Sports

Vermonters Honored at Football Banquet

By Tom Haley
TIMES-ARGUS
CASTLETON, Vt. — Norwich University Athletic Director Tony Mariano received the Contribution to Amateur Athletics Award during the Vermont Chapter of the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame Banquet on Sunday.

Mariano will be working until the end of May before retiring after 30 years as NU’s athletic director. He is well into his fifth decade on the Northfield campus.

The Cadets have won 12 national championships during Mariano’s tenure and he has overseen the construction of Kreitzberg Arena, Doyle Hall, Andrews Hall’s locker room renovations and the refurbishment of Sabine Field.

He was named Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors in 2018 and, in February, the New England Hockey Conference voted to rename the postseason championship trophies the Mariano Cup.

“It’s bittersweet, Mariano said of retirement. “I hope that I am going to get to play a lot of golf and visit my grandkids.

“But (the time at Norwich) has been more than I have ever asked for.”

Slade Postemski, Nate Stewart, Burr and Burton’s Will Addington, Windsor’s Dalton Clifford, Essex’s Oliver Orvis, Bellows Falls Jonathan Terry, Castleton University’s Nate Stewart and Norwich University’s Jacob Schwab were the players inducted into the Vermont Chapter of the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame. Each of the inductees received a $500 scholarship.

Postemski, a Rutland High senior, is also standout in track and field and on the basketball court. But it was his freshman season that football really got a hold on him.

“Ever since I was a freshman, it has been my favorite,” Postemski said.

That helps to explain why it is football that the Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year will be playing at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine in the fall.

It became the favorite sport of Middlebury College’s Stewart much earlier in life. He was 10 years old when his father told him he needed him to be a member of a football team because the youth team had to have his presence to have enough players to field a team.

The only problem, as far as Stewart was concerned, is the team played in a a division hat was in a higher age group.

“The teams had players two or three years older and 20 to 30 pounds heavier than I was,” Stewart said.

When he told his father he didn’t want any part of that, Stewart said his father answered, “Well, I kind of signed you up.”

“Getting hit by kids bigger than I was, I fell in love with the game that year,” Stewart told the audience.

Stewart had the gathering laughing as he told the story of wearing six pairs of underwear and layers of jackets to make the weight required to play in the older division.

“I kind of looked like the Michelin Man in the commercial,” Stewart said.

Postemski felt an instant connection with Bowdoin during his campus visit.

“When I went up for the visit, I committed then,” Postemski said.

He will be going to the Polar Bears’ preseason camp as a receiver.

Rutland High coach Mike Norman, in writing the nomination letter, said “Slade’s commitment to his academic, athletic and personal life shows he has great balance for someone so young. …”

The nine inductees were selected from a pool that also included Burlington-South Burlington’s Camden Benoit, CVU’s Ryan Canty, Hartford’s Harrison Gaudet, Mount Anthony’s Andrew Gilbert, Brattleboro’s Calvin Guild, U-32’s Charles Haynes, Mount Mansfield’s Carson Holloway, Middlebury Union’s Matthrew Kiernan, Mill River’s Connor Lopiccolo, Lyndon’s Trevor Lussier, Rice’s Maxima Makuza, Springfield’s Sam Presch, Missisquoi’s Cole Tipper, Spaulding’s Christian Titus, Poultney’s Gabe Wescott, Fair Haven’s Luke Williams and BFA-St. Albans’ Dakota Wry.

They were also introduced as emcee Jack Healey read their accomplishments.

Jason Aldridge of Barre Youth Football received the Vermont Youth Football Achievement accolade.

The Official of the Year honor went to Jeff Stebben.

Each year the officials honor a team from the southern part of the state and another from the northern tier with a sportsmanship award. Bellows Falls received the James Howard Trophy as the southern team and BFA-Fairfax was the recipient of the Stand Amadon Trophy as the northern program.

Marty Richards, who coached Essex to the Division I state title, was the recipient of the Coach of the Year honor.

Bellows Falls’ Bob Lockerby and Windsor’s Greg Balch, received the Coach of the Year honor in Division II and III, respectively.

In addition to being one of the honorees, Benoit was presented the Most Courageous Athlete Award.

Benoit was tackled in the end zone his sophomore year, suffering a back injury.

He finished the game strong but complained of pain on on his right side and hip area for about a week after the game. It was confirmed that he had three herniated discs of the Lumbar spine, one of them pressing on his spinal cord, causing nerve impingement.

He also had a minor labral tear of his hip.

Then, it was discovered he had a rare degenerative disc disease.

Doctors would not operate on him due to his age despite the fact that he was in constant pain.

One last effort had him contact a third doctor who agreed to do the surgery in hopes of living without pain.

Benoit became a captain his senior year with the Burlington-South Burlington team and will continue his football career at Norwich University.

Mount Anthony’s Andrew Gilbert was the recipient of the Community Service Award.

Gilbert has worked with the NAACP, helped with a COVID vaccination clinic, volunteered to set up holiday decorations in Bennington, and gave back to football as a volunteer official for youth league football.

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy received the Distinguished American Award. He could not attend but sent a video that was played at the ceremony.

Leahy, known for his bipartisanship compared that facet of politics to pulling together as a football team.

“Nothing gets accomplished without the whole team. It has to be on the same page, working together to make things better for everyone,” Leahy said.

The Vermont Chapter of the NFF awarded grants to seven football programs — Mount Anthony, St. Johnsbury, Rutland, Colchester, Brattleboro, Burr and Burton Academy and Otter Valley.

Former Middlebury College football coach Mickey Heinecken founded the Vermont Chapter of the NFF and it has held the banquet since 1994. The banquet has become the social event of the year on the state’s football calendar and its absence was felt the previous two years due to COVID.

Having it back had the feel of a miraculous fourth-quarter comeback.

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