Class of 2000 Alex Jensen
Alex Jensen is Stonington High School’s all-time leading scorer in boys basketball, and also participated in football and baseball during his years at SHS.
He played football as a freshman, starting at varsity quarterback in the only
year that he participated in the sport, and was named the Thanksgiving Day Offensive Player of the Game. As a member of the baseball team, he earned All-Eastern
Connecticut Conference second-team honors as a senior.
He excelled in basketball, and was named All-ECC during each of his four
seasons. He also earned Class M All-State honors twice, with Second Team honors
as a junior and First Team honors as a senior. He started all 92 games that SHS
played during his four years at the high school, and scored a record 2,359 points,
averaging 25.6 points a game. He holds the record for career 3-point baskets with
207.
He was a two-year starter at Lehigh University, where he earned Patriot
League All-Rookie honors as a freshman. He later played for two seasons at the
University of Vermont, and was part of a Catamount team that participated in the
NCAA tournament in 2005
He is Assistant Vice President and Senior Financial Analyst for Bank of
America in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Coach
Jean Kenney Daly
Jean Kenney Daly was instrumental in moving girls athletics forward at
Stonington High School and throughout Connecticut.
She was the first coach for SHS girls basketball under full-court rules, and
started the SHS softball program
She coached until entering administration, and was the principal of Stonington
High School from 1973 until 1992. While principal, she was actively involved with
the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) and the Connecticut Interscholastic
Athletic Conference (CIAC). She served on the CIAC Girls Basketball Committee
for many years, and was the Class M representative on the CIAC Board of Control.
She was Secretary of the CIAC Board of Control in 1980-81, and President from
1981-1985. She became a member of the CAS-CIAC Board of Directors, serving as
the Class M representative, Secretary, and Vice-President, and served as CAS-CIAC President from 1987-1989. She was named Connecticut High School Principal
of the Year in 1986-87.
She also served on the National Federation of High School Sports Associations, the national governing body for high school athletics. She was a member of
the Executive Committee in 1980-81 as a representative of Section I (New England,
New York, New Jersey) schools.
Alvin Mawson
Class of 1916
Alvin Mawson earned varsity letters in football and baseball at Stonington
High School.
As a member of the football team, he started at tackle as a sophomore, and as
a junior captained the team, starting at fullback and handling the kicking duties as
the team went 7-1-1 and won its first Eastern Connecticut Conference championship. He also served as co-captain as a senior.
He had a 6-0 record as a pitcher for the baseball team as a sophomore, and
went 9-1 as a junior, batting .388, as the Bears won their first ECC championship
with a 11-3 overall record. As senior captain, he batted .386 and was 5-2 on the
mound. During a game against Norwich Free Academy in his senior season, he
pitched 16 innings, striking out 16 batters, though the Bears fell by a 2-1 score.
After graduating from SHS, he played in local baseball leagues, then enlisted
in the United States Navy, and served his country during World War I. Although
a war injury prevented him from resuming his baseball career, he served as Vice
President of the Westerly Twilight League, and also worked at the Adams Express
Company.
Anthony Pupillo
Class of 1924
Anthony Pupillo participated in football, basketball, track, and baseball at
Stonington High School. He was Class President as a senior, and Secretary-Treasurer
of the “S” Club. After graduating from SHS in 1924, He attended Green Mountain
College, and later graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College, where he was a
member of the basketball team.
He taught at West Broad Street School and Stonington High School, also coaching
baseball and football, eventually serving as assistant principal and then principal
of Stonington High School. He later became a principal, then superintendent, in
Plainville.
Upon retirement, he taught at Briarwood Junior College and briefly served as
interim president in 1982.
John Gatchek
Jack Gatchek participated in football, baseball, and track at Stonington High
School.
He was co-captain of the 1938 football team, which was Eastern Connecticut
Conference co-champion and also ranked fourth in the State of Connecticut. He
was named All-Eastern Connecticut by The Day in 1937, and earned All-ECC honors at tackle as a junior and senior.
He played varsity baseball for three seasons, contributing as a pitcher, catcher, and outfielder. He batted over .400 as a junior, and as a senior batted over .300
and served as co-captain.
He also participated in track in the spring as a junior and senior, earning
Connecticut Class B All-State honors in the shotput in both years; he won the shot
and discus events at the 1939 UConn Relays.
After graduating from SHS, he was awarded a baseball scholarship to Elon
College in North Carolina. He later worked at Electric Boat, where he played both
football and baseball. He was a member of the Electric Boat team that participated
in the National Baseball Congress Tournament in Wichita, Kansas, in 1941.
He served in the United States Army during World War II.
Class of 1939
Matt Deary
Class of 1961 Dennis Dwyer
Dennis Dwyer graduated from Stonington High School in 1961, and earned letters
in football, basketball, baseball and track. He played on two Eastern Connecticut
Conference championship teams, the 1958-59 basketball team and the 1960 football
team.
As a member of the football team, he earned All-ECC First Team honors as
a junior and senior. His 98-yard run from scrimmage against Plainville is the longest in school history. He was named the outstanding player for SHS in the 1959
Armistice Day and the 1960 Thanksgiving Day football games against Westerly by
the Stonington Police Association. For his many accomplishments in football, he
received votes as one of the best athletes in Southeastern Connecticut, competing
against athletes in all sports at the high school, college and semi-professional levels
for an award sponsored by The Day newspaper.
As a member of the track team, he served as captain in his senior year as
the Bears finished second at the ECC conference championships. He participated
in the 100-, 220-, and 440-yard dashes, and the 880-yard relay races as well as the
shotput. He was undefeated in the shotput as a senior, and won the event at ECC
Championship Meet, earning All-ECC First Team honors. In the state relays he was
part of the third-place 880-yard relay team.
He received a full scholarship to Staunton Military Academy in Virginia,
leading the team to the Military Conference Championship in football and track.
He transferred to the University of Rhode Island and continued playing football
and track, and also attended Thames Valley College. He retired from the United
States Army as a Lieutenant Colonel after 42 years of both active and reservist duties. He is currently employed at Electric Boat.
Class of 1974 Pete Stefanski
Pete Stefanski participated in basketball and golf at Stonington High School
and lettered in each sport during each of his three years at SHS. He served as captain
in both sports during his senior year.
He excelled in golf, earning All-Eastern Connecticut Conference honors as a
sophomore, junior, and senior, with the Bears winning the ECC title and qualifying
for the state tournament in each of those years. In 1973 SHS won the inaugural
Eastern Invitational, and he was medalist for the event.
A graduate of Central Connecticut State University, he lettered in golf for four
years, participating in three NCAA tournaments. As a senior, he was team captain
and earned All-America honors.
He held or tied the course record at five area courses over the years, and won
club championships at Pequot, Shennecossett, and Elmridge. An employee of Electric
Boat, he was been received the O.P. Robinson Award as the Electric Boat athlete of
the year, and has won the Electric Boat Athletic Club Golf Championship a record
seven times.
He also holds a Masters of Business Administration from the University of
New Haven.
Matt Deary participated in soccer, basketball, and baseball at Stonington High
School.
A key member of the defense, he helped SHS win two Eastern Connecticut
Conference soccer championships; the Bears were co-champions in 1987 and
outright champions in 1988. In his junior year, the Bears advanced to the state
semi-finals, and in his senior year, in which he served as captain and earned AllECC and All-State honors, the Bears were state finalists with a 19-1 record.
He also earned All-ECC and All-State honors in baseball as a senior, playing
center field and leading the Bears with a .410 batting average.
He was a four-year starter in soccer at Eastern Connecticut State University,
serving as captain in his junior year when ECSU were Little East Conference cochampions, and earned Honorable Mention All-Little East honors as a senior, when
ECSU won the conference championship.
He is a Social Work Supervisor with the State of Connecticut’s Department
of Children and Families.
Heidi Wentz Drake
Heidi Wentz Drake was a three-year varsity starter in field hockey, basketball,
and softball at Stonington High School. She was awarded the 1994 Athletic
Achievement Cup as the top female athlete in her graduating class and served as
co-captain of all three sports as a senior.
As a member of the field hockey team, she was a part of three Eastern
Connecticut Conference championships, and twice earned All-ECC First Team
honors. She was also named All-State Second Team as a senior, when she led
the team in scoring. She was a starter on the 1993-1994 Connecticut Class M
championship basketball team.
She was a dominant pitcher for the softball team, earning both All-ECC and
All-State First Team honors twice. The Bears were ECC co-champions in 1994, and
won their division in 1993. She led the Bears to the Class M state final in both 1993
and 1994.
She pitched at Central Connecticut State University, earning All-Mid-Atlantic
Conference honors as a freshman.
Class of 1989
Class of 1994