& # xD; & # xD; Orono, Maine – The University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame will list six individuals and two teams in the 220-member Class Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022. & # xD; & # xD; Among the winners are Elizabeth Carone (’81), a five-time New England swimming champion; Stephen Cooper (’03), All-American football player and double defensive player of the year at the conference; Scott Morse (’87), All-American baseball; Mike Viani (Norman) (’89), who had 11 songs & amp; field records at the time of his graduation; John Tortorella (’81), male ice hockey pioneer and NHL coach of the year 2004; Liz Wood (’16), triple women’s basketball selection at all conferences; 1915 IC4A meet national champion in men’s cross country team and 1994. America East Champion and NCAA softball team participant. & # XD; & # xD; The Hall of Fame in 2022 was chosen by the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame board and approved by athletics director Ken Ralph. An introductory dinner and ceremony will be held Friday, Oct. 21 at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer, Maine. & # XD; & # xD; Carone is one of the most successful swimmers in the history of the school. Carone led the Black Bears to three titles in New England and to second place in their final year in 1981. Individually, Carone won five first-place awards and numerous second-place finishes at the New England Championships. She won New England titles in the 400-yard mixed relay, 800-yard free relay, 200-yard mixed, 50-yard backstroke, 100-yard individual mixed, 200-yard individual mixed, 50-yard breaststroke and again in the 400-yard mixed relay in the senior season. At the time of graduation, Carone was part of three record school relays, in the 200-yard mixed, 400-yard mixed and 800-yard freestyle disciplines. & # XD; & # xD; In 2002, Cooper earned All-American Associated Press status as a linebacker for the Black Bears. One of Maine’s most impressive defensive players of all time, Cooper is named Atlantic-10 co-de offensive player of the year in 2001 before receiving the 2002 award. place in the 2002 vote. In his career with the Black Bears, Cooper has amassed 374 assists, 57 interceptions for defeat, seven interceptions and 25 throws. After spending time in Maine, Cooper was signed by the San Diego Chargers as a free agent with no choice. He spent nine seasons at Chargers, finishing his NFL career with 503 attempts, 9.5 sacks, eight forced fumbles, five recovery attempts and eight interceptions. & # XD; & # xD; Morse, the third All-American team in 1986, helped Maine compete in the 1985 and 1986 World Series of Colleges in succession. Morse, who won two selections in the ECAC All-Tournament Team, still holds the school record for most consecutive victories after in 1984 he scored 10 consecutive victories. A member of the Maine season of 41 wins in 1986, Morse equaled the second highest number of exclusions in a single season in Maine history (3), and ranked fourth by Maine’s all-time win list with 26 career wins. He recorded 248 shots with the Black Bears before being selected by the Texas Rangers in the fifth round, a total of 111 in the 1986 amateur entry draft. Morse continued to enjoy seven seasons in the lower leagues.
& # xD; Viani held 11 UMaine tracks & amp; field record at the time of graduation and remains part of the current school record 4x200m indoor relay and 4x100m outdoor relay. Four of Norman’s times are still present on Maine’s top-10 list, including the 400m marks in the hall (3rd); indoor 500m (8th); outdoor 200m (5th); and outdoor 400m (8th). Norman’s distinguished university career included three ECAC individual and relay titles, as well as multiple state championships won. Norman, a four-time All-ECAC winner, has been selected to the All-New England Team on three occasions and has been Maine’s top scorer in each of the last three years with the Black Bears. Double IC4A qualifying, Norman was the first UMaine athlete to break 49 seconds in the 400m. & # XD; & # xD; Tortorella, a pioneer of the men’s ice hockey program, was the heart and soul of the Black Bears from 1978 to 1981, while scoring a total of 110 points with 39 goals and 71 assists in 99 games. After his stay at Oron, Tortorella continued to enjoy a legendary coaching career in the National Hockey League, including top coaching positions at Tampa Bay Lightning (2000-08), New York Rangers (2009-13), Vancouver Canucks (2013-14). ). ), Columbus Blue Jackets (2015-21), and was appointed head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers on June 17, 2022. Tortorella became the first former Black Bear to win the Stanley Cup when he led Tampa Bay to the 2004 title. That season Tortorella was awarded the Jack Adams Trophy as Coach of the Year in the NHL. As head coach, Tortorella led his franchise to 12 playoff appearances, while at the helm of the bench he scored 673 wins in 1,383 career games. & # XD; & # xD; At the time of graduation, Wood was the only basketball player in school history to end her career and was ranked among the top 10 in program history in five major career statistical categories: first in games played (127); third po theft (282); sixth in jumps (902); seventh in total points (1, 462); and eighth in assists (363). Wood, America East Co-Rookie of the Year 2013, was selected as the first team of the America East All-Conference in 2015 and the second team in the league in 2014 and 2016, while being named America East Co-Defender of the Year in 2015. throughout the 2016 tournament, Wood led the team in jumps all four of his years. Under her leadership, the Black Bears have merged consecutive seasons with 20 wins in 2015 and 2016 with a couple of titles in the regular season of America East. In their senior season, the Wood and the Black Bears scored 26 wins, the second-largest single win in school history. Wood, who was awarded the prestigious M Club Dean Smith Award, was named America’s Athlete of the Year in 2016. & # xD; & # xD; In 1915, the men’s cross-country team was declared the state champion when it won the IC4A title in New York. With the first NCAA cross country championship match for more than 30 years in the future, the IC4A meeting attracted the best teams in the state, and the title team was declared the national champion. Maine has been followed by several of the best long-distance runners in the program’s history, including Frank Preti who finished second in New York; Roger Bell, third; Ed Dempsey, eighth; and Al Wunderly, tenth. Maine also won the New England title in 1915. & # xD; & # xD; The 1994 softball team became the first women’s program to reach the NCAA Division One tournament. The Black Bears achieved that feat after winning the American East Championship that season. Pitcher and UMaine Sports Hall of Famer, Deb Smith won three games on the final day of the America East tournament to push Maine to the title and into the NCAA tournament. Smith, who led the team in scoring at .399 and set a 19-8 record in the round, was named the conference’s most valuable player and also the tournament’s MVP. The Black Bears finished the historic season with an overall score of 32-17.
