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Schools

Feehan Inducts Eight Into Athletic Hall of Fame

The 16th annual Bishop Feehan Hall of Fame Induction included eight former student athletes from football, basketball, swimming, soccer, hockey and track.

Thomas Scott Connelly initially resisted attending . In fact, Connelly said he had to be dragged “kicking and screaming” to go to the school because he didn’t want to leave behind his friends in Franklin.

“Not too many people from Franklin come to Feehan. I didn’t want to come here at all,” Connelly said.

His attitude toward the school made a quick turnaround though. He soon met a group of friends and teammates on the football team as a freshmen and that group ultimately led the Shamrocks to a 10-0 undefeated record.

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Connelly now looks back on Feehan fondly and is relishing the opportunity to reconnect with some old friends as part of his induction into Bishop Feehan’s Athletic Hall of Fame. In order to be inducted into the Bishop Feehan Athletic Hall of Fame a candidate must be graduated for a minimum of 10 years and have “exemplified, in some extraordinary way, the values of athletic participation.”

“I haven’t got a chance to see a lot of these guys over the past ten years," Connelly said. "It’s a good excuse to get everyone together."

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He also appreciates the school’s effort in putting together events like this to keep close ties to the alumni. “It’s a special tight-knit family. Not every school has this.”

Much of the credit in maintaining these strong alumni ties has to go to the stability and consistency in the school’s staff, which has some very long tenures, including the school’s president, Chris Servant, who has been at the school for 39 years, and its Athletic Director Paul O’Boy, who has been there for 46.

“It’s kind of funny, ten years later and you don’t think there will be the same names, but there are,” Connelly said.

Their longevity ensures a familiar face is guaranteed for nearly all of the school’s past graduates since it opened 50 years ago in 1961.

“I’ve been the athletic director for 42 years so I know all these people,” O’Boy said.

“Everyone one of these individuals I’ve had a relationship with since I’ve been here so long," Servant said. "I’ve taught them in class, coached them or their siblings and watched them perform."

Servant also wanted to give credit to O’Boy for his efforts in organizing the Hall of Fame, saying “He is the prime mover in this. He’s the guy who’s really the whole coordinator of this event.”

O’Boy says he sees the Hall of Fame as a way of keeping Feehan’s community together. “This is a way of brining people back together and maintaining a relationship.”

“You always circle back,”  Connelly said. 

2011 Inductees

Thomas Scott Connelly, Class of 2001 for football and basketball

Peter Cosgrove, Class of 1967 for football

Joseph Gazzola (posthumous), Class of 1998 for football

Kathleen McCann, Class of 2001 for swimming

Elizabeth McGuire, Class of 1996 for basketball, soccer and track

Thomas Ryan, Class of 2000 for hockey

John Sullivan, Class of 1990 for football, basketball and track

Heather Wolf Murphy, Class of 1995 for basketball and track

 

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