Here’s a capsule look at the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025.
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They ran, jumped, threw, grappled, swept curling rocks, swung rackets or bats, or dove into pools.
They coached, they organized and they officiated.
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Five athletes, three builders, two teams and one sports organization have been named to the Class of 2025 for the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame.
Athletes include Jillian Gallays from wrestling, Janet (Scott) Gattinger and Ryan Hvidston from track and field, Marcia (Porteous) Jackson from racquet sports and Larry Pavloff from softball.
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They are joined by Sherry Anderson’s senior women’s curling foursome and the Hunter’s Fairhaven bowling teams.
Builders are Don Hedman from track and field, Mark Millard from soccer and Peter Loubardias from broadcasting.
The Saskatoon Diving Club is the sports organization of the year.
Here’s a capsule look at inductees as they head into the hall during an official ceremony Saturday, Nov. 1 at Prairieland Park.
DON HEDMAN (builder, track and field)
Hedman has been a track and field official for 24 years.
He has coached track and field at Holy Cross high school for 12 years, and served on the Riversdale Athletics board for 15.
Hedman has been the head coach of the Team Sask under-16s and under-18s, and volunteered on the board with Hub City track and the Bob Adams Foundation.
As an official, he has worked Western Canada Summer Games, Canada West university meets and world deaf games. As a Level 4 official, he is qualified to do U Sports nationals and Olympic trials.
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Outside of track and field, Hedman has been involved in women’s softball, hockey, volleyball and gymnastics.
PETER LOUBARDIAS (builder, broadcast media)
Loubardias has followed the puck ever since watching the Saskatoon Blades at the downtown Saskatoon Arena when he was three years old.
Loubardias went on to do play-by-play at the Memorial Cup for eight consecutive years, covered world junior hockey championships in Sweden and Halifax and called hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Loubardias worked at radio stations in Estevan and Regina before returning to Saskatoon as an anchor for Global TV’s Sportsline.
In Edmonton, he called Oilers games and, in Calgary, he did Flames games.
As well, he has covered the Masters for TV and Scott’s Tournament of Hearts for radio, the Canada-Russia junior hockey series and Canada Cup women’s softball.
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MARK MILLARD (builder, soccer)
Millard, who has been coaching youth soccer for 23 years, helped kick-start the drop-in soccer program. He has served on the Saskatoon Youth Soccer board for 10 years, and chairs the committee that raises money for the Saskatoon Youth Soccer athlete fund.
Millard also spent nine years on the Saskatoon Soccer Centre’s board of directors, helping to develop the Alliance League and soccer academy.
He also volunteers with the Soccer Legacy Project.
Away from soccer, Millard is a former national and provincial tae kwon do champion who won bronze at the Pan American Games.
JILLIAN GALLAYS (athlete, wrestling)
Gallays competed in the 2016 Olympic Games, joining Gord Garvie, Bob Molle and Viola Yanik as the other Saskatoon wrestlers to compete since the modern Games started in 1896.
Gallays is a former Canada West conference and Canadian university national-champion wrestler. She competed at world championships, Commonwealth Games, World University Games and Pan American championships.
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In 2016, she outscored her opponents 22-0 at the Pan Am championships to qualify for the Olympics.
Gallays captured bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
JANET (SCOTT) GATTINGER (athlete, track and field)
Scott-Gattinger is a former Canadian heptathlon champion who competed internationally on Canada’s national team for 14 years.
She finished first at the West Texas State Invitational and second at the 1989 Australian Open championships in Brisbane.
She helped the University of Saskatchewan win a national women’s track and field team title in 1984, holding the Canada West record in hurdles for six years and the indoor pentathlon record for 36 years.
She was named the outstanding Canada West performer in 1984 and 1988, and received the Ethel Cartwright trophy as the university’s female athlete of the year in 1988.
Scott-Gattinger has coached track and field for more than 30 years.
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RYAN HVIDSTON (athlete, track and field)
As a pole vaulter, Hvidston won the national junior title three times and medaled four times at the Canadian university national championship.
In 1995, he cleared 5.05 metres at the Pan American junior track and field championships in Chile, becoming the first Saskatchewan junior-aged athlete to do so. No junior has gone higher since.
Hvidston, who has coached pole vault for 30 years, is the founding member of the Penticton Track and Field Club.
MARCIA (PORTEOUS) JACKSON (Athlete, badminton/squash/tennis)
Porteous-Jackson has excelled at all racket sports, including badminton, squash and tennis.
She competed at badminton nationals, tennis nationals and squash nationals across the country, playing at the highest levels during a span of seven decades.
She has represented Team Canada at the World Masters in both tennis and badminton.
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She teamed up with badminton partner Tetiana Rodkina of the Ukraine for silver at the European Masters in 2019.
Over time, she has won more than 200 championships. It is believed that she is the only adult in Saskatchewan to win provincials in three racquet sports, winning four titles in each of them.
She has served on boards and committees, most recently with Tennis Canada for 17 years.
LARRY PAVLOFF (athlete, softball)
During a 16-year stretch of senior softball, Pavloff won provincials 13 times.
In 13 appearances at nationals, he was named all-star three times.
Later at the masters level, Pavloff was a medalist at westerns eight times.
He was a candidate for the Canadian team that went to the 1979 Pan-Am Games. He was with the All-O-Matic A’s when they toured Japan in 1980. The A’s finished third at the Mini World Series in 1983 over in New Zealand. He toured Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong with the A’s in 1986. He won New Zealand’s national crown in 1987 as a player-coach with Auckland United.
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HUNTER’S FAIRHAVEN TEAM (5-pin bowling, 1998-2000)
Fairhaven girls won the Canadian youth 5-pin bowling title in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
They became the first team to win three consecutive Youth Bowling Canada championships.
Coached by Ken Gryschuk, the team included Robin Bolton for all three years. Coral Bolton, Julie Kolendreski, Candace Orenchuk, Crystal Orenchuk and Michelle Simpson were on two of the teams. Lindsay Berge and Megan Berge won senior girls once.
Fairhaven dominated, setting records with 20 total wins in 1990 and 19 straight wins in 1999.
Coral Bolton received the most outstanding performance award in 1998. Crystal Orenchuk won the award in 1999 and 2000.
Coral Bolton, Crystal Orenchuk, Lindsay Berge and Julie Kolendreski would compete a career triple-crown by winning nationals in three different age groups.
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SHERRY ANDERSON TEAM (Curling)
Sherry Anderson and her rink of Anita Silvernagle, Brenda Goertzen and Patty Hersikorn won the Canadian senior women’s curling championship five consecutive years.
Anderson’s rink went 44-13 at nationals during their drive for five.
At the world championship, the rink lost the quarter-final in Switzerland before claiming back-to-back-to-back gold medals in Sweden, Norway and South Korea.
SASKATOON DIVING CLUB (sports organization of the year)
Saskatoon Diving Club, with husband-and-wife coaching tandem Steve and Mary Carroll, has elevated Saskatoon’s diving platform.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Mary Carroll was on the deck as a national coach with SDC’s Margo Elam. Husband Steve watched from the stands while Mary coached pool-side as Saskatoon’s Rylan Wiens won bronze in the men’s synchro platform.
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The club includes up-and-comers Kash Tarasoff and Presley Deck, who have both competed at world juniors.
Among the club athletes who have gone on to college in the United States on scholarships are R.J. Hesselberg, Bjorn Markentin, Kendra Melynchuk, Ainsley Oliver, Casey Spilchuk and Jaime Spilchuk.
Past club athletes to excel nationally or internationally include Lawrence Woodhead (1930s), Audrey Turner (three-time Canadian champion, 1940s), Kathy (Rollo) Seaman (10 Olympic Games as a diver in 1972 to technical delegate in 2021), Dave Elder (three Canada Games), Jeff Bacon (Commonwealth Games), Karl Fix and Angela Borthwick (World University Games) and Sam Valentine (world juniors).
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