Tommy Burr, Class of 1913
Burr started his prep school career at The Hotchkiss School but transferred to The Choate School the following year. He immediately earned varsity spots on both the football and baseball teams. Burr met early success on both teams, but he established himself as one of the best all-around baseball players in New England in 1913. In his sixth-form year, Burr didn’t allow a single run as a pitcher, tallying 185 strikeouts and allowing only 32 hits and 18 walks. The Meridan Morning Record called him “the pride of Choate School,” saying that he “was the biggest man at Choate this year as its leading athlete.”
After graduating, Burr was signed to the New York Yankees. He appeared in just one game, in 1914, and decided after the season to continue his education at Williams College. He went on to enlist in the United States Army Air Service, and, in 1918, he died in an airplane accident in France. Burr is one of 15 Choate graduates for whom Memorial House was dedicated.
Billie Batson Gibbens, class of 1921
At Rosemary Hall, Gibbens played field hockey and basketball but quickly discovered her aptitude for the hurdles event in track and field. “Aptitude” is an understatement; Gibbens became the definitive leading American women’s short-distance hurdler during her time at Rosemary Hall. Between 1919 and 1921, she did not lose a single hurdles race and set national records in the 60-yard high hurdles, at nine seconds, and the 100-yard low hurdles, at 14.4 seconds.
After Rosemary Hall, Gibbens attended Smith College to continue her athletic career. There, she was invited to join the U.S. team at the first-ever Women’s Olympics, organized to compensate for the lack of women’s sports at the Olympic Games. She was chosen as captain to lead her team in the Olympics. However, after spraining her ankle, Gibbens was limited in her competitive abilities and failed to place in any events. Gibbens died in 1996 at the age of 96, just before Choate created its Athletics Hall of Fame.
Muddy Waters, Class of 1943
Waters played fullback for the Choate football team and was a crucial part of the team’s success in the early 1940s. In his final year, Waters led the 1942 team to an undefeated season and New England Championship as a team captain. He also served as a captain for the Varsity Track and Field team.
After Choate, he played fullback at Michigan State University; however, most of his fame came after he graduated from college. Waters coached Hillsdale College for twenty years and compiled a 138–47–5 record, including a stretch between 1953 to 1957 when he won 34 consecutive games. In 1980, he returned to Michigan State to coach its football team. In recognition of over thirty years of playing and coaching experience in college football, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000. He died six years later.
Thomas Yankus, class of 1952
Yankus played baseball and football before graduating from Choate in 1952, but that was only the start of his long relationship with Choate Athletics. After a successful baseball career at Choate as a left-handed pitcher, he continued pursuing his education and the sport at Williams College. After graduating, he returned to Choate to teach English and played for the New York Yankees Triple “A” team during the summers. After his playing career, he continued to coach professionally as a manager and pitching coach in the Cape Cod leagues for over two decades. Yankus also spent a summer playing on a minor league team in Montana which he wrote a book about.
While he was at Choate, Yankus coached Boys’ Varsity Baseball from 1966 to 2010, a total of 44 years. His coaching career concluded in 2010 with his 500th win as head coach, the most wins from a coach in the history of Choate Athletics. Yankus retired as a teacher in 2014, and Choate’s Ayres-Yankus baseball field was named in part for him.
Dede Griesbauer, Class of 1988
Griesbauer excelled as a swimmer at Choate and, as an adult, became a world-renowned triathlete. Her specialty was the backstroke and medley events, in which she set pool, school, New England, and National Prep School Records. Griesbauer went on to swim at Stanford University. As a captain, she led the 1992 team to an NCAA Championship and earned All-American honors. Internationally, she won a gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke twice at the 1989 Pan Pacific Championships and at the 1991 Pan American Games.
After she just missed making the Olympic Team in 1992, she retired as a swimmer and took a job on Wall Street. However, her retirement did not last long. She decided to pursue a career as a professional triathlete. She has won three Ironman competitions, in 2006, in 2009, and in 2015 at the age of 40. Griesbauer has also finished in the top 10 three times at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
James Pyne, class of 1990
Pyne’s strong leadership as an offensive lineman for Varsity Football gave the team a steady presence to build around. He was respected and appreciated by both his teammates and coaches, earning him the Choate Coach’s Award in 1989.
Following Choate, Pyne went to Virginia Tech, where he started on the team’s offensive line throughout his entire college career. His proficiency at his positions led him to numerous accolades, including being selected as a unanimous All-American. His Virginia Tech number is one of the four numbers ever retired through the university’s 100-year football history. In 1994, he was selected in the seventh round of the NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and held a starting role on the team’s offensive line for four of his nine seasons in the league. He concluded his career by playing on the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, and the Philadelphia Eagles, winning an NFC East division title in 2001.
Goga Vukmirovic, Class of 1996
Vukmirovic didn’t know how to play water polo before arriving at Choate in 1993. She came to the School from Venezuela after fleeing her hometown of Sarajevo, Bosnia, with her mother and sister. She quickly became one of the best prep school water polo goalies and even created a new defensive scheme called the “Goga defense,” in which the goalie swims to the middle of the pool to help defend. The former Girls’ Varsity Water Polo Head Coach Mr. Bill Berghoff said, “She’s kind of a legendary kid here.”
Princeton recruited her for its newly formed women’s competitive water polo team, and she excelled in the cage there. She led the team to the National Championships in 1998, 1999, and 2000 — an impressive feat for an East Coast school competing against West Coast powerhouses. Vukmirovic also earned All-Ivy honors in her final two seasons and was an honorable mention for All-American in her final. She was inducted into the Collegiate Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2015.
Julie Chu, Class of 2001
Chu is an incredibly accomplished Choate women’s hockey player, possibly the best ever. During her time on the team, she set and still holds the Choate hockey records for the most career goals at 101 and career assists at 112, despite leaving during her senior year to play for the U.S. Women’s National Team.
After Choate, Chu continued playing hockey at Harvard University, where she quickly set the record for the most points ever earned in a freshman season. Chu finished college as the all-time assists leader and points scorer in NCAA history and was awarded the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2007 for the best female collegiate hockey player. During and after college, she led a distinguished career for the U.S. Women’s National Team. She played for Team USA in the Salt Lake City, Turin, Vancouver, and the Sochi Olympics — winning three silver medals and one bronze. She concluded her international career as the second-most decorated American woman in Olympic Winter Games history.
Hilary Knight, class of 2007
Like Chu, Knight is another Choate hockey player who rose to the highest level of competition in the world. She only attended Choate during her fifth- and sixth-form years, but she won the Founders League MVP in both seasons. In her final year at Choate, she scored a single-season record of 73 points in just 23 games.
Knight translated her success at Choate to more success at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She and her team won two NCAA Championships, in 2009 and 2011, and finished second in 2008. She was selected as an All-American for three seasons at Wisconsin. After graduating, she played for the U.S. Women’s National Team. Playing with Chu, Knight earned two silver medals at the Vancouver and Sochi Olympic Winter Games. Then, in 2018, Knight guided the national team to its second-ever gold medal in women’s hockey. In the championship game against Canada, Knight scored the winning goal in a penalty shootout.
