{"id":3433,"date":"2017-05-18T15:54:32","date_gmt":"2017-05-18T15:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/?p=3433"},"modified":"2017-05-25T18:06:49","modified_gmt":"2017-05-25T18:06:49","slug":"heartwarming-memories-mark-athletics-hall-of-fame-induction-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/2017\/05\/18\/heartwarming-memories-mark-athletics-hall-of-fame-induction-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Heartwarming Memories Mark Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Matt Liebowitz<\/em><\/p>\n

Emotions ran high, and tears mixed with levity and laughter as the entire campus community, alumni included, gathered under the tent to pay homage to competitors of the past and induct a select group into Williston\u2019s Athletic Hall of Fame on May 12, 2017.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Athletics Director Mark Conroy summarizes a successful Wildcat year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Athletic Director Mark Conroy, in a brief introduction, shined a spotlight on a handful of current student athletes, including Gabby Mercier (diving), Nick Hill (cross-country), Devin DeVerry (skiing), David Fitch (swimming), and Hunter Adams (wrestling), whose accomplishments have set them apart in their Williston careers.<\/p>\n

The first inductee in this year\u2019s Hall of Fame group, given an introduction by Nick Hill, \u201917 was Coach Alan Shaler. Shaler founded the cross-country program in 1963, and coached through 1999. Similarly, he had a 40-year track-coaching career. The Annual Shaler Invitational cross-country race is named in his honor.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cross-country legend Al Shaler delivers a witty acceptance speech as he’s inducted into the Hall of Fame.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI feel very humbled and a little strange,\u201d Shaler said in his acceptance speech. \u201cWhen I was the age of the students I coached and taught, I wasn\u2019t like them. I was regarded as a good student and a musician, but not much else. But I always thought that anyone who went out for interscholastic sports got even tired or hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaler praised the grit and determination necessary to excel in cross-country, a sport, unlike football or basketball, nobody \u201cplays.\u201d<\/p>\n

His lighthearted speech was an endearing, often hilarious representation of the humor and ease he said he always tried to bring to practices and meets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe word games and play suggest big grins, a million laughs,\u201d Shaler said. \u201cIf someone is running a cross-country race and is grinning and waving his arms around like Big Papi on a homerun trot, something is very wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaler told the audience he \u201clearned early that the good cross-country coach is who can inject a little levity amidst the pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

To that end, he recalled his habit of making \u201call kind of inane comments and witty remarks\u201d as his runners warmed up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they kids liked this,\u201d he said. \u201cThey did this often, often at my expense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the induction of renowned football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, Saul Blain \u201917 inducted David \u201cWhitey\u201d Felsen \u201962.<\/p>\n

In his senior year, Felsen, a soccer, basketball, and baseball player at Williston, shared the Denman award, given to the best all-around athlete. After Williston, Felsen went on to attend Haverford College, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 1966, and the University of Pennsylvania, where he got his Master\u2019s degree in 1971.<\/p>\n

Felsen taught, coached varsity basketball, and worked as an administrator at Germantown Friends School for 16 years, and recently was involved in creating a youth basketball center near his home in North Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

\u201cReturning to Williston Northampton and my hometown evokes a flood of memories,\u201d Felsen told the crowd.<\/p>\n

He then recounted the story, at times both heartbreaking and humorous, of his childhood. His father died unexpectedly when Felsen was 10; the headmaster of Williston at the time, Phillips Stevens, visited Felsen\u2019s mother \u2013 the family lived on Park Street \u2013 and offered him a full scholarship.<\/p>\n

He remembered dribbling a basketball in his Park Street basement, and another incident during which he was practicing his baseball swing in the living room and accidentally smashed his mother\u2019s favorite flower vase.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy passion for sport was boundless, and, I have to tell you, a little bit crazy, a little bit nuts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Felsen praised the teacher-coaches who guided him through his time at school.<\/p>\n

As a boy growing up without a father,\u201d he said, \u201ctheir care and encouragement meant more than I can express.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Felsen’s full remarks here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The 1981 varsity football team was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Also inducted in the Hall of Fame were Stephen White \u201977, Abigal Ouimet Katuska \u201999, Colleen Hession Thom \u201902, and the undefeated 1981 Varsity Football team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Matt Liebowitz Emotions ran high, and tears mixed with levity and laughter as the entire campus community, alumni included, gathered under the tent to pay homage to competitors of the past and induct a select group into Williston\u2019s Athletic Hall of Fame on May 12, 2017. Athletic Director Mark Conroy, in a brief introduction, … Continue reading Heartwarming Memories Mark Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[313,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-athletic-hall-of-fame","category-athletics-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3433"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3442,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433\/revisions\/3442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}