Norwich welcomes inductees into hall of fame

Another piece of Norwich history was made Oct. 2, when 21 Norwich alumni and honorable volunteers were inducted to the Athletic Hall of Fame at Plumley Armory, according to Anthony Mariano, NU athletic director.

Each person being inducted obtained one of the following: A regular membership, an honorary membership, a team membership, a distinguished alumni letter winner, award upon entering the Hall of Fame. 

"The bylaws for the Hall of Fame limit the number we can accept," says Mariano, "so we can have six regular, we have one honorary, and up to two distinguished, and usually we have one team."

This year there were eight individual inductees from three different categories, as well as the entire 1960-61 ski team, who was this year's team nomination

According to Norwichathletics.com, anyone may be inducted to the Athletic Hall of Fame after the 10^th  anniversary of their graduation or their last year of completion of Norwich athletics.

"Any Norwich alumni, faculty, staff, or member of the selection committee may nominate individuals or teams for induction into the Athletic Hall of Fame," says the Norwich athletics website. "Anyone who nominates an individual or team must provide documentation (records, statistics, occupational information) and submit that with a completed nomination form to support their nomination. "

All nominations are welcomed and taken through the end of April, and any nominations not selected will be re-entered for the following year. Nominees can be selected on the anniversary of their graduation every five or 10 years, according to the Norwich athletics website.

The selection committee meets to make its selections once a year, basing them on the documentation provided by their nominators, and nominees must receive a two-thirds majority vote.

The criteria for becoming a regular member is "you must have graduated from the university, you must have distinguished yourself through earning athletic excellence recognition, prove your continuation of excellence in the community," according to Norwichathletics.com.

According to Mariano, this year there were six regular membership inductees: Rachel Gaidys, class of 2001, outstanding swimmer; Daniel Roche, class of 1986, outstanding basketball player; Michael Gallagher, class of 1986, outstanding football and hockey player; Sam Pizzimenti, class of 1976, outstanding football player; Marty Wilkes, class of 1966, outstanding soccer player; and Thomas Hekker, class of 1966, outstanding football player.

This year's honorary member did not graduate from Norwich, but has been a dedicated volunteer for decades: Ruth Sabol, wife of Joe Sabol, former athletic director at Norwich.

"Ruth has been on many, many of the university volunteer committees … she's been very, very engaged in the university," says Mariano.

The two recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Letter Award were Stephen Murphy outstanding hockey player from the class of 1981, and Dan Cox, an outstanding soccer player from the class of 1971.

The team membership recipient was the 1960-1961 ski team, all 13 members, that was lead by coach Bob Axtell.

The induction ceremonies began to take place annually in the 80s. They started out as informal meetings between the inductees and the selection committee, which is an all-day event that takes place in two weeks, according Mariano.