Pride in Motion: A Century of Peck Athletics

For over a century, The Peck School has inspired young minds and nurtured strong hearts, blending timeless values with a dynamic learning experience.

On the athletic fields, teamwork, sportsmanship, and consideration of others are at the foundation, seamlessly aligning with the school’s core values of integrity and kindness.

While facilities have evolved—from simple fields to state-of-the-art spaces—the mission remains the same: to cultivate confident, resilient, well-rounded student-athletes who carry these values into every aspect of life.

1920s

Peck is at 11 Elm Street: Girls walk to Church of the Redeemer for weekly basketball classes, and Boys walk to The Field Club on South Street—where Kings Food Market is today—to play daily football, ice hockey (on local ponds and a flooded tennis rink), basketball, and eventually soccer.

The Peck School at 11 Elm Street, circa 1920s

1923

Ice Hockey Legend: The Peck boys’ ice hockey team thrived in 1923, with players who later excelled in high school and college. Before a game against Morristown Prep (now Morristown Beard), a flu epidemic left the team short-handed.

Headmaster and coach Lorraine Peck considered canceling, but one player proposed a bold solution—disguising Dorothea “Dottie” (Morrell) Coleman ’23 as a boy. Dottie (nicknamed “Skates”), playing right wing, scored twice in the first period, leading Peck toward victory.

But when a desperate defenseman tripped her, her cap fell off, revealing her long hair. Shocked spectators cried, “Good grief, it’s a girl!” After a brief officials’ conference, the game was called—Peck victorious, 3-1.

Dorothea "Dottie" (Morrell) Coleman '23 at Miss Porter's School, where an athletics achievement award bears her name.

1944

During wartime gas rationing, parents carpooled students in the “Green Hornet”—a bright green station wagon with black fenders— to football and baseball practice at a polo field owned by a Peck parent.

After The Field Club moved to James Street, Peck athletes were given the use of a large polo field owned by Peck Parent Robert Fairburn. (picture: the '45 Peck football team).

1948

Peck moves to Lindenwold, gaining newly built sports fields. On rainy days, athletics activities move indoors to the former mansion's spacious, uncarpeted front hall.

Lindenwold—originally named "Westerly" and home to the Skidmore family—was designed by Morristown architect Louis R. Hazeltine and completed by 1886. In 1905, it was purchased by John Claflin, a Morristown Park and Shade Tree Commissioner, who renamed it after his favorite tree, the Linden. Peck acquired the mansion and 9.2 acres in 1947.

1950s

Interscholastic competition heats up with the co-ed Triangular Track Meet (Peck, Short Hills, Far Hills Country Day) and the Peck-Short Hills Election Day Football Game; co-ed ice hockey officially launches.

Peck cheer from the Nov. 3, 1953 Peck vs. Short Hills Football Game program, handed out to spectators.

1951

Peck’s Downy-Redhead competition begins with Girls’ Athletics Director Taz Brower (1929-2024), and blue and white are adopted as the school’s official colors.

1955

Brower introduces girls lacrosse.

1958 NJ newspaper article covering Peck's 7th-9th grade girls lacrosse game, where several players received varsity letters. (Due to enrollment, ninth grade at Peck ended with the Class of 1975.)

1956

The Old Gym is completed, which would serve triple-duty as a gymnasium, auditorium, and cafeteria for the next 60 years.

Peck Girls Basketball in the Old Gym, 1974-75

1960s

Boys’ soccer comes to Peck; it soon rivals football in popularity.

Peck Boys Soccer, 1974-75

1969/70

A new field house is built to replace a converted barn used for athletics.

1972

The Old Gym gets new flooring, with court lines hand-painted by Athletic Director Harold Green (1908 - 1985).

1973

The first recorded Downy vs. Redhead Tug-of-War happens because of a student suggestion!

1980s

Peck’s athletics program adds boys’ wrestling and lacrosse teams, boys’ and girls’ tennis teams, co-ed cross country teams, and additional soccer teams in seventh and eighth grade.

Peck Cross Country, late 1980s

1979

The Peck football team plays its final year due to a lack of local opponents.

Peck Football, late 1970s

1988

Girls Athletics Director Sue Sweeney (retired from Peck in 2021) officially establishes volleyball and softball as part of the sports program.

Peck Volleyball, early 1990s

1987/88

The athletic fields undergo a renovation— students help lay sod, and a wooden staircase (the “blue stairs”) leads to the fields.

Peck students lay sod on the athletic fields, 1987

1990s

Peck’s athletics program flourishes as student enrollment reaches record numbers.

Peck athletes run up "the blue stairs," mid-1990s

2006

First official team mascot: The Pride, a family of lions.

2007

The 32,000-square foot Peck Athletic Center is completed, with two gymnasiums, locker rooms, and coaches’ offices.

Peck Boys Soccer, 2006

2015

Peck’s lion sculpture is donated by Jim Bellis ’67; named “Pride” after student naming contest (moved to the athletic center in 2018).

Peck's lion sculpture was originally installed by the Old Gym and dining hall, which—after 60+ of service—was dismantled in 2018 before construction of The Peck Commons, the PA Quad, and other campus renovations.

2017

Athletic Center renamed to The Diebold Center for Sportsmanship & Athletics, after Don Diebold (Teacher 1973-1995; Athletic Director 1995-retired 2017)

2024

Peck completes The Athletic Fields Renovation Project , creating a state-of-the-art turf field and a new grass field, digital scoreboards, tiered seating for spectators, and a concessions stand.

Peck's first grade sports class plays on the new turf!

Sources: Because They Cared: A Centennial History of The Peck School 1983-1993 by Elizabeth Donnell Morrison

The Peck Archives