Inductees

Athlete Bio

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Megan Moran-Gates

Class of 1999

A versatile three-sport star and captain who was recognized as the CCHS female Athlete of the Year at her graduation ceremony, Megan Moran-Gates went on to an All-Ivy League track career at Harvard University.

Moran-Gates moved to Concord in elementary school, participating in youth sports programs while attending Alcott and then Peabody before moving on to CCHS in 1995. Fall found her playing soccer for Hall of Famer Karyn Hesse Copland for two years and current coach Nancy Slocum for two more. A senior captain, Moran-Gates rarely left the field from her halfback position due to her high fitness level, despite playing her entire senior year with a broken wrist suffered in pre-season practice.

In winter, Moran-Gates turned to basketball, and after playing a year on the freshman team for Coach Joe Leone, was part of a good run under coach Dick DiMare. A two-time DCL all-star as a ball-hawking guard, Moran-Gates captained the squad her junior and senior year, and was part of teams that paved the way to the 2001 state title, the first in program history. She earned honorable mention Academic All-State honors from the Mass Basketball Coaches and placed second in the DCL three-point shooting contest her senior year,

Outdoor track was where Moran-Gates earned the most acclaim, as after being convinced to run track in her sophomore year, she was a four-year star for coaches Matt Tytler and Steve Lane. A DCL all-star on multiple occasions, Moran-Gates set school records in the 400m (61.0), 800m (2:16.81) and anchored the school-record 4x400m and 4x800m relay teams she ran along with Liz Cope, Dory Folk and Lise Holdorf. Moran-Gates won DCL titles in the 800m and also placed in the top five in Eastern Mass in multiple events as a junior and senior.

"It’s hard to pick out one favorite memory from CCHS athletics—playing sports at CCHS was such a huge part of my life," said Moran-Gates. "From the feeling of walking out onto the football field under the lights for one of our night soccer games; to the adrenaline rush at the moment a teammate passed me the baton or the excitement of seeing my coach and teammates yelling for me as I ran the last 100 meters of my race; to the utter joy I experienced every time I suited up for a basketball game. I loved playing so much I didn’t even mind the suicides Mr. DiMare would make us run in basketball practice, or the grueling workouts Coach Lane would have us do."

Following CCHS, Moran-Gates attended Harvard University, continuing her athletic career as a JV basketball player and on the Crimson track team, earning All-Ivy Honors as part of the Ivy League champion 4x800M relay team. She then graduated from Harvard Law School in 2006 and has been practicing as a trial lawyer in a civil rights law firm in Washington, DC, specializing in housing discrimination and employment discrimination cases. She is married to Harvard classmate Rob Cacace, and they live in Washington, D.C. with their one-year old son, James.