Winslow High School coaching legend Harold “Tank” Violette, former Ellsworth High School and Husson University great Jack Scott and longtime athletic trainer Phil Mateja are among the 10-member class joining the Maine Principals Association’s Hall of Excellence.
The 2023 class will be inducted on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Augusta Civic Center. Here are the members.
Scott has always been considered one of the best and most versatile athletes of all time in Maine high school sports. He starred in several sports.
He played on Ellsworth’s undefeated 1953 and ‘54 state championship basketball teams that participated in the New England championships. He scored 1,057 points during his high school career and 1,087 at Husson University in Bangor.
He was inducted into Husson’s Sports Hall of Fame and served as the baseball coach at Ellsworth for many years.
Mateja had a lengthy career in athletic training that included 20-plus years as a fixture at the MPA’s Eastern/North Maine basketball tournament.
He was an athletic trainer at the University of Maine for 13 years before serving as the athletic trainer at Brewer High School and Hampden Academy. Mateja retired in 2020.
Violette, who was inducted in the Maine State and UMaine Sports Halls of Fame, coached the Winslow High School football team to 113 wins and three state championships between 1969 and 1984 and then guided the Black Raiders’ hockey teams to six state titles after being instrumental in getting the program started.
Violette, who also had a stint as Winslow High’s athletic director, died in 2015.
John Casavola was a gifted sprinter at Portland’s Deering High School who set four indoor records in state meet competitions at the Portland Expo and also set a state outdoor record in the 220.
He was an all-state football player who went on to run track at Michigan State University before returning to Maine and becoming an outstanding track coach and well-respected track official. He also coached football, basketball and baseball.
Al Halliday had a long and distinguished career as a basketball referee. The 1950 Waterville High School and 1954 University of Maine graduate was a member of the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials from 1957 until his death in 2019.
He was on the Maine Basketball Commission for over 20 years and was the site supervisor for the Maine high school tournaments held at the Augusta Civic Center from 1991-2016. He is already one of the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame’s “Legends of the Game.”
Jesse Labreck set three state records in the 2008 state meet for Messalonskee High School in Oakland and won a fourth individual event in which she barely missed breaking her own state record.
She went on to have a terrific career at the University of Maine, setting four UMaine indoor as well as four outdoor records. She won 12 individual events at the America East track meet and was twice named the most outstanding performer.
She was inducted into the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame.
She went on to become a star on the ‘American Ninja Warrior’ television show which involves negotiating a difficult obstacle course.
Wayne Quint, a Houlton native, had a well-rounded athletic career, including a long stint as the athletic director at Hodgdon High School. He also spent 19 years as the junior varsity boys basketball coach at Houlton High School and he also coached cross country and golf.
Roger Shaw was a basketball official for 37 years and was the chairman of the MPA’s state basketball committee. He has spent time as the varsity soccer and JV basketball coach at Central Aroostook High School in Mars Hill.
Steve Solloway was the long-time sports columnist at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram after working at Augusta’s Kennebec Journal. He was chosen the Maine Sportswriter of the Year in 1993 and is the second media member inducted into the Hall of Excellence, joining former sportscaster George Hale.
Ian Wilson has had an outstanding career as a soccer and track coach.
He led his 1996 Mt. View High of Thorndike and 2008 and 2014 Waterville High School girls soccer teams to state championships and his track teams won 25 indoor and outdoor track state championships. He is currently the track and field coach and cross country coach at Waterville’s Thomas College. He is also a strength and conditioning coach at Thomas.