Meet the Class of 2020

Mrs. Harrington attended Blair from sophomore to senior year but in that time garnered eight combined varsity letters in field hockey, basketball and softball. “Nettie,” as she was affectionately known, served as captain of the Buccaneer field hockey, basketball and softball teams as a senior. She earned all-New Jersey Prep League accolades for field hockey in 1975 and softball in 1976, becoming one of the most prolific hitters in the state and leading the team in home runs and triples for her varsity career. Upon graduation, she was the first recipient of Blair’s William Zester Memorial Award, given to the female athlete who best represents Blair in competition. She was also an outstanding artist, winning the Blair Art History Award. Mrs. Harrington continued her athletic career by playing field hockey at Widener University before transferring to Rider University. Inspired by the education she received at Blair, she was among the founding parents of Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart (PASH), a K-8 independent school for boys in Princeton, New Jersey. Her son, Stephen T. Harrington ’12, attended PASH before carrying on her legacy by joining the Blair family and graduating in the class of 2012. Continuing in her commitment to Blair, Mrs. Harrington served as a member of Blair’s Alumni Board of Governors from 2005 to 2011.

Winner of 11 varsity letters, Mrs. Henderson Koenig was a member of the Buccaneer field hockey, swimming and track teams. She was a top New Jersey swimmer during her years at Blair, finishing second in the 200 medley relay and third in the 100m breaststroke at States in 1982, third in the 200 individual relay and first in the 100m breaststroke at States in 1983, and third in the 100m breaststroke and second in the 50m breaststroke at the 1984 and 1985 Y district championships, respectively. She received the William Zester Prize and Captain’s Trophy as a senior, but her accomplishments extended well beyond Blair’s athletic venues. Mrs. Henderson Koenig was awarded the Harding Memorial Prize for contributions to musical organizations and the Lee Rose Memorial Trophy for performing with merit in the classroom while contributing significantly to Blair life. As a sophomore, she received the John Kinch Leach Merit Award for her record of scholarship, participation in activities and citizenship. 

Mrs. Henderson Koenig matriculated at Kenyon College, where she earned varsity letters in field hockey from 1985 to 1987 and in swimming and diving in 1985. She was a Division III All-American swimmer in 1985, placing 15th in the 100m breaststroke as a member of Kenyon’s NCAA championship-winning team. Having taken up speed skating in recent years, Mrs. Henderson Koenig currently serves as vice president of racing for the Amateur Skating Association of Illinois and head coach of the Glen Ellyn Speed Skating Club. She is an accomplished Masters skater who holds multiple national age-group titles, as well as the former national record-holder in the 777m race for ages 40 to 49. At the 2020 Winter World Masters Games in Innsbruck, Austria, she placed second in the 50-to-54 age group in the 500, 1000 and 1500m races and was a member of the fourth-place mixed gender relay team.

Having swung his first golf clubs at 3 years of age, Mr. Nallen was well on his way to becoming a serious player when he entered Blair in 1996. By the time he was a senior, he was a state champion golfer with a 32.5 nine-hole scoring average, a record for the area. Mr. Nallen won Blair’s Zimmerman Golf Prize and became the New Jersey Herald and Blairstown Press “Male Athlete of the Year” in 2000. That same year, he won his second straight American Junior Golf Association Junior Izzo championship, tied for 13th at the New Jersey State Golf Association (NJSGA) Open, placed second at the Lucent Technologies Junior Boys championship and made the first team Rolex Junior All America. 

Mr. Nallen continued his stellar career at the University of Arizona, where he helped lead the Wildcats to three top-10 NCAA championship finishes, including third-place finishes in 2001 and 2004. He won a number of tournaments over his four years in college, and his many honors include Golf Coaches Association of America Freshman All-American (2001), NJSGA Player of the Year (2002 and 2003), first team All-Pac-10 (2002-2004), Pac-10 Player of the Year (2004) and four-year All-American, making the first team in 2003 and 2004. He was selected to represent the United States as a member of the Walker Cup team in 2003 and the Palmer Cup team in 2003 and 2004. 

After becoming a semifinalist for the 2004 U.S. Amateur championship, Mr. Nallen joined the ranks of professional golfers. He won the 2004 Gila River Classic in his first Nationwide Tour start, becoming the first player in tour history to simultaneously qualify on Monday, lead wire-to-wire and win his first career start. Another professional highlight was winning the 2008 BMW Charity Pro-Am partnered with hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. Mr. Nallen became an assistant coach at the University of Arizona in 2013, where he has since helped guide the Wildcats to individual and team success.

Throughout his storied wrestling career, Mr. Santoro has achieved national success as a competitor and coach. He captained the Buccaneers during his postgraduate year, earning accolades as the 1985 prep national champion at 142 lbs. and outstanding wrestler of the tournament. Wrestling for the University of Pittsburgh, he was the Panthers’ only four-time NCAA All-American (1986 to 1989), winning the NCAA championship at 142 lbs. in 1988 and 1989. He was also a three-time Eastern Wrestling League champion and the recipient of the 1989 Golden Panther Award as the University’s outstanding athlete of the year. 

On the world wrestling stage, Mr. Santoro was a four-time member of the U.S. national team from 1995 to 1999, serving as an alternate to the 1996 U.S. Olympic team and the 1999 world team. He placed second at the 1992 U.S. Open Freestyle championship, third at the 1992 U.S. Olympic trials and fourth at the 2000 U.S. Olympic trials. 

Mr. Santoro’s coaching career has taken him from Penn State and Duquesne University, where he served as assistant coach, to head coach at the University of Maryland from 2003 to 2008, and, finally, to Lehigh University, where he has served as head coach of the powerhouse Mountain Hawk wrestling program since 2009. His coaching achievements include NWCA National Assistant Coach of the Year (2003), ACC Coach of the Year (2008), EIWA Coach of the Year (2009, 2012, 2016 and 2018) and NWCA Division 1 Coach of the Year (2018). He has mentored two NCAA champions and led 11 wrestlers to 20 All-American finishes at the NCAA Division 1 championships. Mr. Santoro has also taken leadership roles within the sport, serving as an NWCA board member and mentor for the NWCA CEO leadership-training program. 

Mr. Mocco is one of the country’s most accomplished heavyweight wrestlers, a four-time NCAA finalist and member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. He came to Blair as a junior and built upon the outstanding wrestling career he had established at St. Benedict’s Prep, winning the Stephen Curry Prize for marked improvement during his first year at the School. By the time he graduated from Blair, he was a four-time prep state and prep national champion (1998-2001), three-time junior national champion (1999-2001), two-time Ironman and Beast of the East champion (1999, 2000) and Cadet National champion (1998). He also participated in judo, earning a junior national championship in 1999 and placing third at U.S. nationals in 1999. Mr. Mocco was recognized for his high school wrestling success with four national awards: the 2001 ASICS Tiger High School Wrestler of the Year, the 2001 Junior Hodge Trophy, the 2001 NHSCA National High School Wrestler of the Year and the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award. He placed fourth in the 2001 Junior World Championship. 

Heavily recruited by top college wrestling programs, Mr. Mocco continued to excel at the University of Iowa, where he placed second nationally as a true freshman in 2002 and was NCAA champion as a sophomore in 2003. Additional accolades in 2003 include the New York AC Christmas International and Sunkist Kids International Open championships, as well as a second-place showing in Russia’s Ivan Yarygin Cup. He then transferred to Oklahoma State University, where he concluded his college career as the 2005 NCAA champion and 2006 NCAA runner-up. He received the Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation’s best collegiate wrestler in 2005 and helped lead Oklahoma State to NCAA team titles in 2005 and 2006. Mr. Mocco also played football for the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2006, appearing in five games as a defensive lineman. He concurrently pursued freestyle wrestling and was a five-time finalist at the U.S. Open from 2004 to 2009, earning the senior national title in 2009.

Mr. Mocco won the U.S. Olympic trials in 2008 to earn a berth on Team USA at 120kg, placing fifth in his weight class at the Beijing Olympics. He continued his successful competitive career over the next several years, winning the prestigious Ivan Yarygin Gold Medal and Alexander Medved International Championship in 2009, earning gold medals at the Pan American Games in 2009, 2010 and 2011, and winning the Cerro Pelado gold medal in Cuba in 2010. He also earned a national title in judo and won five professional mixed martial arts competitions from 2012 to 2015. 

During his coaching career, Mr. Mocco served as assistant coach under fellow Blair Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Pat Santoro ’85 at Lehigh University in 2011 and 2012, where he mentored a heavyweight champion and helped lead the team to top-10 national finishes both years. He is currently the head wrestling coach and head of the Mocco Wrestling Club at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, named the best mixed martial arts gym in the world for three consecutive years. Mr. Mocco has coached many fighters to world championships in all professional fight leagues. He is the former president and current chairman of the Florida Amateur Wrestling Association.