A philanthropist, sportsman and actor known on television as “McDreamy” and a former University of Maine quarterback who has coached the football program at Old Dominion University from its rebirth in 2007 to its current Bowl Championship Series status are among the 13 members of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018 to be inducted Sunday.
The Hall of Fame’s 43rd induction ceremony is scheduled from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Collins Center for the Arts at the University of Maine in Orono.
The honorees include Patrick Dempsey, a Maine native best known for his role as a doctor on the television series “Grey’s Anatomy,” but also an accomplished auto racer as well as founder of the Dempsey Challenge, an annual event based in Lewiston that has raised millions of dollars to fight cancer in Maine.
Also set for induction is Bob Wilder, the Madison native and former UMaine quarterback who has served as the Old Dominion football coach since 2007.
Other members of the hall’s Class of 2018 are longtime former Colby College trainer and two-time U.S. Olympic head trainer Carl Nelson, record-setting harness racing driver Jason Bartlett, ski resort impresario Dana Bullen, USA Hockey general manager Reagan Carey, Aroostook County broadcasting icon Dewey DeWitt, mountain biker Tammy Jacques, former NBA referee Bob McAllister, longtime college basketball coach Dick Meader, celebrated Lewiston High school tennis coach Anita Murphy, legendary Bangor High School three-sport athlete LeRoy Patterson and gymnastics standout Kristen Kenoyer Woodland.
The Maine Sports Hall of Fame also will bestow its Lifetime Achievement Award on longtime University of Maine athletics department employee Steve Jones.
During his career at UMaine, “Jonesey” has served more than 25,000 student-athletes and established a reputation as a professional of the highest quality, a comrade to coaches and staff members in the athletics department, and a friend to all.
“This is another exceptional class,” said Dick Whitmore, chairman of the board for the Maine Sports Hall of Fame, in a news release. “The credentials of the inductees illustrate a distinctive array of achievement and exemplify the motto of our organization — A Better Maine Through Sport.”
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