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Troy Chambers

Troy Chambers

by | Feb 17, 2023

Troy Chambers was an all around athlete at Bennett in the early 1990’s. He was a 3 year Cross Country runner, a 3 year varsity Swimmer and a 4 year Track and Field performer. For his efforts, Chambers accumulated an incredible 12 All-High medals in his 3 sports. In Cross Country, Chambers finished 2nd in the All High Meet competition in both his sophomore and junior years, and was individual city champion in his senior year. Chambers finished an impressive 15th place in the New York State Cross Country Meet following his senior season. He was also named local “Runner Of The Year ” after the Checkers/Nike All Star Race.

As a swimmer, Chambers was in the sprint events, gaining 4 All-High medals in the 100 yard and 200 yard freestyle events. A star distance runner in track, Chambers achieved 6 All-High medals in the 800 meters, one mile and two mile events during his career. He was also named Channel 7’s “Super Athlete Of The Week ” .

After Bennett, Chambers running career continued to blossom at Erie Community College where he totaled 23 All Regional medals in Cross Country, Indoor Track and outdoor track. A two time “MVP” at regional competition, Chambers was named a Division III Junior College All- American. Chambers later attended Missouri Valley. Troy Chambers works and resides in Buffalo.

William “Bill” Truckenbrod

William “Bill” Truckenbrod

by | Feb 17, 2023

Bill Truckenbrod was a four time All-High swimmer at Bennett in 1949 and 1950. His specialty was the 100 yard freestyle, gaining All High honors in that event plus the 160 yard free relay in both years.The Tigers were the Syracuse Cup champions in 1950.

Truckenbrod was Class Historian of the senior class in 1949, and attended the University of Michigan in 1951 and 1952. His college education was interrupted by the Korean War, when he decided to enlisted in the U.S.Navy and later became a night jet fighter pilot aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge. After his military discharge in 1957, Truckenbrod continued his college education Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Truckenbrod graduated with a degree in Building Construction in 1959 and joined the family construction business. He is married with 5 grown daughters, one of whom (Krista ) was also an All High swimmer at Bennett 30 years after her dad in 1979.

Joseph Voskerichian

Joseph Voskerichian

by | Feb 17, 2023

Joey Voskerichian appears to be the ideal person to be receiving the E.Y.Hannel Memorial Award. Like Earle, Joey has a backround in athletics at Bennett, playing varsity baseball and football, and continued his career in the business world with involvement in sports and charity work. Voskerichian is a University of Buffalo graduate and a Korean War veteran. His work history includes the Tampa, FL Police Department and a banking executive. Voskerichian retired in 2000 as a senior vice president of Bank of America. He also served on numerous boards of directors.

Voskerichian’s sports backround beyond Bennett H.S. includes varsity baseball and football at the University of Buffalo and service ball, coaching at the Jr. and Sr. high school level and officiating H.S. and college baseball and basketball. Voskerichian received the “Outstanding Citizen Award” from the Tampa Sports Foundation. His activities include chairman of the Special Olympics at USF, the World Championship Boxing Challenge, and involvement with the late George Steinbrenner’s “Gold Shield Foundation”, which provides financial assistance to families of law enforcement and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

Joey Voskerichian joins his brother George as a member of the Bennett Sports Hall Of Fame.

James J. Weindel

James J. Weindel

by | Feb 17, 2023

Jim Weindel was a three sport star at Bennett in the early 50’s. He was a backfield star in football, the starting point guard in basketball, and a catcher in his specialty, baseball. In football he started for the Tigers in his junior and senior seasons, a team that went undefeated but couldn’t play in the Harvard Cup game because of an overage player. Highlights include scoring a TD on a 43 yard play to defeat arch rival Kensington, breaking a 4 game losing streak to the Suffolk Ave. school. Weindel also scored a Touchdown in the Kensington game in his senior year for a two year win streak against the rival Knights. He later attended Mississippi State on a football scholarship.

In basketball, weindel was the starting point guard on a team that did not win the Yale Cup, but defeated the team that did, the legendary Emerson High powerhouse, in both his junior and senior years.

Weindel’s specialty was baseball. A three year varsity player, he was the All-High catcher in 1952. His batting average that year was .392, and he caught for Johnnie Zeitler (B.S.H.O.F. ) and Earle Hannel, on a Cornell Cup championship team. After a stint at Mississippi St., Weindel signed a professional baseball contract with the Chicago Cubs. He rose to the level of AAA in 3 years of pro ball. He later played with the top amateur local baseball team, the Simon Pures, where his batting average was .342.

Jim Weindel served in the U.S. Army, is married with 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren.

Reg Eyre

Reg Eyre

by | Feb 17, 2023

If ever there was a “man for all seasons” in the annals of Bennett High School sports history, it would be none other than 1959 graduate, Reggie Eyre. As a football, basketball and baseball major letterman, Eyre is one of the select few Bennett athletes to have played on a championship team in all three sports. When the Tigers won the Cornell Cup baseball championship in 1957, the Harvard Cup championship for football in 1958, and were crowned Yale Cup basketball champions in 1959, he became a member of the exclusive “trifecta” club.

As a hard hitting, multi position baseball player, Eyre was named first team All-High in his senior year, hitting a robust .520 and patrolling the outfield positions with skill and grace. A starting End on the gridiron, reliable #17, Reg Eyre played with determination and was a major cog in the 1958 Bennett team that rolled through the Harvard Cup season undefeated, finishing an unblemished 7 wins, 0 losses.

On the hardcourt, Eyre was part of a Bennett hoops squad that was the first Bennett team to capture the Yale Cup, as well as the Board of Education playoff trophy. At the culmination of his final season at Bennett, he was the only member of his senior class of 1959 to win a varsity letter in three sports.

After completing his education at Bennett, Eyre attended the University of Buffalo. He currently resides in Tonawanda, NY.