This spring, in the Putnam Family Arts Center's Class of '45 Hall, St. Mark's honored the following 2020 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees and celebrated their impressive accomplishments:
David R. Stack '75Sandra R. Grosvenor, Southborough School '75
Alfred E. Badger II '84
Joshua F. Bradstreet '95
Brendan I. Herbert '00
Danielle Furlong Kearney '05
Rachael I. Ogundiran '07
Frederick M. Burr (d.), Faculty & Coach, 1956-1963, 1967-1971
1956 Football
2000 Girls' Varsity Field Hockey
The evening began with a welcome from Head of School John C. Warren followed by opening remarks from Chair of the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee, Robert P. Masland, III '68. Committee members Tarah D. Breed '00, Eric Rosenberger '63, Emma Battle '79, Sara Levensohn '84, Victoria Fazen DiPietro '95, and Elaine C. Harvey '06 helped select this talented group, which included eight individual athletes and two athletic teams.
David R. Stack '75 captained the football team as a VI Former, when St. Mark's went 6-1 in one of the strongest gridiron campaigns in school history and set the table for the undefeated season the following year. He lettered for three years playing varsity ice hockey, earning All-League honors as a goalie during his V Form season; he also lettered for four years as a lacrosse player and was part of Hall of Fame coach Fritz Wiedergott's outstanding lacrosse program. Recognized by his peers as "an extraordinary athlete, teammate, and leader," Stack was known for his "unparalleled dedication to his teammates." He went on to play four years of varsity lacrosse at Yale where he received the Dan Casman Award for contributing the most to team spirit and morale in Yale lacrosse and was an All-Ivy selection his senior year.
Sandra R. Grosvenor, Southborough School '75 participated in several sports, including field hockey, basketball, and softball, all of which she continued at Smith College where she played four consecutive softball seasons at the varsity level. Her post-collegiate career, however, is where Grosvenor's outstanding athleticism has truly shined: she was ranked in the top 20 in the world for sailing in the late '90s. In fleet racing, as helmsman/skipper, Grosvenor came 12th in the 2001 Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship in Annapolis, Maryland and in the top half of the 1999 J/22 World Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. She won the 2002 Sundance Cup in Texas and finished ninth in the Women's World Match Racing Championship in Spain. As watch captain, she finished first in class at both the 2008 and the 2010 Annapolis-to-Bermuda Ocean Race. More recently, Grosvenor has competed in several endurance sport races, including the 2008 Jütenheimen Rundt (270-mile bike race in Norway); two "standalone" marathons; dozens of "Half Ironman" triathlons; 5 full Ironman Triathlons; and several International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships. Her competitive triathlon highlights include placing first in her age group in the 2015 Ironman Los Cabos, and qualifying and competing in the 2016 Ironman World Championships in Kona. Most recently, she earned a bronze medal in her age group at the 2018 ITU Aquabike World Championships in Denmark.
Alfred E. Badger II '84 was an outstanding athlete at St. Mark's. Hall of Fame coach Henry Large said Badger was one of the strongest lineman he ever coached in football. Badger played with Hall of Fame running back Tracy Giles, who, behind Badger's powerful blocks, set a host of St. Mark's rushing records. As a tackler, Badger was acknowledged as "an immovable force and the heart of the defense." He was co-captain of one of the best Lions' football teams in St. Mark's history, and he received numerous post-season honors, including All-ISL recognition. Badger was also selected, along with Giles, by the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches' Association to play in the annual Shriner's All-Star Classic, the first two St. Markers so recognized. An excellent lacrosse defenseman, he was also an integral part of Hall of Fame coach Fritz Wiedergott's back-to-back ISL championship teams in 1983 and 1984. An All-League selection, he played a key role in the undefeated 1984 campaign. Badger went on to play football at Northeastern University and led the Huskies in tackles in 1989.
Joshua F. Bradstreet '95 earned eight varsity letters, playing soccer and lacrosse while wrestling in the winter. He played on three consecutive winning soccer teams under Hall of Fame coach Fritz Wiedergott. Known for his playmaking ability, Bradstreet was the leading scorer on the 9-5-1 team that achieved three shutout victories against higher-seeded opponents to win the New England championship tournament in the fall of 1994. During his three years playing varsity soccer, the St. Mark's team was unbeaten against arch-rival Groton. On the wrestling mat, Bradstreet was undefeated and a Graves-Kelsey champion in 1995, as the Lions won a then-program record 11 regular season meets. For all his fall and winter achievements, it was in lacrosse that Bradstreet achieved his greatest athletic success. For coach Wiedergott's varsity lacrosse team, he was captain and leading scorer during his VI Form season, earning All-ISL and High School All-America honors, and he was awarded the Fearing Athletic Prize in June 1995. Bradstreet played as a member of the University of Virginia's varsity lacrosse team for four years, helping the Cavaliers go 44-15 during that stretch. He was a starting midfielder on the 1997 team, which won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, and on the 1999 team that won both the ACC and NCAA titles.
Brendan I. Herbert '00 was the on-court catalyst for the resurgence of St. Mark's boys' varsity basketball at the dawn of the 21st century. He arrived in 1997 to join forces with new head coach David Lubick, and a program transformation began. Highly sought after by every prep program in New England, the 6'8" New Hampshire native trusted Coach Lubick and chose to build a program at St. Mark's. Herbert was team captain for all three years he was at St. Mark's, leading the program to 40 overall victories in that stretch. He was also a three-time ISL scoring champion, a three-time All-ISL selection, and was named ISL Most Valuable Player. Herbert led the Lions to both the ISL title and the NEPSAC championship in 1999, scoring 46 points in the New England Class C finals. His 1,600 points—which he scored in just three years—made him the all-time leading scorer in St. Mark's basketball at the time. He was a member of the Boston Globe All-Scholastic in 1999 and was routinely amongst the top scorers in Massachusetts high school basketball during his tenure at St. Mark's. In 2000, Herbert received the honor of being McDonald's High School All-American nominee. Herbert put St. Mark's basketball on the map, almost single-handedly. A larger than life member of the St. Mark's community, Herbert embodied the competitive spirit of St. Mark's sports and was a great leader and teammate. He drew both big crowds and other talented players to St. Mark's. The success of the program would have never seen its greatest days without Herbert, who went on to Dartmouth College where he played for two seasons and led the Big Green in rebounding until he was sidelined by injury.
Danielle Furlong Kearney '05 played for four seasons on the girls' varsity hockey team. During that time, Furlong scored 49 goals and tallied 32 assists, was twice selected for All-ISL honors, and served as captain as a VI Former, while the team went 47-39-4 overall, including four victories over Groton. She also played varsity field hockey for the Lions, where she was an integral member of the ISL championship team in the fall of 2004. In the spring, she was a member of the girls' varsity lacrosse team, which fashioned a pair of winning campaigns in 2004 and 2005. During the same period she played club hockey for Assabet Valley (Concord, Mass.) in the New England Girls' Hockey League, winning the Under-19 Massachusetts State championship for four years in a row and a National championship title in 2003. Furlong attended Metropolitan State University and played for the Denver Roadrunners, a Division II men's team in the American Collegiate Hockey Association. As the only female to ever play for Metro State,Furlong scored three goals and tallied five assists in 2009-2010. Furlong attended graduate school at Northeastern University, and still eligible as a collegiate athlete, she played Division I hockey there, scoring her first D1 goal in January of 2011: the game-winner against St. Cloud. Overall, she had three goals and seven assists for the 16-13-8 Huskies. The next year, Furlong was named tri-captain (along with fellow St. Marker Casey Pickett Bates '09). Once again, she had three goals and seven assists overall, including a key assist against Boston University to help Northeastern win the Beanpot Tournament. Three years later, in April of 2015, Furlong launched the National Women's Hockey League. As founder and commissioner of the NWHL, her goal was to fuel the growth and brand of women's hockey in North America and across the globe.
Rachael I. Ogundiran '07 was a three-sport athlete during her time at St. Mark's. Her versatility and talent earned her a place in the St. Mark's record book and the Fearing Athletic Prize in 2007. On girls' varsity soccer, she scored a key goal in an upset win over Groton during her V Form, but it was as a basketball player and a rower that she truly excelled. Co-captain of girls' varsity basketball for her junior and senior campaigns, she helped lead the Lions to a record of 36-10 during that time. Her VI Form year, she set team records with 31 points versus Portsmouth Abbey, 21 rebounds against Nobles, and 12 blocked shots versus Dana Hall. She was the first St. Mark's female athlete to score 1,000 career points, closing out her time at the School with 1,092. Ogundiran's VI Form year team finished second in the ISL and at the New England championships. She was a two-time All-ISL basketball selection and league MVP in 2007. On coach Andy Harris' girls' varsity crew team, she showed strong leadership as team captain while a VI Former. Chosen to participate in the 2006 U.S. Rowing Championship Regatta, she rowed in the 6-seat of the junior women's eight and the 2-seat in the junior coxed four that won gold and bronze respectively. The next year, she rowed bow of the junior women's pair that won silver at the 2007 U.S. Rowing Championships, and helped lead the junior women's four crew to an eighth-place finish at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Junior Championship in Beijing, China. At Syracuse, she made the women's varsity eight as a freshman, helping that boat place third in the Big East. As a sophomore, she led the boat to victories against Penn and Northeastern University in the Orange Cup, and in her junior year, she helped the Orange win the Kittell Cup and defeat Oxford for the Winderemere Cup. Her senior season, Ogundiran received the 'Cuse Award, given to the student-athlete who, in the opinion of fellow teammates, best represents a major contributor to the team, provides effective leadership, exhibits good sportsmanship, demonstrates commitment to academics, understands the importance of community service, and demonstrates school spirit. A bioengineering major, she was named to the Big East All-Academic team in each of her four years at Syracuse.
Frederick M. Burr (d.), Faculty & Coach, 1956-1963, 1967-1971 arrived at St. Mark's with a strong athletic background, having played football and hockey at both the Gunnery School and at Yale. He was captain of Yale hockey and excelled defensively on both gridiron and ice. Burr served as an assistant coach to St. Mark's Athletic Hall of Fame coach Benny Howarth's final undefeated team. In 1959, he was promoted to head coach of the School's football program, and in his first campaign the team posted a strong 5-1-1 record (tying Groton), despite heavy rains and muddy conditions throughout the fall. From then on, things were more of a challenge, although his Lions were successful in defeating a strong Groton team in the autumn of 1961. Burr remained an extremely popular coach, whose personal philosophy articulated the core strength of schoolboy sports as an integral part of life at St. Mark's. "I believe deeply in the value of athletics in any school program," he declared. "For on the playing fields, these young men stand alone, coping as best they can with the situations that confront them. One day they succeed; the next day they fail. And they learn to survive in victory or defeat, preparing them for life. There are many coaches whose dictums run something like this: 'Winning is everything,' and 'Good guys never win.' I cannot accept this. We all win or lose...That's life!" Burr regularly applauded his players for refusing to quit and praised his teams for inspiring him. "Leadership" and "responsibility" were his watchwords as a coach, and not just in football. He also loved coaching hockey, and he provided loyal support to head coach Bill Barber's varsity program through his work with the defensemen during four consecutive Private School League championship seasons. However, his greatest success at the helm of a St. Mark's team was as head coach of varsity tennis. Over his first seven campaigns, Burr's teams won an incredible 93 percent of their regular season contests (62-8-1), including an undefeated mark of 10-0 in 1960. Under Burr, St. Mark's won a pair of Private School League titles (1960 and 1963), finished second three times, and produced a number of excellent players. At their 40th Reunion, the Class of 1961 created the Frederick M. Burr Prize to recognize outstanding contributions by staff to the life of St. Mark's.
Photographs and full bios of the inductees are on display in the new Athletic Hall Of Fame corridor in the Elkins Field House. The gallery provides a fitting tribute and highlights inductee accomplishments while also inspiring current and future generations of St. Markers to do and be their best every day.
Hats off to all of the inductees!
Photograph by Andy Weigl