Myer memory lane
Five people receiving induction into A.N. Myer Secondary School Wall of Distinction
Two basketball players who won a men’s national championship at Brock University are among A.N. Myer Secondary School’s 2017 Wall of Distinction induction class.
Dustin Bianchin and Mike Kemp, who both graduated in 2003, will see their names added to the wall at a dinner Thursday, April 20, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Niagara Falls high school.
Volleyball standout Debbie (Baldin) Lapierre, Class of 1972; and Nena Orescanin Wicken, Class of 1988, for rugby and soccer; also are being inducted, as will retired teacher Vito DiMartino, who coached basketball at Myer from 2005 until 2015.
Bianchin, regarded as one of the great big men to play for the Marauders, also played baseball and football in his five years at Myer. He helped lead the football team to the Division II championship in 2002 and was a key contributor to the baseball team’s Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (SOSSA) title the following year.
Bianchin is best remembered at his alma mater for basketball. He was a vital cog in three consecutive SOSSA championships and his tenacity on defence and finesse on offence was instrumental in Myer’s fourth-place finish at the provincial high school championships in 2003.
Bianchin’s post-secondary hoops career was highlighted by scoring the game-winning shot in Brock’s victory over Acadia in the 2008 national final.
Kemp also attended Myer from 1998 to 2003 and was a multi-sport athlete, coming out for the baseball, basketball and football. While Kemp earned most valuable player and all-star honours for defensive dominance and accurate shooting on the basketball court, he excelled enough on the baseball diamond to earn a scholarship to George Mason University as a pitcher.
He continued playing baseball and basketball after transferring to Brock and was selected as the most valuable player of the game of the 2008 Canadian men’s basketball championship game.
Kemp was inducted into the Niagara Falls Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.
Baldin played badminton, basketball, hockey, volleyball and went out for the track and field from 1967 until 1972 at Myer.
She played on McMaster University’s women’s volleyball team, for one season; and on the basketball team, for three seasons; before launching a teaching career and becoming a highly regarded coach in the region.
Before playing on the Canadian national women’s rugby team from 1992 until 1996, Wicken helped Myer win an Ontario girls high school soccer championship in 1988 and a SOSSA volleyball title the year before.
She also played basketball and hockey for the Marauders.
As a builder, DiMartino was instrumental in establishing the A.N. Myer Track and Field Record Book, the annual March Break Basketball Camp and the Phil Mazzone Outdoor Sports Complex, as well as the Wall of Distinction.
As a coach, he led the senior girls team to a provincial silver medal in 2011 and senior boys team to eight Zone 3 championships and five appearances in the SOSSA final.
DiMartino is currently an assistant coach with the Niagara River Lions of the National Basketball League of Canada.