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Ethel Marshall

Ethel Marshall

by | Feb 17, 2023

Ethel Marshall is arguable the finest women’s athlete in Western New York annals. She is in the National Badminton Hall of Fame for having won the national Singles championships seven consecutive years from 1947-1953. In addition, she won numerous senior doubles titles with her late partner, Bea Massman.


Top level badminton can be a grueling sport. It is a game of constantly sprinting to the shuttlecock (or birdie as it is more commonly known), great racquet dexterity, and superb conditioning. Marshall had all of these attributes and more. She was virtually invincible in her prime.


Marshall’s prowess did not stop at badminton. She took up tennis in her mid 20s and became an out­’ standing player in a relatively short time. She went on to win the Buffalo city singles championship thirteen years in a row, from 1948-1960, a feat that has never been accomplished before or since in tennis in western New York. For good measure she also won fifteen consecutive city doubles championships with Massman.

Marshall’s reputation as a badminton teacher is also well known. She has taught badminton for over fifty years in one of the largest programs in the United States. Incredibly, she is still teaching four days a week at age 77 with two hip replacements.


Her outgoing personality and outstanding teaching skills have produced many top players jncluding Jim Lynch, who went on to be
ranked fourth in the United States. Unfortunately, there were no women’s sports teams when Marshall attended Bennett High
School. However, her accomplishments are second to none among the inductees for the first Bennett Sports Hall of Fame.

Fred Braun

Fred Braun

by | Feb 17, 2023

Fred Braun was the dean of Bennett coaches. He was a native of lndianapolis, Indiana. He came to Bennett High School in 1927 and stayed until 1959, the year he passed away.

During his 32 year coaching career at Bennett, he coached the three major sports of basketball, football, and baseball. His longest coaching tenure was in baseball, which he coached for 32 years and compiled a won-lost record of 173-7 4. Braun won six Cornell Cups, emblematic of baseball supremacy amongst Buffalo Public Schools. Included in the six championships were three consecutive titles in 1955, 1956, and 1957.

Fred Braun won the most games of the three sports that he coached in basketball. His basketball record, starting in 1931, was 235-74, including four Yale Cup city championships. In football, which he coached for 16 years from 1938-1953, his teams won five Harvard Cup city championships. He compiled a won-lost record of 68-24 with five ties.

Coach Braun helped Bennett capture 15 major sport championships. In addition, he had a remarkable .733 won-lost percentage
overall for the three sports he coached.

None of the teams he coached in his final ten years at Bennett had a losing record! He will best be remembered, however, for
touching the lives of hundreds of Bennett athletes and contributing to their futures in immeasurable ways.

Lamar Smith

Lamar Smith

by | Feb 17, 2023

Lamar Smith came to Bennett as a freshman sprinter from Raleigh, N.C. He was an immediate success in track, leading Bennett to four undefeated seasons with 55 wins and O losses. Lamar broke all
existing “Scalp & Blade” records in all 5 events he ever entered, including the 100 yard dash, 220, 440, mile relay and 440 relay. Records were also set in all metered events covering the same distances.


After his freshman year Lamar entered the “Jessie Owens Junior Olympic” track competition and became national champion in the 100 at Drake Stadium on U.C.L.A. campus. In August of’91 after
Lamar’s junior season he captured the Empire State Games scholastic 100m and 200m championship. Two years later Lamar became the state’s open division 200m champion. Lamar’s greatest achievement while competing for Bennett came on that magical day (for him), June 16, 1982 at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. It all came together when Lamar captured the elusive NYSPHSAA 100m and 200m titles by setting state records in both events. The 100m record was 10.7 (F.A.T.) and the 200m record was set at 21.5 (F.A.T.). Lamar also anchored the 4x400m relay, which set a WNY record that stands to this day at 3:17.4. Lamar’s anchor leg was clocked at 48 seconds.


The best was yet to be for Lamar when he was invited to the “Golden West” track meet in Sacramento, Ca. to close out his high school career. The Golden West is the national high school championship meet that features the top 10 state champions from around the country in a “showdown” meet. Lamar, one of only four athletes to be invited to more than one event, finished 4th in the 100m, and 3rd in the 200m.


In 1982, Lamar was recognized as track athlete of the year in New York State by the NYSPHSAA, and All-American by the National High School Track Coaches Association.


Lamar accepted a track scholarship to national track power University of Alabama. There he ran on a relay team with Olympians Calvin Smith and Emmett King. Lamar’s highest achievement was being invited to try out for the 1984 Olympic squad in San Francisco, CA. Lamar survived until the final cut at 400m, the last cutoff.

Lamar finished his undergraduate degree work at Buffalo State College.

Richard E. Leous

Richard E. Leous

by | Feb 17, 2023

Dick Leous was a member of the 1943 Cornell Cup Championship baseball team as a freshman. He earned four major letters in baseball and was All-High in 1945 with a batting average of .526. His positions were first baseman and outfielder. In 1944 he played on the Bennett Tigers American League Championship baseball team that went on to the state finals in Syracuse.

He was a member of the football team for four years, earned three major letters, and was All-High in 1944 and 1945. He played fullback, called the plays, and did passing and kicking for the team. He was co-captain of the 1944 team that played for the Harvard Cup championship on Thanksgiving Day. He was also captain of the 1945 team and was the second highest scorer in the Harvard Cup series that year. In his junior year he was chosen on Van Patrick’s radio program to be the captain of his All-High team. Dick was also chosen as the Player of the Week in the Harvard Cup series twice during his career and was interviewed on the radio each time.

Dick played as a defenseman in the amateur hockey league at Memorial Auditorium during his freshman and sophomore years.

Besides being an ardent sportsman, he was a member of the Bennett student council, head cafeteria monitor, Chaplain of the senior boys’ Hi-Y, and was honored by his classmates by being elected secretary of the graduating class. He was elected to the Bennett Beacon Hall of Fame in 1946.

At graduation he received the American Legion Certificate of School Award and received a full four year athletic scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. Dick’s athletic career at Notre Dame was cut short because of injuries. After graduation he helped Fred Braun coach football at Bennett High School until he was drafted into the Army. After service, Dick’s desire was still to be involved in football. Through the encouragement of Fred Braun, Dick became a high school football official. He has been associated with the Western New York chapter of the New York State Association of Certified Football Officials for 48 years. He officiated numerous games in the area and was president of that group for 26 years. He officiated college football games for five years. He was the New York State Rules Interpreter for 15 years and president of that group for one year. Dick received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Federation of State High School Athletic Association for his knowledge of football rules and service to that organization.

Ross Nwachukwu

Ross Nwachukwu

by | Feb 17, 2023

Ross Nwachukwu was a four year starter at first singles at Bennett from 1987-1990. Built more like a linebacker than a typical tennis player, Ross featured a power game. Ross’ career record at Bennett was 50 wins and 2 losses. Ross lost one match in his freshman year and one in his sophomore year. Ross participated in the Section VI Tournament all four years, qualifying for the NYSPHSAA (state) tournament in his junior and senior seasons. In 1989 Ross became the first player in WNY tennis history to win a medal in state competition, winning the silver medal at Future Stars Academy in Rochester. Ross was recognized as a high school All-American after both his junior and senior years in high school.

After high school Ross earned a full tennis scholarship to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. There Ross accumulated 180 wins, an all time record for Drake University. Ross later became assistant coach at Drake, and later head coach of Division I Kansas.

Ross played professional tennis “on and off’ for four years on the “satellite” tennis tour. His self-proclaimed highest achievement in tennis was victories over two top 100 ranked players in the world, Steven Campbell and Byron Black.

Ross holds four Buffalo MUNY tennis titles to his credit, and is currently a teaching professional at the Village Glen in Williamsville.