The city of Quinte West held its 10th induction ceremony at the YMCA in Trenton this afternoon to honour the class of 2019.
The Quinte West sports wall of fame committee was proud to induct three athletes; Gilbert Rutherford, Gary Swyers and Nicolette Leone.
Rutherford was a prominent figure on the motorcycle racing scene in the 1970s and ’80s. Rutherford’s first championship came in 1978 at Mosport, he was also a two-time national champion at Nelson Ledges, Ohio. Rutherford retired from racing after the 1983 season turning his attention to golf. He joined the Bay of Quinte Country Club in 1985 and became the president during the 1989/1990 season. In 2006 he became both the open and senior club champion of the Bay of Quinte which had never been accomplished before. In 2007, Rutherford won the senior club championship again.
Gilbert Rutherford joins the Quinte West sports wall of fame’s 2019 class as a multi-sport athlete in both motorcycle racing and golf. (Photo by Alex Mahar/Quinte News)
Gary Swyers’s greatest passion as an athlete was as a track and field runner, competing from 1967 through 1999. Swyers ran in the Ottawa marathon in 1983 completing the race in just three hours and four minutes. Swyers also represented various military bases in track and field, hockey, softball and curling.
Gary Swyers joins the Quinte West sports wall of fame for his excellence in various military sport competitions. (Photo by Alex Mahar/Quinte News)
The final individual athlete inducted is Nicolette Leone who could not attend the ceremony. Leone loved hockey when she was five years of age. She began playing with the Trenton Minor Hockey Association on various rep teams all the way up the Bantam level, always on the boys’ teams. Leone won provincial championships in 1996 and 1999 then followed that up with a silver medal at the Ontario Winter Games in 2002 with the Belleville Bearcats girls Midget AA team. Leone was the youngest player at 16 years of age to play in the National Women’s Hockey League for the Ajax Telus Lightning. She received a Division 1 scholarship to Quinnipiac University in Connecticut where she had a lot of success. Leone also added a gold medal in the Canadian ball hockey championships in 2007.
Tom McCulloch was inducted into the wall of fame today as the 2019 class’s lone builder. McCulloch moved to Trenton in 1960 from Wishaw, Scotland. He worked as a referee, coach, spokesperson and president for minor soccer from 1973 through 2016 at the age of 80.
Tom McCulloch was a stabilizing figure for soccer in the Quinte West area from 1973 through 2016, today he was honoured in the Quinte West sports wall of fame for his accomplishments and dedication. (Photo by Alex Mahar/Quinte News)
The committee is also proud to induct 10 teams onto the wall of fame.
Both the 2017 and 2018 Bayside Secondary School senior girls rugby team who won back-to-back gold medals in the OFSAA championships. The 2010, 2011 and 2015 Trenton High School senior girls OFSAA rugby championship teams and the 2005 Trenton High School senior boys OFSAA champions.
On the hockey circuit, four teams were inducted.
The 2016-2017 Junior “A” Trenton Golden Hawks Dudley Hewitt Cup champions, the 1991-1992 Bantam OMHA championship team, the 2017-2018 Quinte West Golden Hawks major peewee “A” OMHA champions and finally the 2018-2019 Quinte West peewee “A” Hawls who captured both an OMHA and OHF title.
The 2017-2018 Quinte West major peewee “A” Golden Hawks won the OMHA title and now join the Quinte West sports wall of fame. (Photo by Alex Mahar/Quinte News)
Coxwell adds that the committee will now look to the future of the wall of fame.
