Hall of Fame Profiles: 1977-78 championship crew established the usual for future UMaine girls’s swim crew success

ORONO, Maine — The enactment of Title IX in 1972 helped open the door for the proliferation of ladies’s athletics on the University of Maine and throughout the nation.

It wasn’t till 1975 that UMaine started awarding athletic scholarships for both gender, however that dynamic helped open the door for a brand new period of Black Bear girls’s sports activities.

During the 1977-78 season, the UMaine girls’s swimming and diving squad coached by Jeff Wren seized upon that early momentum and put this system on a path to sustained success.

The Black Bears constructed unbreakable bonds on a close-knit crew whose members, no matter their contributions, have been pulling for one another in each approach.

UMaine, which competed within the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, compiled a 10-0 dual-meet file. They captured the primary of three consecutive New England titles, an accomplishment that helped land them within the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame.

“This was the one that really got it started,” Wren stated of the crew that sparked a decade throughout which UMaine gained six New England crowns and completed second 4 occasions.

“They cemented us as one of the enviable programs in the region,” he stated.

The athletes may sense that the 1977-78 crew was particular.

“The team camaraderie was second to none and we all wanted only the best for each of our teammates,” stated Julie Woodcock Shaw, who was a dominating performer on the crew.

Woodcock, who Wren stated was the college’s first feminine scholarship athlete, in 1986 turned the primary girl inducted into the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame. She by no means misplaced a race in 4 years. 

At the 1978 New Englands, the premier faculty meet within the area that includes swimmers and divers from 40 faculties, Woodcock gained 5 particular person occasions: the 100-yard particular person medley (1 minute, 1.43 seconds) and 200 IM (2:13.13), the 200 freestyle (1:57.53), the 400 IM (4:39.14) and the five hundred free (5:09.60). 

She additionally swam on two first-place relays, teaming with freshmen Beth Carone Prelgovisk and Anne Griswold and sophomore Jill Puzas Martin on the 400 medley relay (a New England file at 4:09.45) and joined Carone, Linda LaRue and Anne Lucey to win the 800 free relay (8:11.4).

The 100 IM, 400 IM and 500 free swims set New England information.

“She was the start of the women’s team really attracting attention in the region,” Wren stated.

“She was wonderful,” stated Carone, a 2022 Hall of Fame inductee. “It was fun to watch her race.”

Woodcock’s humble demeanor was one instance of why the squad was so tight-knit.

“She was inclusive of everybody,” Carone stated. “She made everyone feel important and feel accepted.”

The Black Bears’ different particular person champion on the New Englands was Puzas, who claimed the 200 breaststroke in 2:29.44. She additionally positioned second within the 400 IM.

Carone was the runner-up within the 50 breaststroke and the 100 IM, whereas divers Patti Ward and Tricia Redden Haines completed third and sixth, respectively, within the one-meter occasion.

Other UMaine scorers included Lucey (tenth, 500 free), Mia Sette (eleventh, 100 IM), Janice Wight Ferguson (twelfth, diving), Dee Dee Daniels Pramer (thirteenth, 500 free) and LaRue (sixteenth, 100 IM).

Wren believes that the emotional and inspirational coronary heart of that crew was its freshman class.

“They brought with them this energy and team spirit that was pervasive,” Wren stated. “They had a litany of cheers that they would rehearse, all kinds of stuff. That’s what really did it.”

Carone stated the freshmen’s strategy was to contribute to the crew’s success nevertheless it may.

“I definitely think we infused a little bit of excitement and a little bit of talent that was complementary to what he [Wren] already had,” she stated.

The group created Maine swimming t-shirts. On the again, every had a single letter. When crew members stood in a line, the shirts spelled, “Maine We’ve Got It All Together.”

Independently, the mom of crew captain Louanne Dodge ordered massive pins for everybody that learn: “At Maine We’ve Got It All.”

“Spirit was very important to them,” Wren stated.

Team members praised Wren because the linchpin. He may train, encourage and relate to them.

“He would do extra things. You would now call it team-building,” Puzas stated. “He’d take us all whitewater kayaking on wild rivers in our off time and stuff. It really helped build cohesiveness.”

Wren, who had by no means been a aggressive swimmer, embraced studying to show, coach and construct relationships.

“Jeff was definitely the catalyst,” Carone stated. “He had a positive attitude and treated us very respectfully.”

When the crew’s Hall of Fame choice was introduced, Wren despatched hand-written, personalised letters to every crew member.

“I said, ‘I remember this about you,’ ” Wren stated. “I think that really resonated with a lot of them.”

Leadership was one other hallmark of the 1977-78 crew. Dodge was the captain for the second of three straight seasons and Carone lauded senior Val Sambrook Hudspath as being an essential presence.

Team members included Debora Lander, Jackie Long Starrak, Brenda McMackin, Denise Small Howell, Laura Blumenstock Branch, Charmian Cutler, Leigh Hutchinson LaRochell, Eileen Sherlock Harriman, Jeanne McIntosh, Colleen Trainor, Linda Baird McDermott, Maureen Carter Hanley, Toni Endres, Connie Hallett, Mary Leddy, Elizabeth Mollman Behringer, and Karen Small Pelletier. 

Swimmer Lee Blumenstock LeRoy and diving coach Rich Miller will probably be inducted posthumously with the crew.

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The University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame will probably be inducting 5 people, in addition to groups from three sports activities, at its annual banquet on Sept. 26 at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer.