COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College Department of Athletics announced its 2025 Athletic Hall of Fame class on Friday, with six new members set to be enshrined at the 36th Athletic Hall of Fame Celebration on Friday evening, Sept. 19, in the College's Dion Family Student Center.
 
The Class of 2025 is composed of: Leo Papineau, Class of 1924, three-sport captain and legendary local high school coach; Peter Laskarzewski '73, early cross country great; Sean Foley '88, ice hockey star and conference player of the year; Brian Pannuzzo '99, all-conference basketball scholar-athlete; Mary Denholm '09, all-region cross country runner and two-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier; and John Lescure '09, tennis record breaker and all-conference player.
 
The Athletic Hall of Fame Celebration, a cornerstone of the College's Alumni and Family Weekend, begins at 6 p.m. on Sept. 19 with a reception in the Dion Family Student Center Archway Lounge before the induction ceremony follows at 7 p.m. in the adjacent Roy Room. Registration for the event will open soon. Additional details for Alumni and Family Weekend are forthcoming.
 
 
Leo Papineau, Class of 1924, Ice Hockey, Tennis, Football
 
Papineau, a native of Waterbury, Conn., who grew up in Swanton, Vt., was one of the early greats in the history of Saint Michael's Athletics, serving as captain in ice hockey, tennis and football. While advocating for girls' sports in an era when opportunities were more plentiful for boys, he became one of the most accomplished coaches in Vermont high school sports history and was a well-regarded basketball official.
 
Papineau played No. 1 singles and doubles for men's tennis and was captain of that team and football as a senior at Saint Michael's. But it was on the ice where Papineau made his greatest mark, leading the Purple Knights to a 6-0-1 record during his junior and senior years, seasons in which he served as captain. While statistics are incomplete from that era, it's known he scored eight goals in those seven games, netting the game-winning goal in four of the six victories. He pushed Saint Michael's to its first two state championships as an upperclassman, potting a hat trick during a 3-1 win over the University of Vermont to secure the initial title in 1923. Newspaper accounts of the day raved about the star center.
 
Not satisfied with playing three sports, Papineau was also a baseball and football manager, prior to his career on the gridiron, and aided gameday operations as a timer for men's basketball. Elsewhere on campus, he was a Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary club prefect and secretary, Purple & Gold literary magazine sports writer, and Club Carillon secretary. After completing his bachelor's degree in 1924, Papineau went on to earn his master's degree in education at UVM.
 
While Papineau left an indelible mark as a college student-athlete, his contributions to high school athletes and pupils as a long-time coach and educator in Northern Vermont's Franklin County bolstered an already impressive résumé. Between Saint Albans High School, BFA-Saint Albans and Richford High School, Papineau posted a career record of 670-216-9 across five sports over 27 years, during three stints between 1925 and 1956, and was a strong advocate for girls' sports. His teams won three state crowns and more than three dozen regular-season and postseason league championships.
 
Papineau's girls' basketball teams compiled a 368-95-5 record in 27 years, with his BFA-Saint Albans (168-41-1 in 14 years) and Richford High (188-45-4 in 11) squads both boasting .802 winning percentages. After Saint Albans High dropped the sport in 1927, Papineau resurrected the team at BFA when it opened in 1930, laying the foundation for a program remembered more for Doc Comi guiding the Comets to 10 state championships between the 1940s and '60s. However, Papineau's BFA team twice qualified for the New England Championship and, in an era when a state tournament did not exist, BFA and Richford both won one undisputed state crown while combining for three other "disputed" titles.
 
A Vermont Tennis Association committee member and one of the state's top amateur players himself, Papineau was the first boys' tennis coach at BFA, in 1933, leading the team to a 36-5-3 record during eight seasons across two stints. He and coach E.H. Royce were credited with helping revive the sport in the city, along with resurfacing the Owl Club courts and running successful tournaments there. The duo helped establish a girls' tennis program at BFA in 1935, then believed to be the only high school girls' tennis team in Vermont, with Royce serving as head coach. In February 1934, students at BFA convinced Papineau to help them organize a boys' ice hockey team, so he did - while still amid his girls' basketball season. Three days after its first practice, BFA tied an established Burlington High School team in its first game. BFA ended up 17-7-1 in four years under Papineau, winning the state championship in 1934-35, its second season.
 
After a move to Richford High in 1945, Papineau took up the reins of not only the girls' basketball program but also boys' basketball and baseball, and immediately found success. Following a subpar 5-13 debut season as a boys' basketball coach at old Saint Albans High in 1925-26, only two years out of college and while simultaneously coaching the girls there, Papineau finally returned to the boys' basketball sidelines 20 years later at Richford High, which went 177-68 in his 10 seasons, qualifying for six state tournaments and winning seven league titles. Despite never previously heading a varsity baseball team, he led Richford High to a 67-28 mark on the diamond in 10 years, capturing five pennants. In 1959, Papineau was unanimously voted a life member of the Vermont State Coaches Association.
 
Papineau was also a well-regarded basketball official, often coaching one night and officiating the next. A 1930 Saint Albans Messenger story illustrated how three other Franklin County schools prepared their own schedules once he set BFA's in order to ensure his availability for officiating their games. He was a Vermont State Board of Approved Basketball Officials executive board member throughout the 1930s, being elected president by 1937, and was often selected to work state championships that necessitated reorganizing his own teams' game and practice schedules.
 
Papineau also served as business manager for four years with the Saint Albans Giants of the successful and popular collegiate baseball Northern League between 1938 and 1941. He was instrumental in the building of the Coote Field first base bleachers and helped sign many of the players, including future major leaguers Al Campanis and Snuffy Stirnweiss.
 
Throughout his coaching career, Papineau was an educator where he coached. A Latin and history teacher at Saint Albans High for five years, he taught French at BFA, later becoming department head. Papineau was a teacher of French, Latin, social sciences and physical education at Richford High before becoming principal in 1955, when he dropped all but the languages from his teaching duties. He served as superintendent of the Franklin Northeast School District from 1957 until his retirement in 1964. No longer a coach, Papineau continued advocating for those he oversaw during his near-decade as superintendent. He favored the potential of adding sports like badminton, tennis, golf and skiing to high school offerings, was outspoken about teachers' salaries, and helped Richford High join the National Honor Society.
 
Papineau stayed involved at his alma mater long after graduating, serving as the first secretary/treasurer of the Franklin County Chapter of the Saint Michael's Alumni Association when it was founded in 1930. He even returned to play Thomas the Apostle in April 1938 during the College's passion play, "Shekels."
 
Papineau married Louise Brennan, a long-time Saint Albans school teacher, in 1943; Louise died in 1977 before Leo died in 1985. They never had children. As a footnote to his significance in the towns he served, Papineau's departure from Saint Albans in 1944 left the tennis scene in disarray. By 1954, only one court remained in town and BFA no longer offered the sport. Coach E.H. Royce was quoted in a Vermont Sunday News story that year, "... much of the success was due to Leo Papineau. He was the king man here." In April 2025, Papineau was inducted into the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame.
 
 
Peter Laskarzewski '73, Cross Country, Nordic Skiing
 
Laskarzewski, a New Britain, Conn., native who has resided in the Kentucky/Ohio area since shortly after college, remains one of the most successful runners in College history despite competing on some of the earliest teams more than a half century ago. His 10 career wins are short only of Saint Michael's Athletic Hall of Famer Whitney McBride '83 (12), and he set three course records and still holds the program record for the 5.2-mile distance (27:14); courses now typically cover 6K and 10K distances in the modern era. In the years since he graduated, Laskarzewski has been an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati and a research scientist in pharmaceutical product development in Kentucky for four decades.
 
The early years of cross country running at Saint Michael's have not been well documented, but it is known that after an informal team ran two meets in 1955, Director of Athletics George "Doc" Jacobs decided to add cross country to the varsity offerings in 1956. That team had a full roster and four dual meets on the docket, ultimately competing in three - all within the state's borders - before rumors of the team continuing through 1958 exist, but evidence does not. In 1969, the program returned in earnest and found immediate success, with the student-athletes taking great pride in being the only team on campus with a winning record each season between 1969 and 1972, cross country's first four since being revived. The "thinclads" totaled a 21-12 record in an era when head-to-head meetings and tri-meets in cross country were commonplace.
 
Laskarzewski debuted by winning a tri-meet with Johnson State and Plymouth State, besting Saint Michael's Athletic Hall of Famer Steve Dowd '72, the runner-up, by 17 seconds before taking 11th in another tri-meet with established powers Middlebury and University of Vermont. In the next two races, Laskarzewski registered second-place showings, including while helping the Purple Knights place third among 13 schools at the Plymouth State Invitational. However, that was his final result for almost two years. Mononucleosis knocked him out for the remainder of the 1969 season, and shin splints forced him to the sidelines for all of fall 1970. Saint Michael's finished 4-3 his rookie year and 6-3 the following year.
 
Upon returning to health in 1971, Laskarzewski picked up where he left off, winning four races and taking three more second-place finishes. He was second at Siena, won by 1:12 against Saint Anselm, and took second against Plattsburgh State, with The Defender noting he "lost first place by half a stride" in the latter. Laskarzewski was third in a tri-meet with Middlebury and UVM before claiming 10th among 165 entrants at the Merrimack Invitational, pushing the Purple Knights to fourth place among 19 schools. After taking second in a dual meet with UVM, he won the final three races, beginning with a dual against Castleton State before topping a field of more than 70 runners at the Keene State Invitational. Laskarzewski finished the fall by breaking the Johnson State course record by six seconds, and his team ended 5-3 for the season.
 
Now a captain, Laskarzewski had no letdown as a senior, winning five times and setting two course records, in victories at New England College and Saint Anselm. He added wins versus Castleton State, Johnson State and Plattsburgh State, and Laskarzewski's triumph at NEC came by a full 60 seconds. He added a runner-up showing against Siena while taking fifth at UVM on a day when each of the Purple Knights' top three finishers PRed to push a strong Catamount squad.
 
Laskarzewski did not run at the Vermont Intercollegiate Championship, his program's first opportunity for state supremacy, but he returned the next week to place seventh among 105 runners at the Merrimack Invitational, until organizers overturned all individual results after the top 12 runners took the wrong course. Laskarzewski was 44th in a 20-team field at the Codfish Bowl before the Purple Knights competed in their first New England Championship in Boston in early November. Laskarzewski's team took 27th out of 29 schools.
 
Laskarzewski earned team MVP accolades as both a junior and senior, with the Saint Michael's harriers featured in a Sports Illustrated story covering the sport during his undergraduate years. Laskarzewski was also a member of the Nordic skiing squad and, well before outdoor track became a varsity sport - with the first team not set to compete until 2026 - a club team emerged for one meet in late April of 1973, across the state at Lyndon State. The Purple Knights won, 81-50, as Laskarzewski captured the three-mile race. As the Burlington Free Press noted, "It was the first time the Purple Knights have competed in track and field but hopes are that a team can be fielded next year for a full schedule." The next month, Laskarzewski was lauded with the Roger F. Keleher '15 Award as the top scholar-athlete in the graduating class.
 
During his final two years on campus, Laskarzewski was a volunteer coach of distance runners at Burlington High School, helping the Seahorses win the 1973 state championship after finishing second in 1972.
 
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1973, Laskarzewski won a graduate fellowship for advanced studies at the University of Kentucky, where he completed master's degrees in statistics and economics in 1977. Laskarzewski later completed a doctorate in biostatistics from the University of Cincinnati. By the early 1980s, he was working at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center as Assistant Director of Experimental Medicine, College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Lipid Research and the General Clinical Research Center. A decade later, Laskarzewski had moved to Associate Professor of Experimental Medicine at the same hospital. During the past four decades, Laskarzewski has also been a research scientist in pharmaceutical product development in the Kentucky area.
 
Laskarzewski has been an active alumnus since graduating, contributing often to the Dr. Gilbert Grady Scholarship, named for the former Saint Michael's chemistry professor and department chair. He sponsored a plaque dedicating the Saint Edmund's 351 faculty office to his father, attended the Saint Edmund's Hall dedication, and guest lectured in 1983 upon visiting campus to see his nephew, Jim Laskarzewski '86, who has since served the College as a coach for four decades. Peter has remained an active runner the past few decades, appearing in races from Connecticut to Florida to Ohio.
 
 
Sean Foley '88, Ice Hockey
 
Foley, a native and resident of Nahant, Mass., remains a highly-respected, humble star from the early days of the Purple Knights' modern era, credited with helping set the tone for a former club program trying to find its footing as a competitive varsity outfit. Following a three-year career with the Ice Knights after transferring in, Foley graduated fifth in program history in career goals (34) and points (73) and sixth in assists (39) through 63 games.
 
Former teammates and head coach Lou DiMasi cited numerous traits that made Foley stand out. He had passion, energy and an unrivaled work ethic, both in and out of season. He was a natural goal scorer but also did the often-overlooked work of being a tenacious forechecker and possessing superlative faceoff and penalty-killing skills from his center position. He gave 210%. Even for players who joined the program and met him after he graduated, Foley imparted that being a member of the program was for life, not just for the four years you wore the uniform.
 
Foley transferred to Saint Michael's from SUNY Plattsburgh as a sophomore and became a regular, finishing with seven goals and six assists in 24 games. The Purple Knights (14-9-1, 12-7-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference [ECAC] North) qualified for the postseason for the first time, just three years after being elevated to varsity status, but lost in their debut outing, 4-2, to Plymouth State in an ECAC North Tournament quarterfinal. Foley turned in four goals and eight assists in 18 games as a junior in 1986-87, when Saint Michael's (8-13, 8-9 ECAC North) missed the postseason.
 
As their centerman, Foley has been credited with elevating the careers of Chris Luca '88 and Brian Mullahy '89, both SMC Athletic Hall of Famers, and the 1987-88 season remains one of the finest by any line in program history. The Foley-Luca-Mullahy trio set school records for goals (60), assists (68) and points (128) by a line, all since surpassed. Luca (18 goals-27 assists--45 points) and Mullahy (19-16--35) both had outstanding seasons, but it was Foley (23-25--48) who walked away with ECAC North MVP honors. The assistant captain tied school records for goals and assists, both since broken, and he keyed the Purple Knights' special teams with seven power-play goals and another three shorthanded strikes. Foley added three game-winning goals.
 
Some of Foley's performances stand up more than three decades later. He scored four goals with two assists in a wild 10-7 win at Villanova in November, notched a goal and three assists at perennial power Norwich a few days later, and potted a hat trick at Framingham State in February. Later that month, Foley added a five-goal, six-point performance in a win over the host in the Roger Williams Tournament title game. He remains one of a select few Purple Knights to ever score five goals in a game. Foley finished league play with 22 goals and 22 assists in 19 games, averaging more than a goal and an assist during conference action and nearly two and a half points. Saint Michael's finished 13-8 (13-6 ECAC North) after leading Tufts early in an ECAC North Tournament quarterfinal before losing a 9-5 decision in Foley's career finale; he scored once in that game. In all, the Purple Knights were 35-30-1 overall and 33-22-1 in ECAC North play during his career.
 
After graduating with a degree in business, Foley began working for the New York Police Department, also playing for its hockey team for a decade. In 1994, he earned the Hiram Bloomingdale Award as the most physically fit member of his NYPD academy class of nearly 2,200 officers. The world changed significantly seven years later, when New York City was among three American locations that suffered terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. In the aftermath, Foley was among a select group of NYPD detectives recruited to serve in the Intelligence Division working on a multi-agency counterterrorism taskforce. On April 15, 2013, two explosive devices detonated near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon. Foley was sent home, reassigned to the Boston Police Department and tasked with assisting members of the Boston Regional Intelligence Center following the incident. After his retirement from the NYPD, he spent five years contracting in the Middle East with former Delta Force operators, U.S. Navy Seals, and CIA officers.
 
 
Brian Pannuzzo '99, Basketball
 
A very talented and decorated forward during a successful era of men's basketball in the 1990s, Pannuzzo remains one of the most effective shooters and rebounders in program history and netted more than 1,200 points. The Bergenfield, N.J., native, who now resides in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., helped Saint Michael's post an 83-37 mark (50-22 Northeast 10 Conference) during his four years while qualifying for two NCAA Division II Tournaments. The Purple Knights won one NE10 Tournament title, one NE10 regular-season championship, and one Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament crown.
 
Pannuzzo is 28th in program history in scoring (1,207) after graduating 17th, and 12th in rebounds (730) after graduating eighth. His career field goal percentage (57.5%) is good for second all-time, and he is tied for eighth in games (114).
 
As a rookie in 1995-96, Pannuzzo was named NE10 Freshman of the Year despite making all 25 appearances off the bench, as he averaged 9.1 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting 63.4%, a figure that remains second in program history. Saint Michael's went 19-8 (11-5 NE10), winning the ECAC Tournament with a 96-81 victory over Dowling in the title game, when Pannuzzo scored 22 points on 9-of-9 shooting in 23 minutes with nine rebounds.
 
Pannuzzo averaged 9.1 points with career highs of 7.2 rebounds and 18 blocks in only 25.3 minutes per contest as a sophomore, starting 19 of 30 games. Saint Michael's (23-7, 16-2 NE10) tied a school record for wins, claimed its first NE10 regular-season crown before reaching the tournament semifinals, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. After totaling seven points and 15 rebounds in the first three postseason contests, Pannuzzo had 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting with six rebounds in a 101-90 loss to host Southern New Hampshire during the NCAA setback.
 
An injury-plagued junior year saw him make 26 of 27 outings as a reserve, but Pannuzzo still averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds. Saint Michael's (16-13, 11-9 NE10) was the ECAC Tournament runner-up in Tom O'Shea's first season as head coach, but Pannuzzo was inactive for the tournament after playing only 11 minutes in an NE10 quarterfinal loss.
 
Pannuzzo rebounded in a big way as a senior captain in 1998-99, starting 31 of 32 games while recording career highs in scoring (14.9), assists (85) and steals (39), averaging 6.7 rebounds, and shooting 59.4%. An NE10 All-Conference second team and ECAC All-Star second team selection, Pannuzzo was named New England Collegiate Athletic Conference Division II Male Athlete of the Year as the top male student-athlete - regardless of sport - in the region. He became just the third Purple Knight to be so honored, joining SMC Athletic Hall of Famers Mandee Galbraith '97 and Mark Mulvey '97. Pannuzzo also claimed the New England Basketball Coaches Association Unsung Hero Award, as well as landing GTE College Division Academic All-District and NEBCA Academic Achievement accolades. As the top male scholar-athlete in the graduating class, he was recognized with the Roger F. Keleher '15 Award, as well as earning the men's basketball program's Jerry Lanteri '76 Award.
 
Saint Michael's, which was ranked as high as No. 1 in the Northeast, set a school record for wins (25-9, 12-6 NE10) before winning its first four postseason contests, including a 76-75 decision over Assumption for its first NE10 Tournament championship. Pannuzzo had nine points, four rebounds, five steals and three assists in a 61-59 win over Le Moyne in the opening round, 20 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists during an 87-76 triumph against Bentley in the semifinals, and 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 21 minutes during the title game. Pannuzzo turned in 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists in an 87-76 win against Southern New Hampshire in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before collecting 13 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals in his collegiate finale, a 78-67 loss to top-seeded Saint Rose the next day.
 
After graduating with a degree in business, Pannuzzo spent two decades working on Wall Street trading bonds for such companies as Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS. In 2019, he made a radical career shift and became an executive coach, advising corporate professionals on improving their mental, physical and relational health through his The Success Lift program. Now a resident of Southern California, Pannuzzo shares daily affirmations through his newsletter while producing a weekly podcast, which he started in summer 2020. A member of the Office of Admission volunteer program during his undergraduate years, Pannuzzo was also instrumental in getting Mark Fizulich's '97 uniform number retired and spoke at the retirement ceremony in the Ross Sports Center on Nov. 15, 2008, in honor of his late teammate.
 
 
Mary Denholm '09, Cross Country, Alpine Skiing
 
After an injury ended a near-historic college running career, Denholm has reached even greater heights as a two-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier and up-and-coming ultrarunning star. A Sparks, Md., native, she is a professional runner for Craft and The Feed High Performance Team and a running coach for Lift Run Perform living in Erie, Colo.
 
Denholm came to Saint Michael's as a dual-sport student-athlete in cross country and Alpine skiing. She had a consistent rookie season on the running trails, finishing among the Purple Knights' top three at all seven races, including leading the way three times, among them an eighth-place finish at the Vermont Intercollegiate Championship, when only seven runners from Division III national power Middlebury crossed the tape before her. Denholm again paced Saint Michael's at the Northeast 10 Conference Championship, taking 41st, before claiming her team's third spot at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship, in 57th. On the Alpine skiing course, Denholm led the Purple Knights eight times in 12 races, topping out with a trio of 33rd-place performances.
 
When Denholm returned for her sophomore year of running, first-year head coach Molly Peters noted to The Defender that she looked markedly different than the runner in the prior year's results, clearly having committed to her summer training. Denholm debuted with a second-place finish at SUNY Plattsburgh, lopping more than three minutes from her time on the same course from the prior season. She followed that up with a ninth place at Middlebury and an 11th at the Saint Michael's-hosted state meet before missing the next two races. Upon her return, Denholm finished 25th at the NE10 Championship as a warm-up for her 21st-place performance at the regional meet, helping the Purple Knights take a school-record eighth place among 22 schools. Denholm also landed the first of three NE10 Academic All-Conference nods. While being rostered for that ski season, she never appeared in another race, putting her full concentration into running.
 
Denholm continued her dominance as a junior, only trailing Middlebury runners while taking eighth place in the season opener at Middlebury before placing seventh in the state meet. She was 144th among 299 NCAA Division I, II and III runners at the New England Championship and followed that up with a sixth-place showing on home soil during the Saint Michael's Invitational. After posting her second consecutive 25th-place performance at the NE10 Championship, she jumped to 12th at the regional meet, landing NCAA All-Northeast Region accolades in the process. Her success led to team success, with the Purple Knights seventh among 15 schools at NE10s and again eighth out of 22 squads at the regional meet.
 
Denholm was at the top of her game as a senior captain, posting five top-eight finishes, among them two wins. She opened the year with a victory at Saint Rose, crossing the line 22 seconds ahead of the runner-up from Bentley and a full 1:03 in front of the third-place runner from Division I Siena. Denholm was then second at Middlebury and sixth at Saint Lawrence, setting a since-broken 6K school record (22:27) at the latter. At the next meet, she became the first Purple Knight to win a state championship, beating a Middlebury foe by 0.3 seconds for the title. After taking 144th at New Englands her junior year, Denholm vaulted into 35th place out of 301 finishers as a senior, tying a 5K school record (since broken) that day at 18:35. She didn't run in the Saint Michael's Invitational but captured all-conference honors with a career-high eighth-place performance at the NE10 Championship. Denholm seemed primed to make a run at an NCAA Championship berth, which necessitated a similarly standout showing at regionals.
 
That dream abruptly ended in the two weeks between the NE10 Championship and the NCAA East Regional Championship, when a stress fracture in her foot prevented Denholm from toeing the line at regionals. As one of the top runners in the region, she had a realistic chance of becoming first NCAA Championship qualifier in program history, a distinction that later went to SMC Athletic Hall of Famer Chloe Boutelle '15 in 2013. At year's end, Denholm earned the College's Victor V. LeMieux '35 Award at the Block 'M' Banquet, recognizing traits of loyalty and leadership.
 
After graduating with degrees in psychology and Spanish in 2009, Denholm returned home to Maryland and earned her J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2012. She spent the next three years as a trial attorney at the Office of the State's Attorney for Harford County, specializing in domestic violence, and another three at the Office of the State's Attorney for Baltimore County before leaving the profession altogether in 2018.
 
Denholm reemerged in the marketing field, a shift that eventually took her back into running. She became a rabbitELITE runner in 2019 and was hired by the Mountain Mojo Group as a project manager and social media manager in 2020. In 2021, rabbit brought her on as the marketing coordinator and community teams manager, handling all public relations and social media. By 2022, Denholm transitioned full time to professional ultrarunner and Lift Run Perform coach, mentoring runners all over the country from her home in Colorado.
 
In the meantime, Denholm began to rekindle her love of running. She was the top women's finisher of the 2015 Lehigh Valley Health Network Via Marathon, qualifying for the Boston Marathon that day, a performance that planted the seed for a potential Olympic Trials pursuit. Denholm was again the top woman at the 2017 Coastal Delaware Running Festival, breaking the three-hour barrier for the first time. On Dec. 2, 2019, Denholm's then-PR of 2:42:01 at the California International Marathon qualified her for the Olympic Trials by almost three minutes.
 
At the 2020 Trials in Atlanta, Denholm was 51st (2:41:08) among 390 women, an elite finish for sure, but not enough to qualify for the Olympics, which takes only 80 women from around the world for its marathon race. Less than four years later, Denholm earned another chance at Olympic glory. Thanks to another PR of 2:36:28 at the California International Marathon on Dec. 3, 2023, when she placed 13th among 3,660 women, she was 32 seconds faster than the Olympic Trials qualifying standard, which itself had been dropped by eight minutes in only four years. During Denholm's second career Olympic Trials, on Feb. 3, 2024, the Orlando heat knocked out a number of Olympic hopefuls, including Denholm, who ended her race after the 18-mile mark.
 
But that wasn't the end of her running breakthroughs. On Aug. 17, 2024, Denholm took on her first 100-mile trail race, the grueling Leadville 100, which has led competitors through more than 15,000 feet of elevation gain in Colorado's Rocky Mountains for more than 40 years. Denholm not only won but posted the second-best time ever for a woman, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 54 seconds, only 17 minutes short of the course record. No other woman crossed the finish line until more than 21 hours had elapsed. Denholm was actually ahead of the course-record pace at the halfway point of the race.
 
Last Nov. 23, Denholm competed in Maryland's 62nd annual JFK 50, the country's oldest ultramarathon, which incorporates nearly 16 miles of the Appalachian Trail into its 50.2-mile course. Despite stomach issues between the 32- and 35-mile marks, Denholm placed second among 224 women, surpassing the old course record while coming within seven minutes of the winner. In 2024, she was ranked seventh in UltraRunning Magazine's women's UltraRunner of the Year rankings.
 
 
John Lescure '09, Tennis
 
Lescure remains one of the most successful tennis players in Saint Michael's history and has served his country with the Vermont Army National Guard since 2009. In 2024, the Kennebunk, Maine, native was recognized with the Purple Heart for his role in saving the life of a fellow soldier during an attack overseas.
 
During his standout four-year career, Lescure set program records for career total wins (65) and doubles wins (37) while tying for sixth in singles wins (28); he continues to hold the career doubles mark but saw his singles record fall in 2023. On the doubles court, Lescure 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. All of those records have fallen since the 2022-23 season.
 
Lescure had remarkable success despite never appearing lower than No. 3 singles, including solely playing at No. 1 as a junior and senior. After going 7-7 at No. 2 singles and 7-7 between No. 1 and 2 doubles as a first-year, when Saint Michael's was 6-10 (4-7 Northeast 10 Conference), Lescure was 8-8 between No. 1 and 3 singles and 9-7 across all three doubles flights his sophomore year. The Purple Knights went 8-10 (6-5 NE10) that season and earned the No. 5 seed in the NE10 Championship, to that point the highest seed in program history after the league went to a tournament format in 2000.
 
Lescure was a combined 13-13 at No. 1 singles during his junior and senior years, leading Saint Michael's to school-record 7-3 NE10 marks each season (9-8 overall in 2007-08 and 7-8 in 2008-09), but it was in doubles where he truly excelled. The team of Lescure and Terranova went a record-breaking 12-4 his junior year, mostly in the No. 2 position, landing them on the NE10 All-Conference second team. Saint Michael's moved up to the No. 4 seed in the NE10 Championship and earned the first quarterfinal victory in program annals, 5-3 over Bentley. Lescure and Terranova won their doubles match, 8-0. During the Purple Knights' initial semifinal, they lost a 5-0 contest to powerhouse Bryant, which did not lose a game during its run to the NE10 postseason title before finishing the year 21-4 and in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Lescure capped the year with another accolade, being named NE10 Academic All-Conference.
 
With Terranova lost to graduation and Lescure now a captain as a senior, he posted a 9-4 doubles record alongside two partners. He and Sean Steigerwald '09 were 6-4 in the No. 1 spot to land on the NE10 All-Conference third team, while Lescure and David Besserer '09 were a perfect 3-0 at No. 2. Lescure closed out his career 28-28 (19-14 NE10) in singles and 37-22 (25-10 NE10) in doubles, for a 65-50 (44-24 NE10) overall mark. As a team, the Purple Knights were 30-36 overall in his time on campus but 24-18 in NE10 play with three postseason appearances.
 
While still juggling tennis, Lescure was a member of the University of Vermont Army ROTC, 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, Lescure earned the Victor V. LeMieux '35 Award, which recognizes senior student-athletes best displaying loyalty and leadership.
 
Since graduating with a degree in political science and government in 2009, Lescure has worked locally for the Vermont Army National Guard, first as a platoon leader (2009-13), medical operations officer (2013-17), company commander and aviation maintenance officer (2017-21), and aviation flight operations officer (2021-24). Also an assistant professor of military studies at UVM, Lescure has served as a helicopter pilot since 2011, a maintenance test pilot since 2022, and secretary of the general staff since last September. Now a major in the Vermont Army National Guard, Lescure earned the Purple Heart in late 2024 after he and two soldiers saved the life of another soldier during a drone attack in Iraq on Christmas Day 2023 despite themselves also being injured in the attack.