UVic Sports Greats to be Honoured

November 15, 2006

Source: University of Victoria
http://communications.uvic.ca/releases/release.php?display=release&id=770

The UVic Sports Hall of Fame, established in 2002 to honour contributors to the tradition of excellence in sports and recreation at the university, will induct five new members at the Legacy Awards dinner on Nov. 21 in a sold-out Victoria Conference Centre.

This year’s inductees include the university’s first national champions, an Olympic-champion rower, two basketball stars, and a former president largely responsible for building the foundation for athletic success at UVic.

The 1975 Vikes Men’s Soccer Team became the first to claim a national university sports championship for UVic when they defeated the Concordia Stingers 2-1 at Centennial Stadium. The Vikes got goals from Brian Barraclough and Gord Manzini on their way to the CIAU banner despite the loss of starting goalkeeper Mike Armstrong to injury and midfielder Scott Taylor who was ruled ineligible to play. They were coached by Brian Hughes, a former professional player in the UK and North America.

Kirsten Barnes, BA ’93, calls herself a "normal person who got to do a fantastic thing." At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Barnes was a member of two gold medal-winning rowing teams (fours and eights). She has since become a leading sports psychologist. She was the first sports psychologist hired by the Oxford University rowing team, helping them end a seven-year losing streak to Cambridge University in the famed Boat Race on the Thames River. More recently she has been lead psychologist with the English Institute of Sport. Barnes is also a past recipient of the UVic Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Gerald Kazanowski, BA ’83, was a key factor in four national championship Vikes basketball teams (1980-83), a ten-year national team veteran, and member of the 1984 and 1988 Olympic teams. He was selected in the seventh-round of the 1983 NBA draft before playing professionally in Europe, Mexico and Argentina. "Kaz" is a member of the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame and the Basketball BC Hall of Fame. He returned to Victoria after his playing days, works in financial planning, and continues to be involved with youth basketball.

Luanne Krawetz, MEd ’93, led the women’s basketball squad to three national "Bronze Baby" championship trophies (1980-82) and was named the country’s most outstanding player in the ‘82 season. She was also named a CIAU tournament all-star the same year. Born and raised in Prince Rupert, Krawetz completed a bachelor of education and returned to UVic for her master of education degree, graduating in 1993. She currently works in the Faculty of Education. Fellow UVic Sports Hall of Fame basketball player Chris Hebb is her brother.

Howard Petch was president and vice-chancellor of UVic from 1975-90. Apart from bringing administrative stability to the university and introducing innovative programs such as co-op education, he helped established a focus and funding formula for athletics and recreation. With Petch’s guidance, the university began to concentrate its athletic endeavours on a smaller number of top level sports and a student fee structure was established to support athletics and recreation. An avid basketball fan, Petch regularly travelled to see the teams compete in championship tournaments. During his tenure, UVic student athletes earned 25 national championships.

The Legacy Awards are UVic’s annual formal recognition of outstanding achievement. Also to be honoured are winners of the UVic Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni and Excellence in Teaching awards. A crowd of more than 550 university supporters is expected to attend the Nov. 21 event. All tickets have been sold.

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Media Contacts:Mike McNeney (Alumni Communications) at (250) 721-7642 or mmcneney@uvic.ca