Six athletes, two coaches and 1984 cross country team inducted into Hall of fame
Members of the 1984 Avon High girls cross country team are all smiles at the recent Avon Athletic Hall of Fame induction banquet. The team , which won the Class M and State Open championship was recognized and inducted. From left: Elizabeth (Lisa Kerwin) McClain, Cathy (Desmond) Eustis, Patricia (Kuhl) McDowell), Rose (Buckanavage) Rapp and Gail (Gately) Smith. More banquet photos
AVON – It was a just a few years ago but the lessons learned running for the Avon High girls cross country team are still there.
In 1984, the Avon High girls under the late Richard Hadden won the Northwest Conference title. At the Class M championship meet, they ended Montville’s six-year reign as state champions. A week later, the Falcons (13-0) beat Montville again and won the State Open championship for the first time in school history.
Avon repeated their achievements a year later in 1985, capturing a NCCC title, winning the Class M championship and winning a second consecutive State Open title.
Still, there is always something special the first time you achieve a goal and win a championship.
But, it was 40 years ago? More than 40 years? Yes. It was 42 years ago, to be exact.
For the women who ran in the woods, on the pavement and golf courses and won those championships, the memories were sharp, the stories crisp and it made them smile again as the recent induction ceremony for the Avon High Athletic Hall of Fame at The Golf Club of Avon.
A fifth class of athletes and coaches were honored with induction into the Avon High Athletic Hall of Fame.
Athletes Adam Blankenbicker (Class of 2000), Kyle Bourque (1998), the late Buddy Harris (1972), JD Kosakowski (1989), Ed Roy (1971), Caroline Schaefer (2014) were inducted along with coaches Jack Trumbull and Frank Waters and the 1984 girls cross country team.
The stories were not so much about victories and triumphs on the field but the journey to get there and the lessons learned from coaches and peers along the way.
“You don’t really think about it so many years later but when this came about, it brought us together again. You begin thinking that really influential time in your youth. They were important years. We had each other, we had a role and we had a great coach to guide us,” Rose (Buckanavage) Rapp.
“I think some of us really didn’t appreciate what coach Hadden did. Looking back, you’re like wow. That year, 1984 really set the foundation for several years,” she said.
That 1984 cross country team won the first state championship in program history and the first Open title. Avon went onto win four consecutive state titles and finish in the top 10 at the State Open for four consecutive years.
The Falcons won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015 and won three titles in four years from 2014 through 2017. But they’ve never won another Open title.
“Everybody pulled each other long and worked together,” Patricia (Kuhl) McDowell said. “There was such a great atmosphere. When everyone works so hard, it just pushed you to be your best.”
“It’s been a fun ride to revisit it. It’s giving us a chance to revisit it and see each other again and really relax. That’s been the gift for us.”
“Our team was built on humor, dedication and shared commitment for excellence,” said Elizabeth (Lisa Kirwan) McClain said.
Some of the members of the Avon High Athletic Hall of Fame inducted on May 1 in ceremonies at the Golf Club of Avon. Back row, from left, Gail (Gately) Smith, Jack Trumbull, Patricia (Kuhl) McDowell, Cathy (Desmond) Eustis, Elizabeth (Lisa Kerwin) McClain, Ed Roy and Rose (Buckanavage) Rapp. Front row, Kyle Bourque, left, Frank Waters, center and JD Kosakowski. More banquet photos
Hired a physical education teacher in 1967, Trumbull coached football, wrestling, girls golf and softball at Avon, primarily as an assistant coach. He coached with Hall of Fame coach Glenn McClellan, who won a record 130 games and eight league championships.
He was the head wrestling coach for 10 seasons (1972-81) and led the Falcons to seven Northwest Conference titles and an undefeated season (14-0) in 1972.
In 1982, a new wrestling coach, Bill Riccio, was named to lead the squad and there was some tension. Some of the wrestlers who had competed the previous year didn’t return to the team. Trumbull was there as an assistant coach in support of Riccio and the students he had coached before. That 1982 wrestling team was the first Avon wrestling team to win a state championships.
Trumbull was honored to be inducted into the Hall of Fame but he said his reward was the time he spent with the athletes and the memories they forged together through hard work and sweat.
“I have memories that will always be with me,” he said. “They are a part of me. I got my reward years ago. When someone you coached goes into the Navy, retires and says coach, I’m coming over to see you, no matter what, that’s the reward.”
Kosakowski, an All-State and All-New England soccer player, graduated as the leading goal scorer in school history (50 goals) before playing for Harvard University. In 1988, the Falcons were 20-0 and won the Class M state championship. He won a Class S doubles title in boys tennis, too.
“On and off the field. the community here was unbelievable the friendship were life-long,” he said. “The community spirit here is unmatched. The faculty we had here was, again, unmatched. We were so blessed. I want everyone to embrace what Avon High school brought to us and how well it has prepared us for life.”
Kyle Bourque and JD Kosakowski and friends at the recent Avon High Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Golf Club of Avon. More banquet photos
Bourque helped Avon win two state championships in boys soccer (1985, 1987), scoring 50 goals as a Falcon. He played soccer at the University of Vermont where he was four-year starter, helping the Catamounts reach the quarterfinals of the 1989 NCAA Division I tournament. After graduation, he served in the Peace Corps and joined the U.S. Army at the age of 35 as a social work officer, serving in Iraq and Kuwait.
Harris was a three-sport athlete at Avon, running cross country and participating in indoor track and outdoor track. He was a CIAC Class B state champion in cross country in 1971 and a two-time CIAC Class B state champion in outdoor track in 1971 and 1972 in the two mile.
After graduating from Avon, he continued his running career at Southeastern Massachusetts University, known today as UMass-Dartmouth. At SMU, he ran on the cross country and track and field team. He helped lead SMU to a fifth place finish in the 1975 NCAA Division III national championships.
Over four years, SMU cross country qualified for three NCAA tournaments and went 51-6. Harris was inducted into the UMass-Dartmouth Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2002, the men’s varsity 8K run at UMass’ annual cross country invitational meet was renamed the Robert “Buddy” Harris 8K Run.
He died at the age of 48 in 2002 after being hit by a drunk driver. His sister, Peg, accepted his Hall of Fame award on his behalf.
Roy was a standout athlete on the track and field team, setting a school record in the pole vault with a leap of 13 feet, 3 inches in 1971 – a record that still stands today, 55 years later. He helped the Falcons go 11-0 in 1971. Twice,Roy finished second in the State Open in the pole vault with leaps of 12-6 in 1970 and 1971.
In the final three years of his high school career, Roy won 29 pole vaulting competitions, finished second four times and third once.
Roy also played football on the Falcons on both sides of the ball. He scored five career touchdowns and had three interceptions. He was All-Northwest Conference as a senior in 1970.
He attended Tuft where he was a vaulter on the track team for two years. He transferred and graduated from Babson College.
Blankenbicker played soccer and track at Avon, earning All-State honors in both sports. He was a two-time Class M state champion in the pole vault. The closest he came to Roy’s record in the pole vault was a leap of 13-feet in 2000. Eric Stabenau (1977) and Jim Eden (1982) also cleared 13-0.
He graduated from the University of Rhode Island and served 27 months in the Peace Corps in Guatemala. After earning a Masters degree in Geology from Michigan, he began a teaching career. He is currently the Director of Education at Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vt.
Peg (Harris) Roy, left, holds the Hall of Fame award for her late brother, Buddy, and her husband Ed Roy. More banquet photos
Schaefer was a standout player at Avon from 2010-13, helping the Falcons win three consecutive North Central Connecticut Conference (NCCC) championships and advance twice to the Class M semifinals. She played four years at Colgate and was inducted into the Connecticut Field Hockey Hall of Fame in 2024.
Waters coached the girls basketball team from 1997 through 2016, leading the Falcons to 13 league championships in the North Central Connecticut Conference and a state championship in 2008. He had a career record of 378-95.
He coached nine All-State players and five girls who scored more than 1,000 points in their careers.
He grew up in Orange, Mass., and graduated from Mahar Regional High in 1966. He played varsity football, basketball and baseball at Mahar was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2013. Frank attended and graduated from Wesleyan University in 1970, where he continued to play all three sports. He played wide receiver and defensive back on Wesleyan’s last undefeated football team in 1969.