Coaches of the Year » Sports » EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA
Girls Cross Country: Lafond keeps it simple
When you've been coaching as long as Leo Lafond, you're bound to pick up a few things along the way.
So, despite losing two of his best runners due to injuries, Lafond helped guide a young team to one of its best-ever seasons.
Andover finished 8-2, won the Merrimack Valley Conference small school title and qualified for the Division 1 All-State meet.
The addition of Eagle-Tribune MVP Maggie Mullins was key, but Lafond also helped bring along sophomores Meghan McPhee and Eliza Lewis and freshman Leila Aruri.
"As far as a philosophy goes, it is nothing very complicated," said Lafond, who has been coaching cross country for 23 years. "All that I ask is for the runners to be supportive of each other and to try to be the best runner he or she can be. The rest will take care of itself."
In addition to coaching cross country, Lafond has coached football, track, basketball and lacrosse over 37 years as a teacher in Andover before retiring. he now teaches part-time at Brooks School.
A fitness enthusiast himself, he has run six marathons.
His son, Steve, led North Andover in receiving in 1994 and his daughter Stacey was an Eagle-Tribune All-Star field hockey player in 1996.
Previous Coaches of the Year
2009: Ed Burgess, Londonderry; 2008: Nancy Lang, Phillips; 2007: Mike Maguire, Haverhill; 2006: Amy Bernard, Pinkerton; 2005: Nancy Lang, Phillips; 2004: Joe Casey, Masconomet; 2003: Mike Maguire, Haverhill; 2002: Mike Beeman, Pinkerton; 2001: Mike Beeman, Pinkerton
Boys Cross Country: Dorval has rebuilt Hornets
Derek Dorval is a fast learner and his cross country teams at North Reading are a perfect example.
Although Dorval was not a competitive runner until after college, he's an avid distance runner (he's run a 2:39.29 marathon) who understands the sport. Despite low numbers, he has gotten impressive results.
Just four years ago, the Hornet boys did not win a meet, but he gradually built a competitive team that finished 9-3 this year.
Dorval, who played high school hockey at Ludlow High School and graduated from Boston University, has been coaching at North Reading since 2002. Prior to that, he was a volunteer assistant at Hamilton-Wenham, one of the top programs in the state.
Hornets star mark Rollfs said, "(He) is someone who pushes the team to do their best, while also keeping them loose and preventing pressure. Coach Dorval forces a sense of self-motivation, where you feel as if you're not improving for him you are improving for yourself and for your team.
"This quality, when combined with the wisdom that comes with being a veteran distance runner, produces a great cross country coach."
Previous Coaches of the Year
2009: Mike Clark, Pinkerton; 2008: Bill James, Methuen; 2007: Rick DelleChiaie, North Andover; 2006: Mike Maguire, Haverhill; 2005: Mike Clark, Pinkerton; 2004: Larry Martin, Londonderry; 2003: Steve Meline, Pentucket; 2002: Bill James, Methuen; and Larry Martin, Londonderry; 2001: Art Demers, Pelham
Girls Soccer: Rookie Grange already building legacy
Casey Grange admitted she felt some pressure being a 25-year-old rookie coach.
Grange, however, coached like a veteran, leading Central to a 18-1-3 record and the program's first state title.
"I thought it would take a couple of years," said Grange, the MVC Division 1 Coach of the Year. "Definitely not the first year. I just can't say enough about the girls. they wanted it more than anyone has wanted anything. And they just worked hard until they got what they wanted. We definitely had the talent (five All-MVC players). It takes talent. But the other half of it is working together. "
Grange was Central's JV coach since 2007.
"I think that it helped that I was the JV coach and I kind of got to see from a distance in past years what I liked and what I would do different," Grange said. "I am an assistant coach in basketball, too, so watching Sue Downer do her thing, it kind of helped me going into my first year as a head coach."
Grange (CCHS '03) was a soccer, basketball and softball standout at Central. A teacher at the Guilmette School in Lawrence, she was a second-team Division 2 All-American soccer player at Bryant.
Previous Coaches of the Year
2009: Peter Kitsos, Methuen; 2008: Kendrick Whittle, Salem; 2007: Bud McCarthy, North Andover; 2006: Meghan Matson, Andover; 2005: Jeff Petry, Timberlane; 2004: Paul Bellacqua, Haverhill; 2003: Sean Killeen, North Reading; 2002: Paul Cleary, Londonderry; 2001: Amy Quinlan, Central Catholic
Boys Soccer: Langlois loves being the giant-killer
Coaching at Pentucket is always a challenge.
"I don't think we're big enough to be like Masco and North Andover, who are pretty much always one of the top two teams," Sachems coach Christian Langlois said. "I know that some years are going to be tougher than others. I think that also makes me have to think more and learn more as a coach to be able to deal with struggles as well as dealing with the success."
Last year was a tough one, 6-9-3. This fall, Pentucket won seven more games, going 13-4-2.
"It was the best season of my 11 years not just from a statistical standpoint but also from the standpoint of having a great group of kids to work with," Langlois said. "I have to give a lot of credit to the boys because we returned 14 or 15 guys who were on the team last year and who went through that losing season and some of the turmoil that happened at the end of that season. they decided that they didn't want that to happen again."
Langlois' favorite memory was beating Rockport 1-0 on Nov. 1.
"At that point they (Rockport) were like 14-2 and they had beaten North Andover who had beaten us," Langlois said.
Langlois, who has posted a 95-78-35 record in 11 seasons, is a science teacher at Pentucket.
Previous Coaches of the Year
2009: Bill Tarbox, North Andover; 2008: Ron Comeau, Georgetown; 2007: John Coppola, Haverhill; 2006: Kerry Boles, Pinkerton; 2005: Mike Sorter, Timberlane; 2004: Mike Wartman, Andover; 2003: Al Magnusson, Sanborn; 2002: Tony Karibian, Salem; 2001: Claude Beaudet, Methuen
Football: Perry didn't waste any time
Following a grueling first practice under new coach E.J. Perry, Andover star linebacker Ned Deane returned home worn and weary — but thrilled.
"It was such a hard practice and he was very tired," said Deane's mother, Teresa Deane. "But he was so excited and so inspired by coach Perry. E.J. so was enthusiastic and so emotionally involved, it spoke to the kids. It was really a Cinderella story this season."
In his first ever season as a head football coach, Perry, 46, led the Golden Warriors to an 8-4 record, earning the Merrimack Valley Conference Large title with a 19-7 victory over Central Catholic on Thanksgiving Day.
Led by All-Scholastic Andy Coke, this marked the Golden Warriors' first division crown and first trip to the postseason since the 1975 season. they battled eventual Division 1 Super Bowl champ Everett in the Division 1 semifinals, trailing just 7-0 at the half before falling 21-0.
Perry, a former Golden Warrior football/basketball star (class of 1983), was The Eagle-Tribune Coach of the Decade while coaching basketball and boys volleyball in Salem.
Previous Coaches of the Year
2009: Jack Gati, Salem; 2008: Pat Graham, Methuen; 2007: Tony Sarkis, Gr. Lawrence; 2006: Brian O'Reilly, Pinkerton; 2005: Kevin Bradley, Whittier; 2004: Ken Maglio, Andover; 2003: Jim Pugh, Masconomet; 2002: Jack Gati, Salem; 2001: Ken Sciacca, Haverhill
Volleyball: Sullivan keeps on rolling
Success hasn't been a foreign concept for George Sullivan.
The Andover volleyball coach kept both the boys and girls squads on an enviable path of success for over 20 years. Conference titles were commonplace followed by deep forays into state tournament play.
However, getting into the state's final four was another matter, at least until recently.
Forced to step down from the boys' team post last spring due to double knee replacement surgery, Sullivan paced the girls' team into the state semis first in 2006, when he was named EMass. Division 1 Coach of the Year, and again in 2007.
But nothing matched the dominance displayed by Andover this fall, where only a legendary Barnstable program could subdue the unbeaten Golden Warriors, who lost a thriller in the state semis.
Sullivan drove Andover to 373 victories over his 24 years coaching on the girls side. And the best of his career came this year.
The former social studies teacher has coached just about everything: volleyball (high school and at Merrimack College), basketball, football and track among them.
Previous Coaches of the Year
2009: Peter Willis, Londonderry; 2008: Roger Konstant, Pinkerton; 2007: Keri Forrest, North Reading; 2006: Dan Young, Salem; 2005: Bill Brouder, Lawrence; 2004: Veronica Mulholland, North Andover; 2003: George Sullivan, Andover; 2002: Nathalee Black, Central; 2001: George Sullivan, Andover
Swimming: Nobody does it better than Fitzgerald
Another year, another title for Marilyn Fitzgerald and the Golden Warriors' trophy case.
Andover rolled to its 11th state swimming title in 12 years under Fitzgerald's tutelage this fall — its second-straight crown — putting up a whopping 357.5 points in the state meet last month. Second-place Acton-Boxboro finished with 225 points at Division 1 States.
Bad news for the competition … Andover's sophomore class led the way.
The Golden Warriors went undefeated throughout the regular season and set three state records in the final.
With such a dynasty, it's easy for athletes to lose focus.
But not Fitzgerald's.
"I tell the girls that the air at the top of the winner's podium is different from the rest in the pool," Fitzgerald chuckled.
"I don't know if most really believe me, but it motivates them, and when they do get up there they tell me how great the air is."
The air does seem sweeter at the top.
Previous Coaches of the Year
2009: Marilyn Fitzgerald, Andover; 2008: none honored; 2007: Marilyn Fitzgerald, Andover; 2006: Rick Battistini, Haverhill; 2005: Marilyn Fitzgerald, Andover; 2004: Jason Smith, Methuen; 2003: Scott Young, Central Catholic; 2002: Marilyn Fitzgerald, Andover; 2001: Marilyn Fitzgerald, Andover
Golf: Pastore has Raiders on course for greatness
Coaching at a school known for its basketball powerhouses, Vin Pastore has quietly built an athletic juggernaut of his own.
This fall Pastore led Central Catholic to its second straight Merrimack Valley Conference title.
The Raiders were backboned by Eagle-Tribune MVP Connor Greenleaf, a freshman, and junior Joe Leavitt, a repeat Eagle-Tribune All-Star.
Pastore nurtured the talent as well.
"Coach works hard with us and makes sure we understand how important it is to be a team," said Leavitt.
"He pushes us to be better as individuals, but that team atmosphere is extremely important here. he makes it easy to want to work on your game every day."
He's tried to do that in his 15 years as head coach.
A longtime math teacher at the school, Pastore has also coached basketball at Malden and Malden Catholic and is founder of the high-powered Mass. Rivals AAU program.
Previous Coaches of the Year
2009: Kevin Murphy, Haverhill; 2008: Ben Adams, Salem; 2007: Ken Kwajewski, Andover; 2006: Ken Kwajewski, Andover; 2005: Ben Hodges, Masconomet; 2004: Ben Adams, Salem; 2003: Peter Farley, North Andover; 2002: Kevin Murphy, Haverhill; 2001: Vin Pastore, Central Catholic
Field Hockey: noone, Andover make history
Maureen noone voraciously hunted the ultimate prize.
The 13-year Andover High field hockey coach hunts no more.
Noone's Golden Warriors completed the perfect season this fall, a brilliant 24-0 campaign that climaxed with the program's first-ever state championship.
Noone pushed her impressive record to 185-39-37 at Andover.
The Golden Warriors were just 21-21-11 in her first three years but have been brilliant since.
The Warriors, though, still were searching for that breakout postseason.
But this year's team toppled Acton-Boxboro and Walpole, two programs synonymous with Massachusetts field hockey, en route to the title.
"It's hard to keep hearing that," noone said about her team dominating the MVC, but never previously getting past the North finals. "You hear it over and over again."
That's now a thing of the past.
"I think we have really unselfish kids," said noone, a special education teacher at the Wilmington Middle School. "It's the most balanced group of kids I've ever had."
Noone, a passionate golfer, was a three-sport athlete at Stoneham High (Class of '81) and graduated from Fitchburg State.
Previous Coaches of the Year
2009: Mim Ryan, Timberlane; 2008: Marcia Manseau, Londonderry; 2007: Dianne Freiermuth, North Andover; 2006: Carol Merchant, Salem; 2005: Carol Merchant, Salem; 2004: Erin Carroll, Brooks; 2003: Dianne Freiermuth, North Andover; 2002: Ruth Beaton, Pentucket; 2001: Cindy Hendy, Timberlane
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