The Wallaceburg Sports Hall of Fame will hold their annual dinner and induction ceremony tonight (Jan. 31) at the UAW Hall in Wallaceburg.
The inductees this year include:
Male Athlete – Eldon Griffith Memorial Award: Andy Johnston – was active in junior hockey and senior baseball.
Female Athlete – Marion and Bill Chinnick Memorial Award of Excellence: Wendy (Shaw) Ursel – played highschool basketball, volleyball, soccer and field hockey.
Builder Inductee – Mike Childs Memorial Award of Excellence: Bob Dekoning – played, coached and organized curling.
Coach/Official – Ray Aarssen Memorial Award of Excellence: Bill Davis – coached basketball for years and is active with Basketball Wallaceburg.
Team: 1960-61 WOSSA Senior Boys Volleyball Championship team – Went undefeated in the regular season before winning WOSSA.
Ray Aarssen Hall Of Fame Scholarship for 2014: Shane Outridge – competed in SWOSSAA for the WDSS swim team, won many awards at the school and is currently studying medical science at the University of Western Ontario.
Guest speaker:Â Ian Leggatt – The Cambridge native had one PGA Tour win and another Nationwide Tour win in his career, which was cut short in 2009 due to injuries. He is now director of golf at Summit Golf and Country Club in Richmond Hill, Ontario and appears on Sportsnet as their golf analyst regularly.
The annual award recipients, include:
Athlete of the year: Taylor McArthur – McArthur is a member of the University of Windsor cross-country and track teams. He helped the Lancers’ men’s 4×800-metre relay team set a Canadian Interuniversity Sport record while winning gold at the championships held in March. McArthur also competed in some local runs as well, winning the WAMBO Run and the St. Clair River Run.
Coach of the year: Jason Fox – Fox helped a pair of Wallaceburg Griffins clubs reach the provincial podium this year. He guided the intermediate boys to a ‘C’ championship gold medal and the intermediate girls to a silver.
Outstanding achievement award: Jordan Durston and Joel Shepley – After spending some time with the Wallaceburg Red Devils junior ‘B’ lacrosse team, the pair moved up to compete with the Six Nations Arrows in the junior ‘A’ circuit. The pair helped the Arrows capture the Minto Cup as Canadian champions.
Builder of the year award: David Gough – Gough has done an admirable job covering local sports in his 12 years with the Courier Press.
