Our next inductee is Andrea Comeau Braham who is a 1996 graduate of Reading Memorial High School and a 2000 graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. As you will see in Andrea’s is one of the best all around athletes this state has ever seen. As a multi-eventer, she could do it all, run, jump and throw. According to her bio from her induction into the Reading H.S. Hall of Fame, “From her sophomore year to her senior year, she never lost a league running or hurdling event, winning or sharing the league MVP honors for both indoor and outdoor track for three consecutive years. She was named the Daily Times Chronicle outstanding girls track performer for 5 of those 6 years.” In remembering her years at Reading, she gives most of the credit to her coaches Ken Feit, Nancy Madden and John Barret She says, “They were all so patient through the typical whining of high school girls and they taught her how to move and practice for every event.” She also recalls being at a two-day competition right here at Reggie Lewis and that her and her teammates were joking about how there were no medals or trophies. Coach Feit told them what they were getting was the opportunity to compete. The next day her teammate brought a glass jar so they could capture that “Opportunity”. To this day Andrea keeps that jar full of “Opportunity”. What a great outlook on life. It’s pretty evident that Andrea must have seized every one of those opportunities throughout her life. According to the Boston Globe, “Comeau was the key ingredient in Reading’s charge to the EMass Class B title and its first All-State crown”. While at UMass Andrea recalls special friendships formed with Melissa Ward, Vinnie Pullia and her coach Jim Giroux. She remembers her team winning the A-10’s by beating among the other A-10 teams, Virginia Tech at Virginia. Andrea received her degree in education and has been teaching for the past 20 years in both England and Wakefield. She currently is a 3 rd grade teacher at Greenwood School in Wakefield. She resides in Swampscott with her husband Darren and her three children 14-year-old Ollie,11-year-old Violet and 8-year-old Theo.
Class: 1996 Inducted: 2023