The St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame, and David Howes Wall, will add five new members Thursday night at Meridian Centre.
Four athletes and one builder make up this year’s inductees including John Haeni who taught elementary physical education for the District School Board of Niagara for 33 years.
Haeni coached numerous sports, including volleyball, and was the DSBN Athletic Coordinator for 22 years and will see his name added as a builder in 2025.
Gema Kramer was born and raised in the Garden City where she began playing in the St. Catharines Ladies Softball League in 1975, and in 1977 played with the St. Catharines All-Stars when they were crowned Squirt Provincial Champions.
Kramer would go on to be a nine-time SOSSA champion, and was a member of the 1985 Canadian Junior Women’s World Fastball Team who represented Canada at the ISF Junior Women’s World Championships in Fargo, North Dakota. In that same year she represented Ontario at the Canada Summer Games held in St. John, New Brunswick, where the team took home the gold medal.
Kramer went on to attend Ohio University on a full fastball scholarship, and would be a part of the St. Catharines Junior Darts National Championship team in 1988.
Melissa Murphy (St. Onge) was a figure skater who competed Internationally for Canada and represented the Winter Club of St.Catharines throughout her competitive career. She competed as a single skater in the women’s division and her list of accomplishments is impressive:
1982 – Novice Canadian Champion
1983 – City of St Catharines Athlete of the Year 1983
1983 – Junior Canadian Champion
1983 Junior World Figure Skating Championship – Yugoslavia
1984 Junior World Figure Skating Championship – Sapporo, Japan
1984 – Skate Vienna
From there Murphy would go onto coaching. She was head coach with Brock University from 2003 to 2007 where in her final year was named Ontario University Athletic (OUA) coach of the year after guiding the Badgers to a silver medal.
One of Murphy’s greatest accomplishments coaching is witnessing the great success of her highest profile student, Kirsten Moore – Towers. Moore-Towers won four Canadian Pairs Championships, and was also a three-time Olympian in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
Chris Leach began rowing in high school and was a champion from the start with numerous Royal Canadian Henley and United States National Championship gold medals. His crew won the1959 CSSRA championship and in 1960 the Calder Cleland Trophy for placing first in the Senior Men’s Eight.
A two-time Olympian and member of the Canadian National Rowing Team, Leach represented Canada in the men’s Coxless Four at both the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, Italy and 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Doug Fast played basketball at Governor Simcoe High School in St. Catharines during which the team won five city championships and two SOSSA championships.
In 1978 the Redcoats senior men’s basketball team won the SOSSA and OFSAA championships, the first St Catharines high school to do so. That same year Governor Simcoe was crowned St Catharines Standard tournament Champion and Fast was named tournament MVP.
He was selected to the Standard Tournament’s 60th Anniversary All Tournament team.
Fast would then go on to play for Brock University where he was a three time OUA West First Team All-Star.
During his final year at Brock, Fast was chosen as the OUA West MVP and selected to the CIAU (now USports) All-Canadian team
Fast was inducted into the Brock Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Brock Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009, and was a two time recipient of the Brock male athlete of the year award.
Fast did more than play basketball.
He also played shortstop for the St Catharines Cleland A’s junior fastball team that in 1980 won the Ontario Junior. Eliminations Championship and the Canadian Junior. Championships.
Fast played on two IFL regular season championship and playoff championship teams in 1980 and 1984. He was a two-time IFL Most Valuable Player.
The five new members bring the total of iSt. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame inductees to 198.
Thursday’s induction ceremony is free and open to the public.
Doors open at Meridian Centre at 5 pm with welcome remarks set to begin at 5:30 pm sharp.
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
