May 18, 2020
2020 Athletics Hall of Honor inductees selected
A professional hockey player, a publisher, a lawyer, and others earn the honorPhillips Academy is pleased to welcome six individual athletes and the 1965 lacrosse team into the Andover Athletics Hall of Honor. These alumni are being honored for their accomplishments in varied sports as well as for the exceptional ways in which each has lived the values of Phillips and Abbot academies. The induction ceremony planned for Reunion Weekend 2020 has been postponed to Saturday, June 12, 2021. Fellow alumni, classmates, and teammates look forward to celebrating this impressive cohort in person next year.
Alison Coughlin Averill ’95, P’23
Alison “Ali” Coughlin was a tri-sport varsity athlete earning 11 varsity letters playing soccer, ice hockey, and lacrosse all four years—with the exception of taking off soccer season her senior year to focus on college.
Coughlin held the single-season soccer scoring record and led the team to win the New England Championship her upper year. She was also the highest scorer in Andover girls’ ice hockey history her senior year, tallying her 100th goal in her upper year. In lacrosse, Coughlin was leading scorer her lower, upper, and senior years. Upper year she was named second team All-American and was chosen as a member of the New England team. Senior year, Coughlin became the all-time leading scorer in Andover lacrosse history—and The Phillipian named her athlete of the year.
Coughlin matriculated to Princeton University, where she continued to play ice hockey and lacrosse. Following freshman year, Coughlin focused solely on ice hockey. She was named a finalist in both 1998 and 1999 for the Patty Kazmaier Award—an award given to the top female college ice hockey player in the United States. Coughlin was named hockey MVP her senior year and holds the following records for Princeton: 9th for most points in a career, 5th for most goals in a career, and 3rd (tie) for most goals in a game. Coughlin was named Second Team All-ECAC in 1998 and ECAC Player of the Week as a Princeton junior.
Currently, Coughlin is raising and coaching four daughters, who all play ice hockey for the East Coast Wizards. Following in her mother’s footsteps, eldest daughter Anne ’23 just finished her first season, as a ninth-grader, on Andover’s varsity ice hockey team.
Hope Barnes ’76 (d)
Hope Barnes began at Phillips Academy as a lower in 1973, the first year of coeducation. When she was an upper she became varsity field hockey’s starting goalie—and the nascent team achieved an impressive 7–2 record.
Barnes went to the University of Washington in 1976 and joined women’s crew. In 1978, she transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where she captained the undefeated women’s rowing team. Barnes earned a spot on the 1980 Olympics team, but did not compete because of the U.S. boycott of the Moscow games.
Barnes achieved many rowing successes: she won a silver medal in the 1981 World Rowing Championships, led the women’s crew at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles as captain, and was a two-time gold medalist in the Head Of The Charles Regatta.
While attending graduate school in medicinal chemistry at the University of Washington in 1985, Barnes was the 1985–1986 chair of the Women’s Olympic Rowing Committee.
An avid extreme skier and mountaineer, Barnes accomplished many first female descents, the most notable being Nevado Copa in Peru at 20,302 feet above sea level. On January 28, 1991, Barnes died in a fall while ice climbing on Dragontail Peak in Washington’s Cascades. That February the University of Washington posthumously awarded Barnes her PhD.
The Barnes Trophy was first awarded in October 1991 to the winner of the women’s four championship in the Head of the Charles. Barnes was posthumously awarded the 1991 Ernestine Bayer Award (formerly Woman of the Year) by USRowing; this award is in recognition of outstanding contributions to women’s rowing and/or to an outstanding woman in rowing.
UPenn’s Hope Barnes Award, established in 1991, is presented to the student-athlete who embodies outstanding commitment, leadership, and achievement as a member of women’s crew. The Hope Barnes Fellowship Fund—established by Barnes’s family—supports and encourages talented graduate students in medicinal chemistry at the University of Washington.
John G. Clark ’69
Known to his teammates as “Clarkie” or “Johnny,” John Clark earned a total of nine varsity letters in soccer, hockey, and lacrosse in three years and was captain of both the soccer and hockey teams his senior year.
As a soccer center forward his upper year, he scored the most goals, and The Phillipian
named him Athlete of the Term. As captain his senior year, Clark tied for most goals scored and was named Athlete of the Week.
In hockey, Clark played left wing and as an upper was second highest goal scorer on a team that earned a 17–3 record and won the Lawrenceville Tournament for the second year in a row. As captain his senior year, Clark tallied the second highest in goals and assists, leading the team to a 14–4–1 record, which included a tie with the Harvard freshman team and losses only to college freshman teams. The Andover hockey team won the New England Prep School Championship that year.
Clark was a midfielder in lacrosse and was named Athlete of the Week during his senior year; the team tallied a 10–1 record. Clark led the 1969 team in scoring, including the 100th goal (soccer, hockey, and lacrosse combined) of his Andover career in the final Andover-Exeter lacrosse match. He was voted the #1 athlete in the 1969 Pot Pourri and won the Press Club Award.
At Yale, Clark was a starter on both the soccer and hockey teams his freshman year. He then went on to start for three years on the varsity soccer team. He was the perennial high scorer on Yale’s soccer team and an All-Ivy selection his sophomore, junior, and senior years. He also played varsity hockey his sophomore year.
Clark currently serves on the Alumni Council’s Communications Committee and is a class co-agent. Professionally, he served as director of advancement at Loomis Chaffee School and the American School of London before joining Carney, Sandoe & Associates in 2011 as a senior search consultant for independent schools worldwide seeking senior administrators.
Christopher J. Kreider ’10
A native of Boxford, Mass., Chris Kreider came to Andover in 2007 as a lower. He was a talented newcomer on the varsity hockey team and became the team’s leader in goals. The following season, Kreider led the team with 56 points, contributing to a team record of 17–5–4. Despite a great showing in the 2009 NEPSHL playoffs, the team fell short in the semifinals. Kreider was also highly talented as a varsity lacrosse player.
Kreider was selected in the first round (No. 19) of the 2009 NHL draft by the New York Rangers. However, he opted to play for Boston College, becoming one of the top players in the nation during his three seasons there. As a freshman, Kreider helped the Eagles win a national championship. Kreider was named to the 2010 Hockey East All-Rookie Team. The following year the team didn’t win the National Championship, but the Eagles managed to win the Beanpot Tournament for a second year in a row, with Kreider named tournament MVP. In the 2011–2012 season at BC, Kreider made history with 23 goals and 45 points along with helping the Eagles win their second NCAA championship in three seasons.
Kreider signed an NHL contract with the New York Rangers on April 10, 2012, and six days later made his NHL debut. He scored his first NHL goal in Game 6 vs. the Ottawa Senators in the NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Kreider was named to the NHL All-Star game for the first time in 2020.
In February 2020, Kreider signed a seven-year contract extension with the Rangers.
Embodying the non sibi spirit, Kreider organizes an annual fundraiser called “Slap Out Epilepsy”—a cause close to his heart. Fellow NHL players, NWHL players, and Olympians run the on-ice clinic, which is held at Phillips Academy’s Harrison Rink.
Charles R.H. Miers ’75
Charles Miers began his Andover athletic career by failing the notorious Physical Aptitude Test (PAT) in 1972–1973, which was required for all entering students. As a result, Miers was not able to play sports until he “graduated” from a semester-long remedial gym program. Miers’s love for running started with laps around the Case Memorial Cage’s raised track—although the love for competing remained a distant dream. His senior year, Miers was asked to try out for the cross country team and went on to earn varsity letters in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track and Phillipian Athlete of the Week Honors.
“He knew almost nothing about running, yet he was a fast study, becoming the #2 distance runner,” said teammate Paul Suslovic ’75. Miers also finished second in New England Interscholastic competition his senior year.
Miers continued his track career at Columbia University, earning eight varsity letters in cross country and indoor and outdoor track. He helped lead the Columbia Lions to an Ivy League Cross Country championship in 1979 and, that same year, received the coach’s Outstanding Athlete of the Year award for cross country and track. In 1980, Miers was named captain of the Columbia cross country team. Some 40 years later, Miers still remains in the record books at Columbia University as eighth on the top all-time performance list for 10,000 meters. After college, he represented the NYAC and Adidas and posted a 2.16.37 marathon (#13 all-USA time for that year) to qualify for the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Professionally, Miers’s career combined work as a full-time book editor and publisher, while simultaneously competing on a national level in his sport during his 20s and early 30s. Since 2001, Miers has worked with Rizzoli, which is internationally recognized for its excellence in publications in the arts and culture, particularly in fashion, interior design, architecture, fine art, and photography.
James L. Shea ’70, P’99
A four-year PA student, Jim Shea came to Andover from Baltimore in 1966. Shea was captain of the basketball and lacrosse teams his senior year. He was the leading lacrosse scorer that year and held the basketball team together through a challenging winter.
Deke DiClemente—a beloved coach, teacher, mentor, and 2009 Andover Athletics Hall of Honor inductee—called Shea “the finest clutch performer I’ve ever seen.”
As a senior, Shea was selected by The Phillipian as Athlete of the Year “for his strong performances and determination in lacrosse, soccer, and basketball. Shea provided the necessary enthusiasm, desire, and ability to lead the teams to successful seasons.” Shea also received the Schubert Key—awarded to Andover’s finest athlete—and the Yale Bowl.
At Princeton University, Shea majored in history, lettered in soccer, and captained the lacrosse team. He won the Higginbotham Trophy, awarded to a senior with the most outstanding play, distinguished sportsmanship, and gentlemanly conduct. During his summers, Shea played competitive tennis, achieving a top 20 ranking on Maryland men’s singles and serving as a club tennis pro.
Shea graduated from Princeton in 1974 and went on to University of Virginia to earn a law degree. After service as a law clerk to a federal judge and as an assistant in Maryland’s office of the attorney general, Shea joined Venable, an Am Law 100 firm, and rose through the ranks to become partner in 1985, and from 1995 to 2017 served as the firm’s managing partner/chair. Shea is also former chair of the Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland, the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, and Baltimore’s Empowerment Zone.
Shea lives in Owings Mills, Maryland, with his wife of 43 years, Barbara. The couple has four children, one of whom graduated from Andover in 1999.
1965 Lacrosse Team
Coach Robert Hulburd had minimal expectations: nine starters out of 11 from the previous year had graduated. Hulburd told The Phillipian that the team’s depth appeared questionable, the schedule was “very rough,” and the athletes “would be hard-pressed to match the record of last year’s team.”
Hulburd and assistant coach Meredith Price selected 29 players for varsity—18 seniors, 10 uppers, and one lower. A mix of the previous years’ benchwarmers and JV call-ups, the team, captained by Daniel Warren ’65, epitomized a non sibi approach to its challenges.
The 1965 lacrosse season began April 14 at home, days after The Phillipian had published a less-than-enthusiastic forecast headlined “Hulburd’s Shallow Lax Squad.” The team comprised midfielders Stephen Allen ’65, John Browning ’65, Peter Franchot ’66, Gordon Freeman ’66, David Ludden ’66, Jonathan Mills ’65, James Munroe ’65, Geoffrey Perry ’65, Jeffrey Piehler ’65 (d), Michael Pokress ’65 (d), W. Andrew Scott ’66, Walton Walker ’67, and James Wyper ’66; defensemen Scott Badman ’66, Richard Barnum ’65, William Clift ’66, William Eakland ’66, Randy Evans ’65, Stephen Marshall ’65, and George Nevius ’66; attackers Derek Huntington ’65 (d), James Kilbreth ’65, Edward McLean ’65, Stuart McLean ’65, Philip Morgan ’66, and Daniel Warren ’65; goalies Robert Arras ’65, Lee Eddy ’66, and Ely Kahn ’65; and team managers J. Thomas Graham ’65 (d) and John Hemingway ’65.
Seven weeks later, Andover lacrosse beat Exeter 15–3, the largest margin of victory for Andover in the competition’s history, capping a first-ever undefeated and untied season—still the only one for boys’ lacrosse in school history. Within days, Andover was declared New England Interscholastic Champion. “This has been the most satisfying season I’ve ever had,” Hulburd told The Phillipian. “It was beyond my wildest expectations.”
Four senior starters earned New England All-Prep recognition. Nine seniors went on to play NCAA Division One lacrosse. One player became the University of North Carolina’s first-ever All-American, another became captain of Princeton’s varsity lacrosse team, and still another—who never started a game for Andover—represented Yale at the season-ending North-South All-Star Game, and was named to the All-Ivy team and as an All-American honorable mention. Two underclassmen also became college All-Americans.
Coach Hulburd, also an instructor in German who held several key Academy positions, was named New England Coach of the Year in 1969. He retired in 1986 and passed away in 1995.