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PORTSMOUTH, VA Former Virginia lacrosse great Tom Duquette and long-time football coach George Welsh are among seven members of the Class of 2009 to be inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in Portsmouth.
During his Cavalier career, Duquette played on two national championship squads, including the 1972 team that captured the NCAA title. A four-time All-American, he finished his career in 1973 as UVa’s all-time leading goal scorer (107) and second in assists (92) and points (199). He became the first player in UVa history to score 100 goals in a career and still ranks in the top 10 in all three categories.
He led the ACC in scoring with 47 points (24g, 23a) as a freshman in 1970, when he also led the team in goals and assists. As a senior tri-captain in 1973 he led the team in scoring with 57 points (29g, 28a) and assists.
Upon completion of his collegiate career he played for the United States National Team that claimed the 1974 world championship.
Duquette’s contributions to the game of lacrosse reach beyond his accomplishments as a player. He was an assistant coach at UVa following his collegiate playing days before embarking on a successful career as a high school lacrosse coach. He began his high school coaching career at Charlottesville’s St. Anne’s Belfield School before moving on to his present position at Norfolk Academy. In 30 years as a high school coach, he has compiled a 374-119 record and been named the Virginia Prep League Coach of the Year five times.
He was a 2001 inductee to the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Welsh was responsible for returning two struggling programsNavy and Virginiato national prominence during his 28 years as a collegiate head coach.
He got his first taste as the head coach at his alma mater, Navy, where he guided the Midshipmen from 1973-81. While there he led his squads to a 55-46-1 record and three bowl appearances before leaving as the school’s all-time winningest coach (a distinction he still holds).
Hired by then Virginia Athletic Director Dick Schultz, Welsh came to Charlottesville in 1982 to revive UVa’s sagging football fortunes. Prior to his arrival, UVa managed just two winning seasons in 29 years and won just 33 ACC games since joining the league in 1954.
Displaying the ability to get the most out of what he had to work with, Welsh quickly turned the Cavaliers into consistent winners. Following a 2-9 initial campaign in 1982, Welsh’s 1983 squad finished with a 6-5 mark, assuring themselves of a winning record with a 17-14 upset of conference rival North Carolina.
In his third year, Welsh directed the Cavaliers to the first bowl game in school historythe 1984 Peach Bowlwhere a 27-24 win over Purdue closed out a joyous 8-2-2 season.
Following a 3-8 season in 1986, Welsh’s squads proved to be a model of consistency. The Cavaliers won at least seven games every season from 1987-99, a run of success that was rivaled by only Florida State, Michigan and Nebraska.
The 1989 season marked several prominent firsts in school historyan ACC championship, a 10-win season and a berth in a New Year’s Day bowl game.
The following season, with one of the nation’s most high-powered offenses, Welsh placed the Cavaliers in a position many never thought possiblethe number-one team in the nation. They stayed there for three weeks before falling to eventual national champion Georgia Tech 41-38 in early November in one of the classic games in college football history.
The Cavaliers claimed their second ACC title in 1995, a season that included another classic gamea 33-28 win over perennial power Florida State in a game that went down to the last play. UVa finished with a 9-4 overall record that season and was ranked 16th in the final Associated Press poll.
Welsh’s final season at UVa in 2000 marked the program’s 10th bowl game since 1989, not a bad record for a school that had never been to a bowl game before his arrival.
Welsh completed his career 24th in Division I-A history in wins with a 189-131-4 record (.590). He was the winningest coach in ACC history at the time of his 2000 retirement and became the first coach in conference history to win 100 games. His Virginia teams posted a 134-86-3 record (.608) in 19 seasons. His 85 ACC wins and 36 conference road victories were also league records at the time of his retirement.
In addition to earning National Coach of the Year recognition in 1989, 1991 and 1998, Welsh was named ACC Coach of the Year a record five times at UVa (1983-84-89-91-95).
Welsh was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
Profiles of the other members of the Class of 2009 follow.
“Red” Caughron was born in Sevierville, Tenn., and came to William & Mary to play football. He received All-State, All-Southern and All-American honors during his three-year varsity career. In 1960, he took over as head coach of the varsity football team at Woodberry Forest, in Orange. During his 31-year career, the Tigers compiled a record of 217-56-7, had eight undefeated seasons and won 15 conference championships. Caughron was named “Football Coach of the Year” eight times by the Virginia Prep League. At Woodberry Forest, he also coached the track team for 10 years, founded the school’s Summer Sports Camp and served as Athletic Director. He is a 1983 inductee into the William & Mary Hall of Fame.
Bill Cochran, a lifetime resident of Roanoke, is this year’s media inductee. Cochran began writing about the outdoors while at William Fleming High School. Following his graduation from Lynchburg College in 1960, his byline appeared more than 300 times in national outdoors magazines, including Outdoor Life, Field & Stream and Sports Afield. In 1962, he began writing for the Roanoke Times, which soon turned into a full-time position as the paper’s first outdoor writer. His column, “Life Afield,” appeared three times each week for the next 36 years, introducing new concepts and promoting youth interest in outdoor sporting. Cochran is a 10-time recipient of Virginia Press Association awards, and was honored in 1999 with Virginia House Joint Resolution 520, for using his writing to “fight pollution of the Commonwealth’s matchless environment.”
Tom Dolan, originally from Arlington, began his swimming career at age five. Despite struggling with exercise-induced asthma, Dolan aggressively pursued the sport in high school, which led him to the University of Michigan, where he won nine national championships and earned NCAA “Swimmer of the Year” honors in 1995. Dolan forwent his last year of NCAA eligibility to train for the 1996 Olympics, which paid off with a gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley. Four years later in Sydney, Dolan successfully defended his gold-medal finish in the 400-meter IM, and also won a silver medal in the 200-meter IM. During his career, Dolan set five U. S. records and one world record, and in 2006, earned a place in the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Brian Jordan, a native of Baltimore, Md., entered the University of Richmond in 1985. As a three-year starter at cornerback in football, he earned All-Conference and All-State honors his junior and senior years. He ranks fifth all-time for career interceptions (11) and second all-time for career punt returns (60 returns for 692 yards). On the baseball field, Jordan set school records with 66 runs scored and 27 stolen bases in 1988. In 1988, he was the first-round draft pick of Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals, and was also offered a football contract with the Atlanta Falcons. After three seasons, Jordan decided to leave football to concentrate solely on baseball. He spent the next 12 years in the major leagues, making an All-Star game appearance in 1999 and earning retiring a career .282 batting average, 1,454 hits and 184 home runs.
Jane Mack of Richmond began her amateur golf career as a teenager, taking lessons at Willow Oaks Country Club. An active member of the Virginia State Golf Association (VSGA), Mack notably won four state Women’s Amateur Championships (1977-78-82-92) over a three-decade span. She competed on the Virginia-Carolinas team from 1967-73, 1976-88 and 1990-97, captaining the team twice. Mack has also played in three U. S. Opens, three U. S. Amateurs and numerous Trans-National championships. In 2000, she was named one of the “Four Aces” of Virginia women’s golf, along with Robbye King Unger, Lily Harper Martin and Mary Patton Janssen. Mack has contributed greatly to golf advocacy in Richmond and throughout Virginia, working closely with the VSGA on course ratings and rules.
The 38th annual induction ceremony will take place on April 25, 2009, at the Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel & Waterfront Conference Center, as the crowning event of Hall of Fame Weekend.