ORONO, Maine — Five former standout student-athletes will become the newest members of the Orono High School Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday night during halftime of the Red Riots’ homecoming football game against Stearns of Millinocket.
Joe Trefethen, Casey Cobb, Sonny LeClair, Diane LeClair Vinal and Jim Willard will become the seventh class inducted into the school’s hall.
Trefethen (1985) was a four-time letterwinner and a two-time first-team All-LTC honoree in football who was instrumental in leading the Red Riots to a 9-0 regular season record and a state Class B runner-up finish in 1984.
Trefethen went on to compete in football and track at the University of Maine and was named UMaine’s 1986 Rookie of the Year.
Trefethen also starred in track and field at Orono and remains the school record holder in the shot put for indoor and outdoor track. He won state championships in that event five times and also was the 1985 state titlist in the 200-meter dash.
Trefethen now lives in Bow, New Hampshire, and is general Manager of Palmer Gas/Ermer Oil Company.
Cobb (1985) quarterbacked the Red Riots’ football team in 1983 and 1984, leading them to LTC North Division titles. He was named All-LTC and All-State in 1984.
Cobb captained both the basketball and baseball teams as a senior and was an All-PVC shortstop in 1984 and 1985.
He graduated among the top 10 in his class and also was a three-year class president as well as president of the National Honor Society chapter before going on to Harvard University where he was a two-year starter at second base.
Cobb went on to serve as running backs coach for the 1989 Yankee Conference-winning University of Maine football team. He later earned his doctorate from Arizona State University and currently is associate dean of the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education. He resides in Mansfield, Connecticut.
LeClair (1980) was a four-year letterwinner in football who anchored the offensive and defensive lines for three straight undefeated and state championship teams, including the 1979 squad that had six future Division I college team captains on the roster.
LeClair was a three-time All-LTC first-team selection.
He began throwing the shot put as a junior and became the first schoolboy thrower in Eastern Maine to eclipse the 50-foot mark. During his senior year, he also set the school record in the discus before going on to compete in the shot put, discus and hammer at the University of Maine.
LeClair later coached the throwers on the Orono track team for three years.
In the winter of his senior year, LeClair became what many believe to be the first male stunt leader for the basketball cheering squad, and he recruited other football players to assist the cheerleaders at basketball games.
LeClair now lives in Orrington and is owner of Quality Jewelers in Bangor and co-owner of the city’s Seasons sports bar and restaurant.
Leclair Vinal (1983), Sonny LeClair’s sister, earned 11 letters in field hockey, indoor and outdoor track and also managed the girls basketball team for three years.
She remains the school record holder in the shot put, discus, and javelin and also is the Class C outdoor track state record holder in the shot put with a throw of 40-8 set in 1983 as well as the Penobscot Valley Conference record holder in the shot put and discus.
The Red Riots won state championships in both indoor and outdoor track during each of her four years at Orono.
LeClair went on to serve as Orono’s head coach for four years in indoor and outdoor track and later held assistant coaching positions at John Bapst High School and Hampden Academy.
She now lives in Orono and works at the Hilton Garden Inn as well as the United Methodist Church.
Willard (1963) played football, basketball and tennis at Orono.
In football he played tackle for teams that won three straight Little Eight Conference titles. Willard was a team captain and all-conference first-team choice as a senior both as a tackle and as placekicker.
He played on three Eastern Maine championship basketball teams with two of those clubs winning state titles.
While tennis was not yet an established team sport during Willard’s time at Orono, he competed in the state singles tournament as a junior and senior and reached the semifinals each year.
Willard graduated from the University of Maine and eventually devoted his life to education, teaching in East Millinocket for 30 years as well as at Katahdin High School in Stacyville for 12 years. He also taught briefly in Quito, Ecuador.