2016 Sports Hall of Fame inductees named

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This article was published 04/07/2016 (3695 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A wise member of the sports community has often said that, in order to be considered for induction into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, a candidate needs to have a doctorate in his or her sport.

He felt that having the equivalent of a bachelor’s or master’s might earn induction into the hall of fame of an individual sport but wasn’t enough to gain entrance into the provincial shrine.

That wise man has been inducted into two individual sport halls as an athlete.

The Sports Hall of Fame recently announced the names of the five athletes, two builders and two teams that will receive the province’s highest sports honor in 2016.

They will be inducted into the HOF at the 37th annual induction ceremony on Nov. 5 at the Victoria Inn.

The athletes are a diverse group with track star Alanna (Yakiwchuk) Hinrichsen, Joey Johnson from wheelchair basketball, hockey’s Mike Keane, swimmer Rhiannon Leier-Blacher and Jim Heighton, a former Blue Bomber.

Heighton will be honoured as an all-round athlete as he also competed at a high level in basketball, baseball, track and field and soccer. The two builders are sports psychologist Dr. Cal Botterill and rugby’s first HOF inductee, the late John Reilly from Brandon.

The teams are the 1971-1974 University of Winnipeg Wesmen men’s volleyball teams and the 1985 junior men’s curling team skipped by Bob Ursel. The Wesmen won the national CIAU championship four consecutive years from 1971 to 1974. Ursel’s Granite squad, which included third Brent Mendella, second Gerald Chick and lead Mike Ursel, won the world junior men’s championship.

Biographies that demonstrate how well-qualified the 2016 inductees are can be read on the HOF website. The selections are made each year by an independent selection committee from a long list of candidates.

The public can submit nominations for future consideration by completing a nomination form available on the website and supplying support material.

(Editor’s note: For purposes of full disclosure, columnist Kent Morgan has served on the selection committee since 2000, first as an elected representative of a provincial sports organization and latterly as the veterans committee member.)

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Volleyball Manitoba inducted three players, one builder and one team into its Hall of Fame on June 12 at the Canada Inns Polo Park.

Claire Lloyd, Keith Sanheim and Steve Welch all won Canadian championships at the University of Manitoba before playing for Canada’s national teams on international courts. Builder Lloyd Voth was twice named Volleyball Manitoba coach of the year and served as president of the provincial association. The Lord Selkirk High School Royals won the provincial girls high school championship from 1976 to 1979. 

Memories of Sport appears every second week in the Canstar Community News weeklies. Kent Morgan can be contacted at 204-489-6641 or email: sportsmemories@canstarnews.com