40 at 40
What makes a successful sports program?
The goal in any athletic contest is to win, and Williams’ record in winning is well-known. But the purpose of an athletic program is to help educate students. It’s possible to pick the most valuable players, but it’s impossible to measure who’s learned the most from their athletic education and who’s applied those lessons most effectively in their later lives.
So instead of concocting a typical hall of fame, the college’s current and former coaches, led by Athletics Director Lisa Melendy, have marked the 40th anniversary of the creation of the NCAA Division III by identifying 40 of the countless athletes over the last four decades who exemplify the lessons of Williams athletics.
Profiles written by Peter May ’73
Jack Wadden ’11
Crew
Wadden represented Williams at the 2008 Henley Regatta, was a member of the 2008 and 2009 Head of the Charles Collegiate 8+ Championship crews and was team captain his senior year. In 2009, he co-founded“Anything But Str8” to provide LGBTQ athletes at Williams a safe environment in which to share their experiences. “It was a great space to talk about different issues, get support and not feel alone,” says the former junior advisor. “It’s still going strong.”Wadden is a graduate student at the University of Virginia, studying computer science.
Anne O’Leary ’10
Golf, JV Basketball
O’Leary was a four-time National Golf Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete and in 2007 played for the first women’s golf team to advance to the NCAA Tournament since the team became varsity in 2004. A 10th-place finish at that tournament was followed by eighth- and seventh-place finishes in 2008 and 2010, respectively,with O’Leary making the top 10in individual play. She’s currently working on a Ph.D. in geosciences at Princeton
Gabrielle Woodson ’09
Soccer
A two-time All-American, Woodson was named NESCAC Player of the Year in 2007. She was a top scorer in her junior and senior years, helping the Ephs advance to the NCAA Tournament twice. As a senior, she also led the team to a 19-1-1 record, which set a program record for most wins in a season and made Williams the first NESCAC school to win back-to-back conference titles in women’s soccer. Now based in Los Angeles, she is a music and adventure video blogger for audiblegold.com.
Lindsay Payne ’06
Swimming
Diagnosed with leukemia at age 12, Payne fought cancer in middle and high school but still swam whenever she could. She went on to shatter record after record at Williams, winning seven individual NCAA titles and setting Division III records in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, among others. In 2006, she received the HondaInspiration Award, which recognizes female athletes who overcome adversity to excel in their sports. She is now a digital product manager at Bank of
America in Charlotte, N.C
Jeff Ishizuka’04
Wrestling
Ishizuka spent his junior year at the Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford, where he played rugby, mentored asylum seekers from Kosovo and conducted research in chemistry. He returned to Oxford two years later as a Rhodes Scholar (his wrestling coach, Mike Whalen, wrote a letter to the Rhodes Committee on his behalf). After completing a Ph.D. in immunology, he continued his studies at the National Institutes of Health. He’s now a resident at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Khari Stephenson ’04
Soccer, Track and Field
A 6-foot-2 footballer from Kingston, Jamaica, Stephenson scored 40 goals—15 in his senior season—and made 18 assists during his Williams career. He was an All-American his junior and senior years. Selected 27th overall in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft, he went on to play for the Kansas City Wizards, San Jose Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake. He also played 32 games for the Jamaican National Team.
Healy Thompson ’03
Track and Field
Excelling in shot put and in weight and hammer throwing, Thompson earned All-American honors 12 times and captured five NCAA titles. “I sort of fell into it, being 6-foot-1 and strong,’’ she says. “I was a bit of a natural.” In 2000, she became the first Williams woman to win an individual NCAA indoor title, by throwing a shot put 43 feet, 8.5 inches. She is now pursuing a Ph.D. in gender, feminist and women’s studies at York University in Toronto, Ontario.
Adrienne Ellman’03
Squash
Ellman played squash on the junior circuit, finishing second in the U16 girls draw at the U.S. Squash Junior Championship. College was her first experience on a team, which “totally revived the sport for me,” she says. In addition to playing number-one singles and being an All-American all four years, she was co-president of the Queer Student Union and of the junior advisors. She’s now a corporate attorney at Foley Hoag LLP in Boston.
Laura Spero ’02
Crew, Swimming, JV Soccer
As a senior, Spero was a member of the first Williams women’s crew to win the NCAA Division III Championship. She moved to Nepal after graduation and, despite not speaking the language or having any training, founded EVA Nepal, a rural dental care project that’s expanded to cover an area of more than 30,000 people. She continues to serve as EVA’s executive director and is a freelance journalist, writer and radio producer. When she feels overwhelmed, she says, she “always goes back to Williams rowing.”
Josh Lefkowitz ’02
Tennis
Lefkowitz was a four-time All-American and in 2002 became the only Eph to win an NCAA individual title. In four years playing number- one singles and in 16 NCAA team matches, he never lost, and his team won three of four NCAA Tournaments. A former intelligence analyst for the New York State Office of Homeland Security and senior analyst for the Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation, he’s now a co-founder of and senior partner with Flashpoint Global Partners, a national security cyber- intelligence firm.
Alison Swain ’01
Tennis, JV Squash
Swain is one of the only coaches in any division to win the NCAA Championship as both a player and a coach. She’s 30-0 in NCAA Tournament play, something no other coach in the NCAA has accomplished. She played both doubles and singles and in 2001 was co-captain of Williams’ first women’s tennis team to make the championships. She drew on that leadership experience when she became women’s tennis coach at Williams in 2007. She’s since led the team to six consecutive NCAA Division III champion – ships. In 2003, she and her mother, Sue Swain, were ranked the number-one mother/ daughter doubles team in the U.S.
James Moorhead ’01
Lacrosse
A defensive standout, Moorhead says competition—particularly with his brother John ’00, a lacrosse attackman—“goes to my core personality.” He was named to the NESCAC men’s All-Conference Team in 2001 and served on College Council and the Residential Life Committee. He joined Proctor & Gamble as an intern and, in 2010, was named Grand Marketer of the Year for the “Smell Like a Man” Old Spice campaign. He’s now chief marketing officer at DISH Network.
Laura Brenneman ’99
Softball,Basketball,Soccer
An astrophysics major, Brenneman earned Academic All-NESCAC honors as a softball shortstop, basketball guard and All-American soccer goalkeeper. She went on to play second base for the U.S. national baseball team, competing in the World Series of Women’s Baseball in 2002. In 2004 she was named the first and only International Woman Baseball Player of the Year. She’s now a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Derek Sasaki-Scanlon ’98
Track and Field
Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” highlighted Sasaki- Scanlon in 1997 after a meet against MIT in which he finished in the top three in seven of eight events and scored 49.25 points in a 244-243 victory. He set school records in the pole vault, pentathlon and decathlon and was a two-time All-American in the decathlon. He and wife Traci, whom he met at a track meet, now run mypetchicken. com, which last year sold more than 100,000 chicks to families who want to raise them.
Jane Lee’97
Field Hockey, Lacrosse
Lee played field hockey in high school but hadn’t considered tending goal until the Ephs’ starting goalie had to miss a game. Her first outing was a 1-0 shutout over Trinity, and Williams ultimately made it to the NCAA Tournament all three years she started, including 1995, the team’s first perfect regular season. She went on to teach high school math and coach before joining the University of California’s Digital Laboratory as a senior user experience researcher.
John Young Jr. ’97
Swimming
Young is a four-time NCAA champion in the 100 and 200 freestyle, a 16-time All-American and a New England Athlete of the Year, among other accolades. After six years in market research, he returned to swimming as an assistant coach at Kenyon College. In 2006, he became head swim coach at Davidson College, leading the teams to their first Division I Championship qualifiers. He was voted Men’s Coach of the Year in 2013 by the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association.
Kasia Sullivan Horner ’96
Field Hockey, Squash, Lacrosse
A three-time All-American in lacrosse and a two-timer in field hockey who broke multiple records at Williams, Sullivan was named Division III Athlete of the Year in 1996 by College Sports Magazine . That year, both field hockey and lacrosse were undefeated in the regular season, and she scored five winning overtime goals in field hockey. She then spent a year as an assistant lacrosse coach at Williams. Having received an MBA from Dartmouth, she now works in sports marketing for the Coca-Cola Co.
Ethan Brooks ’96
Football,Track and Field
Rebecca Brooks ’00
Basketball, Soccer, Track and Field
Siblings Ethan and Rebecca Brooks have a dozen All-American titles between them. Ethan, who passed up football scholarships to attend Williams, holds nine: three as a defensive lineman and, as a hammer thrower, three each for indoor and outdoor track and field. As a senior, he received the college’s Purple Key Award for male athlete of the year. One of a handful of Ephs to enter professional sports, he played offensive line for the Atlanta Falcons, St. Louis Rams, Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys during his nine-year NFL career. Rebecca, an All-American in three sports, was Williams’ sixth female basketball player to reach 1,000 points, and her team reached the Elite Eight in 1999. She capped her college career by winning the shot put at the NCAA Tournament. In 2006 she was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. She’s now associate director of admission and head coach of girls’ basketball at the Pomfret School in Connecticut.
Julie Greenwood ’96
Tennis, Squash
A tennis standout who first tried squash at Williams, Greenwood became a three-time All- American in both sports. She also won two NCAA champion – ships in doubles tennis. She returned to Williams to coach for 10 years, leading the women’s tennis team to its first two NCAA titles. Inspired by fellow 40 at 40 honoree Greg Zaff ’84, she now runs Squash Haven, a nonprofit community squash program in New Haven, Conn
Brian Gugliotta ’95
Football
An offensive star on an undefeated team his senior year, Gugliotta was the first Eph since 1969 to rush for 1,000 yards in one season. In his final game, the 5-foot-6, 165-pound tailback scored four touchdowns and amassed 241 yards in a 48-14 victory over Amherst. He became a member of an elite U.S. Military Special Operations team and served in multiple positions on the National Security staff during President Obama’s first term. He continues in active-duty service and was promoted to commander in 2011.
Gretchen (Engster) Howard ’95
Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, JV Field Hockey
Women’s ice hockey was a club sport when Engster arrived on campus in 1991. The players had no trainer or locker room and drove college vans to games. But the Winter Study class “Inside College Athletics” inspired her to fight for change, and the next season ice hockey became varsity. The team went on to win three Little Three titles from 1993 to 1998 and made many trips to the NESCAC semifinals. Howard is now director of new advertising products for Google.
Greg Crowther’95
Cross Country, Track and Field
When he arrived at Williams, Crowther personified the term “slow boy,” with a 3,000-meter personal best time of 9:35. But his dedication, and the help of Coach Pete Farwell ’73, helped him shave his time to 8:43 by senior year, when he captained the first Eph cross-country team to win an NCAA title, and he earned All-NESCAC and All- New England honors. In 2007 USA Track & Field named him Ultra Runner of the Year. He’s now a research scientist at the University of Washington, and he still runs competitively.
Rebecca (Mallory) Walker ’95
Basketball,Tennis
Bobby Walker ’95
Football, Track and Field
Rebecca Walker was a two-time tennis All-American and in 1994 teamed with fellow 40 at 40 honoree Julie Greenwood ’96 to win the NCAA Doubles Championship. Bobby Walker was a three-sport All-American and led the football team in tackles, playing nose guard, defensive end and linebacker. He also threw the hammer and shot put, setting a school record in the hammer throw and becoming national champion, but he withdrew from a national tournament to attend junior advisor training at Williams. Rebecca and Bobby wed in 1999 and went on to teach and coach in Connecticut. Rebecca is now middle school head at Greenwich Academy, and Bobby holds the same title at King Low Heywood Thomas School. In 2009 the couple formed the Middle School Leadership Workshop, which brings together eighth-grade student government leaders from area schools to talk about leadership.
Kristen (Harrington) Smith ’95
Volleyball
Smith’s team underwent significant development in the two years she was co-captain, with a 19-19 record in 1993 and a 26-9 record in 1994, the year the Ephs won the NESCAC Tournament and went to the NCAA Tournament. After completing an MBA at UNC- Chapel Hill, she joined Novartis Pharmaceuticals 14 years ago and is now executive director for multiple sclerosis business units. She was named a 2010 Rising Star by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.
Salvi Salamone ’93
Track and Field
When he wasn’t in the sculpture studio or designing costumes, Salamone was on the track. He excelled in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, where he won meets (including in Division I competition) and set a college record. As his teammate and fellow 40 at 40 honoree Greg Crowther ’95 says, “Long-legged and lean, Sal sprang over those 36-inch barriers with the efficiency and grace of a halfback evading fallen tacklers.” He is now a Los Angeles-based special effects sculptor whose clients include Katy Perry and Lady Gaga.
Kate Queeney ’92
Cross Country, Track and Field
Queeney says jokingly of her running career at Williams: “I was a good alternate.” But her coach, Larry Bell, calls her “a super intense competitor on a highly competitive team, and she didn’t let that get in the way of being our biggest cheerleader.” A mentor to her teammates, she went on to a career as a chemistry professor and director of faculty advising at Smith. She still competes in triathlons, wearing Williams purple when she trains in the Amherst pool. She’s currently a Williams trustee
Mari Omland ’89
Skiing, Soccer
Omland was an All-American skier, and as a senior she received a Watson Fellowship for independent study and travel outside the U.S. She represented the U.S. in World Cup alpine ski racing and was a junior national champion. She became director of conservation for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and then spent a decade at Conservation International. Since 2007 she and her partner Laura Olsen have run Green Mountain Girls Farm, an ecotourism farm that this year welcomed a Williams Winter Study class on sustainability and farm life.
Jim Duquette ’88
Baseball, Basketball
A first team All-New England outfielder, Duquette joined the New York Mets organization in 1991 as an assistant. In 15 years (including one with the Houston Astros) he worked his way up to Mets general manager and senior VP of baseball operations. He became the Baltimore Orioles’ VP for baseball operations in 2005 and is now a broadcaster/ analyst for Major League Baseball and SiriusXM satellite radio. He made headlines in 2012 for donating a kidney to his 10-year-old daughter, who suffers from a rare kidney disease.
Charles “Chas” Foehl ’87
Golf, JV Soccer
Foehl played in two NCAA golf tournaments and was captain his junior and senior years. He then hooked up with rookie Scott Verplank as a caddy on the PGA tour. He left just before Verplank won his first event but received a portion of the golfer’s winnings as a thank-you. Foehl joined the Long Creek Youth Development Center in Portland, Maine, tutoring and teaching college prep math classes. Now a stay- at-home dad, he says he may return to the youth center soon.
Lindsay Brown ’86
Crew
In high school, Brown was a three-sport athlete (tennis, cross-country and skiing), but he found his niche when he joined the Williams crew. He later won three gold medals at U.S. rowing competitions and was a member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic team that won silver and bronze in Seoul, Korea. A history teacher at St. Andrew’s School in Delaware, he’s led four of the school’s crews to the Henley Regatta in England, finishing second in 2011
O. Andreas Halvorsen ’86
Nordic Skiing
Halvorsen was a Norwegian Navy SEAL officer for three years before coming to Williams at the age of 22 and joining the Nordic ski team. He went on to Wall Street and Stanford Business School and in 1998 co-founded Viking Global Investors, now one of the world’s largest equity hedge funds. Two of his and wife Diane’s ’84 three children ski for Williams. Halvorsen, a Williams trustee, continues to ski competitively.
Kris Karlson’85
Crew, Swimming
Karlson was a crew walk-on, having never rowed before. She went on to win three world championships during medical school at the University of Connecticut and finished fifth with a four-woman boat in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. In 1993, she received Williams’ Bicentennial Medal and in 1998 won the Head of the Charles Regatta. She was the rowing team physician at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and now practices family and sports medicine at Dartmouth.
Greg Zaff’84
Squash, Tennis
A three-time All American, Zaff competed in the World Pro Squash Association tour for seven years, reaching a career high rank of No. 2 in North America. At Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, he developed the blueprint for SquashBusters, the Boston-based nonprofit he launched in 1996 to bring squash to inner-city school children. SquashBusters is now the flagship of a 14-program urban squash movement. He received Williams’ Bicentennial Medal in 2001 and was named to the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame in 2009
Sam Flood ’83
Baseball, Ice Hockey
A defenseman and senior captain who’d been playing hockey since he was 6, Flood, now executive producer for NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network, is considered one of the most influential figures in U.S. hockey for broadcast innovations like the Winter Classic and “Inside the Glass” reporting. The winner of 15 Emmys and three Eclipse Awards, his production credits include Football Night in America and coverage of IndyCar, the Tour de France, the French Open and several Olympic Games.
Tricia Hellman Gibbs ’82
Skiing, Cross Country
A World Cup alpine racer in the late 1970s, Gibbs was a two-time All-American skier at Williams and national qualifier in cross- country running. She and her husband were in private medical practice for three years when they decided to start the San Francisco Free Clinic to provide care to the uninsured—work for which she received a Williams Bicentennial Medal in 2002. In 1998, she founded The Sugar Bowl Academy, a preparatory school for competitive skiers.
Harry Sheehy III ’75
Basketball
A two-time All-American and team captain, Sheehy coached men’s basketball at Williams for nearly two decades, compiling the fourth-best winning percentage in Division III. He spent another 10 years as athletic director, leading the college to 17 NCAA titles, 13 Directors’ Cups and four Jostens Awards for excellence in athletics and academics. In 2002 he published Raising a Team Player and was one of the first people to be inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. The all- time leading scorer for Athletes in Action, he now works as athletic director at Dartmouth
Mike Reed’75
Track and Field
Coming to Williams from a large, inner-city high school in Cleveland was a major adjustment for Reed. But he found strength and purpose on the track, in particular as an All-American hurdler and a relay racer. “I experienced confidence, success and peace of mind when I was running,” he says. Today, as VP for strategic planning and institutional diversity at Williams, he works to help all members of the campus community find ways to claim the college as their own. He received a Williams Bicentennial Medal in 1993.
Mat Levine ’74
Lacrosse, Basketball
Levine was a two-time All-American goalkeeper. After Williams, he took his passion for lacrosse to Delbarton School in New Jersey, where he started a program, and then to New York City, where he founded and runs the nonprofit CityLax. Focusing on underserved schools and communities, CityLax instructs children on the basics of the sport and helps public schools start teams. “Our phone rings every day,’’ Levine says. “Schools want to start lacrosse programs.”