Five inductees announced for 2009 McGill Sports Hall of Fame
Jul. 3, 2009

MONTREAL – Four athletes and a builder will headline a new cast of inductees to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame, bringing the list of honoured members to 95 since the pantheon opened in 1996.

The late Vic Obeck, who will be inducted posthumously, as a builder, played for the old Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League, served as general manager of the Montreal Alouettes in the mid-1950s and was a publicist for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Originally from Audubon, N.J., he coached the football Redmen from 1947 to 1953 and served as director of athletics at McGill from 1950 to 1954. He also promoted and developed the Redmen football program significantly, including the introduction of the concept of an open huddle to the Canadian university game.

Dr. Eric Walter (B.Sc. '66), raised in Baie d’Urfé, Que., was a two-time all-star running back and defensive back from 1961 to 1965. An Omega trophy recipient as league MVP in 1964, he established a school record with 18 touchdowns in 24 career games, a mark which stood for more than a decade and was named to the OUA Football Legends Hall of Fame in 1996.

Tom Barbeau (B.Ed. '78, M.Ed. '81), a team captain and three-time all-star running back originally from the NDG district of Montreal, won the Forbes trophy as McGill’s athlete of the year in 1977-78. He scored 25 TDs over four seasons (1975-78) to break Walter’s school record and was drafted in 1978 by the Ottawa Rough Riders. He later served as a coach with the Canadian Olympic ski team at Calgary in 1988 and also coached the South African ski team at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano and the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

Pierre Gendron (B.Ed. '97) of Montreal North, played centre with the hockey Redmen from 1994 to 1997 and ranks fourth among McGill’s all-time scoring leaders with 221 points, including 96 goals, in 109 games overall. He established a McGill single-season points record with 40-54-94 in 38 games, skated for Canada the 1997 world university hockey championship and had a playing stint in the American Hockey League with the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Anne Gildenhuys (B.Eng. '98), a native of Ottawa who now resides in Calgary, was a three-time all-star forward in basketball from 1993 to 1998 who earned league MVP and all-Canadian honours. A decade after graduating with an engineering degree, she still ranks as the second-highest scorer in McGill history with 2,199 points in 131 games overall for a career average of 16.8 points per game.

The induction luncheon, scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009, officially kicks off the University's Homecoming Week celebrations. Tickets for the event are $65 and can be reserved by contacting Kathryn Weaver at kathryn.weaver@mcgill.ca or 514-398-7002.