LYNN — After not being able to hold the annual celebration of high school sports in 2020, the Agganis Foundation returned in a big way in 2021 with yet another successful Agganis Week. Nine games were played over the course of three days, with 275 student-athletes from around the state participating.
But in addition to the games returning, the celebration of the Agganis Foundation Hall of Fame’s yearly awards also returned. As is the case every year, five major awards are given out to deserving recipients.
This year, St. Mary’s Athletic Director and girls basketball coach Jeff Newhall was given the Dr. Elmo F. Benedetto Athletics Award, which is named after the Agganis All-Star Football Game’s founder and longtime Lynn athletic director and is given each year to the person who best symbolizes Benedetto’s dedication to student-athletes.
Newhall, who graduated from St. Mary’s in 1994 before attending Bridgewater State, has been the Spartans girls basketball coach for the past 15 years and has been the school’s athletic director since 2007. His basketball teams have won three state championships (2011, 2014, 2020) and he recorded his 300th career win during the 2019-20 season.
As athletic director, Newhall has seen at least one St. Mary’s team win a state championship in each of the last 13 years.
The David C. Weidner Media Award is given in honor of the late David Weidner, a promising young sportswriter for the Daily Evening Item who was stricken with a heart attack and died at age 24 in 1992. The award is given yearly to the person who provides ongoing outstanding coverage and support of youth and amateur sports, and the Agganis Games in particular.
This year’s winner is Rose Raymond.
Raymond grew up around sports, starting at shortstop for Peabody High in addition to playing field hockey and basketball. Also a competitive racquetball player, Raymond suffered a knee injury in 1984 that left her unable to walk for a year. During that time, Raymond, who took up photography as a hobby, decided to educate herself on being a professional sports photographer. She eventually opened her own photo lab, and for the past three decades has been shooting sporting events across the North Shore.
The name Harold O. Zimman is synonymous with the Agganis Foundation; Zimmerman was instrumental to the establishment of the foundation, along with the Daily Evening Item and the Boston Red Sox, in addition to serving as the foundation’s chairman from 1955-1994.
This year, the Harold O. Zimman Foundation Award, which is given for dedication and service to the Agganis Foundation and its ideals of academics and athletics, has been awarded to Ted Grant.
From 1992 to 2019, Grant served as either the chairman or the president of the Agganis Foundation. Under his leadership, the amount of the foundation’s scholarship awards grew from $647,180 to nearly $2 million and the endowment grew from $184,411 to $1,275,888. Grant oversaw the expansion of the Agganis Games from one game to nine and, in 1999, he brought in the Yawkey Foundation as a major benefactor, resulting in $550,000 in contributions and scholarships.
Grant, who graduated from St. Mary’s High School and Boston College, is the publisher and president of Essex Media Group, which publishes the Daily Item, La Voz, Lynnfield Weekly News, Peabody Weekly News, Suburban Real Estate News, and four magazines — 01907, 01940, 01945 and North Shore Golf.
Upon Harry Agganis’ death in 1955, Charles Demakis proposed that a scholarship fund be established in Agganis’ honor — thus, the Agganis Foundation was created.
The Attorney Charles Demakis Heritage Award is given each year to someone of Greek heritage who advanced the Agganis Foundation’s ideals of academics and ethics. This year, the award’s recipient is John Tanionos.
A native of Worcester, Tanionos learned about the legacy of Harry Agganis when playing for the Sons of Pericles (Junior Order of American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association) and in several Agganis basketball tournaments as a teenager. He has long been involved in the presentation of the AHEPA Harry Agganis Hellenic Athlete Award — one of the most prestigious athletic awards in the Greek community. Tanionos also served as chairman of the AHEPA Harry Agganis Award.
Paul F. Cavanagh was an outstanding three-sport athlete at Lynn English and a defensive end at Boston College. He was also a member of the Agganis All-Star Games committee before being killed in a plane crash at age 43 in 1990. The field house at Lynn English was named in his honor in 2000. The Paul F. Cavanagh Community Award is given each year to the person who conveys Cavanaugh’s and the Foundation’s ideals of sportsmanship, education and community. This year, the award winner is Dr. Nate Bryant of Salem.
Bryant currently serves as the interim president of North Shore Community College, but next month he will be returning to Salem State University as vice president of Student Success, where he will oversee enrollment management, student life, marketing, public relations and the Center for Academic Excellence. Named one of the 50 Most Influential People of Color in Higher Education in Massachusetts, Bryant currently serves on several nonprofit boards, including the Agganis Foundation Scholarship Committee.
The Agganis Foundation also returned to awarding its scholarship winners this year. The student-athletes who earned scholarships were Lynnfield’s Lauren Braconnier (WPI), Boston Latin’s Ulysses Brenzel (Dartmouth), Marblehead’s Ryan Bulger (Endicott), Saugus’ Serena Cacciola (UMass – Amherst), Latin Academy’s Simon Chernow (UCLA), Lynn Classical’s Mary Collins (UMass – Amherst), Bishop Fenwick’s Jenna Durkin (St. Lawrence), Lynnfield’s Jennifer Flynn (Bentley), Lynn English’s Shakib Idris (Tufts), Boston Latin’s Joseph Jackson (Notre Dame), Marblehead’s Caroline Johnson (Lafayette), Boston Latin’s Ellen Linso (St. Anselm), Lynn Classical’s Kathleen Mannion (Vermont), St. John’s Prep’s George Nikolakopoulos (Bucknell), Lynn Classical’s Jessica Page (New England University), Marblehead’s Jacob Sherf (Middlebury) and Lynn Classical’s Brooke Warren (Emmanuel).
