Mark Nesbit, Class of 1980: Tennis

Mark Nesbit set a standard of excellence and achievement during his Peddie career that only a select few could approach. Exceptional in tennis as number-one singles player all three years at Peddie, Nesbit also excelled as an offensive lineman on the football team and top goal-scorer on the hockey team. His teammate and roommate, Dave Armellini, described him as “the greatest natural athlete I’ve ever met.”

“If Mark has a weakness,” wrote advisor Bill Creeden, “it is that he does not understand what partial commitment means.” His teacher, tennis and football coach, Bob Monahan, was “astounded by his ability and poise. Whether in the classroom, on the gridiron or on the court, he’ll do whatever is necessary to excel.”

But what most set Mark apart was that his innate gift for sports was matched by his unfailing sense of sportsmanship. Athletic Director Harry Oxford observed, “Mark’s admirable competitive spirit is always under control. I have seen him call his opponents’ shots ‘in’ when they could have been called ‘out’ without question.” In the words of Head Pro Jonathan Stein at Forest Green Racquet Club in Indiana, where Mark had been the state’s top under-16 player, “His conduct in tournaments was always of the highest caliber. At a time when players were allowed to act so emotionally, Mark was an example of sportsmanship.”

Coach Steve Dagdigian added, “Mark was a very important part of the rejuvenation of Peddie hockey, helping take Peddie from playing the junior varsity teams of Lawrenceville, Hill and Princeton Day School to being a respected and dangerous foe of their varsities, and building the base for Peddie to compete against top New England hockey schools at major tournaments.”

Today, 30 years after honoring this 1980 recipient of Peddie’s coveted Winant Cup “for academic and athletic excellence,” the Sports Hall of Fame proudly recognizes Mark Nesbit, a student-athlete who maintained the highest standards of commitment, achievement and integrity.