INDELIBLE MOMENTS
Steve Byrne ’95 Most of us, no doubt, have indelible high school moments etched into our memories – good times and bad. For Steve Byrne ’95, the memories are good! Mostly! Those recollections of fruitless attempts by him and the Class of ’95 posse John Kelley, Chris Caprio, Ryan Fortier, Matty McKenna, Ryan Hardy, and Robbie Chisholm to outwit disciplinarian, Mr. Tom Arria, are mostly buried beyond retrieval! But, for sure, he’ll never forget that Thanksgiving Eve, when, with the clock ticking down under a minute, his brother Dave ’93 launched a perfect spiral into the steady hands of Dennis Wilcox ’93. The MC crowd roared as the touchdown brought us within one point of #1-ranked Xaverian, and then Jeff Turner ’92 caught a two-point conversion and sealed the deal for a 15-14 win! Jeff’s daughter Avery and Steve’s daughter Maeve are currently Lancer sophomores, no doubt with their own memories in the making! Steve was on the sidelines as a freshman fan at that game, but his years as an interscholastic athlete in football and basketball left him with dozens of great
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experiences and memories. An offensive and defensive tackle on the gridiron for four years, Steve earned Agganis All-Star honors. He also played two years of basketball, volunteered for Special Olympics, and attended MCLI. It’s not unusual that student-athletes will develop a strong bond of admiration and inspiration from teacher-coaches. Steve found those role models in the fun-loving and zealous persons of Rick Mazzei and Guy Prescott. Mr. Mazzei’s “The 1960s U.S. History” senior elective could entrance even the most reluctant students (not saying that that was Steve!), and his expertise on the Lacrosse field brought home a string of Catholic Conference Championships in the ’90s. Prescott’s powerful personality, his spirit of joy on the football field and in his Physical Education and Social Studies classes were legend. Steve recalls them fondly and thanks them for teaching that one should love whatever one chooses for a profession.
