VANCOUVER – The UBC Department of Athletics is pleased to announce the 2017 class of inductees into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame. Selected by an eight-member committee from across the university community, the 2017 inductee class is comprised of two Olympic gold medalists in rowing; two of the most recognized names in Canadian women's volleyball; one of the most dominant teams in U SPORTS (formerly CIS) history as well as one of the nation's most revered coaches.
 
The 2009-10 UBC Thunderbird women's volleyball team received the nod in the Team category for recording a perfect 25-0 season on the way to winning the 2010 U SPORTS (then CIS) National Championship. Led by U SPORTS Player of the Year, Liz Cordonier and All Canadian team mates Jen Hinze and Kyla Richey, the team's perfect season culminated in a defeat of the Manitoba Bisons in the U SPORTS championship final and a third consecutive national title.
 
Former Thunderbird and two-time Olympic rowers Kyle Hamilton and Ben Rutledge will take their place in the Athlete category, along with the sister combination of Emily and Liz Cordonier, both former U SPORTS Players of the Year in women's volleyball and members of Canada's national team. Retired soccer coach and professor emeritus Dick Mosher, who coached both UBC's men's and women's varsity soccer teams to a combined nine U Sports national championships and an overall 244-54-50 record, will be inducted in the Builder category.
 
The inductees will be honoured April 4 at the 2017 Big Block Awards & Hall of Fame Dinner.
 
Inductee Highlights - Team Category
 
2009-10 women's volleyball team (25-0 overall record; 2010 U Sports National Champions)
After one of the most extraordinary seasons for any UBC Thunderbird team in any sport, a total of five team members (Claire Hanna, Liz Cordonier, Shanice Marcelle, Kyla Richey and Jen Hinze) went on to play professional volleyball internationally and for Canada's national team. Cordonier and Marcelle also played for the national women's beach team while Nicky Osborne became a member of the British national indoor team. In addition to athletic prowess, the entire roster of team members also exhibited remarkably high academic standards, including four alumnae who subsequently graduated from medical schools (Katie Tyzuk, Lauren Whitehead, Hinze and Osborne).
 
Cordonier, a graduate of the University of Calgary Faculty of Law, was the recipient of the Jim Thompson trophy at the 2010 BLG Awards as the top female student-athlete in the nation, while Hinze was named the top female Academic All Canadian for 2009-10. Head coach Doug Reimer was named the 2010 U SPORTS Coach of the Year in women's volleyball.
 


All-Canadians: Liz Cordonier, Jen Hinze, Kyla Richey
U SPORTS Player of the Year (Mary Lyons Award): Liz Cordonier
U SPORTS Libero of the Year: Claire Hanna
U SPORTS Coach of the Year: Doug Reimer
National Championship Tournament All-Stars: Liz Cordonier, Jen Hinze, Shanice Marcelle
National Championship Tournament MVP: Liz Cordonier
Canada West Top Academic All-Canadian:  Jen Hinze
BLG Awards Jim Thompson Trophy (Top U SPORTS Female Athlete): Liz Cordonier
 
Team members: Lauren Whitehead, Liz Cordonier, Nicky Osborne, Claire Hanna, Mariah Bruinsma, Danielle Richards, Rayel Quiring, Shanice Marcelle, Kristine Johnson, Katie Tyzuk, Briana Liau Kent, Kyla Richey, Jessica von Schilling, Brina Derksen-Bergen, Kirsty Setterlund, Jen Hinze, Doug Reimer (head coach), Joanne Ross (lead assistant coach), Beathen Thomas (assistant coach), Chris Berglund (assistant coach), Dan Huzar (assistant coach), Mischa Harris (trainer)
 
Inductee Highlights - Athlete Category
 
Kyle Hamilton and Ben Rutledge - Rowing
Prior to their arrival as students at UBC in the late 1990s, neither Kyle Hamilton nor Ben Rutledge had any experience in the sport of rowing, yet they became Olympic gold medalists scarcely a decade later as members of Canada's Eight at the Beijing 2008 Games. A former junior hockey goaltender from Cranbrook, B.C., Rutledge started rowing at UBC in 1999 as a novice and just three years later contributed to the first of three World Championships for Canada's Eight. While at UBC he was team captain for two years from 2004 to 2006; helped lead UBC to its first-ever Brown Cup against the University of Victoria in 2005 and was named the 2006 recipient of the Bobby Gaul Award as UBC's most outstanding graduating male athlete.

A former high school rugby rugby player from Richmond, B.C., Hamilton started rowing at UBC as a novice in 1997. In addition to winning three World Championships, both he and Rutledge were members of UBC's Four that won the prestigious Head of the Charles in 2005, edging out Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the British National Team which competed as the Oxford University Boat Club. They both helped lead UBC to its first-ever Canadian University Rowing Championships in 2005; to its second consecutive Brown Cup championship against the University of Victoria in 2006, and to the World Championships as members of Canada's Eight in 2002, 03 and 07.

Coached by Mike Spracklen, the 2008 Olympic crew of Hamilton, Rutledge, Kevin Light, Andrew Byrnes, Jake Wetzel, Malcolm Howard, Dominic Seiterle, Adam Kreek and coxswain Brian Price had consistently proven to be the best, winning the 2007 World Championship title as well as back-to-back editions of the prestigious Lucerne World Cup in 2007 and 2008. The Beijing Games were the second Olympics for Hamilton and Rutledge, who had been members of Canada's Eight that finished fifth at the 2004 Athens Games. The 2008 Olympic champion crew was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

UBC Rowing Highlights: Ben Rutledge
Bobby Gaul Award winner - 2006
Team Captain - 2004-05; 2005-06
Head of the Charles Gold Championship Men's Fours - 2005 (defeating British National Team)
UBC Canadian University Rowing Champions (first-ever) - 2005
UBC Brown Cup champions (first-ever) - 2005
UBC Brown Cup champions - 2006

UBC Rowing Highlights: Kyle Hamilton
Head of the Charles Gold Championship Men's Fours - 2005 (defeating British National Team)
UBC Canadian University Rowing Championship (first-ever) - 2005
UBC Brown Cup champions - 2006


 
Emily and Liz Cordonier - Volleyball
Unquestionably among the most accomplished volleyball players in UBC history, the playing careers of Emily and Liz Cordonier are almost identical, including their participation as team mates on Canada's national team. Both are multi-year Canada West All Stars and All Canadians.


 
Emily Cordonier - 2002-2006
Canada West All Star - 2005, 06
Canada West Player of the Year - 2006
All Canadian - 2005, 06
National Championship Tournament All Star - 2005, 06
Therese Quigley Award - 2005 (top student-athlete in U SPORTS women's volleyball)
Marilyn Pomfret Award - 2005 (UBC's Female Athlete of the Year)
Five years on Canada's national team; three as captain
Led UBC to Canada West Championship in 2006 and U SPORTS silver medal in 2005 and 2006
Two years professional volleyball in France
 
Liz Cordonier - 2005-10
Canada West All Star - 2008, 09, 10
Canada West Player of the Year - 2010
All Canadian - 2008 (second team), 2010
National Championship Tournament All Star - 2010 (Tournament MVP)
U SPORTS Player of the Year - 2010
Marilyn Pomfret Award, 2010, as UBC's Most Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year
May Brown Award, 2010, as UBC's Most Outstanding Graduating Female Athlete
Jim Thompson Trophy winner - 2010 (Canada's Top U SPORTS Female Athlete)
Four years on Canada's national team
Two years professional volleyball in Europe


 
Inductee Highlights - Builder Category
 
Dick Mosher - Soccer
Dick Mosher first set foot on the Vancouver campus of the University of British Columbia as a student in 1963, spending the next three years as a centre-forward with the Thunderbirds' soccer team before moving on to the University of Oregon and later to Michigan to pursue his PhD in human growth and motor development. He returned to UBC in 1975 as a professor in the School of Physical Education (now Kinesiology) and coached local Vancouver metro soccer teams for a decade before taking the post as head coach of the T-Bird men's squad in 1986.
 
In nine seasons with the men's team and 16 with the women's, Mosher's teams posted a combined overall record of 244-54-50, including a record of 26-4-2 at U SPORTS championships. His sides amassed 14 podium finishes (nine gold, two silver, three bronze) in 14 appearances at the national tournament. His six national titles with the UBC men are a record for a head coach in U SPORTS soccer, while his three banners with the women's squad put him in a tie for first. After retiring from coaching in 2009, he was named a co-recipient of the prestigious Jean-Marie de Koninck Coaching Excellence Award by U SPORTS.
 
In addition to maintaining teaching responsibilities and advising graduate students in the UBC School of Kinesiology throughout his coaching career, Mosher also served as the athletic department's academic coordinator, providing expert advice and service to all UBC athletes and coaches regarding admissions and academic eligibility. He also served one year (1991-92) as the Interim Director of Athletics following the retirement of Bob Hindmarch.


 
Dick Mosher coaching career at UBC
 
Women's program (1994-2010)
Canada West Championships: 1994, '95, '02, '03, '07
U SPORTS Championships: 2002, '03, '06
Canada West Coach of the Year: 1994, '99, '02, '04
U SPORTS Coach of the Year: 1994, '99
 
Men's program (1986-1994)
Canada West Championships: 1986, '89, '90, '91, '92, '93, '94
U SPORTS Championships: 1986, '89, '90, '91, '92, '94
Canada West Coach of the Year: 1986, '87, '89
U SPORTS Coach of the Year: 1989
 
All-Time Coaching Record
Team        Reg. season   Playoffs   Nationals    Total
Men          73-6-11           2-0-0*      11-1-2         86-7-13
Women    129-32-37       14-12-0    15-3-0        158-47-37
Comb.      202-38-48       16-12-0    26-4-2        244-54-50