East Hampton Inducts New Hall of Fame Class

Six former athletes, coaches and office personnel, as well as a cross country team, have been inducted into the East Hampton Athletic Hall of Fame.

The Class of 2022 includes former secretary Sandra Vorpahl, multi-team coaches Claude Beudert and Jim Stewart, soccer goalie Brandon West, bowling standout Michael Graham, the late Kevin Somers and the 2002-03 boys cross country team.

Vorpahl will be joining the likes of her older brothers Leroy and Bill DeBoard, and son Ernest “Ernie” Vorpahl in the hall of fame.

Sandra Vorpahl worked in the athletic office for nearly two decades, from 1983 to 2002, as secretary to athletic directors Dick Cooney, Chris Tracey and Mike Burns, who all nominated Vorpahl for the induction because she “excelled” in her role.

“They trusted me and my opinions,” Vorpahl said. “I loved working with them and the coaches and being at games — and we’re all still very good friends — but it’s hard to put into words the three of them getting together to put in the application for me. I was so appreciative. They taught me a lot, and always respected me.”

Although working in the office, Vorpahl was most commonly found scorekeeping games and chaperoning teams. She also traveled to every single state championship game, becoming known to many as the “true Bonackers fan.”

“Sports were a big thing to me,” Vorpahl said. “They still are, and always will be.”

She was recognized by Section XI, the governing body of athletics in Suffolk County, with the Judith A. Martens Secretarial Award of Excellence, which is given to the secretary of an athletic administrator who has demonstrated outstanding contributions to athletics at the local level.

“I was speechless, humbled and surprised. It’s a pretty good feeling,” Vorpahl said of hearing the news. “I’m not one to toot my own horn, and I still have a hard time talking about it because I am so proud, taken aback. Sometimes you don’t know how people feel about you, but to find out that they felt strongly enough about me to nominate me makes feel me overwhelmingly grateful to them and the community.”

Vorphal played field hockey, basketball, softball and ran track while attending school in East Hampton.

“Sandra’s contributions to the athletic department and the student-athletes helped our programs expand tremendously with great success,” district officials said in a statement. “Not only was she skilled, organized and dedicated, she was personable, loyal and motivated. She would do whatever needed to be done to make the athletic office successful.”

The former secretary and current Board of Education member said the district has meant so much to her.

“East Hampton has a special place in my heart,” Vorpahl said. “I have a lot of history here, had a lot to offer, and I still do.”

Stewart started his lengthy coaching tenure in 1977 — just after graduating from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, where he captained the wrestling team. He inherited a strong squad from Ted Meyer and Bob Emmons, and built on that success.

His first season, he led his group to a league championship. Stewart finished his career with 140 dual-meet wins, five league titles, three league tournament titles and numerous invitational tournament titles. The coach worked with 44 league champions, 21 league place-winners, 21 Suffolk County place-winners, four Suffolk County tournament finalists and a Suffolk County champion and state runner-up.

In 2013, Stewart was the recipient of the Suffolk County Wrestling Coaches Association Joe Campo Grand Master Award, bestowed upon a coach who has a positive and encouraging influence.

Stewart also led the varsity boys soccer team for two decades, posting a 153-148-26 record and garnering two league titles, making it to the county championship and working with two county scoring leaders, along with many All-County and All-League players. He was named the Suffolk County Soccer Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2009, the same year he received the Captain Alex Fyfe Courage Award for overcoming hardships.

Later in his career, Stewart led the junior varsity boys tennis team under the tutelage of John Goodman. When asked about being an educator and coach, Stewart said: “I have loved every minute of it.”

“It is a privilege and true honor to be in the company of past, present and future recipients of this honor,” Stewart said. “But this award and recognition reflects the efforts of the athletes I have coached, the men and women I have worked with, the parents who have sent me their best. … It was wonderful to see several wrestlers and soccer players I coached and parents of athletes I coached and reminisce.”

Beudert grew up in Evansville, Indiana, and moved to Long Island in 1968. He began working as a history teacher in East Hampton in 1977 and taught for 39 years, retiring in 2016.

Along with his teaching responsibilities, he coached three sports a year — girls tennis, girls basketball and softball — for 10 years. His teams consistently made the Suffolk County playoffs, and his tennis team took home the title in 1980.

Beudert began leading the boys varsity golf team in 1987, and remained at the helm for 31 years. The coach played golf all four years he attended Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. The Bonackers went 285-68 over his tenure and won 17 League VIII and eight Conference IV titles. His teams also took home 15 sportsmanship awards, but his crowning achievement came in 2011, when the Bonackers took home the county and Long Island championships.

Beudert said his passion for golf comes from his father, and that he learned much more than the game — about honesty, integrity and fairness — from his time spent with him.

Beudert said he hopes he passed the “love of the game” to his former players and enjoyed seeing them years after they competed to talk about all of their successes.

Graham was a six-year varsity starter for the bowling team, leading the Bonackers to league titles in 2002 and 2006, which was when he was also selected to and led the Section XI All-Star team to a state championship and garnered the League V and state championship tournament sportsmanship awards.

Graham led all of Suffolk County with a 230.68 average his senior year, breaking the previous Long Island high-average record. He was an All-League selection all six seasons, was tabbed All-County twice and made the All-State team. Graham was also selected to the first-ever Dexter High School All-American Team.

“You couldn’t keep me out of the bowling alley,” said Graham, who first rolled a bowling ball down a lane at 8 years old. “I picked it up quickly, and couldn’t keep myself away. It was all I wanted to do.”

While he also played baseball, and many other sports with friends, Graham dedicated himself to bowling full-time in high school, giving up pitching so his arm was always fresh. His father ran the lanes at East Hampton Bowl, so with the additional free time he’d get to roll 50 games a week.

“Once I got to high school, I noticed my potential and passion for bowling even more. I liked how challenging it was. It’s a big mental game,” Graham said. “Plus, all my friends were playing football and baseball, and I liked that it was different.”

Graham attended Western New England College in Massachusetts, where he continued his bowling career and was named Rookie of the Year prior to collecting multiple MVP awards.

He said he’s proud of his representation in the Hall of Fame.

“It’s super exciting. I don’t think many bowlers have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, so I think it’s special to see other sports getting recognized,” Graham said. “It’s exciting for me, because it’s something I was so passionate about and something my family supported me in. There’s a historic legacy to this hall of fame, and it’s pretty amazing to be in there with all these other greats. It shows anything is possible if you put the hard work into it, and to yield these results is special for all of us.”

West, a four-year starting goalkeeper for the soccer team from 2007-2010, was a three-time All-League and All-Conference selection, an All-County honoree, League VI MVP and named All-State his senior year of high school. The League VI champion and Suffolk County finalist still holds the record for career shutouts at East Hampton.

West competed for Division III powerhouse Messiah College in Pennsylvania, where he made four trips to the NCAA tournament — three of those years being the starting goalkeeper, where he compiled a 67-3-4 record and finished with a 0.39 goals against average. He won back-to-back national championships in 2012 and 2013 and collected three Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth titles in 2011, 2012 and 2014. His 2012 and 2014 teams set single-season records for shutouts. He was a three-time All-MAC Commonwealth selection, a National Soccer Collegiate Athletic Association All-Region selection and All-NCAA Tournament Team selection.

“I was blessed to have amazing coaches, family friends and a support system that cared about me as more than a soccer player,” West said. “What I accomplished could not be possible without them, and I am eternally grateful to them for that. More importantly than my accomplishment, though, soccer gave me my best friends, my wife, my kids, my career, but most importantly, soccer is where I found my identity in Christ.”

Somers was a top golfer all four years of high school and helped lead the Bonackers to their first league championship in a decade. He also garnered an individual conference title in the fall of 1993. During the winter, Somers was the starting point guard and captain of a highly successful basketball team. In the spring, he captained the baseball team as a four-year starter and helped propel the Bonackers to two county championships and a state Final Four berth.

While Somers earned many individual honors and was named to numerous All-League and All-County teams, he most cared about how he could make his squads and teammates better.

After high school, he accepted a baseball scholarship to play at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, and returned to East Hampton to carve out a career in golf, drawing on the love of the sport he learned from his father John “Jack” Somers. The only thing that topped his love of sports was the love he held for his family, including his mother, Helena; brothers and sisters; his partner, Alicia; and his daughter, Lily.

Somers, a caddie master at the Maidstone Club in East Hampton, died in February at age 45.

A good friend said this about Somers: “He was our brother, our best friend and everything we know and love about East Hampton and being a Bonacker.”

The 2002-03 cross country team completed the program’s second consecutive undefeated league season and back-to-back Division III, Suffolk County Class B and Long Island Class B championship-winning seasons. The group was led by head coach Kevin Barry and assistant coach Diane O’Donnell.

After winning several major invitational races in Auburn, New York, and at Brown University in Rhode Island, the team was poised to make its historic championship run. The victories led the Bonackers all the way to the state championship meet, where the team finished sixth out of 11 teams.

“This group of athletes was top of the class, not just on the cross country course, but also on the water, roads and court,” Barry said. “Accomplished surfers, bicyclists and tennis players — they could do it all.”