Meet the Class of 2025

Ben “Buzzy” Bishop ’66 was a seven-letter varsity athlete during his time at Blair, helping the soccer, wrestling and golf team to success, but it was on the wrestling mat where Buzz built his legacy. During his three years as a wrestler, he compiled a 51-1 record. His lone loss was in overtime by referees’ decision in the semifinals of the National Prep Championships his junior year. Buzz was the NJ Prep State wrestling champion in 1964, 1965 and 1966 and was voted most outstanding wrestler in the state tournament. At the national level, he won the National Prep School Championship in his senior year and finished third his junior year. Buzz proudly led the team as co-captain his junior and senior year .

Buzz matriculated to Cornell University, where he served as captain his senior year. His first two varsity seasons ended early with season-ending knee injuries and operations. During his senior year, Buzz was named to the First-Team All-Ivy League and came in fourth place at the 1970 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) tournament. After college, Buzz won the Outstanding Wrestler Award at the New York State Dryden Open and was recognized as one of Cornell’s distinguished wrestling alumni. He serves his alma mater as the Cornell member of the EIWA Hall of Fame selection committee.

During her two years on the hilltop, Emily Ferguson ’95 took the cross country course by storm, setting records and cementing herself in Blair history. She set blistering records on both the 2.8- and 3.1-mile courses at 16:38 and 19:37, respectively. In 1994, Emily finished as first female in all dual meets while also leading the team as captain. She is the only Blair female to win the prestigious Canterbury Cross Country Invitational. She finished her senior year undefeated in cross country.

“Her smile and laughter were contagious,” remembers former coach Dr. Marty Miller, Hon. ’81. “She was an upbeat leader by example at every practice, always enthused about the next workout.” 

Emily’s accomplishments extended well beyond Blair. She secured three top-three finishes in her home country of Bermuda in the national cross country championships secondary girls age division, winning the national title in 1993. After Blair, she continued her cross country career at Rhodes College, where she placed second at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Cross-Country (SCAC) Championships and was selected to the All-Conference and All-Region team as a junior and senior. Emily was an all-SCAC honoree all four years, including second-place finishes in 1997 and 1998. She qualified and ran in the NCAA Division III National Cross-Country Championships her junior and senior years, cementing her legacy as one of Blair’s all-time top runners.

During the early years of Blair’s crew program, Christine (Geiser) Nalty ’03 was a standout rower for Blair’s crew team. She went on to a successful collegiate career at Yale University, earning membership in the First-Team All-Ivy League in 2005 and 2007. In 2005, Christine helped Yale win the Elite 8+ Sports Council Cup at the Henley Women’s Regatta in England. During her senior year, Christine rowed in the sixth seat in Yale’s varsity eight boat, which won the 2007 championship race in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Her boat won its heat, its semifinal and the 2,000-meter grand final with a time of 6:37.08, two seconds ahead of second-place Ohio State, to finish the season undefeated.

Battling through a most challenging schedule that included some of the top teams in the tri-state area, the 2009-2010 boys’ tennis team made history by capturing the first MAPL championship in their sport. Led by their veteran coach, former Dean of College Counseling Lew Stival, the team achieved a perfect record that season, going undefeated with a record of 14-0. During the MAPL championship, first singles Noah Joachim ’11 and second singles Musyoka Mbithi ’11 both won their flights. Noah continued his tennis career in college at Johns Hopkins University, where he made it to the NCAA’s Division III men’s tennis quarterfinals and was named First Team All-Centennial Conference in singles. Musyoka matriculated at Trinity College, where he was a three-year starter in doubles and two-year starter in singles. Captaining the team was four-year varsity singles standout Cole Agin ’10, who went on the play for Dickinson College.

The team began a legacy that would lead to future MAPL titles and a prep “A” state championship the following year. Team members also included Jeremy Joachim ’13, Dong-Hyun Kim ’10, Lawrence Liu ’10, Richie Jiaravanon ’12, Alan Meskin ’11, Matt Thees ’11 and Dennis Lee ’10, with assistant coach and Blair and Lehigh tennis alum Chris Wong ’02.

Daniel Hazen served as Blair Academy’s Athletic Director from 1984 to 1996 and continued as a teacher, dorm parent and coach from 1997 to 1999. Dan treasured his career as an educator and committed himself fully to every aspect of campus life: as a dorm parent of Millbrook Cottage, as a teacher of mathematics and as a coach of boys’ varsity basketball and football as well as girls’ varsity basketball and softball. 

The Class of 1996 dedicated their yearbook in Dan’s honor, writing: “For 12 years, he has set forth a standard of excellence which never seems to fade. His commitment to Blair Academy has earned him this great honor.” In 2011, The Daniel P. Hazen Prize was established to honor Dan’s contributions to the School. The prize is awarded annually to a “triple threat” member of the Blair faculty who, like Dan, personifies balanced excellence in the classroom, dormitory and extracurricular leadership. Dan and his wife, Karen, dedicated 15 years to the School, and their son, Dr. Sam Hazen ’90, is a proud Blair alum.