Williston Northampton announced today that its football team will compete next fall in the NEPSAC Division A Erickson League, and will be led by a new head coach.
The Erickson League consists of Avon Old Farms, Hotchkiss, Taft, Trinity Pawling, Brunswick, Salisbury, and Kent. Williston had played in the Division B Colonial League from 2004 until the league disbanded in 2014.
“Choosing to join the Erickson League was seizing an opportunity to provide stability for our schedule while aligning ourselves with schools that share our commitment to both football and independent school education,” Williston Director of Athletics Mark Conroy said in a press release provided by the school.
Conroy, the school’s head football coach for the past 16 years, will be stepping down from that position next fall. Under his leadership, the Wildcats posted an 84-47 record, and earned three prep bowl appearances, most recently in 2014, when the team lost 35-34 to Lawrence Academy. He will remain as the athletic director.
The new coach is Tom Beaton, who for the past six seasons served as assistant coach at Tufts University, working most recently as the recruiting coordinator and coaching running backs and slot receivers. A standout at Pentucket and Bates College, Beaton was a captain and an All-NESCAC selection in both football and baseball.
“I am beyond excited to be offered the position of head football coach at the Williston Northampton School,” Beaton said. “To be a part of the Williston community and to be associated with such a first-class, prestigious school is something I have always dreamed of.”
Material came from director of communications Ann Hallock.
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