Best high school mascot in New York: Top 10 candidates

From Bonackers to Tuskers to Thunderchickens, meet the best high school mascots in New York

Author:
Mike Swanson, SBLive Sports
Updated:
Nov 14, 2023 9:13 AM EST
Original:
Nov 6, 2023

If you're in Upstate New York and under siege by Thunderchickens, one plan of escape is to head farther north and find refuge in a Flying Fort.

Or head south and hitch a ride on a Hambletonian to find a good hiding spot on Long Island among the Bonackers.

SBLive Sports' love for unique mascots with interesting back stories has been well documented.

We've crowned Hodags and Imps the past couple of years in national high school mascot contests, and now we're taking a spin through every state.

Over the next couple of months we'll go from Alabama through Wyoming featuring each state's best high school mascots, and then give readers a chance to vote for their favorite. Our New York poll posted Nov. 7 on highschool.si.com and stay open through Nov. 21:

Hambletonian Michael Karas:NorthJersey.com via Imagn Content Services

Here are the top 10 high school mascots in New York:

Archbishop Molloy Stanners

Archbishop Molloy used to be called St. Ann’s Academy, and the students were known as "St. Ann-ers,” which evolved into the easier-to-say Stanners. And since Stanners is definitely easier to say than “Molloyers,” it stuck.

Cardozo Judges

This nickname has sounded a whole lot tougher since the New York Yankee Aaron hit the scene, but word on the street is that school namesake Benjamin N. Cardozo was a pretty darn good judge.

Chester Hambletonians

A hambletonian is a strain of American trotting horses, so if you’re more of a trotter than a runner, Chester High School spirit gear might be for you.

Doane Stuart Thunderchickens

Founded in 1975, Doane Stuart didn’t have a nickname until the 1990s, and it didn’t go over too well at first. Students wanted to become the Thunderchickens, but alumni and administrators shot it down. Teams started unofficially calling themselves the Thunderchickens anyway, a student started dressing up as a chicken at sporting events, and eventually the one-of-a-kind mascot officially stuck.

East Hampton Bonackers

According to an article titled Bonackers: Meaning and Origin: “Traditionally, Bonackers referred to families in Springs, the north side of East Hampton town, who were among the early settlers of the town in the 17th and 18th century. Of recent past, however, the name has come to signify anyone who is born and raised in East Hampton. Further testament to this is the fact that the East Hampton High School mascot is none other than, you guessed it, a Bonacker. Which of course, prompts the question, what does a Bonacker look like? Well a Bonacker mascot resembles a man (or woman) wearing waders complete with suspenders carrying a clamming rake!”

Fort Edward Flying Forts

Kids love building forts. But a flying fort? You have to go to high school in Upstate New York to learn to build one of those. In all seriousness, the origin of the Flying Forts mascot is the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber.

Notre Dame Jugglers

Long story from the school's website that's totally worth it: “Once there was a very talented juggler named Barnabe who had tired of wandering up and down the roads of France and decided that it would be better if he were to dedicate his life to God, as a monk. He entered the monastery with which he was familiar and quite happy. Now, it was the custom of the monastery to do things in honor of the Blessed Mother. One monk would write poetry, another would sculpt, another would paint, and so on. The Juggler could do nothing like this and became quite despondent. Then suddenly he was happy again. Soon the Prior began to notice that Barnabe would disappear every day for about an hour. He wondered what the Juggler was doing and followed him. The Juggler went into the chapel and proceeded to do all of his juggling tricks in front of the statue of Our Lady and before the horrified eyes of the Prior. He ran and got the Abbot to see the sacrilege that was being committed in the chapel. But when they both started up the aisle to stop the Juggler they saw the statue come to life and Our Lady wipe the sweat off the brow of the Juggler.”

Potsdam Sandstoners

The Potsdam Sandstone lies uncomfortably on a surface of Precambrian metamorphic rock primarily north and west of the Adirondack Mountains. The Potsdam Sandstoners — located right near the Canada border — have a comfortably strong ice hockey program.

Somers Tuskers

The town of Somers is known for hosting the first American circus, so the high school chose an elephant as its physical mascot and called its teams the Tuskers. highschoolfootballamerica.com has a fascinating story on Somers’ elephant- and circus-filled history.

Warrensburg Burghers

Indiana has the Frankfort Hot Dogs, and New York has the Warrensburg Burghers. Warrensburg used to be called the Warriors, same nickname as nearby Lake George. The two decided on a winner-take-nickname game, and Lake George prevailed. Warrensburg then became the Burghermeisters, which has since been shortened to the Burghers, so we’d say Warrensburg was the true winner of that matchup.