McGill sports pantheon inducts six new members
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MONTREAL - Former Olympic swimmer Richard Pound, who went on to a lengthy administrative career with the International Olympic Committee, headlines a new cast of six inductees to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame, Thursday, bringing the list of honoured members to 101 since the pantheon opened in 1996.
The induction luncheon officially kicks off the University's Homecoming Week celebrations.
Other honourees include Val St. Germain, a stellar offensive lineman from Ottawa, who played 14 seasons in the Canadian Football League, plus Tambra Dunn, a highly-decorated distance runner from St. Bruno, Que., and striker Brian Decaire of Beaconsfield, Que., who captained the soccer Redmen to a national championship in 1981.
Selected in the builder category is Bob Pugh, originally from Verdun, Que., and a resident of Manotick, Ont., who coached football and hockey and served 13 years as director of athletics at the University's Macdonald campus, before embarking on a long career as executive president of the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union.
Rounding out the slate is McGill's legendary 1919 Yates Cup championship football team, which outscored their opponents by a lopsided 94-8 margin and featured a defence that did not concede a single touchdown.
The selection committee, chaired by John Cleghorn, was composed of a group representing students, administrative staff, university officials and alumni, including Prof. David Covo, Tom Thompson, Dr. Alan Mann, Mike Nelson, Dawson Tilley, Sally McDougall, Gael Eakin, Bob Winsor, Robert Watt, Stephen Lloyd, Rebecca Martindale, Skylar Adams, Drew Love (secretary), Kathryn Weaver (recording secretary) and Earl Zukerman (research coordinator).
Submissions for future inductions can be made by obtaining a nomination brochure from the McGill Athletics & Recreation. A list of previous inductees can be found online at (www.mcgill.ca/athletics/varsitysports/athletes/hof/inductees/).
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RICHARD POUND PROFILE:
Richard Pound, a long-time Montreal-based lawyer specializing in tax litigation at the firm of Stikeman Elliott, he was born Richard William Duncan Pound in St. Catharines, Ont., on March 22, 1942 but was raised in numerous towns, including Ocean Falls, B.C., La Tuque, Que., and Trois-Rivieres. A star swimmer with the Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Redmen from 1958 to 1962 and from 1964 to 1967, he established school records in every freestyle event, winning three Canadian intercollegiate gold medals in each of his freshman, sophomore and senior years. He earned a commerce degree from McGill in 1962, followed by a bachelor's degree in arts from Sir George Williams University in 1963, where he made the Dean's Honour List. He returned to McGill to complete a law degree in 1967 and was honoured by the Scarlet Key Society.
The 6-foot-2, 163-pound sprinter became the first Canadian to swim the 100-yard freestyle in under 49 seconds and the 100-metre free in under 56 seconds. He owned every freestyle record in Canada up to 220 yards. A Canadian butterfly champion in 1961 and a four-time national freestyle champion (1958, 1960, 1961, 1962), he competed for Canada at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago and the 1960 Rome Olympics, where he was the only Canadian to be a finalist in two events, finishing fourth in the 4x400-metre medley relay and sixth in the 100m freestyle. Now, 50 years later, Pound still ranks as the last Canadian to make the Olympic final in the 100m free.
He also competed in the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia, capturing one gold medal (with a Commonwealth record in the 110 free), two silvers and a bronze. Not only was he Canada's top freestyle sprinter in that era, he was also an outstanding intercollegiate squash racquets player, ranking nationally in both singles and doubles, winning the intercollegiate title twice.
Pound served as secretary of the Canadian Olympic Association in 1968, earned the presidency in 1977, was co-opted as a member of the International Olympic Committee in 1978, went on to serve 18 years on the IOC executive board. He also served 20 years as chair of the McGill Athletics Board, 23 years on the University's Board of Governors and 11 years as chancellor of McGill, receiving an honorary law doctorate in 2009.
In 2001, Pound received the Lester B. Pearson award, presented by Canadian Intercollegiate Sport, to a distinguished Canadian citizen and former university athlete whose personal achievements exemplify the ideals and purposes of amateur sport.Ìý He was previously been inducted to the Canadian Aquatics Hall of Fame (1972), the Canadian Amateur Athletic Hall of Fame, the Quebec Swimming Federation Hall of Fame (1993) and the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame (2001). He also the International Swimming Hall of Fame's gold medallion award in 2002.
Among other honours, he received the Order of Canada and the Order of Quebec.
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VAL ST. GERMAIN PROFILE:
Football player Val St. Germain wasÌý born on Oct. 8, 1971 in Ottawa to a mother of Cree descent and a French-Canadian father. The 6-foot-4, 308-pound offensive lineman played four seasons at McGill and graduated with a degree in education, majoring in English and history.
He was selected first overall by Hamilton in the 1994 CFL amateur draft, becoming the first McGill player to be picked No. 1 since Len Sigurdson in 1958. A two-time all-Canadian guard with the Redmen, St. Germain played 32 games during his university career, winning 13 lineman-of-the-game awards, the Touchdown Club trophy as the team's most outstanding lineman and the Forbes trophy as McGill's male athlete of the year in 1993-94.
In his final campaign with the Redmen, he was one of two Canadians selected to play in the East-West Shrine all-star game - primarily a showcase of NCAA seniors to professional scouts - in Palo Alto, Calif.
St. Germain then embarked on an extensive 14-year career in the Canadian Football League. In total, he played 204 CFL regular-season games with Hamilton (1994-98), Edmonton (1999-01), Ottawa (2002-05), Winnipeg (2006-07) and Saskatchewan (2007).A three-time CFL all-star (1998, 1999, 2003) he played in the 1998 Grey Cup game with Hamilton (a loss to Calgary). He earned a Grey Cup ring with Saskatchewan's in 2007 but missed the championship game due to injury.
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TAMBRA DUNN PROFILE:
Distance runner Tambra Dunn was born on May 20, 1976, in St. Bruno, Que. She earned a commerce degree at McGill in 1998, graduating in only three years, while competing in both cross-country running and track and field.
One of the most decorated female athletes in McGill sporting history, Dunn earned All-Canadian honours three times in cross-country and twice in track. She earned team MVP honours in both sports every season and captured the Gladys Bean trophy as McGill's female athlete of the year in 1997-98.
Dunn ran for Quebec at two different Canada Games and represented Canada at the 1998 world cross-country championships in Marrakesh, Morocco, where she posted the second-fastest performance by a Canadian woman. That season she led McGill to a best-ever third-place finish at the CIS track championships, winning two gold medals (3000m, 4x800m) and one silver (1500m).
In addition to CIS gold (3000m) and silver (1500m) in 1996, she captured bronze at the 1997 CIS cross-country championship. Over her three seasons she was undefeated at the Quebec conference level in both the 1500m and 3000m events.
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BRIAN DECAIRE PROFILE:
Brian Leon Decaire was born on Oct. 30, 1958 in Beaconsfield, Que., and graduated from McGill with a BA in 1982. He quickly moved up the ladder, playing minor soccer for the Lakeshore soccer club, the Beaconsfield Under-18 squad that won a national title, the Quebec Selects senior team.
A 6-foot-2, 195-pound defender on the McGill men's soccer team, he was rarely beaten in the air and possessed such a devastat ing shot that he twice led the Redmen in scoring (1979 and 1980).
Decaire earned All-Canadian honours in each of his three seasons (1979, 1980, 1981) and was voted Team MVP every year. In 1981-82, he captured the Forbes trophy as the University's male athlete of the year.
Decaire captained McGill to a pair of conference titles and the 1981 CIAU championship in Edmonton, Alberta, the team's first-ever national title. In the gold medal final, he scored in penalty kicks to help the Redmen win a shootout 4-2 over the hometown Alberta Golden Bears for a 1-0 victory. He merited All-tournament honours in both of his appearances at the Nationals.
He was invited to pro tryouts with the Chicago Sting and Montreal Manic of the North American Soccer League. He played for the Manic in 1982 and 1983.
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BOB PUGH PROFILE:
Robert Pugh was born in Verdun, Que., on Oct. 29, 1928, he went on to Springfield College, graduating with a science degree in 1950 From 1955 to 1969, he served as the tireless director of athletics at McGill's Macdonald campus in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Que. During his tenure, he also coached the Macdonald football and hockey teams for nine and 14 seasons, respectively. A former director of Hockey Canada, he served as co-chair on the Canadian Olympic Hockey Committee and sat for six years as president of the Ottawa - St. Lawrence Athletics Association.
In 1971, Pugh became the first executive director of the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (now know as the CIS), an organization he helped create and served there for 20 years until his retirement in 1991. He was a member of the organizing committee that established the Vanier Cup, now the most prestigious event in Canadian intercollegiate football. In 1972, he was appointed chef-de-mission at the FISU world university games in Moscow. A decade later, he was a member of the board of directors for the 1983 FISU Games in Edmonton.
"I was coached in football and hockey, in the early sixties, by Bob Pugh," said Bryan Murray, a McGill grad who is the general manager of the NHL's Ottawa Senators. "I also had the opportunity to work with him, as an assistant athletics director and hockey coach, on the Macdonald campus.ÌýI remember the discipline, behavior, work ethic and respect that all of his student-athletes were expected to show and in return were shown.
"Bob was a classy, respectful man who expected each of us to conduct ourselves as good representatives of the school and team. I remember the effort he put into his responsibility as the coach and athletics director.Ìý I know that exposure to Bob had a huge influence on my career. The treatment and respect I received allowed me to better understand how athletes should be treated. I have tried to follow that code with my teams. I wish him good luck for this much deserved recognition."
Pugh received the J.P. Loosemoore Award in 1992, presented to an administrator for contribution to sport in addition to reflecting the best of university sport in terms of ethics, integrity and honesty. The R.W. Pugh Award is presented annually in his honour to the most sportsmanlike player in CIS men's hockey. In 2008, an annual Bob Pugh Golf Classic was founded by the Macdonald campus to create proceeds for a scholarship fund named in his honour.
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1919 McGILL FOOTBALL TEAM PROFILE:
McGill's 1919 Yates Cup championship football team was a dominant squad that went undefeated and has the unique distinction of not conceding a touchdown. The team, which featured 12 veterans from World War I, was coached by the legendary Frank Shaughnessy and captained by Lorne (Monty) Montgomery, won all four of their games, outscoring opponents by a lopsided 94-8 margin, establishing school records in that era for most points scored and fewest points allowed in a season.
They opened their season with road victories at Queen's (32-2 on Oct. 18) and Toronto (16-3, Nov.1), then rechristened the newly refurbished Percival Molson Memorial Stadium with a 25-2 conquest over Queen's on Nov. 8 and closed out the campaign with resounding 25-1 victory over ÌýU of T on Nov. 15. Among the legendary names that played on that squad were Robert (Boo) Anderson, Cyril (Flin) Flanagan, D. Stuart Forbes, Geoffrey Notman, V.P. Heney and Dudley Ross, plus Donald Baillie (who's future son, Charlie, went on to coach the Redmen and was also inducted in the McGill pantheon).
Other team members included Harold M. Allen, Douglas W. Ambridge, Edward Selby Cope, Russell H. Donnelly, John N. Gallery, Joe P. Gilhooley, Tommy Hall, M. Kern, Eric J. Laffoley, Louis M.J. Lally, Norman Livshin, A. Douglas Mallison, James Gordon Nicholson, G.A. (Punch) Parkins, Les Parsons, W. Pringle Seath, Noah Timmins, Norman Wallace, Phillip Weiser and Norm T. Williamson.
The club's honorary president was T.R. McLagan and the support staff included equipment managers Herbert Mahaffey and Dave Smith, along with assistant manager Gerald Anglin.
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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
McGill Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
514-398-1956 (Fax)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
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