Was there any title that Patrick Rissmiller ’97 didn’t earn? It doesn’t seem likely. During his time at Williston, the ice hockey star (who also the most valuable player and All-League selection for soccer and team captain in lacrosse) led the team to a 23-4 record. For those keeping score, that’s the most wins in school history.
“My parents wanted me to repeat my junior year in high school,” said Mr. Rissmiller of on his two years at Williston Northampton. “It worked out great.”
In his senior year, Mr. Rissmiller was named both captain and MVP. While cranking out enough points to put him third for all-time single season totals, Mr. Rissmiller was named an All-New England selection, and NEPSAC West Senior All-Star. He was also selected to play for the Team Massachusetts in Chicago Showcase.
“He’s the guy you want out there (on the ice) if you’ve got a penalty shot. He’ll put it past most goalies,” said Mike Fay, boys varsity ice hockey coach. “He’s just a really creative player who sees the game well and makes things happen.”
Out on the cross-country course, no one could catch Martha Grinnell ’85. They still can’t — Ms. Grinnell’s course record of 19.40 over 3.3 miles still stands.
Ms. Grinnell, who went undefeated in dual meets over two years and was one of the most decorated runners in the school’s history, held course records at five schools by the time she graduated. As captain of Williston Northampton’s team, Ms. Grinnell set records for both the 1,500 meters (5:01.3) and 3,000 meters (10:32.4).
She was no slouch off the course, either. At graduation, Ms. Grinnell was presented with the White Blazer, as the top senior girl.
Whether he was taking to the court or the field, Mark Timm ’76 was simply outstanding — at almost any sport. While earning 12 varsity letters over the course of his time at Williston, Mr. Timm was also named captain for three sports.
To kick off his freshmen year, Mr. Timm was named starting quarterback on the varsity football team. He passed for 609 yards and ran for 192 yards, leading his team in both statistics.
David “Duff” Tyler ’63 was a record-setting swimmer and soccer player. As part of the 1963 swimming team, he set national prep records in three events—50 free, 100 free, and 200 free—and was named All-American for both those events and three others—200 medley relay, 200 free relay, and 100 butterfly.
Mr. Tyler continued his domination at Trinity College, where he was named All-American three times, was a national champion in the 500 free, a national runner-up in the 200 free, and set seven Trinity records.
The 1963 football team had a perfect 7-0 record under the leadership of Coach Rick Francis and captains Dick Buckley ‘64 and Bob Montgomery ‘64. In the first undefeated (and untied) season since 1895, the Williston Academy team was the highest scoring prep team in New England.
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.
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.
Alexandra Starzyk had no idea why Athletic Director Mark Conroy was calling her name during assembly. The varsity ice hockey player knew that she had done well over the course of her senior season, but had no idea that in the course of the season she’d also set new school records.
So, when Mr. Conroy announced that Ms. Starzyk had reached a career 100 goals—something only three girls had done before—and, at 119 goals, was the new all-time leading scorer, she was amazed.
“I had no idea I was on my way to reaching 100 goals,” Ms. Starzyk explained later via email. “Until they called my name in assembly, I was unaware I held the record for most points by merely one.”
Before recognizing the nine fall programs and their accomplishments over the past season, Director of Athletics Mark Conroy took a moment to honor Al Lavalle, who worked in the Physical Plant Department for 3 years and in The Cage at the Athletic Center for a decade.
“Al had an incredibly profound impact on everyone who knew him,” said Conroy. “With all due respect to all of us who work with students on a regular basis here, no one in our community impacted more students than Al during those 10 years.”
Conroy then announced the following highlights and individual award winners. The award winners were also recognized during fall sports team night on November 16.
“I wanted to thank all of those of you who wore the blue and green this fall for competing so hard and so well,” Conroy said. “Your sportsmanship was outstanding.”
Was there any title that Patrick Rissmiller ’97 didn’t earn? It doesn’t seem likely. During his time at Williston, the ice hockey star (who also the most valuable player and All-League selection for soccer and team captain in lacrosse) led the team to a 23-4 record. For those keeping score, that’s the most wins in school history.
