Saturday night, Sept. 22, the school inducted another 12 deserving individuals into its hall of fame.
After having been all but forgotten for several decades after being established and maintained from 1986-96, the LHS Hall of Fame was revived by some extremely spirited, focused, and determined folks in 2016, and it now creates the kind of excitement which a school’s hall of fame should create.
The evening’s event was a worthy nightcap to a day of Mack Plaque games between LHS fall varsity sports squads and their arch-rivals from Pinkerton Academy which drew many hundreds of fans from both schools.
Hosted by Londonderry Town Manager Kevin Smith, and Londonderry High School principal, and hall of fame member, Jason Parent, the evening featured dinner in the LHS cafeteria followed by the induction ceremonies.
The inductees – many of whom are deeply woven into the sports history of Londonderry High in one way or another – included former principal Jim Elefante, 2013 grad Ethan Doherty, Class of 1991 grad Scott Fawcett, 1997 grad Amy Decamp-Gosztyla, Class of 2003 member Heather Tuden-Lennon, 1994 grad Amity Benson-Small, Class of 1984 member Bob Stuart, longtime LHS faculty member Steve Tallo, 2000 graduate KerriAnn Lynch-Unger, recently-retired longtime faculty member and multi-sport coach John Vaughn, 2003 grad Matt Young, and longtime school district employee Chuck Zappala.
All but two of the latest inductees were able to attend the ceremony. Jim Elefante and John Vaughn were unable to make it, and Vaughn supplied a video of his thank to the group.
Doherty was the 2013 class valedictorian and a true scholar/athlete who ran cross-country and track and swam as well. He collected a slew of academic awards and went on to the U.S. Naval Academy.
Elefante was the third prinicpal in LHS history, and he remained in that role from 2004-08. He first came to the district way back in 1982.
Former LHS multi-sport star and local business owner Fawcett – whose wife Sharon Franks-Fawcett was also a fine Londonderry High athlete in a number of sports – has been deeply involved in the LHS Athletic Alumni Association since its inception.
Decamp-Gosztyla also starred in multiple sports at Londonderry High before going on to more athletic and academic success at the University of New Hampshire. She is presently a cross-country coach at Yale.
LHS gymnastics star Tuden-Lennon was a member of a state championship team at the school and years later led the Lady Lancers to a state crown as their head coach.
Benson-Small has gone from being a teacher and an assistant principal at her alma-mater to the principal of Matthew Thornton Elementary, and she has played an important role with adult-education at LHS.
Former Lancer lacrosse stalwart Stuart went on to Norwich University and then the Marine Corps, and he has been deeply involved in the school’s athletic alumni association and with Lancer student-athletes in his present role as Londonderry American Legion Post 27 commander.
Tallo has been teaching math at LHS since 1986 and is among the most passionate sports fans at the local school. He works behind the scenes at Londonderry High football and basketball games as well.
Former track and field star Lynch-Unger was the first, beloved “baton girl” at LHS who went on to success at Syracuse University, becoming an elementary school teacher after graduation from there.
Vaughn was a tremendously popular teacher of many subjects at LHS for some 35 years who coached volleyball, softball, and basketball at multiple levels.
Young was the valedictorian of his LHS graduating class who competed in multiple sports and went on to great academic success at Harvard and Columbia Law School.
District Director of Buildings and Grounds Zappala has been working for the school district since 1987 and was pivotal in the expansion of the LHS athletic fields.
Each of the inductees attending took a few minutes to thank the school for the honor and tell people how much being a part of “Lancer Nation” has meant to them.