2002 BELLEVILLE SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
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Regyna Armonas
ATHLETE, VOLLEYBALL
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Marc Crawford
ATHLETE, HOCKEY
REGYNA ARMONAS
ATHLETE, VOLLEYBALL
Regyna Armonas not only played with the boys, she beat them at their own game. When the outstanding Belleville athlete enrolled at Loyalist College in 1981, the Lancers did not offer varsity girls volleyball. So, Armonas played on the men’s team. She became the only woman to ever play varsity men’s volleyball in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association and at the time was considered one of the best players in the league. Male teammates and rival players should not have been surprised. After all, Armonas was a former Olympian. While excelling at several sports during her high school days at Quinte Secondary, Armonas’ speciality was volleyball. She was a member of the Canadian National women’s volleyball program from 1974 to 1976 in British Columbia. Armonas reached the pinnacle of her volleyball career in 1976, competing at the Olympic Summer Games in Montreal where she was considered a defensive and serving specialist for Canada. Armonas’ athletic career began at an early age.
Born in Belleville on September 8, 1955, Armonas attended Harmony Public School where she was named Athlete of the Year in 1986. At Quinte, where she led Saints girls teams in badminton, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics and track and field, she won Athlete of the Year honours an astounding five consecutive times. She also competed for the Quinte Legion Track Club and the Belleville Badminton Club winning various provincial, regional and club accolades.
At Loyalist, Armonas’ incredible athletic prowess was matched by her stellar work in the classroom. She won the prestigious Ed Logan Trophy as the Loyalist student who best combines academics and athletic excellence. After starring for the men’s team at Loyalist, Armonas became the linchpin on the first-ever Lady Lancers varsity volleyball squad, helping them qualify for the OCAA championship tournament after placing first in their division in the regular season. Armonas also found time to play mixed doubles badminton at Loyalist where she and her partner advanced to the provincial finals. When Armonas wasn’t competing for the Lancers, she offered her services as an expert assistant coach.
Armonas’ achievements at Loyalist and Quinte will not soon be forgotten. In fact, she was singled out for special recognition when she was named the female Athlete of the Quarter Century at both schools. She was also a unanimous choice as one of the inaugural inductees into the Lancers Sports Hall of Fame in 2001-2002. After leaving Belleville in 1983, Armonas joined the Ontario Provincial Police and was assigned to the Renfrew detachment. Said Loyalist athletic director Greg Gavin: “Regyna’s talent, skill and willingness to help others improve will long be remembered by those who watched her play.”
MARC CRAWFORD
ATHLETE, HOCKEY
As a child, Marc Crawford used to sneak into rinks to watch hockey games. As an adult, Marc Crawford got the best seat in the house. And he still didn’t have to pay to get in. After a junior career that featured a 99-point season in Cornwall in 1981 and a professional career that featured an appearance in the Stanley Cup finals with Vancouver in 1982, Crawford turned his talents to coaching. In 1996 he guided the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship.
Born in Belleville on February 13, 1961, Crawford – like his brothers – followed the footsteps of his father, Floyd (captain of the 1959 World Champion Belleville McFarlands) and was soon skating on local ponds, the Bay of Quinte and at Memorial Arena with a hockey stick in his hands. After working his way through the minor hockey ranks in Belleville, Crawford joined the Quebec Junior league’s Cornwall Royals in 1978. He played three solid seasons there, was named team captain and scored a career-high 42 goals in his final junior campaign. In Cornwall, Crawford quickly proved he was a winner. He helped the Royals win back-to-back Memorial Cups in 1980 and ’81. He was voted to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team in 1981 after leading the Quebec league with 20 goals in 19 playoff games that spring. He played for Team Canada at the 1980 and ’81 World Junior Championships.
Crawford signed with the NHL Vancouver Canucks and played 176 career games from 1981 to 1987, scoring 19 goals and adding 31 assists for 50 points with 229 penalty minutes in a mostly grinder role. In the spring of 1982, Crawford – a left wing – saw regular duty for the Canucks in the Stanley Cup final which they lost to the powerhouse New York Islanders. Local fans will recall Crawford battling for loose pucks in the corner with hulking Islander winger Clark Gillies and refusing to give an inch to the much larger Hockey Hall of Famer. During his original stint in the Canucks organization, Crawford played several seasons in the minors where he first demonstrated his aptitude for coaching. With the Fredericton (N.11) Express in the American League, he was promoted to player – assistant coach and would soon focus all his hockey energies in that direction.
Crawford hung up his skates in 1989 and returned to Cornwall where he coached the Royals until 1991. From there, it was off to St. John’s, Newfoundland as bench boss of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ AHL farm club. He broke into the NHL coaching ranks in 1994 with the Quebec Nordiques and stayed with them when they moved to Denver to become the Avalanche the following year. Crawford was named winner of the Jack Adams award as top coach in the NHL in 1995 and won the Stanley Cup the following season. He coached Canada at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan in 1998. Crawford’s professional career came full circle when he later become head coach of his former NHL team, the Vancouver Canucks. Today, he is considered one of the brightest and most innovative coaches in hockey.