VICTORIA, B.C. – This year will mark the 14^th class of the University of Victoria Sports Hall of Fame, founded in 2002 to honour those individuals who have contributed significantly to sport or recreation at the university as athletes, coaches, a team or as builders. Vikes Athletics and Recreation are pleased to announce a strong class of inductees for 2016 including two three-time Paralympians in swimmer Stephanie Dixon and alpine skier Lauren Woolstencroft, as well as one of the most decorated group of Vikes women's rowers in the 1981-82 crew.
 
Born missing her right leg and hip, Dixon began swimming at the age of two and by 14 was already on the international scene, representing Canada on the Paralympic team. She represented Canada at three Olympic Games (2000, 2004 and 2008) amassing 19 Paralympic medals – seven gold, 10 silver and two bronze. She is the only Paralympian to win the same event in world record time at three-consecutive games, while she ties Chantal Petitclerc for winning a record five gold medals at a single summer Paralympic games. Woolstencroft holds the same honour for winter Paralympians.
 
As a Vike, Dixon became the first S9 level athlete to qualify for the CIS national championship under able-bodied standards and was awarded a 2004-05 CIS Honorary First Team All-Canadian award. Dixon was also named University of Victoria's Athlete of the Year in 2004 and 2005, while she is a five-time Canadian Female Para Swimmer of the Year and seven-time B.C. Female Para Swimmer of the Year. Dixon attended UVic from 2003 to 2007 and graduated with a Bachelors in Psychology and is still heavily involved in the sports world as a Right to Play Ambassador, Para Pan American Games Ambassador (2007) and she was Assistant Chef de Mission for the Para Pan American Games in Toronto in 2015.
 
Woolstencroft was born missing her left arm below the elbow as well as both legs below the knees. She earned her electrical engineering degree with distinction at the University of Victoria in 2005, while excelling on the world stage as an alpine skier. A three-time Paralympian (2002, 2006 and 2010), Woolstencroft has set the bar for winter athletes winning an incredible 10 medals – eight gold, one silver and one bronze. At the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Woolstencroft became the first winter Paralympian to win five gold medals in the same games after she took first in the Giant Slalom, Slalom, Super-G, Downhill Skiing and Super Combined. She was later named flag bearer for the 2010 closing ceremonies in Vancouver.
 
The Calgary, Alta. native won the prestigious Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award in 2002 which is awarded to one male and one female athlete at every Paralympic Games who best exemplifies the spirit of the Games and inspires and excites the world. In 2007, Woolstencroft was named the Paralympic Sport Awards Best Female Athlete and in the same year was inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame. Woolstencroft was nominated for the prestigious Laureus World Sport Award in 2011 in the category of World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability and is also a founding member of the viaSport Board of Directors. The eight-time Canadian Para Alpine Ski Team Athlete of the Year has also been inducted into the Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame, the BC Sports Hall of Fame, Canada Sports Hall of Fame, Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and has a Distinguished Alumna award from UVic and an Honorary Doctor of Law from Trent University.
 
Over the span of two years in 1981 and 1982, the University of Victoria fielded one of the most successful groups of women's rowers in the program's history. Eleven key rowers spanned this time frame that saw the Vikes win the Championship Eights titles at the 1981 and 1982 Royal Canadian Henley regatta and the 1981 inaugural and 1982 Canadian University Rowing Championships. They were named Victoria's Team of the Year in 1981. The 1982 women's eight crew went on to win the San Diego Crew Classic, with a breathtaking victory over the University of Washington,  the 1982 Pac 12 champions and the 1981-82 USA national champions, by two tenths of a second.
 
This group of incredible women combined seasoned competitors with new talent. The crew of Lisa Roy, Janice Mason, Katie Burke, Shelley Donald and Andrea Schreiner Stapff, all 1980 Olympians, along with Canadian junior and national team members Carla Pace and Lorna Schultz Nicholson, joined forces with newcomers Joanell Storm, Lisa Robertson, Marilyn Brain Campbell, and Carolyn Trono. Trono, Roy, Mason, Schreiner Stapff, Brain Campbell, Storm and Robertson were also members of Canada's 1984 Olympic team.
 
Dixon, Woolstencroft, and the women's rowing crew will be formally inducted alongside the annual Vikes athletics award winners at the Celebration of Champions event, Mar. 30, 2016 at the Victoria Conference Centre. Tickets will be available for $90 per person (including tax). For more information please visit govikesgo.com/COC or contact Ms. Janine Prince by phone at (250) 472-4772 or by e-mail: jlprince@Uvic.ca
 
Members of the community looking to submit nominations to the UVic Sports Hall of Fame may e-mail vicvikes@Uvic.ca for an application form or visit govikesgo.com/HOF for details. Due to the overwhelming number of submissions, nominations for the UVic Sport Hall of Fame will be considered for five years. Nominations are reviewed at the end of January for induction of that year.
 
Hall of Fame Class of 2016
Lauren Woolstencroft, Alpine Skiing
Stephanie Dixon, Swimming
1981-82 Women's Rowing Crew
 
Hall of Fame Class of 2015
Phil Ohl, Basketball
Milena Gaiga, Field Hockey
Christin Petelski, Swimming

Hall of Fame Class of 2014
Jan Crook, Field Hockey
Dr. Dave Docherty, Rugby
Dr. Bruce Howe, Rugby 

Hall of Fame Class of 2013
Silverado Socrates, Cross-country/Track
Nicci Wright, Soccer
Dr. Derek Ellis, Cross-country/Track, Builder
 
Hall of Fame Class of 2012
Michael Edgson, Swimming
Lynne Beecroft, Field Hockey
1981-82 Women's Basketball team
 
Hall of Fame Class of 2011
Greg Streppel, Swimming
Eric Hinrichsen, Basketball
1970-71 Men's Rugby Team

Hall of Fame Class of 2010
Laurelee Kopeck, Field Hockey
Tracie McAra (Sibbald), Basketball
 
Hall of Fame Class of 2009
Kelly Dukeshire, Basketball
Carey Nelson, Cross Country
1983 Men's Rowing, Varsity Eight
 
Hall of Fame Class of 2007
Gary Dukelow, Rugby
Robyn Meagher, Cross Country/Track
Deb Whitten, Field Hockey
 
Hall of Fame Class of 2006
Kirsten Barnes, Rowing
Gerald Kazanowski, Basketball
Luanne Krawetz (Hebb), Basketball
Howard Petch, Builder
1975 Men's Soccer, Team
 
Hall of Fame Class of 2005
Rochelle Low, Field Hockey
Robbie Parris, Basketball
Eli Pasquale, Basketball
Pam Rai, Swimming
Mark Wyatt, Rugby
 
Hall of Fame Class of 2004
Jon Kelly, Swimming
Al Morrow, Rowing
Debbie Scott, Cross Country/Track
1984-85 Women's Field Hockey, Team
 
Hall of Fame Class of 2003
Howard Gerwing, Rugby
Nancy Mollenhauer (Charlton), Field Hockey
Derek Porter, Rowing
1979-80 Men's Basketball, Team
               
Hall of Fame Class of 2002
Lorne Loomer, Rowing
Wally Milligan, Soccer
Gareth Rees, Rugby
Ken Shields, Basketball
Kathy Shields, Basketball