LYNN — There aren’t many who can say they’ve devoted as much time to the city’s student-athletes as John Hoffman. The longtime Lynn TV-15 sports announcer has called countless games over the years and Sunday night he gave back in a different way at the 12th annual Lynn all-star party.
“I say it all the time,” Hoffman said. “I wish everybody could get to know these kids the way I know these kids. It’s great watching all these kids perform. I don’t care what the score is, I don’t care if they’re winning or losing. The effort, the time and the energy they spend, these are all great kids. A lot of them are good students. They honor their parents, their school and the city.”
Over 100 of Lynn’s student-athletes representing sports from golf to football were honored at the party with a plaque (donated by Harrington Trophy) and a t-shirt at Classical’s auditorium. Putting the night together is a true team effort with help from sponsors Taso Nikolakopoulos at John’s Roast Beef, Kevin Harrington at Harrington Trophy, Wayne Alarm, Salem Five and Lazy Dog.
“One of the things I enjoy the most about this is putting a face to the name,” Kevin Harrington said. “You read about the games and you see how well a lot of these kids are doing, but you don’t know who they are. To get to meet them and put a face to the name is really nice.”
Also getting awards were two coaches, St. Mary’s golf coach Jay Fiste and English boys basketball coach Antonio Anderson. Both coached their respective teams to state championships. Hoffman was more than happy to put the city’s top student-athletes and coaches in the spotlight.
“It’s not about me, it’s them,” Hoffman said. “They’re not here because I did something, I’m here because they did something. To be around these kids on a regular basis is exceptional. I love these kids whether they’re state champions or 0-18.”
The list of student-athletes that were honored is as follows: Keith Ridley, Chase Buono, Nashaun Butler, Marcus Tucker, Maurice Sequeira (Classical football); Matt Severance, Matthias Fowler, Tahj Purter, Alex Brenes, Thomas Gaylord, Ryan Dewan (English football); Jack Maguire, DJ DiCenso, George Freeman, Connor Donohue, Matthias Haley, Derek O’Leary (St. Mary’s football); David Barrios, Chance Buono, Emerson Ramirez, Giuliani Daniels, Noah Thurston, Brandon Tuoy (Tech football); Dyrrell Rucker, Jeff Hill, Jr. (Classical boys basketball); Jarnel Guzman, Alonzo Linton, Mason Jean-Baptiste, Jack Rodriguez, Justin Fitzpatrick (English boys basketball); Jalen Echevarria, Ademide Badmus (St. Mary’s boys basketball); Rob Wallace, Amari Gaston (Tech boys basketball); Jazzmine Masse, Skyler Crayton (Classical girls basketball); Juliana Perry, Jessica Ruiz (English girls basketball); Pamela Gonzalez, Olivia Matela, Nicolette D’Itria (St. Mary’s girls basketball); Arianna Anaya, Michayla Lawrence (Tech girls basketball); Brian Clougherty, John DiFilippo, Andrew Patrie, Jack Gallant (Lynn Jets hockey); Colin Reddy, Kyle Ouellette (St. Mary’s boys hockey); Abby Stafford, Kayla Morrill (Classical/Winthrop co-op girls hockey); Lauren Vaccaro, Mady Hentosh, Codi Butt (St. Mary’s girls hockey); Daniel Corte, Alexi Ixlaj (Classical boys soccer); Julio Cora, Alexis Castaneda (English boys soccer); Joseph Thongsythavong, Nolan Perez (St. Mary’s boys soccer); Maynor Ramirez, Daniel Zacarias (Tech boys soccer); Julia Jordan, Olivia Pedro (Classical girls soccer); Melissa Zayas, Ravyn Rapley (English girls soccer); Jenna Foley, Joselyn Deschenes (St. Mary’s girls soccer); Sandy Garcia, Carolyn Pojoy (Tech girls soccer); Dayshon Anderson, Aidan Dow (Classical baseball); Jomar Moreta, Juan Subervi (English baseball); Bobby Alcock, Lee Pacheco (St. Mary’s baseball); Jhoan Ortega, Kenny Moore (Tech baseball); Brooke Warren, Rebecca Walker (Classical softball); Julia Chen, Gealina Chicon (English softball); Jordan Sullivan, Taylor Sullivan (St. Mary’s softball); Theresa Mastropietro, Adrianna Torres (Tech softball); Junior Mejia (Classical boys track); Adnan Jalal (English boys track); Taban Maynok, Michael Carroll (St. Mary’s boys track); Alvin Gonzalez, Kengeraliz Carrasquillo (Tech boys track); Rachel Brennan, Miriam Bamaca, Slanny Portorreal (Classical girls track); Kaylee Smith-Whelton (English girls track); Lily Newhall, Juliana Taborda (St. Mary’s girls track); Nayelis Diaz (Tech girls track); Jacob Lang, Carly Mendonca (Classical swimming); Peter Phelan, Hannah Trahant (English swimming); Gabi Marchese, Thiago Pieria (St. Mary’s swimming), Dustin Bloom, Liam Donovan (Tech swimming); Amber Crayton, Maggie McHale (Classical volleyball); Julia Somaiy, Merily Folestal (English volleyball); Alyssa Grossi, Dorothy Carroll (St. Mary’s volleyball); Shyla Jackson, Jafernee Cruz (Tech volleyball); Sam Ennis (Lynn Jets lacrosse); Damon Maribito, Kaden Quirk (St. Mary’s boys lacrosse); Daphne Pineda, Anh Nguyen (Classical girls tennis); Brady Ryan (St. Mary’s boys tennis); Brendan Lannon, Brett Bucklin (Classical golf); Logan Petros, Paul Pappageorgiou (English golf); Christian Emmerich, Aidan Emmerich (St. Mary’s golf).