ECC Superstars

Over the 75 plus years of its existence, the ECC has seen many alumni move on to the highest levels of athletic success in the fields of their choosing including NCAA Championships, the NFL, MLB, NBA, WPSL, the PGA Tour and Summer Olympics.

Patterson "Pat" Cannamela (Chapman Tech '47) who played baseball and football for the Huskies spent 2 years at Ventura Jr. College before transferring to the University of Southern California where he excelled in football. During the 1951 season, he captained the USC team, was a consensus All-American line-backer, and was named National Defensive Player of the Year by the New York Mirror news. He later played in the NFL with Dallas. New London High School now plays home football games on Cannamela Field.

Winningest Football Coach in the State: William "Bill" Mignault, Sr. who amassed 321 wins over 50 coaching seasons. Coach Mignault compiled 303 victories at Ledyard after previously leading Waterford to 18 wins. Prior to his Head Coaching start with the Lancers, he was an assistant at NFA.

Phil Jones (Stonington '50), Gene King and Art Quimby (Bulkeley '51), and Don Burns and Jim O'Connor (New London '53) graduated from their ECC experience to the varsity Basketball Team at the University of Connecticut - five players over a span of only four years.

Johnny Kelly (Bulkeley '50) a State X-Country champion, won the Boston Marathon in 1957 setting a new course record. He also managed five 2nd place finishes in the event. He was the marathon winner at the 1959 Pan American Games. Kelly also ran with the U.S. Olympic Marathon team in the 1956 and 1960 summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia and Rome, Italy respectively.

Billy Gardner (Chapman Tech '46) was a three sport star before signing to play professional baseball. After several years in the Minors, Gardner played 10 years in the Majors with the New York Giants, Baltimore, Washington , Minnesota, the Yankees and the Red Sox. He also managed the game for seven years with the Twins and Kansas City. In 1951, Gardner won a World Series championship ring with the Giants.

John Ellis (New London High School ?67) played first base and catcher in the Major Leagues from 1969-1981 with the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers.  Bob Schaefer, who coached at Ledyard High School, is now the bench coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Currently, John McDonald (East Lyme High School ?92) plays shortstop in the major leagues for the Toronto Blue Jays.  Rajai Davis (New London High School ?99) plays center field for the Oakland Athletics.  Rajai had a breakout year in 2009, hitting .305 with 41 stolen bases (fourth in the American League).

Tracy Lis (Killingly '88) set the all-time Connecticut High School Basketball scoring record of 3681 points before moving on to the Big East and Providence College where she continued to set scoring standards. At the time of her graduation from PC, Lis was the all-time scoring leader for the Friars and was ranked third all-time in Big East career scoring. In 2004, she was named to the Big East Conference's Silver Anniversary 15-member All-Star team.

Waterford grad Katie Schoepfer ('06) is holder of the State career record for soccer scoring (157 goals) and is second with assists (47). Her four year career as a starter for perennial power Penn State is laden with Big Ten, Mid-Atlantic, and NSCAA honors including several for academics. As the team's scoring leader, Schoepfer helped extend Penn State's Big Ten dominance to 12 straight championships.  Schoepfer was one of five finalists of the 2009 U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year Award. She was selected by defending champion Sky Blue FC in the 2010 Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) draft.

Bob Ross (Fitch '50 Basketball/Golf) is well known in the golf world as the Head Professional at the legendary Baltusrol Golf Club, host to three U.S. Open Championships. On two occasions, he was honored as the National Club Pro of the Year. Ross competed on the PGA tour including three PGA Championships and has earned numerous awards in the New Jersey/Philadelphia area. He is an exceptional teacher of golf and has been honored with a lifetime honorary Baltusrol membership.