Five new names are about to be enshrined among Guelph's finest sports figures.
The Guelph Sports Hall of Fame's class of 2023 has been announced. Mike Kelly (hockey), Dave Vallance (fastball) and Evan Brill (hockey) will enter in the builders category, while Elizabeth Waywell (marathon) and Kevin Auger (swimming) get nods as athletes.
All five will be inducted during a ceremony May 17.
Kelly was the first general manager for the Guelph Storm, a role he held for 13 seasons between two stints. He led the team to three OHL championship series, winning one J. Ross Robertson Cup in 2014, and went to two Memorial Cup tournaments.
In between his two stints, Kelly moved up to work in the Calgary Flames organization.
Vallance was a longtime Guelph Royal, playing on various teams between 1976 and 1993, winning an Intercounty Baseball League championship in 1993.
But it's his work as a builder that's garnering him this honour.
Vallance led four girls' softball teams to national championships. Three of those four teams have entered the hall already.
He was also named the Ontario Provincial Coach of the Year in softball in 2019, has helped countless young women get NCAA scholarships and three girls he has coached have played on the Canadian national team.
Brill is credited with being a part of the 'Big 10' group to bring Junior A hockey back to Guelph in 1947.
He was team owner and president of the Guelph Biltmores when it captured Guelph's first Junior A hockey championship in 1949-50.
The late builder was also quite the athlete in his own right.
Brill played intermediate hockey with Guelph, including 1922-23, when his team finished runner up in the provincial finals. He also competed in softball, winning a city industrial championship in 1940-41.
Waywell, the long-distance runner, has been a record-breaker after turning 60-years-old. She holds eight Canadian records in her age group in seven different races.
She broke the 20-year-old Canadian marathon record for women in their 60s with a time of 3:07:56 at the 2018 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
She is the top ranked Canadian marathon runner in her age group, and most recently ran the TCS London Marathon in October.
In the pool, if not for Canada's boycott of the 1980 Olympic Summer Games in Moscow, Auger would have competed in the 200m butterfly and 800m freestyle relay on the world stage.
But it doesn't take away from him being considered one of the best swimmers ever produced in Guelph.
Auger was a two-time Big Ten champion while swimming for Indiana University, before transitioning to coaching after an arm injury in 1983.
He's coached the Cambridge Aquajets, Guelph Marlins, Indiana University and now coaches at Evanston Township High School in Illinois.
The newest inductees will get a framed portrait added to the wall at the Sleeman Centre.
The induction ceremony and Kiwanis Sports Celebrity Dinner is being held at the Italian Canadian Club. Tickets are still available.
