A worthy contingent of nine athletes, three builders, and six teams will become the newest members of the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame, set to be celebrated on Thursday, May 30.
 
The event will be held at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport on the University of Toronto's downtown campus. Tickets are available here. The reception will start at 6:00 p.m., with the ceremony to follow at 7:00 p.m., inside the Kimel Family Field House. 
 
Headlining the impressive class of inductees will be recently retired University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's basketball head coach Michèle Bélanger. A pioneer in Canadian university coaching, Bélanger began her career at the University of Toronto in 1979, leading the Blues women's basketball program for 41 years. During that span she coached in 1,358 games, recording 854 wins, while guiding the Blues to nine OUA championship titles and a CIAU (U SPORTS) national title. She was honoured as OUA coach of the year on eight separate occasions.
 
Bélanger's 2001-02 championship team will also see induction through the team category, while two-time OUA all-star and three-year captain Vanessa Nobrega is recognized in the athlete category.
 
Varsity Blues tennis will see their women's run of four consecutive championships from 2004-07 honoured, while the men's string of five straight titles from 1979-83 will also be inducted into the team category. Women's tennis team captain Isable Jorasz will be honoured as an individual inductee, with both Rory Hunter and Don Steele receiving induction for the men.
 
Both Ron Watson and Andrea Papamandjaris will enter the Hall of Fame following impressive stints with the Varsity Blues swimming teams during the early 1990's, with each winning an astounding 17 OUAA/OWIAA gold medals and competing for Canada at the FISU Games. Watson is joined by his 1992 men's swimming teammates as the national title team will also be inducted, along with Papamandjaris' 1993 women's team, who also put together a season worthy of team induction.
 
Additional honourees from the 2000's will include women's lacrosse players Katie Godfrey and Angela Marrocco, and dual-sport athlete from the Blues softball and squash programs, Karlene Headley-Cooper.
 
Meanwhile, founding president of the 'Friends of Football' Jim Ware will be inducted as a builder. Ware played a pivotal role as leader of the alumni group that helped save the Varsity Blues football program in the early 1990's.
 
Historical and posthumous inductions include: Varsity Blues women's basketball athlete Rosana Kelly, who helped lead her team to championships in 1949 and 1950; The Blues 1920-24 men's rowing crews, who earned several prestigious medals, including an Olympic silver at the 1924 Paris Games; as well as a builder, The Right Honourable Sir William Mulock. Sir Mulock provided years of support for the University of Toronto and its athletics programs, while serving as Chancellor from 1922-1944.
 
The Sports Hall of Fame honours U of T's greatest athletes and builders. It was established by the T-Holders' Association in 1987 as part of an ongoing effort to preserve and display the records relating to the outstanding historical tradition of athletic, academic and community leadership fostered by the University of Toronto.
  
BUILDERS:
Michèle Bélanger
1979-2020
Basketball
 
Jim Ware
Football
 
The Right Honourable Sir William Mulock
Football
 
ATHLETES:
Rosana Kelly
BA 5T0 University College
Basketball
 
Andrea Papamandjaris
BSc 9T3 Trinity College
Swimming
 
Ron Watson
BPHE 9T4
Swimming
 
Isabel Jarosz
HBSc 0T8 New College, BEd 1T2
Tennis
 
Rory Hunter
BSc 8T2 Trinity College, DDS 8T6
Tennis
 
Don Steele
BA 7T1 Victoria College
Tennis
 
Katie Godfrey
HBSc 0T8 University College
Lacrosse
 
Angela Marrocco
MD 0T3, PGMT 0T6
Lacrosse
 
Vanessa Nobrega
BCOM 0T4, BEd 0T7, MSc 1T0
Basketball
 
Karlene Headley-Cooper
BPHE 0T6, BEd 0T7, MSc 1T0
Softball, Squash
 
TEAMS:
Women's Basketball
2001-02 – OUA Champions
 
Men's Swimming
1991-1992 – CIAU Champions
 
Women's Swimming
1992-1993 – CIAU Champions
 
Men's Tennis
1979-1983 – OUAA Champions
 
Women's Tennis
2004-2007 – OUA Champions
 
Men's Rowing
1920-1924 – Olympic silver medalists