Dana Zelenakas
Dana Zelenakas graduated from Brattleboro in 1966. He was an All-State selection from the State Championship Colonel football team in 1965. A member of the Eastern Ski Jumping team from 1965 to 1968 and the US Ski Team from 1968 to 1972, Zelenakas had the opportunity to compete in many prestigious competitions. During the 1968 Olympic tryouts, he finished in 9th place at Lake Placid, NY and in 7th place at Iron Mountain, MI. As a member of the US Ski team, in 1969, he competed in Lahti, Finland and at the Finnish Ski Week and during the 1970 season, in Plancia, Yugoslavia and the Holmenkollen (Holmenkollbakken) in Oslo, Norway. After a 4th place finish in the 1972 Olympic Tryouts, Dana was named to the US Olympic team that competed in Sapporo, Japan. In 1984 he won 1st place in the Masters Division at Lake Placid.
1965 Brattleboro Colonel Football Team
The 1965 Brattleboro Colonel Football Team was the highest scoring team in Vermont history and finished the season as the undefeated Division I champion. Scoring a total of 68 touchdowns (with only 22 coming from inside the ten-yard line) the team averaged 55 points per game while grinding out 2,505 yards on the ground, 849 yards through the air, and 372 yards on punt and kick off returns for a total of 3,726 yards – 206 yards more than three miles. Their point total for the season of 445 bested the old Vermont record set by Ollie Dunlop’s 1959 BFA team of 302 points. Not to be outdone, the first team Defensive unit gave up only two touchdowns all season, and yielded only a total of 32 points, or 4 pts per game.
Coach Darrell R. Sawyer
During his fourteen years as the head football coach for Brattleboro Union High School, he led the Colonels to one Division 1 Vermont State Championship in 1973, and to a runner-up finish in 1978. He finished his illustrious head football coaching career with an impressive 70 percent winning record. Between 1970 and 1981, he coached in eight Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl games before serving as the Vermont athletic director and in 1999 received the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Amateur Football award. In 2009, Sawyer was inducted into the Vermont Principals Association Hall of Fame.
Jan Carlson
Jan proved herself to be one of the top track and field athletes ever to compete at Brattleboro Union High School, amassing 13 individual Indoor and Outdoor Vermont
State Track Championships. In her senior year, she earned four state championship titles in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, the triple jump and pole vault, with four titles being the most any one person can win. For her success as a student-athlete, she received the Diedrich Stolte Cup, awarded to the most outstanding female athlete of the BUHS Class of 2006. As a collegian, she won both 100 and 200 meter NCAA Regionals and the NCAA championship title in the 100-meter dash. In 2010, she won the 100-meter dash championship at the New England Inter-Collegiate Amateur Athletic Association meet. She was a 3-time America East All Conference Indoor athlete and Outdoor Track & Field athlete for all four years.
David McGinn
David quarterbacked the Colonels to a SVL championship and received a Special Team Award for his punting. In basketball, David led the SVL in scoring, averaging 21 points per game with a four-year total of 1,048 points – the third all-time scoring leader at BUHS. David led his team to a State Championship pitching and winning all four play-off games and allowing only 1 earned run in 26 innings. At graduation he was awarded the Arthur James Monroe Cup that is awarded to one who best attains a balance with scholarship and athletics. He attended the University of Vermont playing baseball and received the Sunderland Award presented to a student athlete who has demonstrated a high level of athletic achievement, qualities of character and leadership.
Ernie Johnson
A 1942 graduate of Brattleboro High School, Ernie Johnson had a tremendous baseball career. As a high school senior he went 6-3 on the mound, including a 20 strikeout game and three straight one-hit shutouts. In addition, he led his team in hitting, batting .409. He signed a professional contract with the Boston Braves the summer after high school and went on to have a solid nine year career in the Major Leagues, including helping the Milwaukee Braves defeat the New York Yankees in the 1957 World Series. After his playing days, Ernie became a renowned TV broadcaster and executive for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves.
Coach Andrew Natowich
Coach Natowich served as the Brattleboro football coach from 1945-1965. During those 21 seasons, his teams compiled 113 wins and were crowned state champions in 1950, 1953, 1957 and 1965. Also a baseball coach, his teams enjoyed equal success on the baseball diamonds, reaching the state championship games six times, with titles in 1951, 1956 and 1961. His teams also reached the 1957, 1958 and 1960 finals. Coach Natowich was inducted into the College of Holy Cross Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Vermont Principals Association Hall of Fame in 2015. Beyond starting the town’s Little League Baseball league and American Legion team, he also contributed by building athletic fields, including the Small Fry and Little League fields, the BUHS Baseball & Football fields, and fields at Living Memorial Park and Fort Dummer. Natowich was also instrumental in the resurfacing of Art Freeman Track and the efforts to light Natowich Field.
Peter Faridoni
Peter was an acclaimed three-sport athlete, and lettered eleven times while participating in football, basketball and baseball. Chosen as a 2nd team all-state quarterback as a sophomore, Peter was named to the 1st team as he helped lead the 1950 team to the state championship. In basketball, he was voted the most outstanding player in the Southern Vermont League, finishing second in scoring as a sophomore, and first in both his junior and senior seasons, in which he was named to the all-tournament and was chosen to play in the North-South All Star basketball game in Murray KY. In baseball, he set a Stolte Field pitching record for one game, recording 27 strikeouts through 12 1/3 innings pitched, with 20 strikeouts coming in the first nine innings.
Heather Pancake
During her time at BUHS, Heather participated and lettered in three varsity sports, soccer, basketball, and track and field. During her senior year, she earned individual state championships in the 300 meter hurdles and heptathlon and in the Vermont Meet of Champions added crowns in the 100 meter hurdles and javelin. In the New England Championship, Heather won the javelin and still holds BUHS records in the 100 meter hurdles and heptathlon. In college, she was a two-time NCAA Division 3 Champion in the Heptathlon (1999 and 2000) and was named an All-American in the 100-meter-high hurdles. Her success extended to basketball, where she was a four-year starter, participated in the Division 3 playoffs and finished her career scoring 944 points with 692 rebounds. She was recognized by the College Conference of Wisconsin and Illinois and made the All-Conference Team.
Ray Smith
Ray is arguably the finest running back in state history, evidenced by his selection to the Vermont All-State team for each of his three varsity seasons, an honor never before bestowed upon a sophomore, and was named to the Vermont Shrine Football team. His successes extended to the track oval, where Ray won State Championships in the 100 and 220 yard sprints as a sophomore and anchored the 4x 100-yard relay team. His dominance continued as a junior. In the spring of 1965, his life was lost in a motorcycle accident while on the way to school.
Joe Shield
A 1980 graduate and Co-Captain on the 1980 Vermont Shrine Football team, Joe transitioned from BUHS to Worcester Academy where he was inducted into the Worcester Academy Athletic Hall of Fame as both a football and baseball player. Next, at Trinity College, Joe excelled by setting many season and career records, including 476 completions in 845 attempts for 6,646 yards and 52 touchdowns. His season high marks of 163 completions, 264 attempts, 2,186 yards and 19 TD passes endured as Trinity records for 15 years. In 1983 he was named the Division 2/3 New England Collegiate Football Offensive Player of the Year. A Co-Captain for both the football and baseball teams, Joe was inducted into Trinity’s inaugural Hall of Fame class. His successes led to an eleventh round selection in the NFL draft pick by the Green Bay Packers, of which he was a member of the active roster during 1985 and 1986 seasons.
Grady Vigneau
A 1973 graduate from BUHS, Grady Vigneau excelled as a student-athlete in both baseball and football. He played on the winning Vermont squad in the 1973 Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl Game. As a senior, he was awarded the Arthur J Monroe Cup given by the class of 1901 for successful participation in major sports and academics and also received a Sherman Award. Vigneau continued his football career at the University of New Hampshire where he excelled as an offensive tackle in football. A team captain, he was named a 1977 college football All-American and Academic All-American and later earned induction into the University of New Hampshire Athletic Hall of Fame. Grady turned down NFL offers to enter the coaching profession, coaching for 8 years at Boston University and at the University of New Hampshire before returning to graduate school and earning an MBA from Columbia University.
Girls’ Varsity Teams – Special Recognition
This recognition is made to celebrate the history of girls’ sports teams earning their place in the gyms and on the playing fields at BUHS. There is no single student-athlete, coach, administrator, or supporter to whom credit is attributed. The 1967-68 Girls Field Hockey & Basketball teams were the first official Girls’ Varsity Teams at Brattleboro Union High School. The Girls Athletic Association was initiated in 1953, then came of age in the 1960’s. Girls asked for more competitive sports opportunities including use of gyms & playing fields, appealing to fellow students, parents, physical education teachers, school principals, the superintendent & school board. In 1966 extramural Field Hockey and Basketball for girls were added with an eye to becoming varsity level in the following season. In the 1967-68 school year BUHS officially sanctioned these two teams to play at the varsity level, Brattleboro preceded the mandate of the 1972 Federal Title IX Education Amendments.
Barb Barrett
Barb was an accomplished three-sport athlete, graduating from BUHS in 1984. As a field hockey captain, Barrett scored 19 goals in her senior season, a record which stood for 20 years, and earned all-state recognition. As a basketball team captain and three-year letter winner, she became the school’s first female 1,000-point scorer and helped lead the team to the school’s only state championship. Named the team’s MVP in both 1982 and 1984, and chosen to represent Vermont in the Alhambra Basketball Classic, Barb also earned the status of Carnation Prep All-American and Honorable Mention Converse All-American in 1984. As a captain of the softball team, she was a four-year letter winner; MVP as a senior and a member of the 1983 state championship team. During her four-year career, Barb struck out only one time while leading the Colonel teams to a record of 59-11. After high school, Barb was talented enough to continue playing both basketball and softball at Assumption College. In basketball, she was the first Assumption player to score 300 points in a season (doing so three times), averaged 15.1 points per game, led the Northeast-10 Conference in three-point accuracy (.488) and finished her career as the second leading scorer in school history, amassing 1,142 points, to go along with 241 assists and 173 steals. She was named the team’s MVP during her senior season. A four-time MVP and first-team all-star shortstop, Barb was the first softball player with 200 hits in Division II history, was the school’s career batting leader, team MVP for all four of her years and was twice named Northeast-10 Player of the Year.