The following five individuals and two teams were inducted into the Suffield Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, February 3:
Tom Casey attended Suffield Academy and earned All-American honors in six different individual swimming events, plus two relays. In his senior year in 2009 he set a school record in the 100m breaststroke that was not broken until 2021. He also set a record in the 500m freestyle which lasted for five years, the 100m butterfly which lasted seven years, and the 200m individual medley which lasted nine years. After receiving offers from several D1 programs he decided to attend the University of Virginia (UVA). Tom won the UVA swimming Rookie of the Year award, earned All- American honors, and starred in the ACC Championships while finding success in the individual medley, breaststroke events, and medley and freestyle relays.
Katie Gardocki was an All-American swimmer at Suffield High School in both 2005 and 2006 while setting several Class S state records. In 2006, she won State Open titles in both the 200yd and 500yd freestyle and was named the State Swimmer of the Year by the Hartford Courant. She set five individual SHS school records and two relay records that have not been surpassed to this day.
Katie competed in the USA Junior National Championships in California in 2006, the Pan-Pacific Junior Championships in Hawaii in 2007, had two podium finishes in the FINA World Youth Championships in 2008, and participated in the U.S. Olympic Trials in both 2008 and 2012.
She received a full scholarship to Auburn University, where she put in strong performances in both the SEC and NCAA Championship meets over four years in both individual and relay events, earning All-American recognitions twice.
Kevin Goff earned All-State honors three times at SHS in Cross Country and was a key contributor on the 1998 State Championship team.
He also earned All-State, All-New England, and All-American honors in indoor track and was Captain and MVP of the 2001 State Champion indoor track team. He was part of a 4 x 800 relay team that set a school record in 1999 that still stands today. Kevin won the 2001 800m outdoor CT State Open Championship. He is the only male to win a State Open event in Suffield track history. In addition, he finished third in the 2001 800m outdoor New England Championship with a school record time that still stands today.
Kevin attended Syracuse University and competed for four years in cross-country and both indoor and outdoor track.
Bryan Moriarty was named to the All-Conference Soccer team three times, All-State twice, and All-New England as a Senior while finishing his SHS career with 38 goals and 23 assists.
As a SHS sophomore, Bryan was named MVP in the 2000 Class S State Championship Basketball game after scoring 15 of his 17 points in the second half, including a key steal and layup with 40 seconds left in Suffield’s one point win. As a junior, he was named to the All-Conference team. An injury derailed most of his senior season, but he returned in time to score 41 points in the first round of the state tournament, the second highest single game total in SHS hoop history.
After receiving multiple offers for both soccer and basketball, Bryan chose to play basketball at the University of New Haven and started all four years. He was voted to the NIAC All-Tournament Team, played in the NCAA D-II tournament twice and was a team captain his junior and senior year.
Jason Thresher was an All-Conference Midfielder in Soccer as a Senior in the fall of 2005. In the winter of 2006, he ran indoor track, his first time ever running competitively. Coach Joe Sinicrope called him “The greatest one-season wonder in SHS Track History” as he won several middle-distance races and finished second in the 1000m in the New England Championships and set a SHS record that lasted 14 years.
In the spring of 2006, he finished second in the State Golf Tournament and was named the Outstanding Athlete of his graduating class.
Jason walked on to the Bryant College Golf team and over four years won eight tournaments and set their single season scoring record. He was named to the Division 1 All-New England Team twice and was the 2009-2010 Northeast Conference Golfer of the Year.
He turned pro in 2012, and won the Massachusetts Open in 2016, 2017 and 2018, becoming only the fifth player in the 109 years of the tournament to win three years in a row. In addition, he won the 2018 New Hampshire Open, the 2019 New England Open, and the 2022 Western Mass Open. He also competed in PGA Latin America and Canadian Tour events, highlighted by his win in the 2019 Great Lakes Tour Belleville Open in Ontario where he sealed the victory with a course record 62 in the final round.
The 1958 Boys Soccer Team was the first team in any sport from Suffield High School to win a State Championship.
They were led by co-captain Tom Ganley in goal and full-backs Ralph Hayes and John Woodard. The midfielders consisted primarily of Hank Sobinski, Ernie Burnell and Bob Chase. The front line consisted of Frank Beneski, Dan Butler, co-captain Bob Jones, Dave Lill, and Barry Meggett. Jim Gifford, Ray Galetta, and Woody Jacobus made significant contributions as well. Bill Atkinson and Stan Miela were the coaches. The team finished the regular season with a 13-1-2 record. Their one loss was a 2-1 defeat to Longmeadow, but they avenged that with a 1-0 win later in the season. The two ties were with East Hampton and Bloomfield, both of whom they had defeated earlier in the year.
In the State Tournament, Suffield defeated Bristol’s St. Anthony 1-0 on a goal by Dave Lill in the semi-final. In the title game they played Hale-Ray of Moodus, who had won the previous five Class C State Titles and were in the midst of a 34-game unbeaten streak. After a scoreless first half, Bob Jones tallied for Suffield early in the second half, but Hale-Ray scored late to tie it up. The two teams battled through two scoreless overtime periods after which the teams were declared Co-State Champions.
The 2005 Girls Soccer team was the first Suffield High School team in any sport to win a State Championship with a perfect record.
They finished 20-0-0 and won the Class M State Championship against Holy Cross 4-1. Overall, they scored 108 goals during the season, led by Chloe McKay (34), Lindsay Small (28), Taylor Bartini (18) and Lauren Smith (13). While the offense was impressive, the defense was even better, as they incredibly only allowed four goals the entire season, including the State tournament. The defense was led by Goalie Ali Bromson (16 shutouts) sophomores Jenn Thresher and Lisa Beltramello and freshmen Kallie Sullivan and Kristen Overson. Also contributing to the pursuit of perfection were Laura Bartus, Nicole Boudreau, Rachel Bromson, Kelly Christian, Katie Donovan, Lisa Johnson, Ashley Labarre, Christina Luban, Whitney MacKay, Meghan McGunigle, Jessica Orr, Rachel Packard, Andrea Ruotolo, Jenn Silva, and Coach David Sullivan. Without a doubt one of the most dominant SHS teams ever.
There are many more candidates that are worthy to be included in the Suffield Athletic Hall of Fame, but the SAHOF committee needs help in order to continue to recognize these individuals and teams. Anybody interested in joining the committee or nominating a candidate should visit www.sahof.org and/or send an email to info@sahof.org.