlight athletic character, sportsmanship, achievement, and pride and will strive to provide a positive link between the student-athletes of today and those of the past.” We welcome you on this happy occasion, as we honor members of the Lawrence community, living and dead, who gave of their talents and helped ensure that their school on the hillside would forever remain “worthy of its great renown.”
C OMMITTEE M EMBERS Kevin Potter, P’13, ’15, athletic director, chair Rob Moore, P’04, ’06, ’09, assistant head of school Caroline Heatley, assistant athletic director Sue (Meenan) Barron ’86, P’14, ’17, president of the alumni council Rich Johnson ’74, alumnus Sean Sheehan ’87, director of college counseling Marianne (Crescenzi) Balfour ’88, alumni council member Beth Frissora ’95, alumna Geoff Harlan P’16, ’18, director of annual giving Donna Mastrangelo P’15, ’18, faculty Many thanks to the following members of the LA community who worked hard to establish, produce, and facilitate Lawrence Academy’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Dan Scheibe, head of school Dick Jeffers P’84, ’86, Jeffers Heritage Center Paul Husted ’64, Jeffers Heritage Center John Bishop, director of communications Dale Cunningham P’13, assistant director of communications Bev Rodrigues, editor Joe Sheppard P’93, ’94, retired faculty, writer-at-large Joel Sugerman, director of theatre Linda Deasy, director of finance and operations
ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY O RDER
OF
P ROGRAM
LA Athletics: A Journey Through Time Opening Remarks Dan Scheibe, head of school Welcome Master of Ceremonies Richard Johnson ’74, curator for the New England Sports Museum Facilitators and Presenters Charlie Corey, former faculty Richard Johnson ’74, alumnus Donna Mastrangelo, faculty Kevin Potter, director of athletics Dan Scheibe, head of school Sean Sheehan, faculty Honoring William J. Stewart, Jr. ’39 omas Warner ’75 Richmond Baker, faculty ’55–’01 Tori Wellington Hanna ’97 Craig MacDonald ’95 Anthony Voce ’00 1965 Tennis Team
Closing Remarks Dan Scheibe, head of school
EE 2015 INDUCT
WILLIAM J. STEWART, JR. CLASS OF 1939 F OOTBALL O FFICAL /T HREE -S EASON C OACH AND P LAYER
You could say that Bill Stewart’s lifelong love affair with sports began the day he was born, in October of 1919. His dad was both an umpire for the National League and a referee for the National Hockey League, a position that would move the family from Boston to Chicago after Bill graduated from Boston English High, where he played football, hockey, and baseball. In the fall of 1937, Bill was enrolled Lawrence, where he would spend two busy post-graduate years preparing for Notre Dame and playing hockey for the legendary Norm Grant. Bill continued his three-sport athletic career in college, graduating in just three years because of the advent of World War II. Forty-two months in the Army Air Corps followed, then a master’s degree at Boston University, after which Bill would settle into a 37-year teaching and coaching career at his first alma mater, Boston English. At the end of his career he served as acting principal of the school. Before retiring in 1983, Bill had been elected to the Massachusetts Halls of Fame in all three of his sports. In his honor, the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston established The William J. Stewart, Jr. Award to honor the memory of the man who was a “long-time coach of three sports at Boston English High School and a legendary official at the professional, college, and high school levels.” It is given annually to the high school football official of the year. For a life dedicated to the games he loved and to the generations of young people whom he taught to love them as he did, we proudly add the name of William J. Stewart, Jr. to the Lawrence Academy Athletic Hall of Fame.
LAWRENCE ACADEMY
ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME JUNE 6, 2015
EE 2015 INDUCT
THOMAS WARNER CLASS OF 1975 H OCKEY /C ROSS C OUNTRY
Even though Tom Warner left us far too soon, a victim of a brain tumor at age 22, his name remains a familiar one around Lawrence Academy. Tom was a kind soul and a scholar who entered Amherst College after graduating from Lawrence in 1975. He was also a superb athlete who spent two of his three LA winters on varsity hockey after spending each fall leading the cross-country team to new heights. Tom would play just one season with the Amherst hockey team, but he left his mark there as well, scoring the winning goal in a key game against West Point and getting an assist on the overtime goal that clinched the league title in 1976. His LA friend and cross-country teammate Rich Johnson ’74 recalls, “In 1980 [Tom’s] family and friends established a scholarship fund in his memory at Lawrence Academy and continue to support the fund with donations raised at a five-kilometer walk/run held on reunion week-end each spring on the scenic Lawrence cross-country course. It was here that Tom’s ashes were spread on the crest of the apple orchard in view of the Grant Rink—as close an approximation of heaven as his friends could imagine.” It is fitting that Tom’s name join the list of Lawrence alumni and teachers who have distinguished themselves in the school’s athletic program, for he gave his all while he was a student, and will continue to give for generations to come as we honor his memory every spring.
LAWRENCE ACADEMY
ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME JUNE 6, 2015
EE 2015 INDUCT
RICHMOND BAKER FACULTY 1955–2001 ATHLETIC D IRECTOR / C OACH FOR B ASKETBALL / B ASEBALL /JV F OOTBALL
A faculty colleague once described Richmond Baker, who served the school for 46 years, as “very kid-centered, one of the most eminently fair and upstanding people I’ve ever met.” Some alumni remember him as the long-time coach of varsity basketball and baseball as well as of JV football; to others he was the athletic director, ably succeeding the legendary Norman Grant in that capacity. In the latter part of his career Rich concentrated on teaching biology, though over the years he taught other science courses and “by the way,” to use Mr. Ferguson’s favorite phrase, a section of freshman English in the early years. As athletic director, Richmond played an active role in the transition to coeducation in the early 1970s, helping to build a girls’ athletic program that would grow along with the population of female students. In his honor, a former faculty member established the Richmond Baker Prize, given annually at Graduation to “the female athlete of the senior class who, through her dedication and determination on the athletic field, best demonstrates the qualities of a true leader.” A teacher’s career, however, cannot be summed up in mere lists of offices held or tasks accomplished. Among the real heroes of schools like Lawrence are the “lifers”— those who believe in their school enough, and love it enough, to give their lives to it through good times and bad. Their loyalty is total and profound, their dedication unwavering. From the time when Rich and Edi first welcomed nervous new boys into their home, to the day he taught his last class, Rich gave his life to his “troops,” as a dorm parent, as a teacher, and above all as a coach and mentor to generations of young athletes. With heartfelt thanks to this truly “kid-centered” colleague and friend, we welcome Richmond Baker into Lawrence Academy’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
LAWRENCE ACADEMY
ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME JUNE 6, 2015
EE 2015 INDUCT
VICTORIA WELLINGTON HANNA CLASS OF 1997 S OCCER /B ASKETBALL /L ACROSSE
A high school All-American lacrosse player as a senior at Lawrence and a three-season captain, Tori earned twelve varsity letters, in soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. Along the way, she garnered All-League honors in all three sports, plus AISGA All-Star awards in soccer and basketball and NEPSAC and Boston Globe all-star basketball honors. At the University of Maryland, College Park, where she majored in communications, Tori played in 17 out of 22 games as a college freshman. As a starting defensive player, she helped lead the team to four national championships. Co-captaining the squad in her senior year, she earned second team All-American selection by College Lacrosse USA and Inside Lacrosse, along with All-ACC honors. After college, Tori played on the USA National lacrosse team before embarking on a highly successful career with Under Armour. A positive, energetic, and enthusiastic student at Lawrence, Tori earned respect not only for her prodigious athletic talents, but for her leadership in the community and her kind and considerate nature. At graduation her junior year, it was only fitting that she was awarded the Thomas B. Warner Memorial Prize, given annually to an incoming senior who has “demonstrated a remarkable determination to achieve to his or her fullest potential in the classroom, on the athletic field, and in the extra-curricular activities of the school.” Moreover, as a senior Tori earned the Richmond Baker Prize, awarded by vote of the varsity coaches “to the female athlete of the senior class, who, through her dedication and determination on the athletic field, best demonstrates the qualities of a true leader.” It is with pride and gratitude for a job well done that we induct Tori Wellington Hanna into the Athletic Hall of Fame. LAWRENCE ACADEMY
ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME JUNE 6, 2015
EE 2015 INDUCT
CRAIG MACDONALD CLASS OF 1995 C ROSS C OUNTRY /H OCKEY /G OLF
A top scholar as well as a star athlete at Lawrence, Craig was “the epitome of a studentathlete,” in coach Charlie Corey’s words. In just two years at the Academy, he captained three sports—cross-country, hockey, and golf—winning league MVP honors in the latter two. In hockey, his greatest sport, Craig was named an all-league player twice, and as a senior was named All-New England after setting an all-time season scoring record of 77 points and leading his team to the ISL championship. It was only fitting, at his graduation, that Craig was given the Faculty Prize, awarded to a senior “whose conduct and character have contributed much to making the Academy the type of school to which a parent would wish to send a son or daughter.” Craig’s many talents earned him a scholarship to Harvard, where he studied economics for two years before being drafted by the Hartford Whalers. Joining the Canadian National team for a year, he then moved with the Whalers’ franchise to North Carolina, where he played his first NHL game in January of 1999. After playing for NHL teams for several years, Craig signed with the DEG Metro Stars of the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga, staying in Germany for two seasons. Retiring from the pros after a dozen years, Craig has returned home to Nova Scotia, where he is finishing his college education. Craig gave his all to a sport he loved, just as he will to his new career in finance. Always an athlete and always a student, he has earned, along with our respect and admiration, a place of honor in Lawrence Academy’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
LAWRENCE ACADEMY
ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME JUNE 6, 2015
EE 2015 INDUCT
ANTHONY VOCE CLASS OF 2000 F OOTBALL /H OCKEY
Coming to Groton, Massachusetts, from his home in Philadelphia probably provided Tony with a good case of culture shock, but he was more than up to the challenge. By the end of his senior year he became, in the words of one veteran coach, “the best all-around male athlete the school has ever had.” A three-sport varsity athlete at Lawrence, Tony earned all-league honors in football three times, and was named league MVP as a senior. He graduated as the Academy’s all-time leading scorer and rusher and led the football team to an ISL championship in 1998. It is in hockey, however, that Tony made his greatest mark in the LA record books. His four years on the hockey team saw three ISL championships, capped by an undefeated season in 2000. With 206 career points, he remains the all-time leading scorer in Lawrence Academy hockey history, and he holds the same honor in the ISL. Tony stayed true to form at Boston College, where he was twice named MVP of the hockey team. He got the winning assist in a national championship game in 2001, as a freshman. In his senior year, Tony finished second in the nation in goals, and was named to the All-Hockey East First Team. That year, too, he was named AHCA First Team All-American. Six years in the pros followed graduation from B.C., as Tony was signed as a free agent by his hometown Philadelphia Flyers. Playing for their AHL. minor league affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms, he was one of the team’s top scorers, with 50 goals in two seasons. Stints with other teams followed, and Tony ended his professional career playing for German and Austrian hockey leagues. Now in the insurance business, Tony still coaches hockey. We honor him today for giving beyond the call to his school and to his teams, and welcome him with pride into the Lawrence Academy Hall of Fame. LAWRENCE ACADEMY
ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME JUNE 6, 2015
EE 2015 INDUCT
TENNIS TEAM 1965
The ’65 tennis team would have felt right at home here on campus this year, for Captain Andy Durham ’65 recalled in an e-mail that, upon returning from spring break, they once had to shovel three feet of snow off the upper courts so they could start practicing! Blisters and sore backs paid off, for there have been just two undefeated varsity tennis teams at Lawrence in the fifty years since the racquetmen of ’65 trounced every one of the nine schools on their schedule. In those pre-ISL days there was no championship to be won, but it’s clear from the team’s record—they beat every opponent by wide margins—that Andy and his squad would have stood proudly at the top of the league, had it existed then. Several members of the team went on to achieve at various levels of competitive tennis and both Andy and Jeff Hamilton have enjoyed highly successful careers as coaches. Their late coach, veteran faculty member Roy Davis, would share their pride as we induct into the Athletic Hall of Fame Captain Durham and his teammates: Bill Aldrich ’65, Dick Boothby ’66, Doug Crawford ’68, Chandler Grinnell ’65, Jeff Hamilton ’67, Bobby Orchard ’65, Wayne Spacek ’65, and Jimmy Wright ’67. Congratulations and thanks to the 1965 varsity tennis team for a job superbly done!
LAWRENCE ACADEMY
ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME JUNE 6, 2015
To set the cause above renown, To love the game beyond the prize From Clifton Chapel, by Sir Henry Newbolt (1862-1938)