Hall of Champions opens at TASSS
Display also pays tribute to athletes who graduated from two now-closed high schools: PCVS and LDSS
Athletic excellence is a tie that binds three high schools in Thomas A. Stewart’s new Hall of Champions.
Eleven framed jerseys adorn a wall outside the school cafeteria recognizing alumni who achieved national or international acclaim in a sport they played in high school.
They are alumni from TASSS and two schools whose student bodies were absorbed by the Armour Road high school when they closed — Peterborough Collegiate and Lakefield District Secondary School.
They include Griffins alumni Kerri Hardill, Gabe Robinson, Jake Withers, Raiders grads Terry Paul, Jennifer Walinga, Jesse Young and former Tigers Tyler Ardron, Alana Chan, Hannah Darling, Megan Oosting and Paul Pearson.
Teacher Ken Hamblin consulted former coaches at all three schools in compiling the names. He said it’s possible they missed worthy candidates.
“It’s a work in progress,” Hamblin said. “We did our due diligence the best we could but there might be people we’ve missed. If anyone thinks someone has been missed, please put forward their name.”
Hamblin thought it would be inspiring for current students to see what has been accomplished by graduates who once walked in their shoes.
The criteria for recognition is the student must have competed for the school in the sport they received national or international success.
Hamblin started the project while teaching at LDSS. He had jerseys made up for the five Tigers but the school closed before he had them all signed.
“They were in my garage,” he said. “Now I’m at TASSS and I knew there were athletes from TASSS and PCVS with similar accolades. I thought ‘Wouldn’t it be a nice way to show the family of schools that now make up TASSS if we put them all together?’ ”
Hardill walks by her jersey often as a teacher there.
“I’m so pleased to have my jersey enshrined at TASSS in this hall at the school I attended and spent most of my teaching career at,” she said.
“I also think it’s great to be able to share the space with individuals from the two other schools that have since closed but now represent the new family of schools that make up TASSS. To be able to preserve that history in some small way I think is important for past, current and future students.”
Ardron (Class of 2009) was LDSS Athlete of the Year in 2007 and ’09. He has captained Canada’s national 15s and 7s rugby teams, winning a Pan Am gold medal in ’12. He’s played in two World Cups and plays pro in France.
Chan (Class of 2004) was LDSS Athlete of the Year in ’04. She played NCAA Division 1 lacrosse at Canisius and George Mason. She played for Canada at the ’05 and ’09 World Cup.
Darling (Class of 2014) was LDSS’s top athlete in ’12 and ’13. She played six years for Canada’s national 7s rugby team winning a ’15 Pan Am gold medal and a ’16 Olympic bronze medal.
Hardill (Class of 1982) played for Canada’s national lacrosse team from ’82 to ’94. She won a World Cup bronze medal in ’82 and was the first female player inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Oosting (Class of 2008) was LDSS top athlete in ’05, ’06, ’07 and ’08. She set the Canisius College women’s lacrosse all-time scoring record in ’12 when she was also an allAmerican.
Paul (Class of 1982) was a member of Canada’s national rowing team from ’86 to ’92 competing at two Olympics and one Commonwealth Games winning Olympic gold as coxswain for the men’s eight in ’92. He is now a national team coach.
Pearson (Class of 1969) was LDSS top athlete in ’67, ’68 and ’69. He was a 1974 All American in track at the University of Texas El Paso. He competed at the ’75 Pan Am Games and ’78 World Cross Country Championships.
Robinson (Class of 1995) played for the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts in 2003 and ’04 winning a Grey Cup in ’04. He also played varsity football at the University of Toronto.
Walinga (Class of 1983) was PCVS’s top athlete in ’83. She was on Canada’s national rowing team from ’83 to ’92. She won gold medals at the ’86 Commonwealth Games, ’91 World Championships and ’92 Olympics.
Withers (Class of 2012) has won three Mann Cups with the Peterborough Lakers, a gold medal at the ’19 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships and silver at the ’18 World Field Lacrosse Championships. He plays for the National Lacrosse League’s Halifax Thunderbirds and starred for the Ohio State Buckeyes from ’13 to ’17.
Young (Class of 1999) starred at George Mason University after leading PCVS to an OFSAA basketball gold medal.
Young played for Canada’s national basketball team from 1999 to 2011 playing in the Pan Am Games in 1999, 2005 and ’09. He was Canada’s captain from ’08 to ’10.