St. Clair College recognized 13 inaugural members of the school’s Saints Wall of Honour Saturday evening.
Former athletic standouts who demonstrated consistency and record-breaking performances were inducted during halftime of the men’s basketball game against Redeemer University.
The inaugural members of the Saints Wall of Honour are:
-John Moore – Hockey
-Henry Koscielski – Men’s Basketball
-Sandra Meisel – Badminton
-Debbie Cowgill – Women’s Basketball
-Beth Brannagan – Women’s Volleyball
-Jimmy Parsons – Men’s Basketball
-Lindsay Verkoeyen – Softball
-Rob Malbasic – Men’s Soccer
-Alexa Georgiou – Softball
-Jason Hernandez – Men’s Volleyball
-Kyle Breitner – Baseball
-Shannon Kennedy – Women’s Basketball
-Tyler Jones – Cross Country
As each athlete received a commemorative display, their lengthy list of accomplishments was read aloud inside the SportsPlex.
For Jones, who helped collect a dozen medals for the Saints, along with multiple Athlete of the Year awards, the nod came as a surprise.
“I was kind of shocked to see the email because I only graduated a couple years ago. I thought it’d be like another like 10, 15 years before something like that would happen,” Jones told CTV News after the ceremony.
The runner still returns to the school when needed for support or to help in large cross-country events.
Jones noted becoming a distinguished runner is largely due to support from those around him and consistent training.
“There’s nothing more powerful than the power of doing something and being able to keep doing it every single day,” said Jones when asked about his advice to current and future St. Clair athletes. “Keep coming back, you know, whether you fail or you succeed, eventually you’ll win.”
Reid Innes, the athletic director at St. Clair College, said their team analyzed athletes throughout their history to find those who excelled well beyond their competition.
For the college, the Saints Wall of Honour will serve as a recognition of an athlete’s feats, similar to a jersey retirement in professional sports.
“We wanted to make sure that we were able to recognize some of the people that helped set the foundation that we currently are building the future on, the ones that kind of set the standard for what we expect from our student-athletes,” Innes said.
Innes noted their ability to create the wall is a result of the strong athletes and development system at the college.
As for the Men’s game, they didn’t disappoint in a night meant for celebrations. The Saints dismantled the Redeemer Royals 124-85 in their regular season finale.
