Athletics reveal teams to be inducted into the Durham College Sports Hall of Fame

July 27, 2017

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Athletics reveal teams to be inducted into the Durham College Sports Hall of Fame

OSHAWA, Ont. – The Durham College department of athletics have completed a lengthy process and confirmed several prestigious teams that will be officially recognized by induction into the Durham College Sports Hall of Fame this fall.

The teams that will be inducted are the 1996-97 men’s basketball team, 1996-97 women’s basketball team, 2002-03 to 2005-06 women’s softball teams and the 2007-08 women’s soccer team. This will be the second time that teams will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony will take place on Friday, Sept. 8 during the Durham College 50th anniversary homecoming weekend. There are nearly 100 athletes, coaches and team staff that will be inducted.

For the first time, the induction night will be a gala. Tickets to the event will be $50 and it will take place in Gymnasiums 1/2 at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Centre.

1996-97 Durham College Men’s Basketball Team

The Durham Lords men’s basketball team earned a gold medal in the OCAA Championship and secured the first CCAA National Championship gold medal in school history.

The Lords finished the regular season with a 6-4 record in a competitive central region that only saw first and fifth place separated by six points. With only 695 points against, the Lords were second in the OCAA in least points conceded. The offensive glory was spread out among the team, as five players held an average of at least 10 points per game – Delawn Grandison (14.4), Shane Nicely (13.9), Augusto Duquesne (12.2), Patrick McKoy (11.4) and Sandy Jeffrey (10.9).

A 75-60 win over Humber College saw Durham win the Central Region final and head to the OCAA Championship at Algonquin College as the Central “1” Representative. The Lords were too much for Mohawk College in the semi-finals as they rolled to a 100-67 victory. Durham would meet Humber again, this time in the gold medal game. In a nail biter, the Lords came out on top with a 57-52 win to represent Ontario at the CCAA national championship in Vancouver, B.C. at Langara College. Kenrick Hopkinson and Augusto Duquesne finished the OCAA championship with all-star honours, while Shane Nicely was named OCAA championship MVP.

The Lords continued their hot streak into Vancouver, where they defeated Malaspina University College (now Vancouver Island University) 75-63; Grant MacEwan Community College (Edmonton, AB) 75-67. Durham would, once again, play for gold against their Ontario counterparts at Humber College and came out with a 66-55 victory. Durham was well-represented with Augusto Duquesne earning 1997 tournament first-team all-star honours, and Delawn Grandison was named the 1997 most valuable player at the CCAA championship.

1996-97 Durham College Women’s Basketball Team

The 1996-97 season was a historic one for the women’s basketball team. Not only had they won the OCAA championship gold medal, but they were the first women’s basketball team in school history to make an appearance at the CCAA championship.

The Lords were consistently dominant all season, finishing 13-1 and tied for first with Humber College. The Lords finished with the strongest defence in the OCAA.

Durham held off the fifth seed George Brown College with a 50-48 win in the semifinals at the OCAA championship at Seneca College. This win sent the Lords to the finals where they defeated Humber College 58-50 for gold and an opportunity to head to Vancouver, B.C. for the CCAA national championship. Marcy Skribe and Julie Goedhuis earned OCAA first-team honours. Shantell Marsh was an OCAA championship all-star and Marcy Skribe earned the OCAA championship MVP award.

At the CCAA championship, the Lords began the tournament with a 57-50 victory over Mount Allison University (Sackville, N.B.), but would go on to drop two straight against Mount Royal College (Calgary, Alta.), and the eventual-champions John Abbott College (Saint-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que.). Marcy Skribe was named to the 1997 All-Canadian and first all-tournament team.

2002-03 to 2005-06 Durham College Women’s Softball Teams

The Durham Lords women’s softball teams were a force to be reckoned with in 2002-03 through 2005-06. In that time, they earned three OCAA championship gold medals and a silver medal. Impressively, they won 56 consecutive games over the four years which is known across the OCAA as “the streak.”

In 2002-03, the Lords finished the regular season with an 11-1 record. They scored 90 runs and only had 36 scored on them over the 12 games played. At the OCAA championship, the Lords defeated Canadore and Mohawk 3-0 and 7-4 respectively before meeting Canadore College again in the gold medal game. Durham earned the first of three consecutive gold medals with a 2-1 win over the Panthers. Erin Smith was well decorated with championship MVP, OCAA top pitcher and OCAA league all-star honours.

The Lords were unbeatable in 2003-04. They finished the regular season with a 12-0 record, 123 runs for and 13 runs against. Vanessa Chaborek had the second highest batting average (.529) and Erin Smith had the best ERA (0.17). The Lords rolled through the OCAA championship as they shut out Seneca 7-0 to earn another gold medal.

The 2004-05 campaign was just as dominant as the last, finishing 12-0 with 90 runs for and three runs against heading into the OCAA championship. With the championship game hosted at Seneca College, the Lords shut out Seneca in the gold medal game for the second straight season, winning 11-0 in a no-hitter thrown by Smith.

The Lords continued their record breaking winning streak into 2005-06. They completed the regular season with another 12-0 record and surpassed 100 runs for the second time in three years. Durham advanced to the gold medal game for a ninth consecutive year with an 8-4 win over Canadore, but fell short against St. Clair to take home a silver medal.

Over the span of four seasons, Durham had eight OCAA league all-stars, two OCAA championship MVPs, two OCAA championship top pitchers, two OCAA league top pitchers, a player of the year, a league batting champion and a coach of the year.

2007-08 Durham College Women’s Soccer Team

The most recent of this year’s Hall of Fame inductees is the 2007-08 women’s soccer team. In the 2007-08 season, they won the OCAA championship gold medal and earned the first CCAA national championship medal in Durham College women’s soccer history.

The Lords had a perfect regular season with an 8-0-0 record, scoring 42 goals and conceding none. Their perfect regular season would turn into a perfect OCAA playoffs, defeating St. Clair 2-0, Fanshawe 3-0 and Humber 2-0 to win the gold medal.

Katie Szeghaimi was named OCAA player of the year, league scoring champion and a CCAA All-Canadian. Krista Metcalf earned East Region rookie of the year honours. Both Katie Szeghaimi and Abbie Visser were named East Region all-stars.

At the 2007 CCAA women’s soccer national championship, the Lords split their round-robin matches with a 3-0 win over Mount Saint Vincent University (Halifax, N.S.) and a 4-2 loss to Collège François-Xavier-Garneau (Quebec City, Que.). The Lords earned a spot in the bronze medal match and defeated Capilano College (North Vancouver, B.C.) 5-1 to win the schools first national medal in women’s soccer history.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Scott Dennis

Sports Information and Marketing Coordinator

Durham College and UOIT Athletics

905.721.2000 Ext. 2784 (P)

905.721.3117 (F)

Photo Credit: Allan Fournier