ATHOL — Upper-echelon athletes and coaches in dress clothes were out in full force at the Athol High School Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Saturday at Athol Town Hall.
Athol boys soccer coach David King opened with remarks at the fourth annual ceremony in front of around 200 people. The Athol-Royalston Athletic Association made the event possible.
Good friends, family, teammates, players and coaches were able to mingle and reminisce about the athletic glory days over a full spread of delicacies.
Athol football coach Bill LaRose was the master of ceremonies.
The induction ceremony featured the 2003 Division 2 state champions, one of only two teams in Athol history to win a state championship.
Nate Burnett coached the Red Raiders that season, which was his first year coaching.
“The best part is seeing all the boys again,” Burnett said. “To see what they are doing these days. The success they have had as men and reliving some of the memories.”
The Red Raiders beat Westford Academy 1-0 to secure the title. Tommy Cummings had the game-winning RBI.
“It was a good group of kids who were goal oriented,” Burnett said. “They all wanted the same things and worked hard to get it. We all did our jobs.”
The other team inducted was the 1992 basketball team that won a Western Massachusetts championship and finished 18-2.
The team’s run ended in the state finals, where they lost to East Boston. It was a mirror situation to the movie “Hoosiers,” with the Red Raiders facing the much bigger school.
The Red Raiders came back from down 11 points in the last two minutes, with a Derek Patria 3-pointer sending the game to overtime in the final seconds.
Individual inductees included cross country coach Walter Perkins, who coached 21 seasons for the Red Raiders starting in 1983.
Perkins lives in Florida and could not make the ceremony.
Rocky Stone was a nine-time varsity letterman for Athol and a captain of the 1962 Class B Central Massachusetts champion football team.
Stone went on to coach at Athol beginning in 1974 for various teams, including a 10-year run for the football team ending in 2010.
Bonnie Stewart (’65) was a four-sport athlete and won the Outstanding Female Senior Athlete award as a senior. She was the first winner of the award.
“It gave me as a woman in sports the recognition that needed to be there,” Stewart said. “It was a step forward.”
Stewart taught and coached at Athol for 28 years beginning in 1976.
Timothy Haven (’78) is considered the best distance runner in school history. He was a member of the 1978 track and field team that went undefeated.
Haven still holds school records in the mile (4 minutes, 30 seconds) and 2-mile (9:36).
Adrian Softic (’93) was a three-sport star for the Red Raiders and holds the record for touchdown passes for the Red Raiders with 35.
Softic made multiple all-Western Massachusetts teams in football, baseball and basketball.
Softic earned a scholarship to UMass for baseball, and won an Atlantic 10 championship in 1995 with the Minutemen. He currently works for the FBI in Boston.
Meghan Sullivan Quigley (’99) scored 1,468 points for the Red Raiders. She was the first female player to reach 1,000 points for the program.
She’s the only player, male or female, with 1,000 rebounds in school history. She played at Assumption College.
Mike Dube (’56) was a three-sport star and was considered one of the best center fielders in the region for the Athol baseball team.
During his playing days, Dube did not let a small stature get in the way of athletic success and he encourages smaller players.
“Keep up your intensity,” Dube said. “Stay with it and don’t give up.”
Dube hit .422 during his junior and senior seasons and his emotional speech brought a loud cheer from the audience. Dube quoted Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings,” a reference to his late wife, Catherine, as well as his children.
“When I was growing up this town was tremendous,” Dube said. “The support of athletes and kids. Other families would support not just their own but everyone.”
Nick Cacciolfi (’96) was a 130-pound Western Mass. champion wrestler in 1995 and finished with a 105-25 record.
“Wrestling isn’t the most popular sport,” Cacciolfi said at the podium. “But if you show up, work hard and beat your opponent you can be a varsity wrestler.”
Cacciolfi is the first wrestler inducted into the hall of fame.
Dionne Laffond Dunham (’91) was a track star for the Red Raiders. She set records in the 45-yard dash, 50-yard dash and the high jump.
Laffond Dunham had a successful college career at Westfield State, winning All-American honors in the heptathlon and long jump.
She currently works for the Connecticut State Police and is an avid powerlifter.
The next induction ceremony will be in 2022. To nominate a player or coach contact Bill LaRose at wlarose@arrsd for a form.
