Maine news, sports, weather from Waterville Morning Sentinel

MAINE SPORTS HALL OF FAME: Support common among inductees

By Gary Hawkins ghawkins@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

This story was revised at 12:10 p.m., May 23, 2011, to correct the name of Kaitlyn Hall of Thornton Academy.

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SHARING STORIES: Maine Sports Hall of Fame inductees Douglas Roberts, left, longtime Winslow High School coach Harold ‘Tank’ Violette, center, and Olympic snowboarder Seth Wescott greet each other Sunday during the annual banquet in Augusta.

Staff photo by Andy Molloy

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AUGUSTA -- Two-time Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott choked back tears as he expressed his gratitude for support from Maine residents during induction ceremonies Sunday for the Maine Sports Hall of Fame.

The crowd of several hundred at the Augusta Civic Center gave the Farmington native a standing ovation at the conclusion of his acceptance speech. After assuring fans that he would pursue a third gold medal in snowboardcross at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, Wescott spoke of the inspiration he got from watching Maine's Joan Benoit Samuelson win a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

"It was a very impactful thing for me," he said.

He also talked of a conversation he once had with skier Phil Mahre and how Mahre felt on the Olympic awards podium as he received a gold medal and watched the American flag being raised. At the time, Wescott didn't know he would be in the same position himself some day.

"It was just an amazing feeling to know what you've done for your country and in so many ways for the state of Maine," Wescott said. "It's truly been an honor."

Wescott was one of six inducted into the Maine Sports Hall. Joining him were former Lawrence High School football coach Earle "Pete" Cooper, former basketball coach Art Dyer of Orr's Island, Fairfield's Dick McGee, who coached high school and college football, Doug Roberts of Springvale, who led Rumford to two high school basketball championships and Harold "Tank" Violette, who coached Winslow to 11 state championships in football and hockey.

Additionally, five high school seniors received scholarships of $5,000 in recognition of their athletic and scholastic achievements. They were Kaitlyn Hall of Thornton, Winslow's Mike McCann, Brewer's Evan Nadeau, Washington's Taylor Seeley and Caroline Summa of Cheverus.

Family and community support were a common theme from the recipients. Violette, who was a standout football player at Maine before coaching Winslow to five state titles in football and six in hockey, was the youngest of 17 children. He described the move his family made from northern Aroostook Country to central Maine in his youth.

"We were a family of 19 loaded in the back of a potato truck from Van Buren to Waterville," Violette said. "Coming into town we must have looked like the Clampetts."

Dyer, who posted a record of 336-50 between 10-year stints at Medomak Valley and Westbrook high schools, praised the spirit of sharing information among basketball coaches. Dyer, who went on to coach at Fairfield University, also spoke of the infamous Camp in the Woods where recently retired Colby College coach Dick Whitmore, Cheverus coach Bob Brown and former Morse coach Tom Maines would gather annually to discuss and dissect the game.

McGee told a number of anecdotes, including how he played for the Providence Steamrollers, a semi-pro football team coached by his father.

"There were 40,000 fans," McGee said. "When we found out they didn't have any money to pay us, we left at halftime."

McGee, who grew up in Rhode Island, was encouraged by one of his coaches to attend the University of Maine where he played on a team that went 7-0-1.

"The best thing that ever happened to me was finding out where the state of Maine was," he said.

Roberts, who led Rumford to a New England basketball championship in 1976, knew McGee because he roomed with his son Mike when both played at Clark University.

"The sports community is so small in this state," he said.

Cooper, who coached 28 years at Lawrence, is still in the game as an assistant for his son, Kevin, at Bonny Eagle High School. He'll be starting his 46th year as a high school football coach this fall.

"I loved every minute of my job at Lawrence," he said.

Cooper had special praise for his wife, Lois, to whom he's been married for 46 years and has dealt with recurring bouts of cancer.

"She's the rock of our family," he said. "She is the toughest person I have ever known."

Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com