NO. R-292 Page 4

NO. R-292. JOINT RESOLUTION congratulating the 1999 Mount St. Joseph Academy Division I Football and Debating champions.

(J.R.H. 231)

Offered by: Representatives Costello of Brattleboro, Barbieri of Wallingford, Carmolli of Rutland City, DePoy of Rutland City, Flory of Pittsford, Freed of Dorset, Hooker of Rutland City, Kreitzer of Rutland City, Mazzariello of Rutland City, Mullin of Rutland Town, Partridge of Windham and Rogers of Castleton.

Whereas, Mount St. Joseph Academy, founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1882, is a Catholic school that serves the educational, spiritual and moral well-being of central Vermont youth of all faiths, and prepares them to assume an active and responsible role in society, and

Whereas, the 1999 Mount St. Joseph Academy Football Team brought great honor to its school and to its community by winning backtoback Division I State Championship titles for the fifth time in the school's history, with a 11-0 record, and

Whereas, the Mounties concluded their drive for the 1999 Division I Football Championship on Saturday, November 13, 1999, at Youngman Field at Middlebury College and, as the reigning Division I Champions, defeated an imposing Middlebury Tigers football team by a score of 266, and

Whereas, the combination of quarterback Mike Keenan passing to wide receiver Pat McCormack quickly established the Mounties' lead that the determined Tigers never threatened, and

Whereas, tight end Mike Tomasi made a spectacular touchdown catch which brought the score to 190 in favor of MSJ, followed by a rushing touchdown by 1,000yard rusher Mike Hackett to make the final score 266, and

Whereas, the MSJ defense, led by cocaptain Pat Dudley, stifled the explosive running game of the Tigers, allowing Mount St. Joseph to triumph, and

Whereas, the entire Mount St. Joseph Football roster, including Don Bedard, Ryan Bentrup, Keith Lazarczyk, Andy Morgan, John Pisanelli, Dan Welch, Jason Carrara, Chris Genovesi, Rich Freed, Andy Hadeka, Ryan DePoy, James Greenough, Chris Sabatino, Dan Fitzgerald, Jamie Larson, Matt Vredenburgh, Steve Reilly, Ryan Hart, Clayton Gilligan, Chris Facey, Brad Giglio, Chuck Whitehead, Mike Vysocka, Joe Stukus, Nick Chiccarelli, Brad Mattesson, Tim Doherty, Kevin Boudreau, Eric Ludwig, Liam O'Byrne, Mike Sabatino, Steve Abatiell, John Lewis, Ben Flis, Darby Simonds, Gabriel Borgetto, Nick Ransom, Matt Mallory, Brian Kussel, Adam Danaher, C.J. Sullivan, Zack Practico, Alex Keefe, Arron Ruby and Colin Flory, were all essential contributors to an outstanding season of football at Mount St. Joseph Academy, and

Whereas, the expert and dedicated MSJ coaching staff, consisting of Brian Grady, Tony Zingale, Brian Coombs, Gene Esposito, Bill Dudley, Jerry Gorruso, Steve Wolf, Matt Howland, Mark Duhamel, and Tony Cirelli, guided their team through a rigorous conditioning, practice and game schedule, culminating in a championship title, as well as the able and dedicated team managers, Jeff Coombs, Kevin O'Rourke and Andrew Reilly, deserve credit for their important role in the team's success, and

Whereas, the 1999 MSJ Football Division I Champions won an unprecedented 16th Division I Football Championship title, and

Whereas, by repeating as Division I Football Champions, the Mount St. Joseph team has accomplished a task realized by only six previous teams, four of which were MSJ football teams, and

Whereas, on March 11, 2000 at a competition held at the State House in the Senate chamber, the Mount St. Joseph varsity debate team, as represented by debaters Sean Burke and Gavin O’Brien won the state championship, and

Whereas, the Mount St. Joseph team was tied for first place after three rounds of intensive competition, and

Whereas, after a fourth round, the Mount St. Joseph debaters emerged with a well-deserved victory, and

Whereas, the debate program’s success can be attributed in large part to the outstanding leadership of its faculty advisor Gayle Wetzler, and

Whereas, the Division I Football and Debating championship teams demonstrate that a school of only 200 students can achieve colossal success when its teams are dedicated, principled and courageous and have the unwavering support of their student body, faculty, administration, parents, alumni, coaches and fans, and

Whereas, these championships express the excellence achieved at Mount

St. Joseph Academy in the academic, dramatic and musical areas as well, and

Whereas, these championships reflect the skill, courage and wisdom which form the spirit of MSJ, now therefore be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:

That the General Assembly congratulates Mount St. Joseph Academy, the spirit of MSJ, and the players and coaches of the 1999 Mount St. Joseph Academy Division I Football team, and the 1999-2000 state championship varsity debate team, on winning their respective state championships, and be it further

Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to Rob Lukaskiewicz, the principal at Mount St. Joseph Academy.

VT LEG 126637.1