Six former student-athletes and a championship team will be inducted into the Bedford High School Sports Hall of Fame during a dinner and ceremony on Saturday, March 23, starting at 6 p.m. at the American Legion post, 357 The Great Road.
The public is invited to attend this biennial induction event, then ninth since the recognition was established by the Bedford Athletic Association in 2006.
Tickets are $25 each (children up to age 12 free) and available with a credit card at https://gofan.co/event/1392077?schoolId=MA14503. Payments by check should include a completed form, https://forms.gle/Njo7JkBKu1k2XrKC8 and mailed to Keith Mangan, Director of Athletics, Bedford High School, 9 Mudge Way, Bedford, MA 01730.
The honorees and their specialties are:
- David Crawford ’67, track
- Kim Merrick ’84, ski
- Courtney Chubb ’88, swim
- Mike Dushman ’14, soccer
- Danae Bucci ’15, track and field
- Dan Greaney ’17, wrestling
In addition, the MIAA Division 4 North sectional champion 2013 varsity football team was chosen for induction.
Also, during the event, Mangan will commemorate Jim Byrnes, BHS head boys’ basketball coach for 21 years who died unexpectedly early this month. Byrnes was inducted into the Hall of Fame as an individual in 2019 and as part of the 2010 Division 3 North championship team in 2021.
The latest group of honorees span three generations of BHS alumni.
Crawford competed in cross country and middle-distance events, earning seven varsity letters and establishing school records in the mile and half-mile; the latter stood for some 20 years. He later became a world-class triathlete, winning three world triathlon championships and five national titles over a span of 20 years. He is a member of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame.
Merrick was one of the top three downhill skiers in the Dual County League over a four-year period, qualifying for the state championship meet every year and finishing in the top 20 statewide as a junior, earning a berth in the East Regionals. She also qualified for the state tournament in cross country skiing as a junior and senior, and then helped lead Colby Sawyer College to the NCAA Women’s Division II downhill championship in 1985.
Chubb started winning individual state swim championships as a Bedford High School freshman in 1984 in the 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle, setting four Dual County League records. By the time she closed out her four-year BHS swim career, Chubb was a three-time Boston Globe all-scholastic, a member of the Junior National team in the 100-yard butterfly, and ranked in the top 20 in the eastern U.S. in two events.
Dushman capped a four-year BHS interscholastic soccer career in 2013 when he was named MIAA Division 3 Player-of-the-Year and an eastern Massachusetts all-star. A three-year Dual County League all-star and league most valuable player as a senior, Dushman was named to Boston Globe and Boston Herald all-scholastic teams as a junior and senior. He also played two seasons of varsity basketball.
Bucci was New England outdoor and Massachusetts indoor champion in the high jump as a BHS senior, and ranked third in the nation among high school girls. She also competed in the New Balance Indoor Nationals All-American, placing sixth in the championship section. As a junior, she set the school record in the indoor 55-meter hurdles, and as a senior she set indoor and outdoor records in high jump and long jump. All those records still stand.
Greaney was a state champion in his wrestling weight class and was a Boston Globe and Boston Herald all-scholastic. He finished third in the 2017 New England interscholastic championships. Greaney, who also played varsity football for two seasons, put interscholastic wrestling on the map in Bedford, as he was an original member of the cooperative team of BHS and Minuteman Technical High School.
The 2013 football Buccaneers won three playoff games – the last two on the road – and earned the first MIAA North sectional football championship. The team’s identity was defense. Through the nine games culminating with the sectional title, the Bucs allowed 58 total points and no touchdown passes. Head Coach Jack Belcher will speak on behalf of former players and coaches.
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