WESTBROOK — Organizers of the annual Maine Sports Hall of Fame Inductee Ceremony, in light of the tragic events in Lewiston, have made the decision to postpone the event. The event was scheduled to take place on Sunday the 29th at Merrill Auditorium. An announcement will be made soon on a new event date.
The Maine Sports Hall of Fame joins our state in the healing process and to provide victims and their families with needed resources. All flowers and food for our induction ceremony have been donated to those affected.
The inductees that will be honored in the future include bicyclist Susan Elias, a Readfield native. Elias was ranked No. 1 in America, third in the world and finished fourth in the Tour de France, an event in which she competed three times. She won or was top American in many prestigious races and named VeloNews’ U. S. Woman Athlete of the Year. She was also a great track athlete at UMaine setting school records in the 880, 800, 1,500, and mile runs while contributing to records in three relays.
Runner Bob Hillgrove of Rockland dominated Maine’s roads in the 1960s and early 1970s winning a total of 503 events, including a remarkable 49 straight. He won every major race in Maine, including the Portland Boys Club eight times and the Bangor Labor-Day 5-Miler, including the inaugural, seven times. He won the Masters’ Division of the Bolder Boulder in front of a full stadium of 45,000 people.
Biz Houghton starred at Cape Elizabeth, dominated the Triple-C and was named all state. At Boston College, the 6’ 2” center became the Eagles’ leading scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker as a junior. She played professionally in Ireland leading Castledermot to the Irish National Cup. She has been central to the Maine Senior Women’s Basketball League for 20 years which includes a silver-medal performance at the National Senior Games.
David Hughes graduated from Yarmouth and the University of Southern Maine where he was captain of the sailing team twice at both schools. He is a two-time Olympian and a one-time Olympic coach. He is a four-time World Champion and multi-time winner of World Cup, North American and US National Sailing Championships. He is Vice President of the US Olympians & Paralympians Association.
Wrestler Ben McCrillis of Westbrook was a high school state champion. He went on to win 123 victories at American International where he was a four-time all-conference wrestler. He finished fourth, third, second and fourth at the NCAA East Regional Championships and qualified for the NCAA Championships three times. He won three national championships and was the AAU World Champion. He qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials reaching the semifinals.
Kim Moody of Gorham was a top road racer during the 1970s and 1980s and most accomplished as an ultra-runner. In 1983, she won the Chicago National Championship 50-miler, running the second fastest time ever by an American and third fastest in the world. She won the Casco Bay and Maine Coast Marathons multiple times and several Rowdy-50 Milers. She qualified for the Olympic Trials in the Marathon in 1984 and 1988.
Ninety-year-old Howard Paradis of Madawaska is known as much for building the sport of skiing as he is for his competitive teams. He led the effort to build Mt. Carmel near his home in Frenchville as well as the cross-country trails which became Four Seasons. In 35 years of coaching, Madawaska won 15 girls and nine boys championships and produced 15 Maine Skimeisters.
Gabby Price was a great athlete and coach. A three-sport star at Bangor, he went on to play football at Maine. He was offensive coordinator at Bangor as they won two titles and then became head coaching winning two more. He would compile a record of 129-52 at Bangor. He then rebooted the Husson football program compiling a 72-45 record. The Eagles had four prefect ECFC seasons and four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Will Sanborn of Standish is synonymous with St. Joesph’s Baseball. He played at Bonny Eagle and St. Joe’s where he still holds three records as a player. He became head coach in 1993 and enters his 31st season with 799 victories and 21 championships. He has been named Coach of the Year six times.
Mike Siviski has won 287 games at his alma mater Winslow High School. He was a three-sport athlete before heading to UMaine where he played football. He became an assistant coach at Thornton Academy for 16 years before succeeding Tank Violette as the head coach at Winslow in 1985. Over the next 35 seasons, he would lead his teams to 11 regional and seven state titles. Three times the Raiders won titles back-to-back championships.
