Three alumni and a former coach will be inducted into Blake’s Athletic Hall of Fame, which highlights the accomplishments of alumni, coaches and friends and celebrates the school’s sports history. New inductees will be honored during a banquet hosted by Blake’s athletics department on Thursday, Sept. 26 as part of Reunion and Homecoming Weekend.

Congratulations the 2024 Blake Athletic Hall of Fame inductees:

Matt Stearns ʼ03
Matt Stearns fenced for Blake, lettering for four years and serving as captain for two. As an eighth grader, he took second place at state in men’s saber. He won the individual men’s saber championship in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, leading the 2003 team in an undefeated season. Blake’s fencing MVP award is named for him. Matt fenced for four years at Notre Dame, from which he graduated in 2007. He was a two-time all-American (2005, 2006) and a member of the 2005 national championship team. He also participated in the university’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council. In addition to fencing for the Bears, Matt was an all-conference football player and three-year letter winner, playing as an offensive and defensive lineman. He lettered twice in track and field, advancing to the regional shot put competition. He is currently a mortgage executive and the founder of Centerpiece Mortgage, an independent broker in Gilbert, Arizona.

Lydia Sutton ʼ14
Lydia Sutton is a 2014 Athena Award winner, playing varsity soccer and lacrosse for Blake. Between both sports, she earned a combined 11 varsity letters, was a captain in both of her sports and was a member of five state championship teams (lacrosse), while making 10state tournament appearances. Lydia joined the varsity soccer program as an eighth grader and was awarded a tri-metro all-conference selection five times, named all-state four times and led her team to the state tournament each year she participated. Over her career, the Bears ended their seasons at the top of Class A, finishing runner-up three times, second twice and champion in 2011. She was the team’s most valuable player during her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. Lydia joined the varsity lacrosse team as a seventh grader and earned six letters. She was named the 2013 Star Tribune All-Metro Player of the Year. Lydia additionally received the accolades of US All-American (2x), Under-Armor All-American, Minnesota Player of the Year (2x), Epoch Player of the Year and Minnesota’s Ms. Lacrosse. She also was a four-time all-Minnesota selection and a five-time Minnesota all-tournament team honoree. Lydia played lacrosse at the University of Southern California for four years and was a captain her junior and senior seasons. While at USC she was named to the PAC12 all-conference team, the International Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Associations (IWLCA) all-region team, and the IWLCA all-American third team. Internationally, Lydia was a U19 Canadian Women’s Lacrosse captain and gold medalist (2015), a Canadian Senior Women’s Lacrosse silver medalist (2013, 2017, 2022—captain) and named an all-world U19 player. Lydia was also a captain and member of the 2022 gold medal team in the World Games. In 2018, Lydia was the first defender selected in the Women’s Professional Lacrosse League college draft; she played for the Upstate Pride (Albany, New York) from 2018-2020. Lydia also was the Concordia University Women’s Lacrosse assistant coach during this time. Since 2014, Lydia has served as a part-time lacrosse coach for MN Elite Girls Lacrosse Club Inc. She is also a human resources operations specialist at Pentair.

Ted Warner
Since 1994, Ted Warner has served as Blake’s varsity tennis coach. During his time, the boys’ tennis team has won 10 state team championships, 11 state singles championships and 12 state doubles championships. Ted started coaching the girls’ tennis team in 1999 and has helped lead the Bears to several team and individual state championships, as both a head and assistant coach. Ted’s accolades include recognition as the Pete Parks Coach of the Year in 1998-99 and in 2013-14. The tennis program was featured in the Star Tribune in 2014. In addition to coaching tennis at Blake, Ted is a tennis professional at Lifetime Fitness. He has previously worked as a tennis director at Northwest Clubs and a tennis professional at Woodhill Country Club. He played college tennis at the University of Minnesota, lettering 1970-1973. In high school he played on the Edina state championship team (1966-68). The team was a state runner up in 1969, and Ted was runner up for the singles title the same year.

Blake Williams ʼ07
Blake Williams played basketball and football for Blake. He received the 2006 Bettels Scholarship and the 2007 John R. Hartmann Athletic Trophy. As a member of the basketball team, Blake surpassed 1,000 points as a junior, only the second person at Blake to accomplish this feat. As a senior, during the 2006-07 season, he led the state of Minnesota in scoring, averaging 27.1 points per game. He was team captain in 2006 and 2007 and was the team’s offensive player of the year and MVP as a sophomore, junior and senior. He received all-conference honors as a junior and a senior and was named all-state as a senior. Blake also lettered in varsity football and wrote for the sports section of the Upper School newspaper, the Spectrum. Blake went on to play basketball for Dartmouth College, where he majored in economics. He is now an investment professional at Almanac Realty Investors, part of Neuberger Berman in New York City, where he resides with his wife, Stephanie.