Nine standout athletes, one coach and a state championship team were inducted into the St. Mary’s Varsity Club Thursday in a ceremony at the Tony Conigliaro ’62 Gymnasium at the school.
The 2023 Varsity Club inductees are: Peter Angelli ’89, Alison Butler ’13, Tori Faieta ’11, Tom Finocchio ’88, Steve Geratowski ’68, Joe Iarrobino ’59, Kelly Harney Morris ’86, Ron Leary ’57, James Smerczynski ’53, girls hockey coach Frank Pagliuca and the 2005 girls hockey team.
Angelli was a soccer standout who set a school record with 41 goals as a senior in 1988, leading the Spartans to an MIAA Div. 3 state co-championship. He was named Catholic Central League MVP, Boston Globe Player of the Year, Eastern Mass. All-Star, All-State and All-New England.
Butler finished her hockey career with 199 points (86 goals, 113 assists) and played on the 2010 and 2013 state championship teams. She was the 2013 St. Mary’s Athlete of the Year, Boston Globe Player of the Year and Boston Herald Player of the Year. She went on to play at Saint Anselm, where she scored 101 points.
Faieta scored 1,471 points and garnered more than 1,000 rebounds, leading St. Mary’s to the 2011 MIAA Div. 3 state championship. The all-time leading scorer in St. Mary’s girls basketball history, she was co-MVP of the Catholic Central League, a Boston Herald All-Scholastic and a McDonald’s All-American Game nominee. She received a full basketball scholarship from Stonehill College, where she was a 1,000-point scorer. Faieta played professionally in Europe and represented the U.S. in the 2015 Deaf Olympics in Taiwan, winning a gold medal.
Finocchio is recognized as one of the best St. Mary’s boys soccer players ever. He scored 110 points (69 goals, 41 assists), including 34 goals as a senior in 1987, when he was named Catholic Central League MVP. He was a 3-time league All-Star and 2-time Eastern Mass. All-Star. He was also a 2-year starter on the St. Mary’s boys basketball team and earned Catholic Central League All-Star honors in 1988.
Geratowski was a football captain who was named a Daily Item and Agganis All-Star. He also played baseball and in 1968 was a Boston Globe honorable mention All-Scholastic. He was voted Most Athletic at St. Mary’s and received the Scholar-Athlete award for football and baseball. He went on to play football for two years at Holy Cross College, graduating in 1972. He passed away in 2010.
Iarrobino was a three-sport athlete – football, basketball and baseball. Two major injuries cut short his football and basketball career, but he was able to recover in time to play baseball all three years. He was a New England Hearst All-Star and earned a full scholarship to Rollins College. He has been a highly successful American Legion baseball coach for 37 years, with his Andover teams winning 17 district Championships, 11 sectional championships and the 2004 state championship.
Morris was a 4-year basketball player who was named an Item and Catholic Suburban League All-Star. She was team MVP her junior and senior years and Item Player of the Year as a senior in 1986. At Suffolk University, she was a 1,141-point scorer and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017.
Leary was an ace pitcher and .300 hitter on the baseball diamond. He also played basketball three years and was considered the best player on the 1957 and 1958 teams, running the offense and averaging double figures in scoring. Leary went on to play baseball for four years at Salem State. He served in the U.S. Army from 1963-65 and returned to St. Mary’s to coach softball, basketball and soccer. He passed away in 2016.
Smerczynski was an Item All-Star quarterback and a double-digit scorer in basketball. He was offered college scholarships in both sports, opting to play football at William & Mary University. A strong-armed quarterback, he was recruited by the baseball coach to pitch. After suffering an injury heading into his senior season, Smerczynski transferred to Merrimack College. He earned a master’s in electrical engineering from Yale University.
Pagliuca, who was named girls hockey coach in 2005, led St. Mary’s to three consecutive state championships (2008-10) and a 100-game unbeaten streak. The Spartans won another state title in 2013 under Pagliuca, who has a career record of 340-74-42 (.792 winning percentage). He is the winningest high school girls hockey coach in Massachusetts history and led the Spartans to a state final berth in 2023.
The 2005 girls hockey team set the foundation for a dynasty that captured five state titles in nine years. Coach Todd Langlais led the Spartans to a 21-1-2 record and the MIAA Div. 2 state title. St. Mary’s beat Westford Academy, 7-1, in the state championship game at Boston University’s Walter Brown Arena on March 18, 2005.
Freshmen Abby Gauthier and Christen Hart led the Spartans, combining for more than 90 points that season.
