Clan legend and Canadian hero Terry Fox will be the first inductee in a new category at the SFU Clan Hall of Fame luncheon on March 12.
The Terry Fox Honourary Inductee will be awarded to a student/athlete who has made a contribution to the community
Fox was a Canadian humanitarian, athlete and cancer research activist. In 1980, despite the amputation of one leg, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Fox was a distance runner and basketball player for his Port Coquitlam high school and at SFU.
Entering the hall this year as athletes are Carol Huynh (wrestling), Teresa (Kleindienst) Gabriele (basketball), Dr. Tim Bach (swimming), John McGrane (soccer), Alan Kristmanson (basketball) and Ted Warkentin (football).
Former Clan track and field coach Zenon Smiechowski will go in, as will Dr. Bob McCormack in the builder's category and the 1999 NAIA national champion Clan softball team.
Hunyh led the Clan women's wrestling program to the first of six Canadian Interuniversity Sport Championships in a seven-year span. She won multiple international medals at world championships, World University Games, Commonwealth Games, Pan Am Games and also captured Canada's first and only Olympic gold medal in women's wrestling in 2008. Hunyh returned to the Olympics in London in 2012 and captured a bronze medal.
Gabriele is also an Olympian, having competed for Canada at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and more recently at the 2012 Games in London. She started her Clan career in the NAIA and was an All-American and national tournament most valuable player in 1999 and 2000.
Gabriele and the Clan entered the Canadian Interuniversity Sport the following year, where she was named an All-Canadian twice while leading SFU to a 35-0 record and a national championship in 2001-02.
Bach was part of three consecutive NAIA championship swim teams, including the first-ever for the program in 1972. Internationally, he represented Canada at the Pan Am Games in 1971, the World University Games in 1973 and the Olympic Games in 1972.
McGrane achieved greatness on the soccer pitch for the Clan and is a member of the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame. He was an NAIA All-American in 1975 and '76, when he was part of the first NAIA championship for the SFU men's soccer team. McGrane went on to play professional soccer from 1977 to 1985 in the North American Soccer League.
Kristmanson was a part of the Clan men's basketball program and led the team in points in his final season at SFU. He went on to play for the Canadian national team and represented Canada at the Olympic Games. He awas also an assistant coach at SFU for five years.
Warkentin was a pioneer of Clan athletics as a member of the school's first football and basketball teams. He also held the honour of being the first Rhodes Scholar candidate at SFU. Warkentin was also one of the first Clan football players to reach the Canadian Football League, playing several seasons for the B.C. Lions after graduating.
Smeichowski was SFU's track and field coach from 1982 to '99. He was the architect behind 10 NAIA championships for Clan teams and was named the coach of the year twice. As an athlete, he won a bronze medal in the decathlon at the 1979 Pan Am Games and was a four-time national champion from 1976 to 1979.
Being inducted as a builder is McCormack, who is the team doctor for SFU Athletics varsity sports teams. He has taken part in numerous international, multisport events, including several Olympic Games.
The 1999 SFU softball team set a program record with 40 wins in a season and just seven losses - records that still stand today. The team had a 17-3 record in conference play that season, competing in a conference that combined NCAA Division II and NAIA schools.
The Clan women defeated Oklahoma City 7-3 in the final for the program's first of three national titles.
Tickets for the luncheon are on sale now for $60 and can be purchased by emailing Steve Lewarne at slewarne@sfu.ca or calling 778782-3613.
The event will begin with registration at 11: 30 a.m. and will conclude by 2 p.m.
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