Peabody 11-22
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THANKSGIVING FOOTBALL<br />
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880<br />
T5<br />
<strong>Peabody</strong> HOF to induct 18 members<br />
PEABODY — The <strong>Peabody</strong><br />
High School Athletic Hall of<br />
Fame has unveiled the list of<br />
this year’s Hall of Fame inductees.<br />
Spanning many eras<br />
and representing a wide range<br />
of sports, the group of 18 honorees<br />
not only contributed to<br />
the success of <strong>Peabody</strong> High<br />
School athletics, but many of<br />
them continue to give back to<br />
the community.<br />
The Fall of Fame is a<br />
Tanner tradition that is held in<br />
even-numbered years, when<br />
the Tanners are hosts of the<br />
annual Thanksgiving Day<br />
clash against Saugus.<br />
The inductees and their<br />
families will be introduced on<br />
Thursday, Nov. <strong>22</strong> before the<br />
kickoff of the Thanksgiving<br />
Day game at Coley Lee Field.<br />
On Friday, Nov. 23, the honorees<br />
will be formally inducted<br />
into the Hall during a gala<br />
banquet at the Danversport<br />
Yacht Club.<br />
2007 basketball team<br />
captains Kyle Multner and<br />
Eddie Leonard are among<br />
the inductees this year. Both<br />
were multi-sport athletes at<br />
<strong>Peabody</strong> High. Leonard excelled<br />
in basketball and was<br />
a 1,000 point scorer. Multner<br />
also played basketball and<br />
finished his career with 960<br />
points, but his real passion<br />
was baseball. As a senior, he<br />
led the Tanners to a Greater<br />
Boston League championship,<br />
posting a 6-1 pitching record<br />
with 0.79 ERA.<br />
Three inductees went on to<br />
successful careers as <strong>Peabody</strong><br />
firefighters or policemen.<br />
Gary Hayward (1977) captained<br />
the soccer and baseball<br />
teams his senior years. Scott<br />
Wlasuk (1979) was a threesport<br />
athlete who made significant<br />
contributions to the<br />
football, lacrosse and track<br />
teams. He went on to excel<br />
in football and lacrosse at<br />
Wesleyan University and<br />
later served a short stint as<br />
coach of the Tanners football<br />
team. As a senior, Patrick<br />
Conrad (1980) helped lead<br />
the Tanners to a 9-1 record in<br />
football and also batted .515<br />
in baseball.<br />
Former hockey team MVPs<br />
Mark Leonard (1984), who<br />
is active in <strong>Peabody</strong>’s youth<br />
hockey programs, and Gary<br />
Ruddock (1974) are also<br />
being inducted. Ruddock was<br />
a key defenseman on the 1976<br />
team that advanced to the state<br />
semi-finals at Boston Garden,<br />
while Leonard was a two-time<br />
leading scorer for the Tanners<br />
who went on to excel at the<br />
University of Connecticut<br />
and the European Hockey<br />
Federation before he became<br />
the head coach of the Tanners<br />
in 1995.<br />
Track standout Charlie<br />
Spurr (1970) is also among<br />
the new inductees. He was<br />
team MVP as a senior and still<br />
holds the record for the 120-<br />
yard outdoor (15.1) and 45-<br />
yard indoor high hurdles (5.9).<br />
2005 graduates Lauren<br />
(Orlando) LaTorella and<br />
Heather Popp were two-sport<br />
standouts at <strong>Peabody</strong> High.<br />
LaTorella captained the volleyball<br />
and basketball teams<br />
and led the Tanners to GBL<br />
championships in both sports<br />
as a senior. She went on to become<br />
a three-year basketball<br />
starter at Brandeis University.<br />
Popp served as captain of the<br />
soccer and lacrosse teams.<br />
She was MVP in lacrosse and<br />
set the record for single game<br />
goals (10).<br />
Gary Palmieri Jr. (2002)<br />
will join his brother Anthony<br />
in the Hall of Fame. He was<br />
a three-sport standout in football,<br />
hockey and baseball, captain<br />
of the football and baseball<br />
teams, leading the league<br />
in sacks his senior year.<br />
Josh Rachman (1994) and<br />
Sean Hayes (1992) were<br />
outstanding football and lacrosse<br />
players. Rachman was<br />
an all-star in both sports and<br />
garnered the Unsung Hero<br />
Award for the 1993 football<br />
Superbowl champions. Hayes<br />
was a two-sport captain. He<br />
set boys lacrosse program records<br />
for season saves (291)<br />
and single game saves (41).<br />
Three more outstanding<br />
three-sport female athletes -<br />
Tracey (McKeen) Palazzola<br />
(1997), Jocelyn (Costa)<br />
Sullivan (2004) and Michelle<br />
Renee Grifoni (2008) will also<br />
be inducted. McKeen served<br />
as senior captain of the basketball<br />
and soccer teams, earning<br />
team MVP awards in both<br />
sports. She currently is an assistant<br />
coach of the <strong>Peabody</strong><br />
girls basketball team under<br />
her father, Stan McKeen, who<br />
also coaches the <strong>Peabody</strong> boys<br />
soccer team. Sullivan served<br />
as senior captain of the field<br />
hockey, lacrosse and swim<br />
teams. She was named MVP of<br />
both field hockey and lacrosse<br />
teams and is currently an assistant<br />
principal at the South<br />
Memorial School. Grifoni<br />
served as captain of the volleyball,<br />
basketball and softball<br />
teams. She received the Frank<br />
Wiggin Award in basketball,<br />
was the MVP in softball and<br />
was named <strong>Peabody</strong> High<br />
Female Athlete of the Year in<br />
2008.<br />
Rounding out the 2018<br />
class and being inducted<br />
posthumously are William<br />
Connolly (1950) and Paul<br />
Tenberg (1974). Connolly<br />
played baseball, hockey and<br />
football and went on to play<br />
football at the University<br />
of Massachusetts, Amherst.<br />
Tenberg was an outstanding<br />
football player who earned the<br />
Billy Dexter Award as a senior,<br />
then continued his football<br />
career at the University<br />
of New Hampshire.<br />
Happy Thanksgiving<br />
Best of luck to the Lynnfield Pioneers<br />
and <strong>Peabody</strong> Tanners<br />
APY*<br />
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Lynnfield, MA<br />
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