Bishop O'Connell High School hosted its annual Alumni Award Night on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021. The event began with a reception in the school's new Armor Family Atrium, and continued with the award ceremony in the auditorium.
This year's awardees included:
Distinguished Alumni Award - David Meredith '89 is the chief executive officer and board director of Everbridge, a global leader in critical event management software solutions. He has more than 25 years of senior executive leadership roles in the technology field. Through his career, David has also played a leadership role in a variety of community and global causes. He holds a B.B.A. in Finance from James Madison University and an M.S. in Management of Information Technology from the University of Virginia.
Young Alumni Award - Vi Duong '09 was an Echols Scholar at the University of Virginia, where she earned her B.A. in Biology. She earned her M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine, completing her four-year residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at MedStar Washington Hospital/Georgetown University Hospital. She is currently pursuing a three-year female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She is also an accomplished studio artist!
Knights Service Award - Candie Cruz Daniels '97 is a board-certified Critical Care Registered Nurse at MedStar Georgetown Hospital. In January 2020 she accepted the position of Clinical Educator for the Neuroscience ICU. Shortly after taking on that position, she played an integral role in standing up the first COVID ICU at the hospital. She volunteered to return to the bedside and care of COVID patients while maintaining her responsibilities as a nurse educator, and was named Clinical Educator of the Year in 2021. Candi earned a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Health Services from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, and her B.S. in Nursing from Georgetown University.
ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME
The evening also welcomed five individuals and one team into the Bishop O'Connell High School Athletic Hall of Fame:
Annie Dell'Aria '01 (Softball) was a first team All-American, NFCA Catcher of the Year and two-time first team All-Met. She attended the University of Notre Dame on a softball scholarship, but transferred and played for Harvard University, graduating in 2005.
Michelle "Mick" Imgram '05 (Soccer) was a four-year starter for Knights soccer, who was honored as WCAC and All-Met first teams multiple times. She was named the Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year and accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Tennessee.
Laurie Beth Puglisi '05 (Soccer) lettered all four years at Bishop O'Connell. She was named first team All-WCAC and All-Met. She earned a scholarship to play soccer at Virginia Tech and earned a B.S. in Marketing.
1983-1984 Football Team played in the original WCAC league before it was split into two divisions, so there was significant high level competition involved in their accomplishments. They finished the season with a 9-2 record and the Virginia State title.
Tommy Orndorff (Softball Coach) is O'Connell's all-time winningest coach, retiring in 2018. Over a period of 33 years, his teams racked up 780 wins on their path to winning 23 Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) Division I State Championships and 20 WCAC Championships. Twice he was named the Washington Post All-Met Coach of the Year. Coach Orndorff was inducted into the USA National Softball Hall of Fame in 2014, the Better Sports Club of Arlington's Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Greater Washington Fastpitch Softball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Cindy Walls (Cross Country Coach) served as the head coach of the girls cross country team from 2005 to 2019, leading the team to 11 WCAC and eight VISAA titles. She also coached the boys cross country team for a time period, as well as both indoor and outdoor track. During her time at O'Connell, 79 of her athletes were selected to the All-State team. Coach Walls was named the 2007 Cross Country Coach of the Year by the Washington Post, and the 2013 Overall Coach of the Year by the Arlington Better Sports Club.
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