Sports
Inducting the class of ’25
4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDTThe Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame will induct its class of 2025 on Thursday, Nov. 6 at the Victoria Inn in Winnipeg. Two athletes, two builders, one athlete/builder and one team representing football, softball, volleyball, soccer, multi-sport and sport medicine make up the class.
Record-setting Winnipeg Blue Bomber Troy Westwood is the football inductee. The kicker, who was born in Dauphin and grew up in Winnipeg, played 18 seasons in the CFL. He became the team’s all-time leading scorer with 2,741 points and holds multiple Bomber and CFL kicking records. Westwood was twice nominated as the CFL’s outstanding Canadian player, and was inducted into the Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Fame in 2011. He also writes a column on unsung young sports heroes every other week in the Free Press Community Review.
Softball is represented by pitcher Ashley Lanz, who began her softball journey in Winnipeg at age six. She pitched for Minot State and Simon Fraser universities from 2003 to 2005, earning NAIA All-American and pitcher of the year honours in 2005. She also made her mark in international competition, playing for Canada’s national team from 2005 to 2012, winning gold at the 2007 FISU (International University Sports Federation) championships in Bangkok, Thailand. Lanz also pitched in the Netherlands, Czech Republic and in the Italian Professional League. At the Canadian championships, playing with Manitoba’s formidable Smitty’s club, she was named top pitcher in 2008 and 2009. Lanz was inducted into the Manitoba Softball HOF in 2018.
Russ Paddock, who was born in Oak River, is being recognized for his success on the volleyball court and for his coaching resumé. He played for Canada at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and was the captain of the national team in the 1994 world championships. Paddock (whose older brother John was general manager and coach of the Winnipeg Jets in the 1990s) coached the men’s volleyball team at Brandon University from 2005-2012. The team won Canada West silver and CIS (now USports) bronze in 2009 and silver in both in 2011. He was inducted into the Volleyball Manitoba HOF in 2007 as an athlete-builder.
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3 minute read Preview Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDTTop judo athletes square off at Manitoba Open
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6 minute read Preview Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025Bonivital S.C. scholarship applications still open
1 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025There’s still a window to apply for Bonivital Soccer Club’s scholarship.
According to the club’s website, the scholarship is intended to support young athletes — who are Bonivital players — who wish to continue taking part in soccer while pursuing a full-time, post-secondary education.
The scholarship is $1,000, and one each will be awarded to players representing: U17 girls’ premier; U17 boys’ premier; U18 girls’ recreational; and U18 boys’ recreational.
There is a number of criteria for applicants to be eligible for a scholarship, organizers say.
‘You have to have that fighting spirit’
3 minute read Preview Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025Williamson left a mark on U.S. hockey
5 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025Murray Williamson, a Manitoban who made a major impact on hockey in the United States, died in the Twin Cities on Sept. 15 at age 91. At the time of his death, he was described as a hockey legend and a trailblazer whose contributions shaped the sport in the United States for decades. He was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Manitoba Hockey Hall as a builder in 2009.
Williamson was born in Winnipeg where he played junior hockey for the St. Boniface Canadiens of the MJHL. He was also an excellent junior baseball player with the Winnipeg Buffaloes. His journey to U.S. hockey glory began when he was scouted by University of Minnesota head coach Johnny Mariucci while playing senior in Mariucci’s hometown of Eveleth, Minn. He was approached about joining the Gophers while shooting pool in a pool room owned by Mariucci’s former Chicago Black Hawks teammate goalie Mike Karakas. Williamson had been thinking about attending the University of Michigan.
Mariucci always focused on recruiting players from Minnesota rather than bring in players from out-of-state and Canada, so making an offer to Williamson was unusual. The Winnipeg forward joined the Gophers for three seasons and was an All-American in 1958-59 when he led the team in both goals and assists. That season the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux beat Michigan State 4-3 in overtime to win its first NCAA championship. Winnipeg’s Steve Thullner and Ralph Lyndon played for UND with defenceman Lyndon contributing a goal and an assist in the victory. Barry Thorndycraft, Williamson’s teammate on the 1953-54 St. Boniface Canadiens, was an assistant coach.
In his role as a coach and a builder is where Williamson made his mark. He served as head coach of the U.S. National Team from 1966-67 to 1971-72 and coached the team in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics. Henry Boucha from Warroad, MN, who played for the junior Winnipeg Jets in 1969-70, played for the U.S. in the 1971 World Championship and was the team’s leading scorer in 1971-72. Flin Flon’s George Konik, who settled in the Twin Cities after his outstanding career at the University of Denver, was captain of the National Team in 1970-71 when the team finished sixth. The former Flin Flon Bomber defenceman, a 2011 Manitoba Hockey Hall inductee, wasn’t eligible to play for the States in the Olympics.
J.H. Bruns alumna off to TWU
3 minute read Preview Wednesday, Sep. 24, 2025LOAD MORE


