Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Fall 2010 | Page 18

AlumniNews

Athletic Hall of Fame 2010

Two former coaches and three
former athletes were honored on
Oct. 2 at Thornton Academy’s Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony. The inductees in 2010 are Bruce Roberts
’58, Thomas Eck, Robert Bowie, Art
Leveris ’92 and Nichole Motil ’95. A
new “Great Moments Award” was
also bestowed on Tom Winston.
The Hall of Fame inducted its
first class in 2006 when the Alumni
Association and Board of Trustees
decided to begin recognizing the
athletes, coaches, teams and others
affiliated with the school who have
excelled at or contributed greatly to
athletics at TA. The Athletic Hall of
Fame Committee is made up of Kirk
Purvis ’93, chair, Phil Fearon ’70,
Jack Morrison ’74, Richard Parker
’60, Athletic Director Gary Stevens
and Diana Grant Walker ’75.
Bryce Roberts, Class of 1958
Bryce Roberts was one of the
rare four sport athletes during his
days on the Thornton Academy
campus. On the baseball diamond,
he was on the varsity squad for
four years and was named to the
All-Telegram team in 1956. On the
links, Bryce was runner-up in the
Maine schoolboy golf championships his senior year. On the basketball court, Bryce was a standout in
leading the team in scoring, assists
and rebounds on the 1958 squad
that returned to the Western Maine
playoff tournament after a 12 year
absence. The team was coached
by Jim McGaffin, a 2007 inductee
to the Thornton Academy Athletic
Hall of Fame.
Other notable accomplishments
came on the cross-country course
where he consistently led the pack.
In 1957, he paced the team to a
nearly unblemished regular season
record, a first place finish in the
Southwestern Maine championship,
a second place finish in the state
meet, and fifth place in the New
England showdown. Individually,
Bryce won every single regular season race, placed second in the state
meet and seventh against his New
England competition.
After graduation, he took his
talents to the University of Con-

Postscripts

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Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette ’89

From left to right are William Bowie accepting for Robert Bowie, Tom Winston,
Nichole Motil ’95, Art Leveris ’92, Bryce Roberts ’58 and Carlton Eck accepting
for Thomas Eck.

necticut where he continued to excel, especially at baseball and crosscountry. Bryce was inducted into
the Maine Golf Hall of Fame in 2006
and was a long-time pro at Prouts
Neck Country Club.
Thomas Eck, Football Coach
Thomas Eck logged only four
years on the sidelines of Thornton
Academy’s gridiron, but during his
tenure he established a legacy of
success that is worthy of honor.
Eck attended Colgate University.
After playing three years of varsity football for the Red Raiders,
he graduated in 1938. He coached
in Massachusetts schools until the
outbreak of World War II when he
joined the Air Force as a special
projects officer. Following his service to our country, he joined the
staff of the University of Massachusetts as an assistant football coach
and was subsequently named the
head coach in 1947. He resigned in
1951 to return to high school football.
Tom Eck arrived at TA in the fall
of 1952 and brought with him the
experience and knowledge acquired
at the collegiate level, including
the introduction of using film to

scout and prepare for opponents.
He promptly gave football fans a
glimpse of the better days ahead.
His first squad finished at 8-2. The
team’s 321 points set a State of
Maine scoring record and its season-ending 53-7 win over Biddeford
remains as the largest margin of
victory in the Battle of the Bridge.
In 1954, Eck and his troops claimed
TA’s first state title in twenty years
by winning all ten games. Their
offense was ferocious, averaging
30 points per game. Their defense
was even more impressive, holding
seven opponents scoreless and allowing a mere 39 points for the season. In 1955, continuing its offensive onslaught, Eck and TA swept
through its second consecutive undefeated season and defended its
state championship title.
Eck left Thornton after the 1955
season with a 33-4-2 record, including a 24 game winning streak, two
Western Maine Conference titles,
two State of Maine Class FFF titles
and a state scoring record. He is a
member of the National Football
Coaches Hall of Fame.
Robert Bowie, Football Coach
Thornton Academy has a rich