Hon. Frank Ball, Sr.

James D. Barbe grew up in Arlington and was arguably the greatest Little League baseball player in County history.  At 12 years old he batted .703, a then all-time record, and hit 9 home runs, then second all-time.  As a pitcher, in 61 innings he gave up only six hits and recorded 154 strikeouts.  Translation: Out of the 183 outs made by opponents, Jim struck out 154 batters.  He had similar statistics in junior and senior major ball leading up to a stellar high school career.

He began his high school career at Wakefield in the 1970-71 academic year, then transferred to Washington-Lee for his junior and senior years, where he graduated in 1973.  He was a starter in basketball and baseball his junior and senior years at W-L, and started at quarterback in football his senior year.  In 1973, he was voted high school pitcher of the year in the state of Virginia, and was named All-District and All-Region.  He went on to star at James Madison University in baseball and became the school’s all-time leader in home runs, RBIs, and walks. He was an All-America baseball selection in 1975 and voted JMU’s most valuable player, and named the 1977 Offensive MVP.

Jim was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 19th round of the Major League Baseball Draft and went on to lead the Western Carolina League in home runs and RBIs, and was 2nd in batting average in 1978.  That season he was voted the league’s Player of the Year.

As a result of his baseball career, Jim was inducted into the W-L High School and James Madison University Athletic Halls of Fame.  Currently, as a professional Super Senior Pickleball player, he is rated in the top 3 of players 65 and older in the United States.

Robert J. “Doc” Bonaccorso grew up in Massachusetts. He attended St. John's Prep in Danvers where he played hockey (goalie) and baseball (pitcher/outfielder). He went on to Boston College and earned a B.S. in Biology where he also played baseball for three years. He coached youth baseball in Peabody, Massachusetts for six years (1962-1967), winning the state’s Little League championship in 1964.

Between summer baseball seasons, Bob went to Dental School at Georgetown, graduating in 1969. Except for a brief tour in Korea in 1970 with the Army Dental Corps, Bob's volunteer youth coaching career in Arlington spans 31 years.

Bob joined the Optimist Club of Arlington in 1971 and has served continuously as the club's director of youth activities. The one constant in his coaching career has been his philosophy regarding youth: "give kids a chance to learn enough about a sport to enable them to move up to the next level, and allow them to have enough fun so they want to move up.”

Known more for his achievements in baseball, Bob also coached youth basketball for 22 years (1975-1996) and Arlington Bearcats 70-lbs football for five years (1973-1977). In 1975, along with ASHOF Hall of Famer Bob Rusevlyan, Bob founded the highly successful Optimist Club youth basketball program which grew from 20 players initially to more than 550 players by the mid-80s.

In the early 1980's, Arlington's youth baseball program was suffering from a dearth of participation by players, coaches and sponsors. Following a tireless search for a baseball program that would best fit the community's needs, Bob was a founder, in 1985, of the Arlington Babe Ruth Leagues, in cooperation with the county recreation department. After obtaining a charter from the national Babe Ruth organization, the Arlington league which began with several hundred players in 1985, grew in 15 years to over 2,000 participants in the springtime, making it one of the largest programs in Virginia. The fall program exceeds 500 players. Bob had earlier spearheaded the notion of a no-cut county baseball program in the mid-70s. The Arlington Babe Ruth program has proven to be an ideal solution.

In Bob's 31 years coaching baseball in Arlington, his teams amassed over 550 wins, including eleven undefeated seasons, 19 county titles, seven Babe Ruth district championships, four state Optimist Invitational crowns and three Virginia state Babe Ruth championships. In 1992, 1993 and 1998, his Arlington All-Star Babe Ruth state champs went to the Southeast Regionals, the last stop on the way to the Babe Ruth World Series.

Steve Buckhantz grew up in Arlington and played on the Washington-Lee H.S. football team in the early 1970’s. He then went to Madison College (James Madison University) where he began his professional career in radio before becoming an intern with WHSV-TV in Harrisonburg, VA. He went on to anchor the station’s sports and weather. After stints in Tennessee and Atlanta he came home to anchor weekends at WTTG in Washington until 1988 when he was named Sports Director and lead sports anchor. He began calling basketball and football games, including from 1991-1997 being the play-by-play radio voice for the US. Naval Academy football games and handling play-by-play for NFL on FOX in its inaugural season. 

In 1997, after handling some spring basketball games for the Washington Bullets, Steve became the voice of the Washington Wizards as their play-by-play announcer for the 1997-98 season. There he became a staple and won one of his five Emmy Awards as the Wizards announcer on Comcast SportsNet. 

Steve’s awards also include being inducted into the Halls of Fame for Washington-Lee, DC Sports, Washington Metropolitan Basketball, and the Greater Washington Jewish Sports. In 2018, he was selected DC Sportscaster of the year by his peers.

Charlie Butt Jr. was the crew coach at W-L starting in 1949. From 1957-1964, his team won nine straight varsity championships, 11 National Schoolboy Championships and the Henley (England) Royal Regatta. Butt helped start crew teams at numerous area high schools and was instrumental in establishing programs at Georgetown and George Washington in the late 1950s. 

In 1964, his team was the first American high school to ever participate in the Henley regatta and that year won the Princess Elizabeth Cup. His crew retained the cup in 1969.

From 1961-1980, Butt hosted and coached boats comprising parts of the Junior Men’s National Team out of the Potomac Boat Club. He has also coached many Olympians. Over the years, his crews earned 19 scholastic national titles and numerous Stotesbury Cup and Northern Virginia Championships.

The creation of new rowing venues was also a passion for Butt. He helped create the Sandy Run Regional Park rowing facility on the Occoquan River (site of many local regattas) and consulted on the development of Thompson Boat Center, a public rowing facility in Washington, D.C.

He continued to coach into the fall of 1991, and died in 1992. In his honor, The Charlie Butt Regatta was created as a Virginia Scholastic Rowing Association event held annually on the Potomac River.

 John Crone’s athletic career began in 8th grade at Williamsburg Middle School and continued into his freshman year at Yorktown High School as a member of the Yorktown freshman football program, which won every game during those two seasons. Crone became a member of the varsity as a sophomore as a tight end and earned recognition as an All-District talent. During his junior and senior seasons, Crone was a three-way starter, playing offense as a fullback, switching to linebacker for the Patriot defense, and serving as the long snapper. He earned both All-District and All-Region recognition each season. Crone was voted team captain during both his junior and senior years, the first junior to earn this role under Coach Bruce Hanson’s three decades as head coach. During his senior year, Crone rushed for more than 1,800 yards and scored 35 touchdowns, and was recognized as an All-Met running back.  

In addition to playing football at YHS, Crone played baseball during his sophomore, junior, and senior years. John hit .511, set school records for RBIs with 42 and a slugging percentage of over 1,000, and hit seven home runs during his senior year. This effort earned him First Team All-Region and All-Met honors.

Upon graduation from Yorktown, Crone earned a football scholarship to the University of Richmond where he majored in criminal justice. Initially, he played both football and baseball, but after his sophomore year, he decided to focus his energies on football. As fullback on the Richmond Spiders, Crone earned All-Conference recognition after his sophomore, junior, and senior years. His teammates voted him Captain for both the 2007 and 2008 seasons, and the Spiders won the NCAA Division I Football Championship after the 2008 season. Crone threw a touchdown pass during Richmond’s 24-7 win over Montana in the championship game.     

Tom Dolan was born and raised in Arlington. He attended school in Arlington, graduated with honors from Yorktown in 1993, and earned a swimming scholarship to the University of Michigan.

Tom was an exceptional swimmer before college setting many scholastic records but gained immediate success as a freshman at Michigan. There he was a member of the Wolverines NCAA Championship 800m freestyle relay squad and earned All-American honors in the 500m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 1,650m freestyle and 400m individual medley. For his efforts, Dolan was named both Big Ten Swimmer of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Tom capped his spectacular season by representing the United States at the 1994 World Championships in Rome where he established the world record and won a gold medal in the 400m IM (4:12.30).

As a sophomore, Dolan continued to dominate and to set even more records. At the Pan Pacific Championship, he captured first place honors in the 200m IM and set a meet record in the 400m IM. Tom continued his excellence at the collegiate level, becoming the first swimmer in seven years to set three American records at the NCAA Championships. As a result, he was named the U.S. Swimming "Swimmer of the Year" for a second time, and added the NCAA Swimmer of the Year award to his trophy case.

In the spring and early summer of 1996, Tom qualified as a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in the 200m individual medley, 400m IM and 400m freestyle competitions by winning all three events at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. At the NCAA Championships, he repeated as a triple winner in the 500m freestyle, 1,650m freestyle , 400m individual medley and anchored the championship 800m freestyle relay team that broke a 12 year-old American record.

At the 1996 Summer Olympics, Tom Dolan captured the United States' first Gold Medal by winning the 400 IM. Not only did this achievement earn him both the cover of Sports Illustrated and a Wheaties box, but it also confirmed his reputation as one of the world's most talented swimmers. 

At the 2000 Olympics, he defended his Gold Medal in the 400 IM and picked up a Silver in the 200 IM.

Tom has had to overcome severe allergy problems to achieve success and is an inspiration to us all. Arlington is proud to claim him and the Arlington Sports Hall of Fame is doubly proud to honor him.

He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2006, followed by induction into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

He now runs Tom Dolan Swim School in Northern Virginia.

Bill Duryee was a gifted all around athlete who grew up in Arlington and was a Hall of Fame track and football player for Bishop Denis J. OConnell High School, graduating in 1961. 

While at Bishop OConnell, he was the Metropolitan Washington Catholic League sprint champion in the 100 and 220 yard races, and in the 440 yard (quarter mile) sprint. Bill set Catholic League records of 10.0 seconds in the 100 and 22.2 seconds in the 220 yard sprint. He also tied the Virginia state record of 9.9 seconds in the 100 yard sprint. Bill was named to the All Metropolitan Washington Track First Team for setting a metropolitan area record of 49.5 in the 440 yard event.

He received a track scholarship to LaSalle University, where he had an outstanding track career. As team captain, he led his team to successive Mid Atlantic Conference (MAC) Track Championships in 1964-1966. He anchored the LaSalle sprint relay and mile relay record setting teams in national competitions, including the Penn Relays Invitational. Bill was a three time MAC Champion and still holds the 440 yard record of 47.8 seconds on a cinder track at LaSalle. He was inducted into the LaSalle Track Hall of Fame in 1993.

Bill and his wife, Patricia, both served their country as national security
professionals for over 30 years before retiring in 1998.