Western Mustangs Sports

LONDON, Ont. - Inductees from September, 2010, into the Western Mustangs track and field and cross-country hall of fame.

HALL OF FAME INDUCTION PLAQUES

1981 National Champions Women’s Team

The 1980-81 school year was a monumental time for women’s collegiate sport in Canada as the CIAU (now) CIS introduced both Cross Country and Track & Field to the list of official collegiate national championships. This was great news for all, but particularly for the Mustangs as they had already established themselves as a juggernaut in the late 1970s. 

University track & field had moved from a short season and low profile fall sport to an extensive and exciting winter indoor season. The first official OWIAA (now OUA) Women’s Indoor T&F Championship was in March 1977 and the Mustangs were dominant in winning the team title. Over the next three years, Western won the team title two more times.

With the 1980-81 school year underway, Mustang women were ready to shine on the national stage and they were loaded with talent. To put this in perspective, six members of that team were years later inducted into our Hall of Fame and remain even today on the list of all-time Mustang great performers. The regular season in the winter of 1981 was a smashing success with a multitude of medals and a grand gathering of pb’s. And when the championship season came, Western’s was a tide of Purple and White rushing forward with formidable force. They took the OUA title for the third consecutive year taking home 18 medals. And in Saskatoon, after a disrupting trip of flight delays, the excellent eight went to work, garnering 8 medals and a national championship for Western.

Winning a National Championship is no mean feat. And for a team to do so, the collective is the essence. Each member, the star as well as the everyday competitor make a contribution to the end result. And so we recognize all of the team, not just those very talented few who qualified for the privilege to represent Western and their teammates at the Nationals. All Hail To All!

The 1981 national champions, the Western cross-country and track and field team.

Bill Salter

Bill Salter is an icon in sport volunteer contributions to Western and the London community.

For over three decades and still counting, Bill has been a stalwart in serving Western sport, beginning his officiating at home Track & Field meets in 1978. Then, in 1986, Bill played a leading role in the hosting of the Western International Cross Country meet as it moved off campus for the first time and across town to the beautiful Thames Valley Golf Course. To this day, Bill plays an integral role in the organization and administration of home meets in both sports.

Not a shrinking violet, Bill introduced a unique look and tradition as race starter over the last 25 years for the Western International.

Each year as the runners nervously ready themselves for the start, their attention is drawn to a man resplendently dressed in a tuxedo giving the final instructions then firing the pistol. This grand tradition has endeared Bill over the years to many visiting athletes and coaches as well as to the Mustang clan.

Western has hosted five CIS National Championships in Cross Country at “The Valley” and Bill has served as race manager as well as course logistics for each. But it’s not just the big meets as Bill serves as starter and/or start manager for all home meets, even the Intrasquad.

A native of Stratford, Ont., “Salts” graduated from Western in 1958 and went on to a distinguished 30 years of secondary school teaching and coaching. In university, Bill was a member of the Western Mustangs Wrestling team, winning the OQAA (now OUA) 157 lb. crown in his graduating year. As well, he also played junior varsity Football with the Colts. In 2001, Bill was inducted into the Western Wrestling Wall of Fame.

The Purple and White have always been near and dear to Bill. He has given much and asked for nothing. He has long served on the executive of the W Club comprised of past Mustang athletes, coaches, and supporters. In recognition of his body of volunteer work in Mustang sport, the Western Alumni Association Award of Merit was presented to Bill in 1998.

His contributions to community sport are equally legendary. Bill has played sport management roles in a multitude of high school contests and continues to do so even today after retiring in 1988.

In addition, Bill has been a leader outside of school sport with lead roles in London hosting the Ontario Senior Games, a force behind “Huff and Puff ” Hockey for retirees, and serves on the London Sports Council. In 2009, Bill was recognized as Volunteer of the Year by that body.

There might be no better description of Bill Salter than “The Gift That Keeps On Giving.” Thanks Salts!

Connie Beukeboom
Western Competition Years: Fall 1988 to 1990 / Winter 1988 to 1991

A graduate of London Catholic Central, Connie Beukeboom was the Ontario High School 800m champ for 3 consecutive years. Her 2:09.26 win in her senior year in 1987 was the 3rd best in OFSAA history and one of the top times in North America for secondary school athletes. Connie was one of the most highly recruited runners in North America with full athletic scholarship offers from numerous major NCAA D-1 schools. 

Western will forever be grateful the hometown girl stayed home.

Her first year at Western was solely in track, but for her final three years Connie competed in Cross Country as well.

In Cross Country, Connie played a significant role in the Mustangs winning three consecutive CIS Nationals team titles. In her rookie 1988 season as a second year student, Connie had an impressive collegiate harrier debut finishing as the Mustangs number 1 scorer three times during the regular season. At the OUA Championship, she was our team’s number two scorer and finished 5th overall to earn OUA 1st Team All-Star honors. The Mustangs finished 2nd in the team standings, 17 points behind Toronto. But what a glorious day only one week later when the Mustangs pulled off one of the biggest upsets in CIS Cross Country history. On the fabled Plains of Abraham, with cold winds so strong that mortals cowered and the brave were battered, Western won the National team title over the heavily favoured Varsity Blues by a 14 point margin with Connie finishing 9th overall and the Mustangs number two scorer earning 2nd team All-Canadian status.

The 1989 and 1990 seasons were equally spectacular with Western wining both the OUA and CIS team titles. Connie had to battle injuries both years and often her training was compromised and competitions limited. She even had to sit out the 1990 OUA Championship, but was able to step up for the CIS Nationals finishing as the Mustangs number 4 scorer.

Injury issues that faced Connie in Cross Country were exacerbated in Track with the Canadian collegiate season an indoor sport. The tight curves and hard surfaces can take their toll on anyone. For Connie, indoor training and racing was always a challenge and too often a high price paid in downtime. And yet, she prevailed and produced glorious results when she was able to do what she loved - run fast while running long. She was most prodigious in being the prime contributor to the success of Mustang relay teams. Connie’s 1:32.50 for 600m as a rookie at the 1988 CIS Nationals is to this day the 2nd fastest in Western history. At that same meet, she anchored the Mustangs 4x800m squad to a school record 8:56.80 that stands today. That squad consisted of Brenda Arbuckle 2:13.8, Nancy Day 2:18.6, Donna Grant 2:13.2, and Connie running the anchor leg in 2:11.0, fastest ever by a Mustang at that time. At season’s end, this outstanding rookie was voted by her peers to receive the Labatt Trophy as team MVP.

In all T&F championship races in individual events and relays combined over her four years, Connie won seven OUA medals (2 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze), and seven CIS medals (5 silver, 2 bronze).

In recognition of her impressive body of work, Connie was awarded the 1991 Don Wright Trophy and a Purple Blanket.

Kristina Farr (now Dorfman)
Western Competition Years: Cross Country in Fall 1996 to 1998 / Track in Winter 1995 to 1999

She thought she was fast. She was. She was not sure if she could prevail over longer distances. She pushed herself hard so she could. By the time she graduated from Western in 1999, she had become an all-time Mustang great in two sports - Track and Cross Country.

Kristina Farr, a native of Uxbridge ON came to Western with good credentials, silver medal in 80m Hurdles as a junior and 8th place in 400m Hurdles in her final year. Yet, she struggled in her 1994-95 rookie season focusing on hurdles and shorter sprint events, failing to even advance out of the preliminary rounds at the OUA Championships.

In second year, with great resolve, Kristina moved up to unknown territory to contest the long sprint 600m. This training tactic and her massive mental toughness paid handsomely, culminating in a silver medal in the 600m at CIS Nationals and earning her 2nd Team All-Canadian honors.

Not content to stay in a comfort zone and keep with the status quo that rewarded her so well in her sophomore season, Kristina again jumped into uncharted waters and joined the Mustang Cross Country team in the fall of 1996 where the training is for 5000m racing. Again, her drive and iron-will played large in this transition.

She soon worked her way up to the number 3 scoring spot and helped the Mustangs to a team bronze finish at the OUA Championship and 5th at CIS Nationals. Kristina’s final two years of Cross Country were a steady climb to greater performances. In 1997 she elevated herself to become Western’s number 1 scorer and earned OUA 2nd Team All-Star honors. In her final season, Kristina played a leading role in Western winning the 1998 OUA Championship team title and a podium finish (team silver) at the CIS Nationals. Her finish places of 7th and 9th at the respective championships were rewarded with OUA 1st Team All-Star and CIS 2nd Team All-Canadian.

In five years as a Mustang Track athlete, Kristina competed at one time or another in every track event, from 60m to 3000m and all relay distances. She is the only Mustang to have accomplished this. She won twenty-one (21) races in her collegiate career. She twice won CIS Nationals gold medals: 600m in 1997 and 1000m in 1999. She set a Fieldhouse record of 2:52.59 in the 1000m at the 1999 University of Notre Dame Meyo Invite. At championships,

Kristina won a career total of 11 medals: 5 gold (3 OUA and 2 CIS), 3 silver (1 OUA and 2 CIS), and 3 OUA bronze. Her marks of 1:32.96 for 600m, the 1000m at Notre Dame, and relay splits of 57.2 and 2:11.9 for 4x400m and 4x800m respectively are among the best in Western history.

Kristina is one of the most decorated Mustangs of all-time. She was awarded Mustang Track Events MVP twice (1996, 1997), the Labatt Trophy as Team MVP twice (1996, 1999), both the Don Wright Trophy and Purple Blanket in 1998, and in 1999 the F.W.P. Jones Trophy as Western’s Female Athlete of the Year.
KFarr, Mustang Superstar.

Norm Howes
Assistant Coach from 1990 to 2010

Norm Howes achieved milestones in both number of years as a Mustang assistant coach and in the leadership he provided in bringing many Western student-athletes to prominence. A native of Ottawa, Norm graduated from Western in 1982 and went on to teach secondary school in London.

A good middle distance runner in high school, Norm found it a challenge making it to the varsity athlete level at Western. By his 2nd year he just managed the team standard. But there was far more to come from this determined young man with a lot of unfinished business in the sport he loved almost as much as the student-athletes he coached.

In the winter of 1990, Norm was brought on to the Mustang coaching staff to coach the shorter middle distance area 600m to 1000m group and co-coach the 4x800m relay squads. This was the group most suitable to his background as well as his liking. Right from the get-go, Norm demonstrated an enthusiasm and care for his charges that became his hallmark as a coach. His compassion for the marginal athlete was no less than his drive to support his stars who went on to higher heights.

It did not take long for Norm to gain confidence in his coaching programs as his athletes quickly adapted to his methods as well as his delightful “madness”. Even the top runners took to this rookie coach and by the end of that season, Norm had taken his top male and female 600m runners Bobby Lyons and Jill Tracey to personal best times achieved at the 1990 OUA Championship.

And so it began and on it went. Year after year Norm would plan with aplomb a path of training and racing that would build to a crescendo come championship season. And when this illustrious coaching stint drew to an end, the litany of achievements is outstanding.

In 21 years on the Western Mustang Track & Field team staff, Norm Howes coached twenty-seven (27) athletes to OUA Conference Championship gold medals and forty-five (45) to silver.

On the national scene, eighteen (18) of his charges won CIS Championship gold and another eighteen (18) garnered silver.

Three athletes in his group broke the Western 600m record: Scott Mooney and Bobby Lyons both in the 1993 season and sophomore Scott Leitch in 2010.

Fittingly, two of Norm’s former athletes are in this year’s group of inductees: Connie Beukeboom and Kristina Farr. Well done Norm. Well done indeed!

Steve Martin
Western Competition Years 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981 indoor seasons

Steve Martin came to the Western Mustangs from his native Bermuda. His power in the horizontal jumps - long and triple and his speed in relays lent considerable currency to the Mustangs in both field and track. 

His 1976-77 freshman year at Western was an eye opener with consistent high level performances from meet to meet. And when the championship arrived, Steve showed up in spades winning a medal in each of the 3 events he contested. In the field he won silver in the Triple Jump achieving a career best mark of 14.52m and took the bronze in the Long Jump. On the track, the 4x400m squad of John Gamble, Steve Martin, Tom Potter, and Fareed Cachalia won gold and set a UWO team indoor record of 3:19.7. Steve was one of the top three Mustang point scorers at the 1977 OUA Championship.

The 1979 indoor was another collection of impressive results jumping far and running fast. He took it up another notch at this year’s championship winning four medals: gold in Long Jump, silver on the 4x400m relay, and bronze in both Triple Jump and 4x200m relay.

Steve’s final two years were in an exciting time when Canadian university track and field was moving upward in its platform of presentation. Since the inaugural OUA Indoor Championship in 1973, the meet was a one day affair held in the South Industries Building, a dank warehouse structure on the grounds of Toronto’s C.N.E. By 1980, Toronto built on the campus of York University a grand indoor facility and the 1980 OUA Championship became a two-day program hosted by York. This took these championships to higher ground. Further, in the winter of 1981, the CIS (then CIAU) inaugurated a National Championship, hosted at the new Saskatoon Fieldhouse.

In the 1980 season, Steve was now expanding his training and repertoire of events. He would eventually take up the Decathlon after graduation and it is unfortunate that the Indoor Pentathlon was not part of the program of events in the Canadian intercollegiate scene until almost two decades later. Steve would have been a formidable force in this as well.

At the 1980 OUA Championship, Steve was the “Mustang Man” with 3 gold medals and 4th in Triple Jump. He won the 50m Hurdles in 7.21s, the Long Jump in 7.03m, and ran a 49.4 anchor on the victorious 4x400m Mustang relay. In his final year, fighting through injuries, Steve still made significant contributions to the team. At the OUA Championship, he was a member of the silver medal 4x400m relay and scored points as well in the Hurdles and Long Jump. In his last collegiate competition, the first ever CIS Championship, Steve won silver as a member of the 4x200m squad and bronze in the 4x400m.

Steve Martin is one of a very few Mustangs who was selected twice by his teammates to receive the Murray McNie Trophy as MVP, first in 1980 and again in 1981. In recognition of an outstanding Mustang career, Steve was awarded the Purple Blanket in 1981.