UW Gazette, November 8, 1995 Dave Wilson Dave was a student at the University of Waterloo in the 1970's. We can say the 1970's since he was here for most of that decade after enrolling in 1972 and graduating in 1979 with a year off in 1976-77 while he held a full-time position at Camp Tawingo. He left UW in 1979 with two degrees, a BSc and an MSc both in Kinesiology. His Master's degree specialized in muscle physiology, an area of study he would return to later in his life. During his career at UW Dave was both an active swimmer with the Warrior swim team as well as serving as an Assistant Coach during his last year at UW. While he was an outstanding swimmer with the Warriors in all of his five, competitive years, the two-year period from 1974 until 1976 would have to be highlighted. During that period he was captain of the Warriors and held every UW record in freestyle races from 50 yards to 1650 yards, a total of five events. In addition to the freestyle records, he held the records in the 200 and 400 yard Individual Medley races and was a member of record setting teams in three relay events. That's a total of ten records during this period. That's quite a record. In all five years as a UW swimmer, Dave qualified for the CIAU championships. Qualifying for these championships requires meeting a time standard set for all swimmers across Canada. Dave won the CIAU silver medal in the 200 yard freestyle in 1975 and was named an All Canadian Swimmer both 1974-75 and 1975-76. In his last year of swimming at UW, 1977-78, he helped the Warriors to one of their three, consecutive CIAU championships. He helped to coach the Warriors to another CIAU championship the following year. Dave was involved in international swimming during his UW career. In 1973 he competed in the Maccabiah Games in Israel and helped to capture the silver medal for Canada in the 4 x 200 freestyle relay. Following graduation from UW in 1979, Dave went to work for British Columbia Hydro where he was Director of Fitness for five years. For his outstanding contribution to fitness in BC he received a Provincial Award in 1983. Dave returned to university in 1984 when he enrolled in medical school at McMaster University. He graduated as an MD in 1987. His internship was spent at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. He received yet more awards during his internship being recognized for his work in internal medicine and psychiatry. The international aspect of his work in doctoring came following his internship when he went to work in Soweto Township just outside Johannesburg, South Africa. He followed that by working for a time in an area near the border with war-torn Mozambique. He returned to Vancouver in 1990 where he has been engaged in general practice for the past five years. He is Director of Education at Lions Gate Hospital as well as Chairman of their Perinatal Committee. Dave is still an ac tive athlete. He maintains a weekly swimming program. He recently retired from Triathlon competitions to better concentrate on cross country running, mountain biking and rock climbing. For his outstanding contribution to the UW swim program both as a competitor and as an assistant coach, it is our pleasure to bestow upon Dave Wilson, our highest athletic honour, Induction into the UW Athletics Hall of Fame. Maria Da Costa Seto Maria attended the University of Waterloo from 1971 until 1975 when she graduated with Bachelor of Arts specializing in Spanish. In all four of those years, she was a member of the Athena Volleyball Team. Her leadership qualities were recognized when she was selected as the captain of the team in her last two years with the squad. In both of those years she was also selected as the Most Valu able Player with the team. While still at UW, Maria and some of her teammates were competing at the Club level in Ontario Volleyball Association competition. In the 1974-75 season, her team won the OVA Triple A championship and went on to participate in the National Championship. Maria was also beginning her coaching career in those years, while still attending university. She coached a local Junior team in OVA competition. Many of the members of her team were selected to the Ontario Provincial team and Maria was named a Co-coach of that team which represented Ontario in the Canada Winter Games held in Thunder Bay. While Maria excelled as a player at Waterloo, and while she started on her coaching career at Waterloo, she was involved in another aspect of volleyball, that of teacher- author during those years. She was the principal writer and co-producer of the Videotape and Manual entitled, "Bump, Set and Spike" published by the Ontario government. This video is intended to provide assistance to coach-teachers in promoting the sport of volleyball. Following graduation, Maria continued her competitive volleyball career. Over the next few years she was a member of numerous championship volleyball teams in Senior Ontario Ladies competition. She also pursued her coaching career at the club level through her work with the Scarborough Titans Volleyball club. Her teams have won numerous championships at the Junior, Juvenile and Midget levels. Six of her athletes have been selected to Canada's National Volleyball Team and have represented Canada in international competition. Her husband Bill has been very much involved in Maria's work with the Scarborough club. Since 1976 Maria has been a teacher in Oakville with the Halton Board of Education. She now coaches in one of their high schools. In 1994 her Oakville Trafalgar High School women's team finished fourth at the Ontario High School Championship. Last school year, Maria's team was the gold medalist in the Ontario High School Championship. The family tradition of volleyball continues in Maria's family. A member of the Provincial championship team at the Bantam level, playing for the Scarborough Titan Team, was Maria's daughter Jennifer. For her outstanding contribution to the volleyball program at UW through her participation as a player and through her involvement as an author-producer-coach and teacher, it is our honour to bestow our highest athletic award, Induction into the UW Athletics Hall of Fame. Dennis McGann Dennis enrolled at the University of Waterloo in Canada's Centennial year of 1967. For the next five years he was active in many areas of campus life particularly as a runner, jumper, sports reporter as well as a student. He graduated in 1972 with a BSc in Kinesiology. His talents as a runner and jumper were so extensive that his coaches, aware that he could score points in so many events, had to guard against entering him in too many events lest his performance suffer. Dennis gave willingly of his efforts and was always eager and ready to perform. His performances are legendary. It could be said that after a year to warmup to university competition, Dennis and the Warrior track and field team took off. From his second to his last year of competition, the Warriors won four, consecutive league championships, first in the Ontario- Quebec league and from 1971 in the OUAA. Dennis competed in the 100 and 220 yard races, the sprint relay and the mile relay. In the field events he competed in the long jump, the triple jump and, on occasion, was pressed into service in the high jump. He also ran cross country races. In the 1970 OQAA championship, Dennis won four, gold medals. They came in the 100 yard and 220 yard races, the long jump and the sprint relay. During his career at UW, Dennis set eight team records. One of those records came in the Maple Leaf Indoor Games in 1971 when Dennis won the 300 yard sprint, setting a Canadian record. His performance earned him the Outstanding College Athlete Award in those Games. Those who follow track performances realize that times get faster and faster: records get lower and lower. The interesting fact about Dennis' performances, while at UW almost twenty-five years ago, is that of those eight records that Dennis set back in the late 60's and early 70's, he still shares or holds seven all-time Warrior records. His records were not limited to Canadian soil. Another national record that he set occurred while he was competing for Canada in Sardinia as a member of a sprint relay team. While literally running around the country, Dennis pursued another interest that he had, that of news reporting. He started as a reporter with the student newspaper and rose to the position of sports editor for his last two years at Waterloo. It was with pride that we saw sports coverage on the UW campus grow from an average of three columns per weekly issue to three pages per week. Not content to just compete and write, Dennis applied his administrative talents to the position of Kinesiology representative on the Federation of Students in his final year at UW. Dennis' experience in writing got him his first job following graduation from UW. He was appointed sports Editor of the Fraser Valley News Herald in Langley, BC. He was pro moted to Editor and then to Managing Editor before a change of career took him to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, first in Ottawa and then in Vancouver. Four years ago, Dennis left CUPE to become a founding partner in NOW Communications Group, a social marketing firm in Vancouver. He remains with that firm at the present time. As a multifaceted athlete and individual, a person who made outstanding contributions to university life in general and to the UW athletics program in particular, it gives us a great deal of pleasure to present Dennis withour highest athletic award, Induction into our Athletics Hall of Fame. Neil Widmeyer Neil joined the Faculty of UW's Department of Athletics and Physical Education in January of 1966. Prior to coming to Waterloo, Neil had enjoyed a very successful high school teaching and coaching career, first in Amherstburg and then in Kitchener. In both locations he coached teams to basketball championships. His teams won in excess of 66% of their games. In track and field, his teams won three city and three district championships with several athletes gaining recognition at the All Ontario level. From 1966 until 1969, Neil was an assistant coach with the UW basketball Warriors and the head coach of the Junior Varsity team, the "Pioneers". Neil maintained his successful winning percentage with the Pioneers while developing many fine young athletes who went on to star for the Warriors. Perhaps his finest coaching achievement came in the 1967-68 season when Neil filled in as the head coach of the Warriors, when another member of the UW Athletics Hall of Fame, Dan Pugliese, was forced to the sidelines with a medical problem. Neil is probably the only coach in OUAA history to retire with a perfect 1,000% coaching record. He won both of his games while at the helm. What was especially notable about those two wins is that one took place in the old bowling alley gym at the University of Toronto, always a tough place to play, while the other game was a win over the defending national champions, and at the time of the game, the undefeated University of Windsor Lancers. While helping to build a very successful basketball program, it was with the track and field team that Neil made an even greater contribution to the UW athletics program. Prior to his appointment as the head coach, the team complement stood at only twelve competitors. Through an extensive recruitment program, both within the university and at high school track meets around the province, Neil had 31 team members in 1967 and that increased to 45 competitors the following year. When Neil came to UW, the program was geared to one championship meet at the conclusion of the training season. Neil expanded UW's program to include meets against other Ontario universities, to invitational meets in Toronto, to meets in the United States, particularly in Michigan, a hotbed of track competition at that time. An innovator from the start, Neil organized the Warrior Invitational High School Track and Field Meet, a meet for the best of Ontario's high school runners; he organized the Ring Road Relays, another event to maintain interest and to provide training for UW athletes; he organized cross country meets that started during a football game and then finished in the stadium at half time of the games; he established training regimens for his athletes in the tunnels beneath the UW campus and in the corridors of the Kitchener Auditorium to name only some of his new approaches to track at UW back in the late 1960's and early 1970's In team competitions during his tenure as the coach, he had a winning percentage of 83%. He led the team to two OUAA championships and his cross country team to a gold medal. That cross country team finished in second place in the CIAU championship held that season in Halifax. His coaching exper tise was recognized by his co-coaches as they selected him to be coach of a combined Ontario and Quebec team at one of the first national interuniversity meets held in Winnipeg in 1969. He helped to develop many conference, provincial, national and international track athletes. One of those athletes, Dennis McGann, was honoured here earlier this evening. Neil left Waterloo in the Fall of 1970 to pursue his PhD. He returned to UW in 1972 and moved full-time into a faculty position in the newly created Department of Kinesiology. While not now actively involved in coaching at the interuniversity level, he follows all interuniversity sports with a special appreciation for the track and field program now under the direction of one of his former athletes Brent McFarlane. He also maintains his contact with the Athletics and Recreational Services Department through his chairmanship of the Mike Moser Fund. This Fund is named in memory of a former Warrior Basketball player who died very suddenly in 1975. The Fund provides bursaries to needy UW students who excel in academics and athletics. In recognition of his outstanding work as a Builder of the UW athletics program, it is our honour to present Neil with our highest honour, Induction into our Athletics Hall of Fame. Leanne Dietrich Athena Athlete of the Year Leanne was a member of the Athena Field Hockey Team for five years. She was an OWIAA All Star in 1992 and 1994 and an All Star in Indoor Hockey in 1993. In her last year with the team, Leanne was the team's leading scorer and one of the scoring leaders in league play. She was the Captain of the team and was named the team's Most Valuable Player. Over the years, Leanne has been recognized with many awards. She has been named Athena Athlete of the Week on many occasions; she was named Rookie of the Year in her first season with the Athenas; she has been a member of the Ontario Provincial Field Hockey Team for three years; she was the recipient of a Mike Moser Award; she has served as her team's representative on the Women's Interuniversity Council and she served as an assistant coach in UW's Indoor hockey program this past year. Shawn Smith Warrior Athlete of the Year Shawn has been an outstanding member of the Warrior volleyball team for all of his five years at UW. For the past three years he has been the Captain of the team and in each of those years, he has been selected as a member of the All Canadian Volleyball Team. In the 1994-95 season, Shawn was named as an All Star at five interuniversity tournaments. He has been a member of the OUAA All Star team for the past four years. In the season just concluded, he was nominated as the Men's Volleyball nominee for the TSN-CIAU Award for Academic, Athletic and Community Achievement. Cory Delaney Warrior Athlete of the Year Cory is a five-year player with the Warrior football team. In each of those years, he was named as member of the OUAA All Star team. Twice during his UW career, Cory has led the nation in pass interceptions. In the 1994 OUAA season, Cory led the league in punt returns. Since being named as the Rookie of the Year in his freshman year, Cory has been a leader on the football field. While receiving many honours during his career at UW, those awards reached their high point this past season when he was named to the All Canadian Football Team and was presented with the CIAU's President's Trophy awarded annually to the Best Defensive Player in Canada. Gord Fawcett All Canadian Football Player Following an injury, in his last year of high school, that would have spelled finish to most football players, Gord Fawcett displayed the determination to recover from that injury that he displayed to be named a member of the All Canadian Football Team in the 1994 season. His leadership qualities were evident throughout his career. He was named a Captain of the team in his final season with the Warriors. Jason Gregroire All Canadian Cross Country Runner Jason has shown steady, consistent improvement in his five years of running at UW. His expertise is not confined to either the indoor or the outdoor seasons as he has won medals in both indoor events and outdoor events. He possesses good speed and is a member of the 4 x 800 meter relay teams in OUAA and CIAU competition. He is also an excellent cross country runner and it was in this speciality that his outstanding 1994 season resulted in his being selected as an All Canadian Cross Country Runner in 1994. Rachelle Brohman All Canadian Field Hockey Player Rachelle, in her third year of play with the Athena field hockey team last year, helped the team to win the bronze medal in OWIAA competition. During the season, Rachelle supplied a good portion of the Athenas' scoring. Her scoring ability, her passing ability and her all-round work ethic were recognized around the country. In a sport in which all star selectors frequently monitor members of national teams or provincial teams when they begin their all star selection process, Rachelle's all- round, outstanding talent was recognized and earned her All Canadian Status. Brad Harris All Canadian Football Player Over his five-year career with the football Warriors, Brad grew into one of the most respected defensive ends in the nation. Opposing coaches, when they chose to run to his side of the field, always double or triple-teamed him in their blocking patterns. In spite of the extra attention given to Brad, he consistently led the Warriors in tackles and quarterback sacks. In recognition of his outstanding play during the 1995 season, Brad was selected to the All Canadian Team. Jeff Miller All Canadian Pole Vaulter Jeff, who is in his fourth year of competition as a member of the Warrior track and field team, competed for Canada in the 1994 Commonwealth Games held in Victoria, B.C. He is currently competing for the Warriors while at the same time continuing his preparations for the Atlanta Olympic Games. At the conclusion of interuniversity competition last season, Jeff Miller won the gold medal in the pole vault at the 1995 CIAU Championship thereby earning All Canadian Status. Sarah Dillabuagh All Canadian Runner Sarah was in her third year of competition with the Athena track team when she won the silver medal in the 1,500 metre race at the 1995 CIAU Championship. She was also a member of UW's 4 x 800 relay team. Her outstanding performances in the championship meet earned Sarah her All Canadian status for the 1994-95 season.