Nine Andover alumni who have made significant contributions to Andover’s athletic program on the field, on the ice or in the water will be inducted into the Andover Athletic Hall of Honor this year. According to the Andover website, these athletes “will be honored for accomplishments in athletics and for the exceptional ways in which each continued or has continued to lead a life that embodies the values of Phillips Academy and Abbot Academy.” The 2012 inductees to be honored are Julia Brady ’85, James Carrington ’42, John Clayton ’47, Tom Fleming ’72, Henry Higdon ’59, Eddie Mahan, Class of 1912, Mike Moonves ’62, Joe Wennik ’52 and Randy Wood ’82. Mahan was a remarkable football player at Andover and played both football and baseball for Harvard. He was considered one of the best football players in the first 50 years of the sport and was in the first group of inductees to the College Football Hall of Fame. He was named an All-American in football in 1913, 1914 and 1915 and was captain of the Harvard team his senior year. He is also a member of Harvard’s esteemed Athletic Hall of Fame. Carrington was a tri-varsity athlete at Andover in swimming, lacrosse and football. He moved on to study at Annapolis where he continued to play all three sports and was a six-time All-American award recipient. He later became a U.S. Navy Commander and was a recipient of the United States Naval Academy Athletic Association Sword for Athletic Excellence. Carrington was also inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Navy. Clayton was a tri-varsity athlete as well. He was the quarterback of the football team, as well as a key basketball and baseball player. He moved on to play at Dartmouth, where his career passing yards remains 14th on Dartmouth’s all-time list. Clayton wrote in an e-mail to The Phillipian, “My Andover athletic experience benefited my future athletic career because of the quality of the coaches, teammates, and the opponents we played. I learned as a quarterback that you are only as good as your teammates.” Brady was captain of the field hockey team and co-captain of the ice hockey team at Andover. She moved on to be the captain of the Harvard ice hockey team and sailing team. She competed in the 1992 Olympics where she won a bronze medal in the Europe dinghy class. She won the Women’s National Sailing Championship in 1985 and was named the Rolex/U.S. Yachtswoman of the Year in 1992. Fleming studied at Andover as a postgraduate, where he played football, hockey and track. Fleming was the New England’s Prep School Champion in track in both the 100 and 200–yard dash. Tom continued as a three-sport athlete at Dartmouth where he won the Alfred E. Watson Award for Top Male Athlete in 1974. Fleming later coached hockey at The Northwood School in Lake Placid, NY, where he coached six Olympic athletes and eight to-be NHL players and boasted a winning percentage of .753. “I was blessed to have [as coaches] Mr. Steve Sorota in football and track and Mr. [Ted] Harrison [’38] in hockey, both of whom are already in the Hall, and much of what I tried to teach young student athletes came directly from what I was taught at Andover,” wrote Fleming in an e-mail to The Phillipian. Wood played for the Andover varsity ice hockey team as a left wing for four years and led the team in goals and assists in his Upper and Senior years. He played hockey for Yale where he was an All-Ivy and All-American, and he set single season scoring record in two consecutive years. He played in the NHL for 11 years and in the 1986 and 1989 World Championships, as well as in the 1991 Canada Cup. “Ted Harrison and Chris Gurry [Instructor in History] helped me understand that nothing will be given to me. I had to earn all of my playing time…a good lesson to learn as I continued through my athletic career and in business afterwards,” wrote Wood in an e-mail to The Phillipian. Higdon was another tri-varsity athlete who excelled in football, basketball and baseball. Higdon co-captained the football team and moved on to play halfback and safety at Yale University. He was named the Most Valuable Player on the Yale team in just his freshman year during an undefeated season in 1959. He is a founding director of the Ivy Football Association. Higdons, who has had a daughter and son attend and play sports at Andover, wrote in an e-mail to The Phillipian, “It is clear that all the Higdons benefitted from the athletic competition and coaching provided by Andover and by the lessons learned in terms of discipline, preparation, teamwork, and how to behave gracefully in the event of either a victory or a defeat.” Wennik was a tri-varsity athlete at PA, playing on the varsity baseball and football teams for four years, as well as, the ice hockey team for two years. He was captain of the baseball team his senior year, and moved on to play both varsity baseball and hockey at Yale. He came back to Andover where he was a faculty member for 33 years, serving as a teach, varsity baseball coach, and even athletic director. Moonves lettered in football, baseball and basketball, of which he was captain his senior year. He played varsity baseball and squash for three years at Trinity College and was co-captain his senior year. He is also a 40-year faculty member at Governor’s Academy where he has coached baseball, football, basketball and golf. Moonves wrote in an e-mail to The Phillipian, “I am truly honored, humbled and thrilled to join some of my former coaches and school mates and other graduates and teams who are in the Hall. I have many fond memories about my athletic experience at Andover. Just being a part of the athletic tradition, which demanded hard work, a desire to be competitive, and good sportsmanship, was special in itself.”
