A truly ‘Malden Night’ as Golden Tornado Club honors former Malden High sports greats at Hall of Fame banquet

Nearly 300 fill Malden Moose Hall for 36th Biennial Banquet and Induction Ceremony

By Steve Freker

Someone said it at the end of the night as they were walking toward the exit, clutching their coat and a souvenir program and beaming with a Tornado-sized smile. “What a great night, only in Malden can so many people get together and have such a fantastic time honoring the best of us!” How right they were, as those who attend this biennial event— which quickly turns into a gigantic “family reunion” — get to relive, together, some of the greatest hits from the “album” of Malden High School athletics. It was a truly “Malden Night” with those who genuinely support Malden High School teams and players— past and present!

The doors swung open once again when the 36th Golden Tornado Club Hall of Fame banquet and ceremony was held with a packed house of nearly 300 in attendance on Saturday, Nov. 22. Six former Malden High standout athletes, spanning history from the 1970s to the 2000s, were inducted, as well as a former 17-year Tornado Varsity Baseball coach.

Katie Bowdridge, the longtime Golden Tornado Club treasurer was presented the 2025 Distinguished Service Award; and Malden High Girls Volleyball Coach Dan Jurkowski, Football Head Coach Witche Exilhomme and Bowdridge again — the Coed Gymnastics Head Coach— were all honored with the Peter Donoghue Memorial Golden Eagle Award, along with their respective student essayists. An MHS Class of 2024 graduate — and two Class of 2025 grads — were the essay writers for their respective coaches, extolling the mentors for the guidance, inspiration and support they were shown.

Coincidentally, two of the subjects of the essays— Football Varsity Head Coach Witche Exilhomme and Gymnastics Varsity Head Coach Katie Bowdridge— were Hall of Fame inductees the same night, Exilhomme as a Class of 2012 standout student-athlete and Bowdridge as a Distinguished Service Award recipient. The three student essayists Isabella Oliveira (for Katie Bowdridge), Abigail Lee (for Dan Jurkowski) and James Hyppolite (for Witche Exilhomme), all received $1,000 cash scholarships courtesy of the Donoghue Family, in honor or their patriarch, the late Peter Sr., who spent many years supporting teams and athletes at Malden High in many ways. The coaches all received beautiful Golden Eagle Awards, a lacquered Golden Eagle. The evening got an early dose of emotion when James Hyppolite lost the battle of holding back tears as Coach Exilhomme told the story of his and James’ relationship through the years, from both of them arriving from Haiti through the Malden High years.

Malden Mayor Gary Christenson, himself a Hall of Fame member and a 1986 MHS alumnus, delivered greetings from the City of Malden and stayed for the entire dinner and induction ceremony. Second-year Malden Superintendent of Schools Timothy Sippel, Ed.L.D. also addressed the large audience with greetings from the Malden Public Schools. MPS Director of Physical Education and Athletics Charlie Conefrey – a 1997 MHS alumnus and another Hall of Famer – was on hand to congratulate all the inductees and honorees, as was Golden Tornado Club President and Hall of Famer Steve Freker. Still another Hall of Famer, the inimitable Peter Carroll, former Varsity Basketball Head Coach and Class of 1967 alumnus, once again did a magnificent job as Master of Ceremonies, bringing a full quiver of zings and barbs to distribute equally throughout the night.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame along with the Distinguished Service Award recipients and one coach with the “Class of 2025” were:

—Ronald Fales (Class of 1965), a two-sport standout (Football and Baseball), who was an outstanding teammate and performer for two seasons on some of Malden High’s best-ever teams, and with some of the best athletes, such as former Malden Hall of Fame great John Salmon, who was in attendance.

In his acceptance Fales spoke glowingly of his teammates — including Salmon — and former coach, the late, great Bill Tighe. “I will never forget my experiences as a player for my Malden High teams,” said Fales, whose three sons all were multi-sport student-athletes at Malden High School.

—Robert O’Keefe Jr. (Class of 1972), a Football and Swimming standout, who played on some of the most memorable football teams of the early 1970s along with other Hall of Famers Mike Byrne, John Lopresti and Paul DeVincentis. O’Keefe said his greatest memories from his Malden High days were his teammates and the late Coach Tighe.

He said he remains close friends with his football teammates to this day, more than 50 years later. “It means so much to me to have been a Malden High School athlete and most of all, for the all my teammates, most of whom became lifelong friends to this day,” said O’Keefe, noting many of them in the audience that evening.

  —Steven DeBenedictis (Class of 1986), a three-sport All-Star in Football, Hockey and Baseball; he was one of the top players in the Greater Boston League, an All-Star in every season as a Football Defensive Back in the Fall, Hockey Goaltender in the Winter and Baseball Shortstop in the Spring. At the time, he set a school record with 7 interceptions in a season in Football and a whopping 68 saves (!!) in a 2-0 loss to the Sacco Bros. (Joe and David) Medford hockey team in 1985-86.

He also expressed deep gratitude for the support of his family and to his teammates and coaches: the late Paul Finn in football, Rich Cullen in hockey and Shawn Brickman and Steve Freker in baseball. He gave special recognition to Coach Finn’s wife, Marian, who was in attendance supporting DeBenedictis and other former Tornados that evening.

“It is such an honor to be standing here tonight. Malden is a special place,” he said on induction night. “I was lucky to be able to play all three sports and have such great teammates, many of them who have remained friends all my life.”

—JulAnn (Lopresti) Casaletto (Class of 1990), a multi-sport standout of the late 1980s and early 1990s who was best known as one of the top softball players in the Greater Boston League and area. She thanked the members of her well-known Malden family along with her teammates and coaches through the years for their support. She is now in a household with two Hall of Famers, as her husband, Ed Casaletto, was a key member of the 1987 MHS Football Team, which was inducted in 2019.

“I always enjoyed playing all the games and supporting my teammates,” she said. “It was years I will never forget.”

—Darrin Smith (Class of 1994), was another “old-school” three-sport athlete (Soccer, Wrestling, Outdoor Track) who excelled in all three and was known as one of the all-time greats on the mat in winter with several Sectional titles to his credit. He also was part of some successful Boys Soccer Teams in his time at Malden High and later came back to help coach Wrestling alongside his brother, Jeremiah Smith, former MHS Wrestling Head Coach and 20-year-plus Soccer Head Coach.

“I am so proud to have played for Malden High School and am humbled by this great honor,” he said at the banquet.

—Witche Exilhomme (Class of 2012), a three-sport standout in Football, Basketball and Outdoor Track; he was a three-year starter at defensive line in Football, two-year starter in Basketball, and in Track still holds the school record for Javelin throw. He was a three-sport captain and went on to play at AIC and then professional Arena Football; he is now in his fifth season as Malden High Football Head Coach and second year as MHS Dean of Students.

“I will always be thankful for my time participating on teams at Malden High, especially for the people at the school and in the city who supported me, and still do,” Coach Exilhomme said, mentioning Dana Brown (former principal), Joe Levine (Recreation Coordinator) and Joe Pappagallo (former Football Head Coach). “This is a strong community and I glad to be part of it.”

—Coach Kevin Carpenito, Baseball Head Coach (2000-2016); Coach Carpenito was Varsity Baseball Head Coach for 17 seasons from 2000-2016. In those years he attained 164 wins and led the Golden Tornado Baseball Team. He coached 350 games at Malden High, one of the highest numbers in school history. He led Malden to 10 MIAA Division 1 State Tournament appearances: in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In both 2008 and 2012, Malden was 15-5 overall in the regular season, the most wins in 15 years.

Over a dozen Malden High players went on to play college baseball while Carpenito was the Malden High Coach and of them, Juan Portes in 2004 was drafted in the 15th round by Minnesota (eight seasons of minors) and Alex Teal, a 2010 MHS grad, pitched two seasons of professional baseball in the Independent Pecos League in Texas.