New Members To Enter 'Hall' At Boys' Latin

Doug Hilbert (left), Bruce Regan and John Brizendine, members of the "60-minute midfield," graduated from Boys' Latin together in 1966, and all three will be inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in November.  (Courtesy of Boys' Latin)

By: Keith Mills

The second class of Boys' Latin athletic Hall of Fame will be inducted Nov. 6, and once again it includes a top-notch group of former players and coaches.

"This second group of BL graduates is not only a group of fantastic athletes," said Hall of Fame organizer Mac Kennedy, a 1976 graduate of the school, "it is also a group of outstanding men."

The 12 former student-athletes and coaches represented Boys' Latin after graduation at schools such as the United States Naval Academy, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, Cornell, Virginia, Harvard, Towson and Washington College. One of the inductees is in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and two are past winners of the C. Markland Kelly Award, awarded annually to the best high school lacrosse player in the area.

Hugh Gelston, Class of '56
Gelston returned to Boys' Latin in 1965 to coach soccer, cross country and basketball after earning five letters in basketball and cross country. In 1956, he led the Lakers to a second-place finish in the Private School League and eventually captained the University of the South basketball team in Sewanee, Tenn.

It was as BL's basketball coach and 30-year athletic director that earned Gelston the unending respect of local fans, coaches and players and ultimately his selection into the Hall of Fame.

In Gelston's 29 years leading the basketball team, the Lakers won 474 games and seven conference championships. In 1972, the Lakers finished a perfect 12-0 in the MSA C Conference and 23-2 overall. Gelston's last title came in 1990, when the Lakers finished 27-3. Gelston also won an MSA B Conference golf championship in 1995 and continues to coach middle school basketball at Boys' Latin and is a member of the Maryland Athletic Directors Hall of Fame.

Tom Mitchell, '56
Mitchell was president of his sophomore, junior and senior classes at Boys' Latin and won the school's Alumni Award, given to a graduating senior for his character and leadership. He was also a three-sport athlete who won 10 varsity letters in lacrosse, football and basketball.

Mitchell was the area's second-leading scorer in basketball and a four-year starter in lacrosse, earning second team All-Maryland honors as a midfielder. He went on to play lacrosse at Navy, where he helped the Midshipmen win two national championships. In 1960, Mitchell was an honorable mention All-American and one year later he won the Jack Turnbull Award, symbolic of the nation's best collegiate attackman. He was inducted into the U.S. Naval Academy Hall of Fame in 1965

Matthew Toth, '61
Toth was named the school's Athlete of the Year in 1961 after scoring 27 points to lead the Lakers past McDonogh in the Private School League basketball championship. One year earlier, he quarterbacked the Lakers' first 11-man football team.

Toth went on to the University of Maryland, where he played on the Terps' freshman basketball team. He ultimately earned a degree in anthropology from the Universidad de las Americas in Mexico. An accomplished sailor, Toth is the only Boys' Latin graduate to sail around the world.

Robert E. Carter, '64
Carter arrived at Boys' Latin as a fifth-grader when the school was located on Brevard Street in downtown Baltimore. He eventually played football, basketball and lacrosse, earning 11 varsity letters. He captained the football and basketball teams, earning All-MSA honors in both sports, and was named first-team All-Metro in lacrosse.

Carter was also president of his senior class and winner of the Alumni Cup. He went on to play lacrosse at Johns Hopkins, helping the Blue Jays win a pair of national championships, and returned to Boys' Latin in 1968 to teach English, coach lacrosse and football and head the school's alumni office. In 2003, he was named the school's Distinguished Alumnus Award winner and is currently chairman emeritus of the Boys' Latin Board of Trustees.

Milton "Butch" Hilliard Jr., '64
Hilliard played football, basketball and lacrosse at Boys' Latin and was the school's McCormick Unsung Hero Award winner, its football Scholar-Athlete in 1963 and an All-MSA end. In 1964 he helped coach Mace Lebrun's Lakers win the MSA lacrosse championship, earning first-team All-MSA honors as a goaltender. He went on to play at Cornell, where he won the C. Markland Kelly Award as the nation's top Division I goalie in 1967 and '68. Hilliard was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1989.

Ronald Regan Jr., '64
Regan went to Boys' Latin from first grade through 12th and, along with his brother Bruce, is the son of longtime Lower School Head Doris Regan. Rob Regan played football, basketball and lacrosse and was one of the nation's premier attackmen as a junior and senior. The state's leading scorer in 1963 and '64, Regan helped the Lakers win the MSA title in 1964, scoring a goal and four assists in a win over Poly. He went on to play lacrosse at Washington College, where he led the nation in scoring for three years. In 2006, Regan was inducted into Washington's Hall of Fame.

Bruce Regan, '66
Like his brother, Bruce Regan spent 12 years at Boys' Latin, winning nine varsity letters. In 1964, he quarterbacked the Lakers to their first unbeaten football season in 52 years. In lacrosse, BL's "60-minute midfield" -- with Doug Hilbert, Austin Brizendine and Regan -- rarely came off the field, leading the Lakers to the 1966 MSA title. Regan won the C. Markland Kelly Award as the area's best player. He was president of his senior class and was featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" in June 1966. Regan played lacrosse at Harvard, where he was named first-team All-Ivy League.

Austin Brizendine Jr., '66
Brinzendine played running back in football and was a starting guard in basketball, but it was on the lacrosse field as a member of the "60-minute midfield" where he stood out. Rye Chapman, a former Boys' Latin coach and teacher, once figured out that Brizendine, Bruce Regan and Hilbert did actually sit out one game -- for a total of 38 seconds. In 1966, that trio was the starting midfield on the News American's All-Metro lacrosse team, believed at the time to be the only unit from the same school to earn first-team honors. Brizendine went on to play lacrosse at Bowling Green University.

Doug Hilbert, '66
Hilbert was vice president of his junior class, president of his senior class and the school's Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1966 while earning all-league honors in football, basketball and lacrosse. He began his lacrosse career as a defenseman. Coach Mace Lebrun switched him to midfield in '66, where he joined Bruce Regan and Brizendine to form one of the greatest midfield units ever. Hilbert went on to play at Virginia, where he was named a first-team All-American in 1970, helping the Cavaliers tie Johns Hopkins and Navy for the national championship.

Frank Betley, '72
Betley was Boys' Latin's first MSA wrestling champion, winning the 148-pound championship in 1972. He also played lacrosse and football. Despite weighing just 170 pounds, he was an All-Tri-County lineman and eventually become a dominant fixture on the Lakers' wrestling team. Betley finished 4-5-1 during his freshman year but went 11-1 his senior year, winning Boys' Latin's first title ever. He played goalie for the Cornell freshman lacrosse team.

Todd Guntner, '72
Guntner was one of the first great basketball players in Boys' Latin history, starting for the Lakers as a freshman. He was named All-MSA C conference as a sophomore, junior and senior, averaging 17 points a game during his final year and finishing as the school's second all-time leading scorer with 1,345 points. Guntner went on to play basketball at Towson University before an injury ended his career in the mid-1970s.

Charlie Steiff III, '74
Steiff was an all-conference football and basketball player and wrestler and was also named the school's football Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1974. Steiff finished with a 71-4 record in wrestling, winning two MSA championships. He was a perfect 24-0 as a senior, winning the 145-pound championship and earning mention by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. He also won the Jack Ehrhardt Award for school spirit and the Kelly Award as the area's premier lacrosse player in '74. He went on to play four years of lacrosse at Washington and Lee.

Issue 3.40: October 2, 2008