New athletic hall of fame to honor 13 inductees
The inaugural class of the newly-established Whitingham Wilmington Twin Valley Athletic Hall of Fame will be inducted at a dinner and ceremony honoring them on Saturday, December 5. The event will be held in the gymnasium at Twin Valley Middle High School, starting at 5 pm. Tickets are $25 each and members of the public are welcome. For more information or to reserve a ticket contact Chris Brown at christopher.brown@wswsu49.org or Randy Capitani at randyc@vermontmedia.com.
The list of honorees features two Olympic athletes, a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year, four all-time leading point scorers, and a historic team that won the region’s first high school state championship. In all, 13 inductees are headed to the hall: eight individual athletes, three teams, a coach, and a contributor. The new hall of fame has been created to honor the rich athletic history of Twin Valley Middle High School and its predecessor schools, Whitingham School and Wilmington High School. Those latter schools were joined together in 2004 to create Twin Valley.
Inductees from Whitingham School
Jon P. Carrier, class of 1967. Carrier was a three-sport varsity athlete who excelled in all disciplines, and participated in gymnastics exhibitions at the school. As a guard on the Trojans’ basketball team, Carrier scored more than 850 points during his high school career, before the three-point line was introduced to the game. Carrier was a standout shortstop and pitcher on the Whitingham baseball team. On the soccer pitch, he scored 27 goals in 12 matches during his junior year. As a senior, Carrier led the Trojans to a Marble Valley League title with a 7-3-1 record, but lost a playoff match to Leland & Gray that was played on Wilmington’s field, because then-principal Richard Lange didn’t want the players to travel too far away.
Scott Allen, class of 1977. Another three-sport athlete, Allen excelled in soccer, basketball, and baseball as a four-year varsity starter. Following his Whitingham high school career, Allen further distinguished himself as a coach and an official. Allen coached softball, basketball, and soccer at the middle school, junior varsity, and varsity levels at all three schools. He also was instrumental in developing youth sports in Whitingham and spent 27 years as a soccer and basketball referee throughout Vermont.
Virginia “Gigi” Cunningham, class of 2003. Cunningham scored 1,080 points during her Whitingham high school varsity basketball career, leading the Trojans to a semifinal game at the Barre Auditorium during the 2001-2002 season. It was the only time in school history that a Trojan team played a tournament game at “The Aud.” Cunningham was also a standout soccer and softball player. She said that being a high school athlete at Whitingham school in the early 2000s was an exciting time, and that fans were very supportive.
Boys gymnastics team, from 1970 to 1975. Whitingham boys dominated Southern Vermont gymnastics for six years, as those teams won the Southern District meets five times and were runners-up once. The last year of boy’s gymnastics at Whitingham was 1976. The teams were coached by David Walker and John Doty.
Inductees from Wilmington High School
Valerie Barber, class of 1974 (died 2024). Barber was a four-year, three-sport varsity starter who went on to become an Olympic athlete. She used her height to grab rebounds, stretch off first base, and play stifling defense in field hockey. She was a strong leader on the court and the field, including as a captain of the field hockey team. The 1973 field hockey team shared the Class L (large school) state title with Mount Anthony after a 1-1 tie. That was Wilmington’s first field hockey title. Barber went to the Florida Institute of Technology, where she started rowing, eventually becoming part of the 1980 US Olympic Women Fours Rowing Team. Unfortunately, the Moscow Olympics were boycotted by the United States because of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, and Barber was not able to compete at the Olympic games. She was inducted into the FIT Hall of Fame in 2013.
Leonard “Duff” Howe, class of 1987. Howe was a three-sport athlete who excelled in all sports throughout his high school career. On the soccer pitch he was credited with 56 goals and 35 assists and was part of the 1986 team that won a state championship. On the hardwood, Howe was Wilmington High School’s all-time leading boys point scorer with 1,359. Howe was also a stellar player on the baseball diamond, leading the Warriors in several categories.
Ryan Holton, class of 1988. Holton was Wilmington High School’s all-time soccer leading point scorer, notching 179 points on 68 goals and 44 assists, and was an integral part of two state championships. Holton scored 1,132 points on the basketball court and was a member of the Vermont Twin State team his senior year. Holton also played four years of baseball. Two of those teams were state finalists. Holton was a Silver Bat award winner. He also raced on the Wilmington High School ski team and played soccer at Elmira College.
Baseball team, 1967. The 1967 Warriors baseball team was Wilmington High School’s first state championship winner, and is still the only championship baseball team of the three schools. The team topped Cabot School 15-10 in the Class S championship game. The Warriors came from behind for an 8-6 win over MacIndoes Academy, from Barnett, in the semifinal game. The Warriors were coached by Michael Dymon.
Inductees from Twin Valley High School
Cory Mullen Rusin, class of 2005. Rusin was a two-time Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year for Vermont. During high school she led Wilmington and Twin Valley teams to a combined 82-10 record, with three trips to the state finals, winning the 2004 championship. She holds Twin Valley records for career scoring, 1,801 points; most points scored in a season, 598; most points scored in a game, 35; highest career scoring average, 19.5 points per game; highest scoring average for a season, 27.1 points per game; the most career offensive rebounds; and the most games played in a career. On the soccer pitch, Rusin is Twin Valley’s all-time girls leader in points (196) and goals scored (82), and is second all-time girls leader in assists (32). Wilmington won girls state soccer titles in 2001, 2002, 2003, and Twin Valley was runner-up in 2004. Rusin went on to play NCAA Division 1 basketball at Boston College.
Devin Logan, class of 2010. Logan was a four-year varsity soccer player and member of the 2007 Twin Valley state championship team. She won the Twin Valley ski team “Fightin’ Spirit” Team Award and was named to the All-Marble Valley League lacrosse team. After high school, Logan was named to the US Olympic Freeski team and won a silver medal in freestyle skiing at the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi, Russia. Logan won an International Ski and Snowboard Association (FIS) Freestyle World bronze medal for halfpipe in 2017, earned four Winter X Games medals, and won the overall FIS crystal globe in 2016 for her consistency across slopestyle and halfpipe. Logan retired from competitive skiing in 2022 and transitioned to sports broadcasting, serving as a color commentator for freestyle skiing events. Logan competed in three Olympics: Sochi, in 2014; PyeongChang, in 2018; and Beijing, in 2022.
Boys soccer team, 2013. The Twin Valley boys soccer team won the Division 4 state championship with a glittering 17-0 record that included only one goal allowed on the entire season. The goals-against statistic tied a national record. In all, the team recorded 16 shutouts, including a 2-0 win over Proctor in the state final. The team set a school record with 90 goals scored. They also won the Southern Vermont League title. The 2013 Wildcats were coached by Buddy Hayford.
Contributor
John “Jacko” Roche (died 2025). Recognized for more than 37 years of dedicated service to soccer, basketball, and baseball teams at Wilmington and Twin Valley, Jacko was a friend to high school sports in the valley since the late 1980s. Supporting soccer, basketball, and baseball, he was the manager of the Wilmington and Twin Valley high school soccer programs for more than 25 years. He was also well-known for his vociferous cheers from the sideline. A memorial bench named in his honor sits above Hayford Field in Wilmington.
Coach
Carol Abar, Wilmington Coach, 1972 to 1982. Abar was an innovative, pioneering coach who, five decades ago, incorporated what are now considered modern training and coaching techniques into girls sports at Wilmington High School. Abar used strength training, advanced tactics and motivational techniques, and statistical analytics. She also honed player skills by having them participate in off-season team camps and team trips to Philadelphia to play prep schools and larger public schools. Coach Abar led Wilmington teams to two field hockey titles, 1973 and 1974; two softball championships, 1974 and 1976; and three finals appearances: basketball, 1977 and softball, 1977 and 1980.
