Burlington High School (BHS), Winooski High School (WHS), and South Burlington High School (SBHS) joined forces this year to create a combined football team: the Seawolves.

One of the many tasks that fell to BHS history teacher and football coach, Brennan Carney was figuring out what do about a mascot. Luckily, Carney scored some help from BHS alumni and former varsity lacrosse coach, Markus Tracey, who overheard Carney talking about the new team. Tracey decided to put his experience as a graphic design major to work and create the mascot for the new team: the Seawolf.

“I got an email [from Tracey] with sixteen different versions [of the mascot].” Mr. Carney said, “The best part was it was free. It’s kinda cool an alumni like that giving back. He could easily have charged us a lot of money.”

The new mascot is a combination of the BHS seahorse and SBHS wolf. It has the general shape and silhouette of the previous seahorse logo, with the added wolf head, fangs, tail, and fur around the chest.

AJ Scully, a BHS Sophomore JV Seawolf, thinks the new mascot is an upgrade from the previous one.

“It looks more intimidating than a seahorse,” AJ said, “I like it. I think it’s cool.”

Other students agree that the new logo has more bite than the older seahorse.

“That mascot looks amazing,” BHS junior Lennon Mapes said, “It’s very fierce.”

However, some students aren’t sure about the new design.

“I’m not a fan,” senior Simran Padgett said.  “Imagine a wolf with a seahorse tail swimming through the ocean,”

Freshman Gracie Bangoura agrees with the incompatibility of these two distinctly different animals.

“Wolves are above ground,”  Bangoura said. “And Seahorses are down there.”

Junior Odessa Clemmons-Sparks says the new mascot makes her glad she doesn’t represent BHS in athletics.

“If that is on our uniforms,” Odessa said, ”thank god I don’t play sports.”

Regardless of one’s feelings about the new mascot, you can catch the Seawolves next at MMU on Saturday, October 6 at 1 pm.