ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Linda Thom, Sports Pistol
Olympic Games sports pistol gold medallist Linda Thom is as quick with a quip as she is accurate on a shooting range.
When asked how she reconciled two such diverse activities as shooting and cooking — she holds a “Grand Diploma” from the Cordon Bleu Cooking School and a “Certificat d’ Aptitude Professionnelle en Cuisine” from the French government — she didn’t even bat an eye.
“They are both done on ranges,” she replied.
“I love doing both,” said the current sport pistol Champion of the Americas champion, who won her crown in equally as exciting fashion as she did her gold medal. And over the same rival, Ruby Fox.
Fox was listed a dark horse contender and Thom not at all by Sports Illustrated attempting to pick out the top three in each Olympic discipline. They missed the sports pistol badly.
Thom and Fox ended their second consecutive tie with scores of 582. Thom had 148-150 in the extra action and Fox 145-150.
Thom’s Olympic scores were 585 and 148-150 to gain her gold medal, and Canada’s first. Fox was 585 and 147-150 as she gained the silver.
“Quite a co-incidence,” said Thom about the second consecutive tie.
The year 1985 was quiet competitively for the pistol shooters. They had their air pistol championships and Thom finished sixth with a score of 376. “That’s an improvement of 20 places and I’m happy about that.”
She also established a Canadian sports pistol record of 588 at the nationals. That gives her both marks, her 585 at Los Angeles the standing Olympic record.
It’s not often we can say that.
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR (GORD TRIVETT MEMORIAL TROPHY)
Ron Hammell, football
A blooper of great magnitude like the Britannia Yacht Club’s blunder that set up a situation whereby Prince Phillip presented the trophy to the wrong person is usually what makes a presentation stand out.
Much more fortunate was 1984 sportsman of the year Ron Hammell. He has two stories connected with his Trivett Trophy selection. One he can tell on himself and the second situation was one for the odds-makers, the principals being two of 26 winners.
Hammell, a Tech graduate, last played football with Ottawa Seconds in the Quebec Rugby Football Union, and somebody needed the number he wore in order to finish off the introduction of the Trivett winner. Nary a one could remember Hammell’s number, not even Hammell. Shortly after the banquet a program was turned up and it disclosed he wore No. 82.
Said Ron, “Oh, yes. Howie Rough Rider Turner’s number.”
The other involves daughter Kelli and is explained in more detail in Aline Pottie’s biography. Unknown to Kelli, who had made friends with Pottie in the working world, Aline had won the Trivett Trophy (she was the first women) 10 years earlier and knew all about the excitement involved.
“I even heard from the St. F. X. Alumni”, Pottie told another party.
Hammell has been taking it easy since he was named top sportsman because of health problems. He helps football wherever they might need a hand.
He is looking toward the revival of the Ontario Midget Football League with several Toronto teams again showing interest as well as Cornwall and Pembroke.
ALPINE SKIING – Scott Shaver, National Ski Team – A consistent performance on the 1984 Europa Cup circuit – a step below the World Cup – where he finished fifth overall in downhill earned Shaver a national team promotion. He was in the top seven four times and twice as high as fourth.
ARCHERY – Rick Mallett – Mallet joined the top echelon of Canadian archery winning the 1984 field title and finishing 13th in the world championship. He was also No. 2 in the combined target and field action.
BADMINTON – Suneeta Khare, R.A. Club – Khare continued to exhibit the potential she showed as a 14-year-old winning the provincial under 19 singles and finishing runner-up in the under 19 at the nationals. She was also recently given a taste of international play joining Canada for a match here against China.
BASEBALL – Dwayne Cowick, Ottawa-Nepean Canadians – Cowick caught the eye of more than the ACT selectors while playing with Ottawa-Nepean Canadians of the Quebec Junior Baseball League. He was the only Ontario player selected – and the first ever to play for Quebec in an exhibition game against Expos class ‘A’ Jamestown club. He was also invited to an Expos tryout camp and earned all-star honors while batting .341 with 14 home runs.
BASKETBALL – Janet Swords, Woodroffe High School Tigers – Swords averaged 20.5 points per game, was MVP in the University Of Toronto’s all-pro tournament and paced the Tigers to a 38-0 victory run collecting the city’s first ever senior high school provincial title. She has also been a Rookie four seasons (15.0 average) and last year was of only non-university players on Team Ontario and she has both Canadian and U.S. scholarship offers.
BIATHLON – Lise Meloehe – The sport that combines target shooting and cross-country skiing may be among the orphans in muscle flexing, but Meloche turned in an exceptional performance, tenth over a 10 kilometre course, in the first ever women’s world championships and her first international competition. She also staked a claim on the national championship.
BOWLING – Diane Charlebois – A five-pm bowler, Charlebois added to her trophy collection twice in 1984. She won the Quebec women’s title and then added a third-place finish in the Canadian Open.
BOXING – Greg Gayle, Beaver Boxing Club – Gayle’s boxing ability earned him a tour of the British Isles and an international competition at Orlando. Fla., during 1984. An ‘A – carded athlete, the 132-pound boxer also successfully defended his Labatt Blue Gloves crown and picked up a silver medal in the Olympic trials.
BROOMBALL – Michel Papineau, Laroche Senators – Papineau turned a 15 goal production and no penalties with Laroche Park Senators into Ottawa-Carleton Broomball League all-star recognition. He was named to the Ottawa selects for inter-regional competition.
CROSS-COUNTRY – David Lumb, Ottawa Ski Club – A capable performance in the Canadian Junior Championships stood Lumb in good stead. He won the men’s 10 kilometre and finished second in the 20 kilometre bottom line was promotion to Team ’88, the overlanders’ national team.
CURLNG – Bruce Delaney and Rick Bachand, Hylands – The long-time rink mates turned double rink skips for their feat which had an odd twist. They won the Ontario Silver Tankard, emblematic of provincial double rink supremacy, but the story doesn’t stop there. The pair won the same title the previous year with Carleton Place rinks.
CYCLING – Marie Claude Audet – Another Olympic competitor, Audet was part of the first women’s road field ever to race The Games starting gun and made the top 25 on a hot day that went by surprisingly quickly. American Connie Carpenter-Phinney won by inches after 49.5 miles of riding in 2:11:14. A top four finish in the Niagara Classic the key to Audet’s participation.
DIVING – Anne Marie Beavis, Nepean Diving Club – A one-time national junior team member, the 17-year-old Beavis showed she had lost little while taking a holiday from the sport at the summer nationals in 1984. She finished a creditable eighth on the three-metre board.
FENCING – Michel Dessureault, R.A. Club – Now a veteran of the game, Dessureault had probably his most enjoyable campaign. His two finishes among the top 32 in top-flight competition enabled Canada to enter an epee team which placed fourth (a high), and Dessureault posted a 10th in individual, the highest finish by any Canadian outside of the European stage.
FIELD HOCKEY – Terry Wheatley, Canadian national team – The Gloucester High School graduate had a starting part in what was Canada’s most serious and yet disastrous bid for and Olympic field hockey medal. The Canadians, stars of the 1983 World Cup, finished fifth, but soothed the wound somewhat finishing second in a four-nation tournament in Melbourne.
FIGURE SKATING – Elizabeth Manley, Gloucester Figure Skating Club – The current Canadian champion showed she had the ability to climb to the top during 1984 skating. As an 18-year-old competitor, she had a second in the senior National and eighth in the Worlds.
FOOTBALL – Andy McEvoy, Ottawa Sooners – New U of O football coach Jim Daley called McEvoy’s presence on university campus “a bonus” and small wonder. Schenley winner as the outstanding junior in the country, he merely tossed 30 touchdown passes in scheduled play leading Daley’s Sooners to the national junior title.
FREESTYLE SKIING – Anna Fraser – A national championship overall triumph and a fifth-place finish overall in World Cup skiing were the credentials that cleared the way for Fraser’s dinner invitation. She ended a male reign that began when the relatively young sport was added to the list of eligibles.
GOLF – Bill Holzman, Rideau View Golf Club – It was difficult to find a standout golfer particularly after Holzman’s great 1983, but the latter finished fourth in the PQGA golfer of the year race with a stroke average of 73. He also posted a second successive Meagher match play triumph.
GYMNASTICS – Greg Thomas, Gloucester Gym Club – The 17-year-old Thomas thrives on adversity, if 1984 was any indication. He finished third in the Ontario novice (17 and under) championships, and then helped by good efforts in vaulting and on the rings beat both his rivals as he finished second at the nationals.
HANDICAP (blind) – Norah Good – Good was the only Ottawa-area competitor to bring home gold from the International Games for the Physically Disabled at New York. An experienced runner, Good won the 3,000 metre run and was runner up in the 1,500 metres with a time of 5:15 and change.
HANDICAP (wheelchair) Judy Zelman – Zelman came home with four medals, one silver and three bronze in track and field action at the International Games for the Physically Disabled at New York City. She dominated regional and provincial competition picking up 10 medals, seven or them gold.
HOCKEY – Bruce Cassidy, Ottawa 67’s – Selectors picked Cassidy as the top hockey player for the second year, but not without good reason. He led 67’s to first place in the OHL’s Leyden Division and on to the Memorial Cup tournament where he was a first team all-star. He also was second in team scoring with 27 goals and 68 assists and was a member of the national junior squad that fell about three minutes of poor hockey short of the world championship medal list.
JUDO – Tina Takahashi, Canadian national team – The first judo gold ever won by a Canadian at the international level rested in Takahashi’s trophy case at the end of the year. She won the honour at the world university judo championships in under 48 kilo competition at Strausbourg, France. She also claimed her eighth consecutive Canadian title.
LACROSSE – Scott Reed, Gloucester Junior Griffins – Griffin team captain, Reed turned up the third highest single game Ontario Junior Lacrosse League scoring mark when he collected eight goals and seven assists. A graduating Griffin he had a career scoring totals of 117 goals and 104 assists.
ORIENTEERING – Ted de St. Croix – de St. Croix earned his 10th consecutive national title in the map and compass sport, a feat not unnoticed as he is listed among the top 20 in the world. He also won a tri-country international against U.S. and British runners.
OLDTIMERS HOCKEY – Noel Price, Ottawa Old Pros – At 48 years of age, his birthday comes in December, Price is the elder statesman on the honour roll. He gives every impression that he thoroughly enjoys the game and the activities of the Old Pros.
MODERN PENTATHLON – Lawrence Keate – Keate was No. 3 in the country after the national championships in the five-discipline sport (shooting, fencing, swimming, riding and running) but got caught in the Olympic crunch and didn’t get to Los Angeles. “We were very mad,” said coach Andre Wojcikiewicz.
PADDLING – Sue Holloway, Rideau Canoe Club – Who else? Rhetorical unquestionably, but this will be the last occasion as Holloway, a silver and bronze medal winner in pairs and fours at the L.A. Olympics announced her retirement from international competition. At the Canadians, Holloway, one of very few to compete in both Summer and Winter Games in the same year, and ACT athlete of the year in 1973, added three silver medals to her collection.
RINGETTE – Maureen Mackie, Gloucester Debs (18 and over) – An outstanding ringette goalie – she is working on a technical manual on the position – Mackie earned first team all-star recognition at the nationals and helped Gloucester to a silver medal to go with a provincial gold.
ROWING – Tim Evans, Cliff Brimell, Charles MacDonald and Francois Drubroux, Ottawa Rowing Club – Four again was the magic number for Canada’s oldest rowing club as this quartet won both the provincial and Henley junior heavy tours. Another quartet started the parade winning the junior 145-pound fours in the ’83 Henley.
RUGBY – Pierre Duey, Ottawa Irish – One of a number of versatile athletes who helped build a hockey, football, and rugby dynasty at Colonel By a few years back. Duey has continued to hone his rugby skills, and not without notice, Duey, a scrum half (quarterback to the uninitiated) was named to both the Eastern Ontario and Ontario selects and earned a national team trial while leading Irish to their 29-0 record.
SAILING – Marc Robin and Stephan Poirier-Defoy – Two young Laser sailors, the 19-year-old Aylmer athletes stood out at Kingston’s tough CORK Regatta, Canada’s No. 1 sailing regatta. The Grande Riviere Yacht Club sailors triumphed in six out of nine races against a field of 47 two-man Lasers as they claimed their national crown “comfortably.”
BOARD SAILING – Caroll Ann Alie – Board sailing may still be an infant in muscle flexing, but Carol Ann has found just cause for circling the globe in the last two years. She is in Australia now, won the world title at Perth as 1984 became 1985, crossed Canada and competed in the U.S. and the British Isles. She has a bushel of titles and national team ranking amongst her accomplishments.
SHOOTING – Linda Thom – Gold… Olympic Gold in women’s sports pistol shooting in a dramatic shoot-off with a U.S. rival. Linda Thom’s top 1984 headline, and the start of a Canadian medal success story. Thom, who first made the dinner list in 1970 as Linda Malcolm, also finished no worse than sixth in a number of other international shootoffs and earned the coveted Velma Springstead Trophy as the Sports Federation of Canada’s outstanding female athlete.
SOFTBALL – Dave Dixie, Turpin Pontiacs – The veteran Dixie, a one-time ACT hockey winner, seems to improve with age. The pitcher-infielder hit .500 in Metro League action, just missed the batting prize at the provincial championships, and joined Oshawa for the national title tournament.
SOCCER – Angelo Salvati, West Ottawa Peewees – Soccer continued to emphasize youth in its top athlete selection. Salvati, rated an excellent playmaker, topped the Ontario Skills award competition, and finished second at the national level.
SPEED SKATING – Stephen Graham, Pacers – Four major competitions helped Stephen Graham move within a step of national team competitions. They were the Ontario Olympic-style championships, which he won, the Olympic Trials in which he was eighth and named to the ‘B’ squad and the Capital of Canada and Canadian Outdoor in which he improved to fifth in each case.
SKI JUMPING – Horst Bulau, national ski team – Bulau’s best 1984 headline was victory in the Canadian championships. His Olympic results were 10th on the 90 metre hill and a disastrous 38th on the 70 metre. He still managed to finish eighth on the World Cup circuit with 102 points.
SQUASH – Diana Edge, Rideau Lawn Tennis and Squash Club – Why Diana Edge as the squash choice again? In addition to studying international law at Harvard, she merely won her third Canadian and Ontario under 19 crown and her fifth consecutive age class title, was semi-finalist at the Canadian open championship and matched that with a berth in the U.S. under 19 championship.
TABLE TENNIS – Thanh Mach – Mach, one of the Boat People, maintained her standing as the No. 2 ranked women’s player in the country. Mach shared the women’s doubles crown and was runner-up in singles, the performances helping her gain a national team berth.
TENNIS – Rob Cartwright, Rideau Lawn Tennis Club – Now playing as the No. 2 man on the University of Florida tennis team, Cartwright had three triumphs, the Ottawa closed, the Thunderbird Classic and Winter Grand Prix.
FOOTBALL – Nancy Mantha, Ottawa Reflections – Mantha made a breakthrough for women’s sports as she became the first of her sex to make the dinner via touch football. A quarterback, she was the Ottawa-Carleton League MVP, she has tested national championship competition.
TRACK AND FIELD – Diane Palmeson – When Palmeson first began to run competitively back in 1956, women were limited to a maximum of 220 yards. Since that now-laughable regulation was eliminated, she has run every distance up to 80 kilometres (roughly a double marathon). Probably the outstanding achievement in the 47-year-Masters (over 40) runner’s 1984 diary was a 2H:46:21 Twin Cities Marathon (St. Paul and Minneapolis), second only to British Olympic runner Joyce Smith in 1984 and 13th on the all-time Canadian list.
TRAMPOLINE – John Ross – He would probably like to forget 1984 because of an embarrassing world championships, but Ross is well qualified to return to the dinner. He earned gold and silver at the Canadians, and helped establish a Canadian record for difficulty in synchronized competition. He won the Canadian team trials and North American invitation and the Harbor Front international invitation as well.
VOLLEYBALL – Paul Gratton, national team – “There was nobody close to Paul Gratton”, said a volleyball enthusiast polled to find out the 1984 volleyballer. The Olympic team captain, a graduate of Garneau High School, played a major part in Canada reaching the medal round – they finished fourth – for the first time in Games history.
WATER POLO – Bill Meyer, National team – Another of the area athletes to stop international competition with the Olympics, Meyer, a national team member since 1977 and a team co-captain, is keeping his hand in his sport. He plays for the Titans and coaches in junior ranks.
WRESTLING – Ray Takahashi, National team – Takahashi was another area Olympic competitor to quit international wrestling after the L.A. Games where he finished fourth in the 52 Kilo category after winning his sixth national title. He still expects “to stay involved,” and odds favour coaching, likely his thesis for a Masters degree in physical education which he now is taking.
Ottawa Irish – Rugby – Irish made only one blunder on their way to a third straight McCormick Cup (Provincial Club Championship), but they picked the spot that would do the least damage – a seven-a-sides tournament final. On their way to their trophy triumph, the first fifteen won 28 times as they collected scalps of touring sides from Ireland and France, won three tournaments including the 60-entry Saranac Lake, the Lower St. Lawrence crown and their own Ottawa League.
Woodroffe High School Tigers – Basketball – They had to manufacture a climax fitting for Ripley – they had the only two shots in the double overtime senior girls final against Sudbury – but the Tigers produced the first provincial championship ever won by an Ottawa girls team. That championship was also their 38th consecutive victory.
Ottawa 67’s – Hockey – Brian Kilrea’s hockey players were losers by a goal as a dramatic final game comeback fell short (to New Westminster) in the 1976-77 final, but the 1984 Memorial Cup winners more than made up for the difference. They missed clean playoff slate by one game, a 7-2 loss to Kitchener Rangers in the cup tournament, and the champs didn’t wait long to get even for the insult as they beat Rangers for their 15th and sweetest playoff win – they were tied twice – by the same score in the cup final.
Ottawa Sooners – Football – ”The best experience I’ve ever had with a group of players,” said head coach Jim Daley, since switched to the University of Ottawa. What more need be said about the Canadian junior football champs other than that they went through the season with a 13-0 victory slate to raise their two-season total to 25-1 – the last a loss to Edmonton in the 1983 final.
Ottawa Trojans – Football – Ottawa Trojans won the Ontario Major Football League (originally midget) for the second time in their five-year history finishing the season with a 11-1 mark including playoffs. Almost as impressive is their overall record in scheduled play 42 victories and 7 losses, a winning percentage of .857. At the same time they scored 1,235 points.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
Nepean Midget B Lacrosse, Champions
Ottawa Reflection, National Touch Football Womens Champion
Erwin Budge & Bill Olson, winners Of the International Snooker League Tournament in Burmuda
Gloucester Debs, runners up in Canadian Ringette finals
The 1984 list of amateurs showed five teams tied for recognition as the outstanding team honour, all of them having gone as far as they could… We won’t attempt to separate them either but we will pick out the game with the most bizarre ending… That was the Ottawa Woodroffe Tiger-Sudbury High School provincial girls senior basketball final that went into two overtime periods as per regulations. The first five minutes saw Sudbury drop into a zone and Woodroffe just kept possession of the ball (as there is not time clock in basketball at the high school level) until there was time for one last shot, which missed… Believe it or not, Sudbury played zone the second five minutes and Woodroffe stayed put until the last shot and this time made the two-pointer and the triumph was their 38th straight… Janet Swords, point guard on the club, was named basketball player of the year to the surprise of none… Diane Palmeson became the first masters runner to make the dinner on the basis of a marathon in 2H:46;21 second only to England’s Joyce Smith… When Palmeson first tried running in 1956, women were allowed a maximum of 220 yards. Not only that, only the established races like the Boston Marathon drew any entry of note… The 1966 Commonwealth Games marathon trial here won by Sarnia’s Andy Boychuk over Glebe grad Ron Wallingford, the last of a flock of runners turned out by the late R. D. Campbell, took to the field to the starting line in two cars and a van. Naturally, the starting line was Marathon… Then came the marathon explosion of the 1970s. Ted de St. Croix, orienteering’s technical director, picked up his 10th consecutive Canadian crown… He’s internationally ranked… Walker Ann Peel had an early 1985 in international walking at Bergen, Norway, finishing the five kilometre race in 22:17.5, a personal best and a fourth-place finish.