Strength of Character

2/3/2026

by Pattrick Gallagher, Head of School

One of my fondest memories of US athletics came just last year, one frigid Saturday in February. In the afternoon, I drove down to the Kent State University Ice Arena to watch our varsity hockey team take on the Gilmour Academy Lancers. Well before the puck was dropped, the atmosphere was lively: A student section full of Upper Schoolers, boys and families from our Lower and Middle Schools, some newly-enrolled Preppers who would be starting at US in the fall—our turnout was sizable, distance to the rink notwithstanding. As the game progressed, so did the intensity. With each pass, check, shot, and transition, the crowd’s breathing seemed to synchronize. The atmosphere went from energized to electric as, tied at 2-2, the game extended into overtime not once, not twice, but three times. A decisive goal from Ethan Roberts ’25 with an assist from Patrick Corcoran ’26 secured the 3-2 victory for US.

With all the sights and sounds of an epic, the win had everything but the dramatic music to earn a place in US fans’ hearts. Heated 4-on-4 play in the second overtime and 36 saves from goaltender Declan Cavanaugh ’27, all against the backdrop of one of the School’s most storied rivalries, contributed to an instant classic. The outcome was born of the team’s skill, discipline, and commitment, and the sound of the horn at the game-winning goal was as exciting as any State Championship moment I have ever experienced. Yet, I do not tell that story just to spotlight a memorable win. A few hours later, I came out to the game gym at the Hunting Valley Campus to support the varsity basketball team as they faced the Nordonia Knights at home. As stirring for me as any of the moments of the battle for the puck hours earlier, was the sight of those same hockey players entering the gym. Surely exhausted, maybe not moving as deftly or forcefully as they had earlier, they were not arriving on the scene as conquering heroes. They were showing up at US, and showing up for US, to cheer

on their classmates. That was the greatest win of all.

“Physical training and athletic competition have been inseparable from University School life since the School’s

founding,” Headmaster Richard Hawley wrote in his foreword to longtime athletic director Don Molten's book, We Are U.S.! 100 Years of Athletics at University School, on the occasion of the School’s centennial celebration. Mr. Hawley pointed to our earliest known institutional history as testament to the many ways “sports are simply alive in the hearts of boys:”

Months before the original Hough Avenue campus was completed in the spring of 1891, before a choir was formed, before a student government was constituted, before even a week’s classes had been concluded, the boys organized two official school teams, a football team and a baseball team. The entire student body, not just team members, threw themselves passionately into the selection of the captains. Captains—not prefects, not valedictorians—would bear the mantle of the School’s spirit. Such decisions were not taken lightly, and radical standards of merit were applied…

135 years later, captains still loom large. When speaking with students, they often name the senior student-athletes and captains they met in their earliest days at US as some of the most influential figures in their experience. To that end, they carry not only US spirit but also US values. In my time at US, I have been struck by the range of the captains of our 13 interscholastic sports teams. At times, a captain is hands-down the finest athlete on the team. He may well be a sought-after recruit bound for Division I competition. At other times, he may be a competitor whose athletic career will end at US but whose personal qualities distinguish him from others. Alumni note with pride those chosen leaders who exemplified grit, resilience, and humility. At all times, ideally, he is a captain whose leadership promises to inspire the team to greatness. The nature and impact of these captains’ leadership are as varied as the young men themselves. Sometimes it requires a pioneering spirit. When cross country became a sport at US officially in 1966, its success depended on the commitment of new coach Don Blanchard and new senior Joe Keithley ’67, its first captain. Sometimes, leadership is in the blood, as in the case of the nine sons of Timothy Conway (Dan ’36, Bob ’38, Jack ’41, Tim ’42, Bud ’43, Bill ’45, Jim ’47, Jerry ’49, and Tom ’52), with six leading the football team as captain or co-captain and Bill going on to also captain the team at Yale.

Oftentimes, leadership long practiced and honed at US has equipped our graduates for success in college and beyond. Twenty years before US would formally have a tennis team, an 1891 edition of the U.S. Record reports that “the court is never unoccupied.” Decades of dominance by US tennis fed collegiate captaincies at Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, Michigan, Minnesota, Navy, Notre Dame, Northwestern, and Pomona. Dynasties have not been limited to the tennis courts. Brian Perry ’89 took the helm of the swimming and diving team in 2000 and has gone on to lead the Preppers to a record 10 State Titles. Time and again, Coach Perry has praised the athletes who have propelled their teams to success. Of record-setting standouts who also went on to lead college teams like those at Harvard, USC, and Davidson, for example, Coach Perry noted our athletes’ “unselfishness” as key to success. “These were some of the best leaders and fastest swimmers to ever roam the halls of US,” he said. “However, they were humble. They never asked for praise. They just wanted to make their teammates better.”

Throughout our history, accolades have come to the athletes of US. Trophies, championship banners, and plaques recognizing MVPs, captains, and award winners record our legacy of accomplishment. Additionally, team photographs line the halls at Shaker and Hunting Valley. However faded those images might be, visiting alumni brighten as they catch glimpses of their teammates and coaches, as well as maybe their dads and granddads. Stories flow and pride is palpable.

Not recognized on the walls of US, but no less important, are countless examples of the very humility that characterizes so many of our finest athletes. Athletics are about more than any one athlete, and US is about

more than one of us. The all-school assemblies of any academic year reflect the dimensionality and diversity of our community, and they help us to mark milestones and celebrate achievements.

When team captains take the stage at assembly following a significant victory, they always have one shared goal: gratitude. They detail the contributions of their teammates, both obvious and subtle. They call out their coaches’ commitment in giving so much of themselves in support of their athletes. They also, with great frequency, recognize someone that might come as a surprise to most of the community: the strength and conditioning coach whose expertise helps them be at their best; the teacher who makes it to all the games, home and away, to cheer on the team; the receptionist whose smiling face is the first they see when they arrive at US. They are presented with trophies or game balls. For the faculty and staff, these moments are as affirming as any we have as educators. For the athletes, these moments of gratitude are illustrative of the many life lessons gained through athletics.

These, too, are victories—wins for US and wins for us all.

Back