Eight Inductees Highlight 2022 UMaine Sports Hall of Fame Class

Orono, Maine – The University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame will induct six individuals and two teams in the 220 member Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022.
 

Honorees include Elizabeth Carone (’81), five-time New England swimming champion; Stephen Cooper (’03), football All-American and two-time conference defensive player of the year; Scott Morse (’87), baseball All-American; Mike Norman (Viani) (’89), who held 11 track & field records at the time of his graduation; John Tortorella (’81), men’s ice hockey pioneer and the 2004 NHL Coach of the Year; Liz Wood (’16), three-time women’s basketball all-conference selection; the 1915 IC4A meet National Champion men’s cross country team, and the 1994 America East Champion and NCAA participant softball team.
 
The Class of 2022 Hall of Famers was selected by the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame committee and approved by Director of Athletics Ken Ralph. The induction dinner and ceremony will be held on Friday, Oct. 21 at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer, Maine.
 
Carone is one of the most accomplished swimmers in school history. Carone led the Black Bears to three New England titles and a runner-up finish her senior year in 1981. Individually, Carone captured five first place honors and numerous runner-up finishes at the New England Championships. She earned New England titles in the 400-yard medley relay, 800-yard medley relay, 200-yard medley relay, 50-yard backstroke, 100-yard individual medley, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard breaststroke, and again in the 400-yard medley relay her senior season. At the time of her graduation, Carone was a part of three school-record relay teams, in the 200-yard medley, the 400-yard medley, and the 800-yard medley.
 
Cooper earned Associated Press All-American (do we know what team the various All-Smericans were, 1st, 2nd, honorable mention were?) status as a linebacker for the Black Bears in 2002. One of Maine’s most impressive defensive players of all-time, Cooper was named Atlantic-10 co-defensive player of the year in 2001 before earning the award outright in 2002. He was twice named a Buck Buchanan Award finalist, an annual accolade presented to the top defensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision (DI-AA), finishing fifth in the voting in 2002. In his career with the Black Bears, Cooper amassed 374 tackles, 57 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, and 25 sacks. Following his time at Maine, Cooper was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Diego Chargers. He spent nine seasons with the Chargers, ending his NFL career with 503 tackles, 9.5 sacks, eight forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, and eight interceptions.
 
Morse, a third team All-American in 1986, helped pitch Maine to back-to-back College World Series appearances in 1985 and 1986. Morse, who earned two selections to the ECAC All-Tournament Team, still holds the school record for most consecutive victories after stringing together 10 in a row in 1984. A member of Maine’s 41-win season in 1986, Morse is tied for second most shutouts in a single season in Maine history (3), and ranks fourth on Maine’s all-time wins list with 26 victories in his career. He tallied 248 strikeouts with the Black Bears before being selected by the Texas Rangers in the fifth round, 111 overall, of the 1986 Amateur Entry Draft. Morse went on to enjoy seven seasons in the minor leagues.

Norman held 11 UMaine track & field records at the time of his graduation and remains part of the current school-record 4x200m indoor relay team and the 4x100m outdoor relay team. Four of Norman’s times still remain present on Maine’s top-10 list, including marks in the indoor 400m (3rd); indoor 500m (8th); outdoor 200m (5th); and outdoor 400m (8th). Norman’s decorated collegiate career included three ECAC individual and relay titles and multiple state championship crowns. Norman, a four-time All-ECAC honoree, was selected to the All-New England Team on three occasions and was Maine’s top point scorer in each of his final three years with the Black Bears. A two-time IC4A qualifier, Norman was the first UMaine athlete to break 49-seconds in the 400m.

 

Tortorella, a pioneer for the men’s ice hockey program, was the gritty heart and soul of the Black Bears from 1978-81 while totaling 110 points on 39 goals and 71 assists in 99 games. Following his time in Orono, Tortorella went on to enjoy a legendary coaching career in the National Hockey League including head coaching stints with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2000-08), New York Rangers (2009-13), Vancouver Canucks (2013-14), Columbus Blue Jackets (2015-21), and was named the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers on June 17, 2022. Tortorella became the first former Black Bear to win the Stanley Cup when he guided Tampa Bay to the title in 2004. That season, Tortorella was honored with the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL’s Coach of the Year. As a head coach, Tortorella has guided his franchises to 12 playoff appearances while compiling 673 wins in 1,383 career games at the helm behind the bench.

 

At the time of her graduation, Wood was the only women’s basketball player in school history to finish her career ranked in the top-10 in program history in five major career statistical categories: first in games played (127); third in steals (282); sixth in rebounds (902); seventh in total points (1,462); and eighth in assists (363). Wood, the 2013 America East Co-Rookie of the Year, was selected to the America East All-Conference first team in 2015 and the league’s second team in 2014 and 2016 while being recognized as the America East Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2015. An All-Tournament selection in 2016, Wood led the team in rebounding all four of her years. Under her leadership, the Black Bears put together back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2015 and 2016 with a pair of America East co-regular season titles. In her senior season, Wood and the Black Bears tallied 26 wins, the second highest single season win total in school history. Wood, who was awarded the prestigious M Club Dean Smith Award, was named the America East Female Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2016.

 

The 1915 Men’s Cross Country team was recognized as the national champion when it won the IC4A title in New York City. With the first NCAA cross country championship meet still more than 30 years into the future, the IC4A meet attracted the top teams in the nation and the title team was declared national champion. Maine was paced by several of the top long-distance runners in program history, including Frank Preti who finished second in New York; Roger Bell, third; Ed Dempsey, eighth; and Al Wunderly, tenth. Maine also won the New England title in 1915.

 

The 1994 softball team became the first women’s program to reach the NCAA Division One tournament. The Black Bears achieved the feat after winning the America East championship that season. Pitcher, and UMaine Sports Hall of Famer, Deb Smith won three games in the final day of the America East tournament to propel Maine to the title and into the NCAA tournament. Smith, who led the team in hitting at .399 and posted a 19-8 record in the circle, was named conference most valuable player and also MVP of the tournament. The Black Bears finished the historic season with a 32-17 overall mark.

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