In 1953, the boys swimming team was among the strongest in the nation. Led by Coach Wilmot Babcock, the swimmers had an average meet score of 48.1-25.7 (+22.4) and formed one of the top 10 teams in the country — on a list that included colleges.
Among the accolades the swimming team garnered that year were the national prep records for the 100 freestyle, 200 free, 200 free relay, and 150 medley relay. Team members would set nine pool records for the 50 free (Harlow “Chip” Ide ‘55), 100 free (Rex Aubrey ‘53), 150 IM (Don Miller), and the medley relay.
An undefeated football team, an Olympic runner, a National Hockey League player, and a coach who took his team to 15 New England championships are just four of the outstanding members who will be inducted in the Williston Northampton School’s inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame.
Sophomore standout Mary McCarthy has had an outstanding start to the water polo season. In the team’s first ever win against Choate, Mary had 15 saves in the 6-4 victory, allowing no goals in the shallow end. Later in the week, Mary and the water polo team faced a powerful Exeter squad. Although the game ended in a loss, Mary made 20 saves in the all deep-end pool to keep the team alive throughout the game.
Conor Archbald ’13
A workhorse midfielder for the boys’ varsity lacrosse team, Conor has been an encouraging and motivated leader on and off the field. In last week’s match up against Gunnery, Conor had 2 goals and 3 assists in the teams narrow 15-16 loss on the road. Conor has scored in all three of the boy’s lax games team and is proving to be a strong competitor early in the season.
Editor’s note: On April 7, Williston Northampton’s Director of Athletics Mark Conroy presented the Frank Boyden Award to John Woodside ’13 during the National Football Foundation banquet. The following are Mr. Conroy’s remarks for the event, which was held at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Also receiving recognition were All New England honorees Dylan Arthurs ’13 and Ledell Robinson ’14.
Photo courtesy of Mark Conroy
The Dr. Frank L. Boyden Award is given in honor of the longtime Deerfield Academy headmaster. The award is given in recognition of outstanding achievement both on the football field and in the classroom by a prep school football player.
This year’s Dr. Frank L. Boyden recipient is a senior at Williston Northampton School. A native of Amherst, Massachusetts, he has enjoyed a terrific career both on the field and in the classroom.
As a football player, he captained this year’s Williston squad as a two-way end. Offensively, he was an outstanding blocker at the point of attack, helping the Wildcats average nearly 7 yards per carry this past season. Defensively, he started at strong side defensive end where he was a team leader in tackles and a league leader in sacks. In recognition of his excellent play, he was named to the All Colonial League team for the second straight season. Speaking as his coach, he is everything you would want in a football player – intelligent, tough as nails, unselfish, and extremely dependable.
Beyond his playing exploits on the gridiron, he has also been a standout at Williston both as a student and as a citizen. Taking a very challenging academic course load he has consistently earned High Honors with over a 92 average. In the last three years, he has had only two final grades below 90! This fall his course load included five AP and Honors classes. True to form he received straight As! In addition to his accomplishments above, he has made his mark in many, many other ways at Williston serving in numerous leadership roles throughout his years.
Next fall, he will be attending Colby College in Maine where he hopes to continue his success both on and off the football field It is with great pleasure that I award the 2013 Dr. Frank L. Boyden Award to John Woodside.
In 1953, the boys swimming team was among the strongest in the nation. Led by Coach Wilmot Babcock, the swimmers had an average meet score of 48.1-25.7 (+22.4) and formed one of the top 10 teams in the country — on a list that included colleges.
