He is one of the most versatile athletes in WPI history. He is
also one of the most decorated. He is Brian Daly, who competed for
WPI in three different sports-soccer, swimming & diving, and
track & field.
Few athletes in WPI's storied varsity sports annals have earned
as many as 12 letters in a career. In fact, no one has accomplished
that feat since Brian did so in 1991. Imagine, if you will,
competing on the soccer team, which begins preparation in the
summer. That season generally ends in early November. Swimming
& diving begins immediately thereafter (no chance for rest),
and goes right through to the beginning of March. And March is when
the track season gets under way.
Yet all that activity didn't seem to slow down this athlete in
the slightest. As a freshman, Brian led his soccer team, scoring
three goals. As a sophomore, he scored six goals and added four
assists for 16 points, again leading the team. As a junior, he
scored six goals and added three assists for 15 points, and as a
senior, he scored five goals and added two assists for 12 points.
All this was under the watchful eye of head coach Alan King.
It was as a diver that Brian made his mark during the winter, at
one point setting a WPI record for most points in a meet, for head
coach Whit Griffith.
In track & field, Brian attained All-New England status in
each of his four years on the squad for head coach Merl Norcross.
As a freshman, he was part of a WPI 4x100 relay team that made
All-New England. As a sophomore and junior, he made All-New England
as a long jumper. As a senior, that honor came in the triple jump.
Very few athletes in WPI history have ever captured four major
athletic awards, one each year. Brian earned the Coaches Award (top
freshman), the Leo S. Jansson Award (top sophomore), the Poly Club
Award (top junior), and the Varsity Club Award (top senior). While
at WPI, he was a member of Chi Epsilon and Tau Beta Pi; he was
elected a member of Skull.
Today, Brian and his wife live in Stoneham, Mass.; they have one
son. Brian works as a project engineer for Metcalf & Eddy and
is in charge of the design, construction, and startup of water and
wastewater treatment facilities. Brian ran in the Boston Marathon
last April, raising more than $8,000 for the pediatric wing at
Massachusetts General Hospital. And he still plays soccer!
For all his superb achievements, it is with great pride that WPI
inducts Brian Daly into its Athletic Hall of Fame.
