One of our commenters on Facebook brought up former pro athletes who have called Wellesley home at one time or another so I decided to take that idea and turn it into a brand new list appropriately titled Pro Athletes who have lived in Wellesley. If anyone thinks of others to add to this list please feel free to comment.

Ted Williams

Dom DiMaggio

Mickey Vernon

Frank Sullivan

Bruce Hurst

Bill Mueller

Daiskue Matsuzaka

Danny Ainge

Ray Allen

Olympians/marathoners Pete Pfinzenger, Kevin Ryun, and Bruce Bickford

Marathon winner Greg Meyer

Gold Medalist Joan Benoit

Carlton Fisk

Carney Lansford

Diego Segui

Roger Clemens

Dave Cowens

Dennis Johnson

KC Jones

Tiny Archibald

Pete Runnels

Gino Cappelitti

Carl Everett

Clive Rush

Greg Comella

Stephen Malloy

Curt Gowdy

Ned Martin

Carl Crawford

Rasheed Wallace

Butch Hobson

Lou Perini

Brad Stevens

Eddie Yost

Jack Sanford

Bob Elliott

Mel Parnell

Johnny Pierson

Frank Ramsey

Fitzy Grogan

ML Carr

Dee Brown

Mike Torrez

Ralph “The Major” Houk

With all the great nominations coming in, I’ve started a new list as the first one was getting a bit crowded.

Rollie Peterkin: Wrestling Champion

Diamond Brothers: Multi-Sport stars

Gary Page: Class of 75, played baseball, hockey and football

Antone McCatty: Track, ran 10.3 in the 100 meter, one of the fastest sprinters in Massachusetts history

Mike Stone: Lacrosse, class of 2005, two time all american, went on to star at Middlebury College and then professionally for the Boston Cannons, where he won an MLL championship in 2011 and was named an all star in 2012, described as a “stand-up guy”

Michael Hester: 1986 graduate, football, all scholastic linebacker

Suzan Morse Wharton: Bowling champ 1967-68

Ned Martin and Curt Gowdy: Former Boston sports announcers

Johnny Pierson

Jen Olsen

Andy Levin: Former ad and superbowl winning football coach

Ted Tripp: The AD who revived athletics after years of indifference

Paul Murray: Class of 1978: Undefeated for two years in the half mile and 1000 yards, bay state record holder for 600 yards and 1000 yards, half mile, also posted fastest mile and 2 mile times in 1977-78. Went on to star at Tufts and won ncaa 1000 yard championship in 1981.

Mike Crowe: Class of 1963, wrestling

Edward K. O’Neill: Class of 1964, baseball, football, hockey, mvp of Wellesley Legion baseball in 1964, went on to star at Boston College, then went on to play in the minors for the Boston Red Sox

Shawn Whalen: One of the best runners in school, if not the best

Miles F. Page: Football and baseball, baseball mvp

Tom McCrann: Class of 68, ultimate frisbee all star and pioneer

Jimmy Herrick: Class of 72, ultimate frisbee all star and pioneer

Louie Mahoney: Class of 73, ultimate frisbee all star and pioneer

1969 Junior High Undefeated Football Team

Mike Gibson: 3 sport star in junior high, 2 sport star in high school

Ken Laborne: Class of 60, set record for points in football, finished 1st place in high bar, and 2nd place all around in gymnastics, and had school record in pole vault

Two former Raiders are currently working their way through professional organizations and have both achieved success thus far with their respective teams. The first is Nate Freiman, an 05 Wellesley High graduate who went on to star at Duke University and now is a member of the Oakland Athletics organization. Having spent time with the big club in each of his first two seasons, Freiman has run into some injury troubles this season and is currently with the A’s triple A affiliate the Nashville Sounds where he is currently hitting .193 with 2 homers and 15 RBI’s in 52 games.

The second is Bianca Calderone, a 2011 Wellesley High grad who went on to star at Northeastern before being drafted by the hometown Boston Breakers in the 2015 draft. Bianca joined the Breakers as a member of the reserve team and anchored the squad playing the full 90 minutes in every game as one of the teams leaders and was one of only 3 reservists to practice with the pro team. She was rewarded for her efforts as last week Calderone was called up to join the Breakers as they finish out their 2015 campaign. She was also recently nominated for the NCAA woman of the year award.

The Hall of Fame will be an ongoing list, so if you have someone you would like to nominate please continue to do so and I will add them to the list.

Here now are all the athletes and teams both past and present that you nominated for the Wellesley Sports Hall of Fame. Also included is what those who nominated these fine athletes or groups said about them. Wellesley Sports Hall of Fame

Connor Darcey: Class of 2012, star lacrosse goalie, went on to start at Penn State, passed away sadly back in June

2012 Wellesley South Little Leaguers

Harry Grosso: Varsity golf star as a freshman, little league legend, placed 36^th at Mass Jr Amateur

Mark Murray: Class of 1974 Set 2 mile school record time and won New England 2 mile championship senior year, went on to Holy Cross and after graduation won the Silver Lake Marathon sponsored by Silver Lake Dodge of Wellesley

Renso (Rock) Perdoni: Football star class of 67, went on to star at Georgia Tech and play in CFL

Nate Freiman: Baseball Class of 2005, went on to star at Duke, now plays for Oakland Athletics

Thomas Claiborne: Football, Class of 2006, went on to play at BC

Mixed Sex Tag Football in 1955

Lexi Jones: Soccer, Lacrosse, Basketball star, class of 2016

Sarah Goss: Field Hockey, Hockey, Softball star class of 2016, won Boston Bruins sportsmanship award

Greg Hills: state champion in tennis in early 1970’s

Jack Dolan: Football, Baseball star class of 2015

Harold Kashala: 2001, full back for football, dominant force, “man amongst boys”, could carry 3-5 defenders on his back. Passed away unfortunately a few years ago

Tracy Nesbit: 2001, three sport athlete (basketball, lax, soccer), scored 1000 points by her junior year

Ben Cluff: 1999 stand out in basketball, 1000 point scorer

Gidge and Johnny: From the falls

The Smolen Brothers: Goalie Legends

Joe Perdoni: Football star, went on to play at Georgia Tech. Passed away tragically earlier this year

The four Maples Brothers: Star hockey players

1999 varsity football super bowl champions

Bruno Perdoni: State and New England champion wrestler, football standout, track standout in shot put, hurdles, and 440 yards. Went on to Harvard.

Lisa Moore: Class of 1989, softball standout pitcher, set national record with 1000 strikeouts in high school career.

The Wellesley Youth football teams coached by Jim Fadule who won back to back New England region titles and a national title in 2013.

Ray Llg: Middle 60’s, played for Patriots

Bobby Marchione: 1999 graduate, football, all time leading rusher in WHS history, went on to serve in marines, now coaches for the high school team.

Undefeated football team of 1953

Undefeated football team of 1962: Captains Andy McNeil and Mike Mastro

Miles C. Page: Mr Wellesley, coached Little League, Babe Ruth, and the first Wellesley Legion baseball team, scholarship named in his honor.

Jack Sanford: Baseball, Class of 1947, Went on to pitch in majors including as starter for Giants in 1962, threw a complete game shutout against Yankees in game 2 of World Series, had plaque in lower gym of old high school

Paul Niccolo: Toured country as jockey, first Wellesley athlete to make $100,000 per year

Ace Adams: Baseball, class of 1971, stared at Michigan, recieved two world series rings with Red Sox as batting practice pitcher

Joe Roberts: Founder of Terriers Sports camp, and former Wellesley Little League president

Blake Dietrick: Class of 2011, all time leading scorer in girls basketball history, went on to play at Princeton

Marylouise Dixon: Class of 2010, 1000 point scorer, went on to play at Stonehill

2008 girls basketball state championship team

George Kerrivan, Rocky Edwards, and Don LaBorne: All WHS football standouts and later WHS coaches

Bob Latessa: Wellesley resident, three sport star at Thayer Academy, captained undefeated football team, national prep wrestling champion, went on to star in 3 sports at Wesleyan College, held all time rushing record there for a while, went on to become head wrestling coach at Lehigh University

Greg Comella: Wellesley resident, football, went on to play for New York Giants, including in Super Bowl.

Many submissions for the “hall of fame” have been coming in and I wanted to thank everyone who has submitted ideas nominees thus far, I will be posting your choices tomorrow so until then if you haven’t already send a nominee my way.

There have been many great players who have graced both the youth and high school fields and courts here in town, which lead to the question, who would be in your Wellesley Sports hall of fame? Send your ideas either via comment or email at robbie90@comcast.net, and we’ll post results later in the week.

In the 3rd and final part of the 2014-15 look back at Wellesley High athletics, we take a look at the spring sports season which like the two seasons before it provided some lasting memories and terrific runs including some terrific tournament runs.

The girls lacrosse team had one of its most successful season in recent memory, earning a 15-1-1 regular season record, a Herget division title, and the 4 seed in the state tournament. After knocking off North Quincy and Duxbury at home the Raiders ran into a familiar foe the top seeded Westwood Wolverines, always a powerhouse in girls lacrosse. Unfortunately for the Raiders it was not meant to be as the team fell 14-3. Despite all that the girls continued to show why Wellesley is always considered a top-tier program in the state and should be very proud of their remarkable season.

The boys lacrosse team also made it to the postseason, after finishing with a 10-8 regular season record. The boys gained the 12 seed in their bracket and traveled to face highly regarded Xaverian in the first round. The boys battled back and forth with the Hawks all game long but came up just short falling 10-9 ending their season. That being said this team continued to show the heart, pride, and grit that has allowed this team to be so successful in recent years.

The baseball team overcame a tough start to their season which had many questioning whether they would even make the state tournament, winning their final 8 games in a row to qualify with an 11-9 record for the reason. The Raiders were able to get a home game in the first round taking on Catholic Memorial a team they had lost to earlier in the season. This time however the Raiders got it done with tremendous pitching and defense, shutting out the Knights 3-0. The team advanced to take on top seeded Mansfield in the quarterfinals and despite being right in it the whole game the Raiders fell 8-5 to end their season. That being said given all the issues they had early in the season this team certainly showed a lot of resiliency and the ability to overcome adversity and have a lot to be proud of.

The softball team came very close to making the tournament but in the end came up a bit short with a final record of 8-10. That being said, this team never gave up no matter the situation and certainly can hold their heads high and be proud knowing they gave it all they had game in and game out.

The boys volleyball team was able to make another state tournament finishing their season with an 11-9 record. The team also was able to get a home match in the first round, but unfortunately ran into a tough Barnstable team, who despite the Raiders taking the opening set was able to control the match from there winning 3-1 and ending Wellesley’s season. That being said the Raiders certainly exceeded expectations, especially since they had lost several talented players to graduation the year before.

In track action, the girls track team captured yet another Herget division crown with a perfect 5-0 league mark, while the boys finished with a 2-3 record on the year. Both teams however had several athletes advance to the all-state meet and had some very high finishers. These athletes and the teams in general should be very proud of these very exciting accomplishments.

Boys tennis captured a Herget title as well this spring finishing the regular season at 13-3 advancing to the state tournament. The boys were able to make a run all the way to the sectional semifinals after 5-0 sweeps over King Philip and Marshfield but ultimately were swept out of the tournament by Barnstable in their semifinal match. The boys also had two doubles pairs advance to the individual sectional tournament but both fell in the first round. The boys though have another league title to be proud of and should be in good shape for next season.

Girls tennis also made it to the tournament after amassing an 8-9 regular season record. The girls won their preliminary round match over Brockton 4-1 before falling to top seeded Brookline 5-0 in the first round. Despite the early exit the girls showed why they are alway a team to watch out in both league and tournament play and have a lot to be proud of and to look forward to going forward.

So that does it for this 2014-15 retrospective, and be sure to look out for all things Wellesley High athletics for the 2015-16 year starting next month.

During the very memorable seasons for both the Wellesley High boys and girls hockey teams Rebekah Caron, sports producer at Wellesley Public Media was busy not only covering the teams in action but also putting together some terrific highlight packages to showcase the teams runs to Herget Division championships. It is my pleasure to share a couple of those videos with you here as part of my winter sports retrospective. Enjoy and keep an eye out for Rebekah’s Two Points documentary about the Girls run to the Garden coming out soon!

For part of 2 of our look back at the Wellesley High year in sports we look at the winter season which provided a lot of everlasting memories for players and fans alike.

We start with the girls hockey team, fresh off a Division 2 runner up season in 2013-14, the girls once again showed why they are one of the top girls teams in Massachusetts, skating to a 16-1-3 regular season and a Bay State Herget Championship. The girls weren’t done there though as they cruised through the first two rounds of the tournament before meeting Medfield in the semifinals, and even though Medfield gave the Raiders quite the run for their money Wellesley pulled it out with a Kiely Noonan overtime goal to win 2-1 and advance to their second straight state championship game. In the title game they went up against Falmouth in a matchup of arguably the best two teams in the division, and the game certainly lived up to the hype as it was a back and forth affair that had to be settled in overtime. Unfortunately for Wellesley, a bad bounce lead to a breakaway goal for the Clippers and a 3-2 overtime loss. Even though the end was not was they had hoped this team and in particular the seniors left a legacy that will be remembered for a long time.

The boys hockey team also had quite the season going 14-2-4 in the regular season and capturing themselves a Herget title as well. The boys gained the number 2 seed in the Division 1 South and knocked off Bridgewater Raynham 8-4 in the opening round of the tournament. Unfortunately for the Raiders they ran up against a very tough 10th seeded Hingham squad in the quarterfinals and fell 4-0 to bring their season to a premature end. Despite the loss the boys team also left quite a legacy and a lot of great memories.

The girls basketball team entered a new era this past season as former boys coach Glen Magpiong took over for long time coach Kristen Cieri. Despite some uncertainty the girls battled their way to a 13-7 regular season and a home game in the state tournament. Unfortunately their opponent was the always tough Brockton Lady Boxers who were able to come in to Wellesley’s gym and walk out with a 49-42 win. While it was a tough way to go out the ladies have nothing to hang their heads about, and with a good core of players returning next season expectations will be high for the 2015-16 campaign.

The boys basketball team also entered a new era as former coach Mike Reidy returned to lead the Raiders. The boys also were able to battle their way to a tournament berth and a home game finishing with a 12-8 regular season record. After knocking off Bridgewater Raynham at home the team faced a monumental test in 3rd seeded Catholic Memorial, and despite keeping the game close throughout the Raiders fell 84-77. These Raider boys do have a lot to be proud of, as they proved night in and night out that you can never count out the red and black.

The boys swim team once again made it to the all state meet and have several competitors place in the top 20 in their events. Congratulations to the team on another remarkable season as they have set the bar very high for future teams.

The boys and girls indoor track teams competed hard this past year and the girls ended up taking home a Herget Division title with a 5-1 league mark while the boys finished 1-5 in 2014-15. Both teams will look to reload next year and once again take the Bay State Conference by storm.

Boys wrestling battled on the mats all season long and it showed as they finished with a 5-5 league mark and 6-8 overall good for 3rd place in the Herget Division. Coach Jessie Davis continues to lead that program to bigger and better things and I wish the team continued success as they start a new season in November.

Finally girls gymnastics captured a league title this past year going 8-1 both overall and in league play. The team finished a full 3 wins above the second place finisher Newton North and has a lot to be proud of.

Stay tuned tomorrow as I wrap up this retrospective with a look at the spring sports season.