The 12th annual Winthrop High School Athletic Hall of Fame banquet was an incredible event that drew the largest crowd of all time with more than 300 people attending at the beautiful, new Winthrop Middle/High School auditorium. It was so great to see the many individual WHS standouts and championship teams (1963 state championship basketball team, 1964 NEC championship team, and the undefeated, NEC champion boys track team) that brought so much excitement to the town of Winthrop.
Some of the greatest athletes in school history helped those teams win championships. We delighted in hearing the story about ‘63 captain Lenny Riley, who was the leading scorer on that 21-1 contingent that won the state title in the Boston Garden. Chuck Mullane, a Division 1 college player at Holy Cross, hit one of the most memorable baskets  in school history.
The 1964 NEC champions were undefeated until it had to face undefeated Revere for the Class B championship. Revere, led by quarterback Jim DelGaizo (who went on to play at Syracuse and for the Miami Dolphins), defeated Winthrop, 8-0, to take the title. Winthrop was led by Steve “The Tank†Adamson, who was an All-Scholastic and played at the University of Wyoming and in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Coach Pat McGee’s 1984 team went 9-0 and captured the conference title, defeating Beverly in a showdown at Marblehead. Kenny Sirianni was the anchor of the mile relay team that helped clinched the victory. We also must single out coach McGee’s son, Dr. Paul McGee, who stepped in on that day and served as an assistant coach and was so instrumental in keeping the team focused on the magnitude of this amazing dual meet with the title on the line.
We laud the efforts of the Hall of Fame Committee, led by chairman Jim Lederman, and members Chris Tsiotos, former WHS principal John Domenico, Peg Bailey, Richard Milano, Howard Conley, Dale Dunbar, Robert DeGregorio Jr., and Richard Thibeau.
Having the event in the sparkling and spacious new cafeteria and auditorium made it a wonderful gathering of athletes and families. We might add that the sound system in the new auditorium is fantastic, which makes an event such as this superb in every way.
*photos from Hall of Fame banquet will appear in next week’s edition.