Acclaimed Alumni Notable Alumni in sports from Benedictine

By Jacob Tres ‘24

Throughout Benedictine’s illustrious 113 years of forming Cadets as Christian men of conscience, discipline and achievement there have been a number of notable athletes to come out of Ol’ BC.

Former Major League Baseball (MLB) hurler Bob Chakales graduated from Benedictine in 1945. During his time at BHS, Chakales was named all-state in baseball and basketball, and was also the quarterback of the football team. According to the Christian Science Monitor, Chakales struck out 99 batters in 69 innings in 1944 for Benedictine.

Chakales played seven seasons in MLB for the Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins (formerly the Washington Senators during the time Chakales played with the club) and the Boston Red Sox.

Perhaps one of the greatest athletes to graduate from Ol’ BC is Granny Hamner. During his time at

BHS, Hamner played on the baseball, basketball and football teams.

According to the Society of American Baseball Research Hamner

“made all-state as a football player and one year was elected captain of the baseball, basketball and football teams.” During one of his seasons at BHS, Hamner hit .600 and led the state in doubles as a switch-hitting infielder. Hamner played parts of 17 seasons in MLB and was selected to the All-Star team in 1952, 1953 and 1954. Hamner was also a part of the Phillies “Whiz Kids.”

During his time at Benedictine, Celin Ferrell ‘15 was a defensive lineman on BCP’s 2015 state championship squad.

Ferrell played college football at Clemson, where he won a National Championship in 2016 and 2018 under Dabo Swinney and was a two-time all-American in 2017 and 2018.

Ferrell was selected by the Oakland (Now Las Vegas) Raiders in the 2019 National Football League (NFL) draft with the fourth overall pick. Ferrell would play with the Raiders from 2019 through the 2022 season. On March 16, 2023, Ferrell was signed by the San Francisco 49ers.

A 1955 graduate of Benedictine, Bobby Ross quarterbacked the football team at VMI from 1956 to 1958. Ross coached college football at various Division I schools for 20 years, where he won a national championship in 1990 with Georgia Tech. Ross also was a head coach in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions. He won the 1994 American Football Conference (AFC) championship with the Chargers and coached in Super Bowl XXIX that same year.

Frank Carpin, father of John Carpin and grandfather of Jack and Hank Carpin, played in MLB in 1965 and 1966 appearing in 49 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros as a relief pitcher. During the 1965 season with the Pirates, Carpin had a 3 win and 1 lost record and a 3.18 earned run average in 39 and two thirds of an inning.

Ed Davis played in two seasons for the Cadets basketball team, and during those two years he led Big Green to two VISAA state championships and was a McDonald’s All American selection during his senior season. Davis was a five-star recruit out of Benedictine and played in college at the University of North Carolina averaging 8.2 point per game and winning an NCAA basketball championship in 2009. Davis was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the 13th overall pick in the 2010 National Basketball Association draft. Since then, Davis has played on seven different teams across the NBA and is currently with the Mets de Guaynabo of the Baloncesto Superior.

Benedictine’s only graduate to win a gold medal in the Olympics, Townley Haas is currently the only professional swimmer to come out of BCP. Haas won gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay with Conor Dwyer, Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps. Haas permanently retired from competitive swimming in February 2022.

Rugged Rugby

The Benedictine rugby team is having its most successful season in program history. With a record of 4 wins and 1 loss, the team made it to the state championship for the first time in its history.

The Cadets started off the season strong with three wins in three matches. Coming against Summit Academy, Winchester, and most notably, a 99-0 win against Chelsea. The team is led by top scorers Nathan Howerton ‘23 and Keegan McCallum ‘24, the team is relatively young, 11 of the 23 players are underclassmen, and only five are seniors. On May 13, the Cadets defeated Holy Family 15 to 12 to win the Division II Virginia State Championship “This team has accomplished a lot.” said Howerton, “We have come so far as a team and a program in just a few years.”

The Rugby Program at Benedictine began in the 2015-2016 school year. Until this season the team has never recorded a winning record and in recent years has barely been able to field a team.

Silver Season

After losing three of its first four games, the Benedictine baseball team won 15 of its next 17 games including Trinity Episocal School and the Miller School of Albemarle.

Sophomore Jake Wise led the way in accumulating a 9-1 record including winning the Buddy Ball game against St. Christopher’s. Senior Terrence Rhodes sparked the offense with the most hits on the squad. Junior Elijah Coston turned center-field into a no-fly zone on defense including a game-saving catch and doubling off the runner on second.

The Cadet offense instilled fear into the opposing pitchers’ souls with 22 long balls. For the first time since 2019, Cadets have tallied 20 wins and have done so in eight seasons since 2010. The Cadets will lose six seniors, five of whom are committed to play baseball at the NCAA level.

old. The Knights based at Benedictine are always looking to help pave the road for any Cadets who are interested in joining. “We would love to welcome any 18-year-old students, along with their fathers, to join,” said Knights of Columbus treasurer Dennis Fink. “We would also be happy to have plenty of Gertrude fathers. We currently have 36 active members located on the BSOR campus. We would like to double that number and accomplish more than we have in previous years.”

Cadets who join the Knights automatically receive one thousand dollars, which goes toward college tuition payments. On top of that, the group generously offers close to one million dollars each year in the form of a variety of different scholarships. “I am a recipient currently on a Knights of Columbus scholarship,” said junior Luke Drew. “When I entered Benedictine from Saint Bridget Middle School, along with my two brothers, we all earned the scholarship. It helps pay for the yearly tuition, and we have to maintain at least Caverage grades.”

There have been many famous current and