The Madison Athletic Hall of Fame congratulates the Class of 2023. The induction ceremony will take place Thursday, October 5th at the Madison Beach Hotel. Inductees will also be honored the following night at the halftime of the home football game at Strong Field.
Congratulations to the Class of 2023!
Maureen "Mo" Bransfield - Athlete - Class of 1982 Field Hockey/Basketball/Softball
Jason Fernstrom - Athlete - Class of 1991 Football/Wrestling
Ryan Fodor - Athlete - Class of 2005 Football/Basketball
Kate Heritage McWain - Athlete - Class of 1996 Field Hockey/Basketball/Lacrosse
Tom Hopkins - Athlete - Class of 1995 Football/Track & Field/Basketball
Anthony Mancini, Sr. - Exemplary Contributor - (Commenced 1989) Soccer
Tracey Potter - Athlete - Class of 1981 Track & Field/Field Hockey
Dawn Robinson Stearns - Athlete - Class of 1979 Field Hockey/Basketball/Softball
Brendan VanDeventer - Athlete - Class of 1975 Basketball/Track & Field
Beth Woodford Metcalfe - Athlete - Class of 1978 Track & Field
Heather Brown
Heather Brown
Athlete - Class of 1984 Golf/Softball/Field Hockey
Coach - Girls Golf
Heather Brown began the road to the Hall of Fame at Daniel Hand High School in 1980 as a three-sport athlete in field hockey, softball and golf. She was a varsity letter winner in each of these sports. However, it was golf that became her passion and it allowed her to pursue an illustrious career. Heather complied with the gender equity issues that was prevalent in 1982, for there was no girls' golf team at Hand High School. Her golf skills were so exceptional that she made the cut on the boy's team. Not only did Heather excel versus other boys' teams, but she was elected Hand boys' golf Co-captain in 1983 and 1984. She was selected to the All-Conference Team in the spring of 1984 as well.
Heather's golf prowess did not go unnoticed. Appalachian State University recruited her as a scholarship golf athlete in 1984. From 1984-1988, she shined in golf at the Division I collegiate level and was chosen captain in 1987. Heather won the Winthrop Invitational in 1988 and was selected as the MVP of her team that same year.
Heather was hired by Appalachian State University in 2008 as Head Women's Golf Coach. Her coaching achievements have been remarkable. She has coached over 30 Academic All-Americans and her team has reigned as a conference top five GPA's or better in each of her years as the coach. Heather has coached an individual conference champion, freshmen of the year, three all-conference players and one player that qualified for the U.S. Amateur Tournament. Individually, her athletes reflect Heather's drive for success, and as a result so have her teams. Appalachian State won 11 collegiate team titles, over 30 top five finishes and set the lowest conference tournament round in school history.
Heather Brown's talents have brought her university numerous positive accolades. She remains the Head Women's Coach and Director of the Golf Program at Appalachian State University. She is a Class A PGA Professional.
The Madison Athletic Hall of Fame is honored and proud to induct Heather Brown to the class of 2022.
Kristen Conlon Mierzekewski
Kristen Conlon Mierzejewski
Athlete - Class of 1996 Softball/Gymnastics
"The epitome of a coach's perfect player." Statistics tell just one side of a sports story. But any great athlete is more than their statistics.
Kristen Conlon Mierzejewski, Daniel Hand Class of 1996, softball star and gymnast, was the "epitome of a coach's perfect player. She had great character, an outstanding work ethic, and unparalleled leadership," said 2017 Hall of Fame inductee and softball coach Ray Ezell.
Kristen was a four-year letter winner for Hand Softball from 1993-1996. In Ezell's 18 years at the helm of Hand Softball, she held five of 11 offensive records including most doubles, triples, stolen bases, and highest on base and base on ball percentages. During her four years, the team won the Shoreline Championship, made it to two CIAC Class L Quarterfinals and two Semifinal rounds. Off the field, Kristen also performed for the Hand Gymnastics team in three of her high school years, including the 1993 State Championship team with 2014 inductee Melissa Tott Arms and 2021 inductee Rebecca Shanley Gordon.
On May 16, 1996, the New Haven Register featured Kristen with co-captain and 2015 Hall Of Fame inductee Jennifer Vuolo Brown on the front page of the sports section. Ezell said of the co-captains at the time, "They lead by being field rats - they play every summer…" He continued, "Kristen is very athletic, she has a cannon for an arm and she runs well. Kristen has hit the long ball [for us]." The newspaper listed her batting average as over .400 as a junior and senior, and she was named All-Shoreline and All-SCC those two years. At the time of the article, Hand softball was 13-4 on the season and an impressive 69-20 over the four years of the Conlon-Vuolo era.
Ezell described his most memorable moment of Kristen's career as a win against Watertown in the 1996 State Tournament. With a 1-0 lead going into the top of the sixth inning, she cleared the bases with a grand slam to secure a 5-0 victory. "She was the master of the strike zone," said Ezell. "When Kristen found a pitch to her liking she was an extra bases machine."
Memorable moments didn't end on Green Hill Road. Kristen took her high school success with her to Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts where she was a member of the Class of 2000, a group of women who in 2022, still hold the Wheaton record as the most successful softball class in school history with a total of 156 wins in their four years. Kristen was named to the NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team in 1998 and 1999 and was an NCAA Regional All American in 1998. Her freshman season, in 1997, the Wheaton Lyons played in the Division III World Series placing third. She batted .333 that season with 13 runs, six doubles, 18 RBI and nine stolen bases as the team went 45-7. In the World Series, as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning against the defending champion College of New Jersey, Kristen hit an RBI double that sparked a rally and a 4-3 win to take home the third place finish. Over the next few years, she was elected by her teammates as a Wheaton Athletic Mentor for three seasons and was elected Team Captain in 1999 and 2000.
Kristen lives in Clinton, Connecticut, recently leaving a long tenure as Assistant Vice President and Marketing Manager at Guilford Savings Bank to raise her daughter, Molly, with husband Bryan Mierzejewski.
Kevin Dolan
Kevin Dolan
Athlete - Class of 1976 Soccer
Kevin Dolan is arguably one of the top five soccer players ever in Madison! He started varsity his sophomore, junior, and senior years (1973 – 75). He led the team in scoring all three seasons. He was All-Shoreline his last two years and was the first DHHS soccer player to make All-State.
Kevin led Hand to their first win over Guilford in over a decade in his senior year. He scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory. Madison did not beat Guilford for another 11 years when the Parri brothers led Hand to the first ever league championship. That team had all benefitted from playing for Kevin for many years. Previous Hall of Fame inductees, Kevin Flynn, Brian Parri, and Steve Parri, all wrote letters in praise of Kevin's influence on their lives, their dedication and motivation to excel in soccer.
After high school, Kevin played in England and started for the "Select Team" from the USA.
At Roger Williams University (1977 – 80), Kevin started varsity all four years. He was their leading scorer his sophomore and junior years and their MVP his junior and senior years!
He was All-Conference his senior year and led the team to their first conference championship and their first post-season tournament in school history.
Kevin's contributions to Madison youth soccer are unparalleled. He coached youth, travel, and high school (as well as college) from 1982 to 1991. Took a year off and then coached from 1993 to 2014. During those years, his teams won many league and tournament championships. He took youth and high school teams to play in Bermuda, Barbados, England, Ireland (of course!), Italy, and Costa Rica.
For four decades, he inspired Madison youth to play and love soccer. His efforts helped set the stage for DHHS boys' soccer to win four straight Class L State Championships (2016 – 2019) and for Scott Testori to be named National Player of the Year by The United Soccer Coaches in 2020.
Kevin started the first annual Alumni Game and the Christopher Dolan Scholarship Fund in 1981. He was also a player and coach for Madison AFC, a Madison semipro team which played in the top division in Connecticut for many years.
Kevin's drive in sports carried over to his painting business. After 40 years making Shoreline homes beautiful, inside and out, his reputation is among the best.
He and Lorraine have been married almost 40 years. Judging from Kevin's involvement with coaching soccer for most of those years, Lorraine must be destined for sainthood!
They have been blessed with four children: Brady (Lacey), Keara (Brian), Ryan, and Kirsten (Joshua). An additional blessing are their four grandchildren: Donavan, Suede, Emma, and Colton, with one on the way.
Bill Ferguson
Bill Ferguson
Athlete - Class of 1971 Basketball/Track & Field
Bill's early years were spent growing up on a farm in the Pacific Northwest. The Ferguson family moved from the state of Washington to Madison in his freshman year of high school, arriving at DHHS on the first day of basketball tryouts. Bill at 6'5"and his older brother, Scott, at 6'8" had an immediate impact on the DHHS boys' basketball prospects.
Bill Ferguson was one of the top athletes to ever play track and basketball at DHHS. With his athleticism, at 6'5" and 215 pounds, he would have been outstanding in football and lacrosse (not offered until 1980) as well. Bill excelled in the throwing events in track his junior and senior years. He set the record for both the shot put and discus his junior year. His shot put of 54'61/2" won the state championship in his senior year and was the record for DHHS for over 45 years. Bill also placed third in the discus throw in that state meet with a distance of 156'7".
Since basketball was a more popular sport in town, Bill was better known for his basketball talent. Bill was a power forward his junior and senior years on teams that combined for a record of 37 wins and 6 losses. Hand had its best record ever with 21 wins and one loss (to South Windsor) in the state finals his junior year. In the semifinal game against Bridgeport's Kolbe Cathedral, Bill led the team to a 77–73 victory with 19 points, 15 rebounds and Hand's first ever State Finals appearance. His senior year, Bill led Hand to a 16-4 regular season record. Unfortunately, injuries to Bill and David Tull prevented Hand from advancing in the tournament. However, Bill, fellow MAHOF inductee Wayne Wielgus, and David Tull all made the All–Shoreline team. Bill and Wayne both made Second Team All-State as well.
Bill was a Boys State Delegate from his class and received the Harvard Book Prize given to the outstanding junior boy his junior year. In his senior year he was named a New Haven Tap Off Club Scholar Athlete, was president of the student council and was a National Merit Scholar Letter of Commendation winner.
After graduation from DHHS, Bill followed his brother Scott to Yale. He played freshman basketball at Yale but an aggravated knee injury his sophomore year ended his college career. After his sophomore year, Bill transferred to Washington State University to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. Bill worked in construction in Alaska and Montana while attending Washington State and the University of Washington before earning a doctorate in veterinary medicine with honors from Washington State in 1980.
After interning with a mixed animal practice in Southern Oregon, Bill started his own practice that was limited to horses in Eagle Point, Oregon, a small town in the Rogue River Valley just below Crater Lake National Park. The practice grew into the largest equine medical and surgical practice in Southern Oregon over the next forty years. He retired from practice in 2019.
Bill and his wife Birte, who is an avid endurance rider, divide their time between their horse farm in Eagle Point and their property on the Oregon coast in Bandon. Bill has a daughter, Sarah, who lives in Portland, Oregon.
Pat Fitzgerald
Pat Fitzgerald
Coach - (1970s-1990s) Girls Swimming
Patricia Fitzgerald is very well known in the swimming community of Madison. Without Pat there would be no swim programs or swim teams. She is the sole reason these programs exist and thrive with a tradition of excellence in the town of Madison.
Pat grew up swimming and sailing in Long Island Sound where her coaching career began unintentionally. The town sponsored a summer swim team In the 70's with practices at Surf Club. With seven children, summer swim team was a great activity. Her four older children swam and her three younger ones played on the beach.
In speaking with other parents, Pat learned about the YMCA swim team that included swimmers aged 6-18. She signed her children up and started timing at swim meets. Certification followed as a stroke and turn judge and starter. By the time all seven of her children were swimming, she was spending a few hours a day at the pool and helping out. The coach quit soon after and Pat became the head coach at the Middlesex YMCA.
Back in Madison, Pat passed her Water Safety Instructor course and started teaching swimming lessons in her backyard pool. A generation of North Madison kids learned to swim at 26 Princess Drive. Pat encouraged them to swim year-round and, at one point, had 20 swimmers from Princess Drive and nearby commuting to Middletown for winter practices. The majority of these swimmers were middle school and high school aged girls.
It was at this point that Pat recognized the need for a swim program at the high school level and more swim programs in the town of Madison. Pat along with parents and administrators started the DHHS girl's swim club in the mid 70's. Even though there was no pool in town that did not stop Pat from getting the program off the ground. They practiced outside at Surf Club, Camp Laurelwood and inside at the Westbrook YMCA and the H-K High School pool. They didn't have access to a pool every day so they did weights and dry land exercise at the high school. Pat even went and got her bus driver's license so she could transport all the club members to their various practice locations.
Pat, the girls and their parents attended many school board meetings. Finally, through ongoing lobbying efforts, the first full DHHS girls' swim team attended the Class M championships. She continued to grow the girls' program during her tenure and the team has become a powerhouse in the SCC and has won state championship titles. Many swimmers from the DHHS girls' swim team have gone on to be amazing collegiate swimmers. The program has produced many All Americans, All State and All SCC swimmers. Many state and SCC records are still held to this day by Daniel Hand High School swimmers.
Pat also coached individual boy swimmers as one man teams starting in 1992. She was instrumental in starting the DHHS boys' team and volunteered from 2011-2016. Pat stopped coaching the girls' team back in 1995 but continued to volunteer at home swim meets.
The current DHHS coaches starting giving out "The Pat Fitzgerald LAP Award" for excellence in Leadership and Academics during the 2016-2017 seasons for both boys and girls. She coached her five daughters through her years at Hand and was able to watch two of her grandchildren swim for Hand (one granddaughter and one grandson). Her grandson was captain this past season and went on to be a YMCA National Qualifier. His favorite memory was going over his Grandmother's house and getting tips from her on how to be faster at his next swim meet. Pat is hoping to see her youngest two grandchildren swim on the boys' team in the next few years.
Pat always found time to be involved in swimming even after retiring from coaching. She continued to volunteer at swim meets, taught her 20 grandchildren and three great grandchildren how to swim when they visit her at home in her backyard pool. She enjoys watching them and giving them tips on what they can do to improve. She also enjoys reading articles in the paper about the success of the current teams and goes to home swim meets whenever she can.
Jacob Naylor
Jacob "TJ" Naylor
Athlete - Class of 1999 Football/Track & Field/Wrestling/Basketball
In the spring of 1995, a young man from Newark New Jersey took the long ride up to Madison. He was leaving the city and its tough streets for an idyllic New England hamlet tucked on the Connecticut shoreline. He was drawn by the opportunity to have a better life and live out his dream of playing organized high school football.
The organization that was affording him this was the A Better Chance (ABC) Program. ABC is a national organization dedicated to providing opportunities for under privileged boys and girls to attend schools in communities like Madison. The students live in a beautiful home and are supervised by resident advisors. In addition, they each are assigned to a host family and have an academic advisor along with daily tutoring. The rest is on the boys of Roby house.
TJ choose Madison because he immediately felt at home and was drawn to the directors Steve and Ginny Davis along with the organization's leader Mrs. Priscilla MacInnis. He felt as though he was surrounded by brothers in the house both young and old all who were there to help. TJ wasn't in town for an hour when he signed up to play Hand football.
Over the next four seasons, TJ would be a starter and play on the 1997 State Championship team. "TJ was a good sized and explosive athlete who gave everything he had on the football field. It was impossible to out-work him and his teammates looked up to him even as a young player," said football coach Steve Sekula. Teammate Dan Brand says, "TJ was never affected by the ups and downs of the game he was truly a next play guy. He had a short memory. We all respected him because we knew that he had much more to overcome than any of us. He was a silent assassin on the field."
For his efforts, he was selected to the 1998 All SCC Defensive team as a cornerback. In addition to football, he also accumulated varsity letters in track, wrestling and basketball. TJ is among the handful of male athletes in modern Hand history to have competed for three seasons each of his high school years. As a track athlete, TJ excelled in the 4 x 400 relay which set a school record in his senior year. He also served as that team's captain.
In February of his senior year, TJ was called out of English class to attend a meeting with a football coach from Bryant. The coach had watched film and wanted to offer him a visit to the university. TJ was not sure he wanted to play college football but, out of deference to head coach Steve Filippone, he agreed to go. "I loved the visit and felt very much at home with the players and coaches and decided to accept Bryant's offer." TJ recalls that it was his goal at that time to study marketing because of a class he had taken at Hand with Mrs. Drew. "She told us that, if we weren't sure about a major, marketing was a can't-miss!" He thought that he would play football for only a year before devoting all his time to studies.
That year turned into four. TJ started all four years at Bryant as a corner that was often tasked with locking down the opponent's best receiver. He recalls a game his junior year against Bentley where he was asked to cover their 6'3" inch speedster. The game went to four overtimes and the receiver he was covering scored TD's in three of the periods. Bryant eventually lost the game but TJ remembers his position coach telling him that those are the kind of challenges life would always throw at him and he had met it head on and never blinked.
Those were words that he would be reminded of after his graduation from Bryant as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. TJ had attended Bryant on a full scholarship offered by the army's ROTC program. After once turning it down only to be put on the right track by a dogged financial aide advisor who convinced him of the value associated with a commission in the military.
His first deployment was in 2005 as a tank platoon leader in South Korea. In 2006 he returned to the states and was given the job of training tank crews at Fort Knox Kentucky. Also in 2006, he was deployed to Iraq and served as a military advisor to the Iraqi Army where he saw action fighting alongside Iraqi forces. In 2008 he returned to Iraq as an advisor attached to the Iraqi National Police Force working with them on logistics. This was the first of many commands in logistics.
In 2010 as a company commander, he was deployed to Haiti to aide in disaster relief after an earthquake devastated the island. This was the last of his deployments before returning to the states to continue his career in modeling and simulations. While in the military, he received master's degrees in business and leadership from Touro University and engineering with a concentration on modeling and simulation from the University of Central Florida. He currently has attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and is working with defense contractors to develop new technologies to improve the training of our troops.
Coach Filippone says of TJ, "When all things are considered, although not home grown, TJ Naylor remains a powerful example of what a community can do to help bring the best out in a fantastic human being. He made the most of every chance he was given and brought great pride to his family, ABC, the Madison community, Hand football and anyone who has been fortunate enough to cross his path. He is and always has been the consummate leader and his service to our country and the men in his command sets him apart. The Army will eventually lose him, but we never will."
TJ lives in Orlando Florida with his wife Arielle and four children, Jayla, Alanna, Angelize, and Charlie. Recently TJ and a number of ABC alumni formed the Roby House Alumni Association to provide support in the form of scholarships and mentoring opportunities to current, future and past students.
Rebekah Pite
Rebekah Pite
Athlete - Class of 1991 Soccer/Lacrosse
Rebekah was lucky enough to be born in 1972, the year Title IX passed, and into a family that valued athletics. She participated in youth soccer and, when she got to Daniel Hand, was fast and honed in on defense, becoming a starter. She played stopper, outside back and by her senior year, sweeper in front of her good friend, fellow captain and 2021 Inductee, Michelle Conroy McBean. In one of her first varsity games, she was charged with marking Kristine Lilly from Wilton, who was a member of the US Women's Soccer team for 23 years starting in high school. Kristine "only" scored four goals. Beka was selected for the Premier State Team 1989-90, was First Team All Shoreline in 1990, received Team Defense Award and Smith College Advanced Camp All-Star in 1989.
Daniel Hand initiated varsity lacrosse in 1988 and Beka decided to give it a try. She came home the first day from practice with a huge grapefruit sized swollen bump on her thigh saying, "This game is so fun!" She played JV one year and became a three-year varsity starter playing attack wing, and was elected co-caption her senior year. She was a Hampshire Women's Lacrosse Association Junior All Star, scoring two goals in the game. She was Hand's second leading scorer in 1991 with 38 goals and their assist leader with 16. At USA Lacrosse Camp in 1989, her 3 v 3 team won the tournament.
She was recognized for her scholarship and sportsmanship as well, receiving the Shoreline Interscholastic Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete Award 1990 and Robert M Duncanson Sportsmanship Award in 1991.
She continued her love affair with soccer and lacrosse at Amherst College. She was a four-year starter on the varsity soccer team, playing outside back and was a co-captain her senior year. The team made the ECAC tournament each of her four years and won the Little Three Championship against Williams and Wesleyan in 1994. In their first year of eligibility, she helped lead the team to its first NCAA berth and Sweet 16. She was a four-year starter on the varsity lacrosse team playing attack and defensive wing.
Rebekah trained in Spain with the Barcelona Women's Football Club after college and has continued to play in adult leagues in Northern Virginia, Ann Arbor, MI, and Lehigh Valley, PA. She also has coached YMCA youth soccer teams for both of her children. After a year in Spain, she worked for four years in Washington, D.C. before entering a Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan in 2000. She received a dual doctorate with distinction in 2007 in Latin American History and Women's Studies. She accepted a tenure track position at Lafayette College that same year. She was awarded tenure at Lafayette College in 2014 and became a full professor and History Department Chair in July of 2022. She has published two books: Creating a Common Table in Twentieth-Century Argentina: Doña Petrona, Women & Food (Chapel Hill: UNC Press 2013), La Mesa Esta Servida: Dona Petrona C. de Gandulfo, (Edhasa, 2016) and many academic articles. She plans to publish a third book, Between the Herb and the Cup: How Yerba Mate Shaped Daily Life and National Identity in South America with UNC Press in 2023.
She has concentrated her Latin American studies on Argentina and has lived in Buenos Aires for two extended periods as well as traveled there for many shorter periods. Her first extended time was during graduate school with her husband, Chris Eckman, 2003-2004, and second with her husband and children, 2015-2016.
She has received many honors for her academic work: Fulbright U.S. Scholar, U.S. Department of Education, 2016; Southern Cone Studies Section Social Sciences Book Award Prize, 2014; Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Lecture Award, Lafayette College, 2014; Gourmand Prize for the Best Latin American Cuisine Book published in the United States, 2013; R.K. Mellon Summer Research Fellowships, Lafayette College, Summers 2011 and 2014; Fulbright-Hays Fellowship for Argentina, U.S. Department of Education, 2003-2004.
Rebekah is the daughter of William J Pite, DDS, now of Old Saybrook, and Lindalea Ludwick, who still lives in Madison. She has two younger sisters, Jessica Pite McNamara and Alexandra Pite. Her partner in life is Chris Eckman, a fellow Amherst alum and athlete, who coaches youth basketball in Easton, PA and baseball at Moravian Academy, in Bethlehem, PA where he teaches history and economics. They are the proud parents of Sofia Pite Eckman, who loves musical theater and dance, and Elijah Pite Eckman, who loves any game played with a ball.
Lawrence Spinnato
Lawrence "LJ" Spinnato
Athlete - Class of 2002 Football/Wrestling/Track & Field Coach/Football/Wrestling
Lawrence J. Spinnato, (LJ), had a stellar high school career as a rare 12 varsity letter winner at Daniel Hand High School in the sports of football, wrestling and track & field.
He was a defensive lineman in football and became a four-year starter and captain of the 2001 team. All-Conference, All-State and New Haven Register All- Area were just some of LJ's honors in football.
The wrestling team prospered by the accomplishments of LJ. Again, an extraordinary four-year starter, varsity letterman and captain of the 2002 team. He had 121-19 career record while winning the SCC Championship and the Connecticut State Championship for two consecutive years. In addition, LJ finished in the top five in the State Open Championships in his junior and senior years.
Once again, another varsity letter winner for four years in track & field. LJ was elected captain and, not only did LJ set the school record in the hammer throw, but he also placed first as a junior and as a senior in the State Track Champion in the hammer event.
A three sport captain and 12-time varsity letter winner is extremely commendable but his exemplary leadership set the tone for the success of his teams at Daniel Hand High School.
LJ's triumphs in three sports did not go unnoticed. His high school athletic career was transformed into becoming one of the leading contributors for athletics at Amherst College where he was elected captain of the 2005 football team and was selected First Team All- Conference both his junior and senior years. LJ continued his football by playing overseas in Denmark.
In addition to football, he threw the hammer in college and became the 2005 New England Small College Hammer Champion.
LJ has been the head football coach at Choate-Rosemary Hall since 2014. His leadership established a football powerhouse among the New England Prep Schools. His career record is an incredible 61-5. His teams were six-time Class-A New England Prep School Bowl Champions and held the #1 rank in New England on five occasions. LJ was named New England Coach of the Year in 2012.
LJ is the Assistant Director of Admissions at Choate-Rosemary Hall, College Athletic Recruitment Director as well as the Head Football Coach.
He and his wife, Alexandra Spinnato, daughter Samantha and Godzilla, the dog, reside in Wallingford, Ct.
His athletic accomplishments, leadership qualities and academic achievements at Daniel Hand High School, Amherst College and Choate has given the Madison community pride. The MAHOF is honored to induct Lawrence J. Spinnato.
Art Symonds
Art Symonds
Exemplary Contributor
Madison Athletic Hall of Fame
Class of 1972
The Madison Athletic Hall of Fame (MAHOF) Board of Directors and Executive Committee Members are proud to recognize Art Symonds (DHHS Class of 1972) as an Exemplary Contributor inductee for his contributions to our organization.
Since the onset of the Hall of Fame in 2013, Art has been actively involved as the primary Executive Committee member responsible for overseeing the nomination committee's responsibilities including selecting inductees and ensuring the highest integrity of the selection and voting process. Art was officially, and unanimously, named Nomination Chairperson and appointed a member of the Board of Directors in this capacity.
The process of identifying the accomplishments of our nominees is extensive and is of the highest integrity primarily due to Art's structure and the detail he has established for this process. Since 2013, Art has defined this role through long hours of extensive research and verification of data. It has always been a priority of Art's to ensure that each nominee is represented well with accurate information and that as much information as possible is provided on each person so that the nomination selection committee is well informed. This research is ongoing year round. Information does not always get provided when someone is nominated, in fact, sometimes very little information is provided. Someone may just make a nomination recalling that an individual was an outstanding contributor of their time and is someone to be considered; however, they don't always have the detail and statistics that are needed for a committee to truly consider a candidate for induction amongst a very competitive pool of nominees.
Art always takes on the responsibility of bringing each biography to life and to fruition with as much information as possible. He takes it personally to ensure everyone is well represented and inserts accolades sometimes up to the day before the selection meeting. This ongoing research continually involves many hours conducting research at the libraries, searching DHHS records, researching through newspaper sources, going to the historical town societies and scheduling time to interview individuals who may have undocumented information and recollection of years past. Prior to the establishment of the Hall of Fame, Art stated that he had been asked to conduct research on the DHHS basketball records. Craig Semple, then DHHS Athletic Director, had heard of Art's basketball research and reached out to Art to assist with the upcoming establishment of the Hall of Fame.
Coach Bill Barker, the inaugural President of the Madison Athletic Hall of Fame, wrote about Art, "The first thought that comes to mind when I think of Art is the phrase ‘salt of the earth.' Art is a very sincere, loving, kind, caring person and a very valuable friend. His hundreds of hours of research has enabled the MAHOF to honor all of our inductees with facts and figures to support their achievements." Chris Lena, Executive Director of the Madison Athletic Hall of Fame stated, "Since the onset of the Hall of Fame in 2013, I continue to be impressed with Art's dedication and attention to detail to ensure each nominee and inductee is accurately and thoroughly represented. Tom Dolan, 2015 MAHOF inductee, nominated Art and I proudly supported that nomination. It is an honor to work with Art and to witness his well-deserved induction this year." Fellow inductee Wayne Wielgus, Art's teammate, wrote, "Art is one of the most selfless people I know. He was a terrific teammate and player. He had a tremendous drive for success, always working hard to improve and help other people be better around him. He carried those traits throughout his life with his community involvement and commitment to better everyone's life he touches! Congratulations to Art for being recognized and honored with induction to the Madison Athletic Hall of Fame!"
Art's interest in historical research for basketball and for the Hall of Fame was sparked by his own athletic career and his inner passion for history as an educator. He noted that he "loves history and the history of Hand (DHHS) sports has always been a passion." He included that "playing sports for Hand was the most fun thing in my life" and stated that he would "always enjoy coming back for Hand games." Art's pride of Hand is so evident, he shared that on his 60th birthday, then Hand Band Director, John Gage, lined up a few players and played the Hand fight song.
Though Art is being recognized as an Exemplary Contributor for his contributions to the Madison Athletic Hall of Fame, it is his upbringing, his background, his love of DHHS and sports, and his own involvement in sports that led him to his involvement on the Hall of Fame Committee. Art was a 1972 graduate of DHHS and played baseball and basketball (1968-1972) earning three letters and two letters respectively. He proudly played on the undefeated (18-0) Jr. Varsity Basketball team coached by Cliff Peterson ('69-70) and was a member of the Shoreline Championship basketball team ('70-'71). Great moments he treasures are making the winning foul shots in a game versus Cromwell that ended Cromwell's 49 game winning streak ('71-'72). He was also the game high scorer in the Shoreline Championship game loss to Guilford ('71-'72) noting that star player, and fellow 2022 Hall of Fame inductee, Wayne Wielgus was injured for that game. Art started two years in baseball (first baseman) also under Coach Cliff Peterson (‘71-'72). Art continued his basketball career playing for Division III Muhlenberg College mostly as a JV player which contributed towards his passion for basketball coaching for 19 years. Art coached basketball for eight years at Morgan School (JV and Varsity). Additionally, Art's coaching career included Lewis Mills High School, Burlington CT and Oliver Wolcott Technical High School, Torrington, CT. He was an educator over 34 years at Morgan High School (eight years) and Lewis Mills High School (over 26 years) teaching History and Social Studies. He has remained a substitute educator for the past eleven years since his retirement.
Art's family moved to Tibbals Bridge Road, North Madison when he was four years old. His parents raised their three children there including Art's sister, Susan, Class of 1974 (Class President) and his brother David, Class of 1977, also a basketball player. Art's Father, Arthur Vedder Symonds, passed away in 2001. Art's mother, B. Elizabeth Symonds, currently lives with Art and his wife Jane in Madison. She has seven granddaughters, three of whom are DHHS graduates, and two great grandchildren. She was raised primarily in Maine and recalls enjoying listening to the Boston Red Sox games on the radio. Both of Art's parents wanted him to play baseball. According to Art's mother, "He (Art) always had a baseball or athletic equipment in his hand." As a primarily stay at home mom, she felt it was important to be involved and aware of town happenings, and to keep her children involved, and worked in the cafeteria at Academy School to make that community connection for herself and her family. Elizabeth noted she would tell her own children "if you aren't doing your best, then you haven't given your best." She stated that "Art was shy" and that he "always persevered." She recalls that when the baseball hit his chest, soon after, they realized "he needed glasses!" She recalls that Art was young for his age (9 years), when he became involved in little league under Coach Bill Sunblade and that is where his passion grew.
Art and his wife Jane have been married for 21 years. Art proudly shares that he has two daughters. His eldest daughter Laurel lives in Washington State and is in the publishing field. His youngest daughter Amy lives in Washington, D.C. and is a pre-school educator.
Please join us in proudly congratulating one of our own, Art Symonds, on his induction into the Madison Athletic Hall of Fame.
Mary Jane Telford
Mary Jane Telford
Athlete - Class of 1971 Basketball/Field Hockey/Softball
Coach - Basketball
Mary Jane Telford is a daughter of Madison. She attended Our Lady of Mercy School before attending Daniel Hand High School. Her family has lived in Madison since the early 1800's. Mary Jane has displayed her passion for and deep commitment to sports throughout her life.
As a high school student, she excelled in every sport she played becoming the first girl, since Mary Donnelly class of 1963 and 2014 Hall of Fame inductee, to earn varsity letters in three sports in one year in the history of Daniel Hand High School. She was a starter on every team she played on except for her freshman year in basketball when she was the first player off the bench for Coach Sue Capen. She earned four varsity letters in basketball, starting her last three years and averaging over 17 points per game her senior year when she led the team as captain.
She was a starting fullback and inside forward on the girl's field hockey team her junior and senior years earning two varsity letters and was a member of the Shoreline League champions her junior year. In her senior year, softball was established as a varsity sport for the first time at DHHS. Mary Jane was a standout shortstop and team captain for the Tigers.
Mary Jane earned both the Babe Ruth Sportsmanship Award and the Madison Lions Club Award as the outstanding girl athlete of 1971.
Mary Jane competed at a time when girls' sports were almost an afterthought in high school athletics. In basketball the girls played only eight to twelve games a season at Hand. They were relegated to practicing only when the gym wasn't in use by the boys, which was usually late. There were no league championships in basketball, no playoffs. There were no Shoreline League All Stars or All-State honors for girls during Mary Jane's high school years. Had there been there is no doubt she would have been recognized multiple times.
Mary Jane was an excellent student and was also very active in extra-curricular organizations. She was co-editor of the student newspaper and the yearbook. She was a member of the National Honor Society and graduated near the top of her class. She was chosen to represent Madison at the American Legion Laurel Girls State Leadership Program after her junior year.
After graduation, Mary Jane attended St. Bonaventure University in Western New York. There, she was a four-year starter on the women's basketball team and the captain her senior year. She averaged over 15 points per game over her entire career at SBU. St. Bonaventure did not have a women's softball program when Mary Jane was an undergraduate. Not to be denied her other favorite sport, she played several infield positions for the Raybestos Robins, a farm team for the world champion Raybestos Brakettes women's softball team during the summers of 1971 and 1972.
After graduation from SBU in 1975, she was immediately asked to become the head basketball coach for the women's program, a position she held for the next seventeen years. In her first eleven years as head coach, she held a full time position in the admissions department at SBU as well as her coaching duties. In 1986 she led the Lady Bonnies to the Upstate League title and was named the conference's Coach of the Year.
During her tenure at SBU, Mary Jane almost single-handedly guided the Lady Bonnies from Division III to Division II and eventually all the way to Division I. At that time St. Bonaventure joined the Atlantic 10 Conference, one of the premier college basketball leagues in the nation. In 1986 she became the first full time head coach other than men's basketball in the history of St. Bonaventure. She amassed 201 victories during her tenure at St. Bonaventure which was the highest total in the program's history and ranked second all-time for all coaches at SBU, men or women.
In 1979 she was an assistant coach on the first women's softball team at SBU. The Lady Bonnies were undefeated that year. When Mary Jane competed in high school only around 300,000 girls competed in high school sports. By 2010 3.2 million were competing. In 1971 when she first played basketball for the Bonnies, fewer than 30,000 young women played college sports. By 2010 that figure had increased to over 190,000.
Mary Jane is one of a generation of female leaders who guided women's sports into the modern era. Her career coincided with the transformation in college athletics brought on by Title IX, which legislated equity between men's and women's sports programs. She fought many battles over her career, even making what must have been a heartbreaking choice to compel her beloved St. Bonaventure University to live up to its ideals in a Title IX lawsuit in 1994, which she won.
Mary Jane, or ‘MJ', as she is affectionately known at St. Bonaventure, was inducted into the St. Bonaventure Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.
Mary Jane retired from SBU after 34 years in leadership positions in basketball, admissions, alumni services and fundraising. She has lived a life of service, to her sport and to her university. She is single, and lives in Western New York.
Wayne Wielgus
Wayne Wielgus
Athlete - Class of 1972 Basketball/Soccer/Golf
Based on the statistics and his personal observation for 60 years, Coach Bill Barker says that Wayne Wielgus is the best shooting guard in the history of DHHS boys' basketball.
He averaged 21 points per game his junior year and 23.5 points per game his senior year. That was the record that lasted for 34 years until 2006 when Madison Athletic Hall of Famer Joe Trapani (2016 Inductee) averaged 25 points per game. Wayne's school record of 42 points in a game lasted until Joe Trapani scored 45 in a game his junior year.
One of the great wins for DHHS was in Wayne's junior year when he scored 36 points in a win over Cromwell that broke their 47 game winning streak. A footnote is that there was not a three point shot in 1972 and most of Wayne's scoring was on outside shooting. Because Joe Trapani was a forward, Wayne still holds that scoring record for guards. In addition, Wayne has the most points scored in a state tournament with 38 points versus Wilcox Tech.
Unfortunately, in February of his senior year, Wayne injured his ACL and could not complete the season. However, he was recruited and signed with the University of Hartford. After his freshman season, Wayne opted to transfer to Fairfield University and focus on academics. Based on his success in the business world, that was a very good decision.
Wayne had an illustrious career in the hotel industry with leadership positions with Holiday Inn, Ramada Hotels, Inter-Continental Hotels, Best Western Hotels, and culminated his hotel career as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Executive VP of Choice Hotels. After a brief retirement, he was recruited to join the executive team as Senior VP of Marketing for Celebrity and Azamara Cruise Lines. Wayne then founded and is President and CEO of IAG & Associates (consultants for the hospitality industry).
As successful as Wayne was in business, his marriage to his high school sweetheart, Maureen Coakley, has been his greatest achievement. They have four wonderful children, each with the good looks, charm and personality of their mom and dad: Courtney (fiancé is Thom Armstrong), Christopher, Ryan (Wife is Sally; children are Laney and Lollie), and Connor (fiancé is Elle Sullivan).
Heather Brown
Kristen Conlon Mierzejewski
Kevin Dolan
Bill Ferguson
Pat Fitzgerald
Jacob "TJ" Naylor
Rebekah Pite
Lawrence "LJ" Spinnato
Art Symonds
Mary Jane Telford
Wayne Wielgus