Pat McGee And Her Title Team

And speaking of championship teams, we’re so pleased that coach Pat McGee’s 1984 WHS boys outdoor track team will be inducted into the WHS Hall of Fame at the ceremony to be held Oct. 22 at the new Middle/High School.

The meet in which the McGee-Men captured the Northeastern Conference title — the first in school history — was one of the most exciting track meets in conference history. The meet between undefeated Beverly and undefeated Winthrop was held at Marblehead High School — and as things turned out, the outcome of the meet, and thus the NEC championship, came down to which mile relay team would prevail in the final event of the meet.

Well, the Vikings sent out Buster Van Buskirk, Mike Jarvis, Scott Lerner, and Ken Sirianni to compete against Beverly’s mile relay team and this dramatic race — with the championship and undefeated season on the line — was decided when Ken Sirianni took the baton for the final quarter-mile and he managed to edge his opponent at the finish line by the smallest of margins.

Winthrop had its championship and Pat McGee — who was stationed far away from the finish line, while her son, Paul McGee, had a better vantage point of the exciting finish — was so proud of Winthrop — the smallest school in the NEC that had swept through the conference with a perfect record.

We remember some of the other great athletes on that championship squad, such as quarterback John Hayes, who led the Vikings to the Super Bowl title in the fall of 1983, and Steve Staffier, the great running back on the Super Bowl squad who had won the New England 100-meter dash title during the 1982 outdoor track season. Staffier went to attend the University of Miami, where he had been recruited for football.

We’re sure coach McGee — who is an inductee into the Mass. Track Coaches Hall of Fame — will have the appropriate words at the dinner to describe this unforgettable season.