2019 Sports Hall of Fame Inductees
The 2019 Belen Sports Hall of Fame (HoF) welcomed four new members with a ceremony that took place on May 18. Nearly 100 people attended the event, which was held before the Varsity Sports Banquet. The following gentlemen joined the 57 individuals and three teams already inducted into the HoF:
Marshall Thomas '06 - Football, Wrestling, and Basketball
Thomas was a two-year varsity football letterman at Belen and was captain of the team that won Belen’s first district championship in 2005. As a senior, Thomas made First-Team All-Dade, and was named Belen Sportsman of the Year. At Northwestern University, Thomas was a 4-year letterman.
Elliot Clemente '12 - Cross Country and Track & Field
Clemente was a five-year cross country letterman and a four-year varsity track and field letterman at Belen. He was a four time All-State team athlete in cross country and the Miami Herald Runner of the Year in 2011. He continued running at the University of Florida, where he was a four-year letterman in cross-country and track and field.
Esteban Gomez-Rivera '12 - Wrestling
Gomez-Rivera was a six-year wrestling letterman, four-time team captain, four-time team MVP, four -time district champion, two-time regional champion and two-time state champion at Belen. He also holds a high school record of 170 wins and 18 losses. In 2012, Gomez-Rivera was named an Academic All-American, and that same year was named Belen Athlete of the Year.
Richard Stuart – Coach - Football, Track & Field, and Golf
After 34 years of coaching at Belen Jesuit, Coach Stuart retired from coaching in 2016. To date, Coach Stuart has made 18 playoff appearances, won six district titles, one regional title, and became state championship runner-up as the head football coach for the Wolverines. He also remains the winningest coach in Miami-Dade County history. He was named the Miami Herald Coach of the Year for 2009, and is currently the Associate Athletic Director at Belen.
“These gentlemen represent hard work and determination,” said Alumni Director Carlos Bravo ‘86. “They each were stellar athletes during their time at Belen and without a shadow of a doubt Coach Stuart is a Belegend. They are wonderful examples for our current student athletes and I congratulate them on being inducted into our hall of fame.”
The Belen Sports Hall of Fame was instituted in 2007. Members are chosen on the basis of their playing ability, sportsmanship, character, and their contribution to their team or teams and to the game they participated in for el Colegio de Belén, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, el Colegio de Dolores, Sagua, Electromecánica and Montserrat.
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.