Saint Michael's College

Acceptance Speech

John remains one of the most successful tennis players in Saint Michael’s history and has served his country with the Vermont Army National Guard for nearly two decades. During his standout four-year career, John set program records for career total wins (65) and doubles wins (37) while tying for sixth in singles wins (28), and helped the Purple Knights qualify for three postseason berths. On the doubles court, John and Torr Terranova ’08 set a program record for wins by a tandem with 12 in 2007-08, with both claiming the individual season doubles mark. The duo earned NE10 All-Conference, the first of two consecutive all-league doubles nods for John. He added an NE10 Academic All-Conference laurel as a junior before serving the team as a senior captain. In addition to standing out on the court, John joined the University of Vermont Army ROTC as an undergraduate, began serving in the Vermont National Guard as a junior, and earned a prestigious leadership opportunity as ROTC battalion commander while still a student. At the Department of Athletics’ annual Block ‘M’ Awards banquet as a senior, John earned the Victor V. LeMieux ’35 Award, honoring loyalty and leadership. In 2024, he was recognized with the Purple Heart for his role in saving the life of a fellow soldier during a Christmas Day 2023 drone attack in Iraq.