Hall of fame to induct Hatters’ championship girls golf teams

The Danbury High School Athletic Hall of Fame’s 12th-annual induction ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 26 from 6 to

10 p.m. at the Amber Room Colonnade in Danbury. Among this year’s honorees will be the Hatters’

2004 and 2005 state-champion girls golf teams.

In only its second year as a varsity sport in 2004, the Danbury High girls golf team won both the FCIAC and the state championships. From 1998 to 2002, the golf team played as a club team with two interested players and volunteer coaches. In 2003, their first year as a varsity sport, the Hatters finished 8-6, ranked fifth in the state. But the following two years ended with FCIAC and state championships.

In 2004, the Hatters won the state championship by one stroke over Mercy High School of Middletown. The week before, Danbury had won its first FCIAC championship at Richter Park. The state championship was played at the difficult Blue Fox Run golf course in Avon. Kelly Kronen shot a sizzling 79, Jen Tierney a 92, Stacy Baradit a 103, and Alex Long a 117 to give Danbury the exciting onestroke victory. Nicole Najam was also a varsity letter-winner for the 2004 state champions.

In 2005, the Hatters were no longer considered underdogs, returning four key varsity players from the 2004 championship team. In a driving rain at wind-swept Brownson Country Club course in Shelton, the Hatters won their second straight FCIAC championship by 12 strokes over Trumbull High School. The Hatters then won their second consecutive state championship, once again at Blue Fox Run in Avon. Varsity players from the 2005 championships included Kronen, Tierney, Baradit, Heather Gardner, Long and Megan Corbett.

Kathy Boucher has been the program’s only coach. Under her direction, the Hatters have posted an all-time record of 129-96-4. She was named the FCIAC Coach of the Year in 2005, the Connecticut Girls Golf Coach of the Year in 2009 and the FCIAC Coach of Excellence in 2016. In 2018, Coach Boucher was a National Finalist for Girls Golf Coach of the Year.

Contact Betsy Merullo for more information about the banquet at 203-744-1223.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo Kelly Rose Kronen was a member of the 2004 and 2005 state champion Danbury girls golf teams that will be inducted into the school’s hall of fame on Oct. 26.