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Sault sports hall of fame grows by three

The list of high-end athletes from Sault Ste. Marie is a long one. With the list growing, three more have been inducted into the city’s Sports Hall of Fame.

The list of high-end athletes from Sault Ste. Marie is a long one.

With the list growing, three more have been inducted into the city’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Former Canadian Football League player Aaron Fiacconi, cross-country skier Adam Kates and speed-skater Richard MacLennan were honoured as the 2015 inductees at a ceremony at city hall on Wednesday night.

Fiacconi, who now works in Edmonton and coaches football in the area as well, the honour of being inducted is “amazing.”

“It’s amazing to be recognized by the city where you’re from,” Fiacconi said. “Everywhere I go from coast to coast, I’ve ran into somebody from Sault Ste. Marie. It’s a common bond. I’ve played in a lot of different cities and it’s quite an experience being from here.

“It’s a great community for families and to be known as one of (Sault Ste. Marie’s) hall-of-famers for athletics, it’s great to be back here for that,” Fiacconi added.

For Kates, who has spent a majority of his time living in Thunder Bay, the city that he grew up in has a special place in his heart.

“To be honoured by the city where I grew up and my career got started, it’s a huge honour,” Kates said. “It means a lot to me.”

For MacLennan, the honour was a surprise this early in his career.

“It’s pretty awesome really,” the 25-year-old MacLennan said. “It’s great to be honoured by the city. Obviously I didn’t expect it this young and this early in my career. It’s a surprise and a great honour.”

Fiacconi spent 10 seasons in the Canadian Football League as an offensive lineman, including five with the Edmonton Eskimos

Fiacconi began his CFL career in 2002, playing his first game with the Alouettes on July 27, 2002. The same season, the 35-year-old won his only Grey Cup when the Alouettes beat the Eskimos 25-16 in the CFL title game.

Fiacconi was traded by the Alouettes to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in July 2005 and was acquired by the Eskimos from Winnipeg in September 2007.

“It took a life of its own,” Fiacconi said of his career. “To represent Sault Ste. Marie and my alma mater (Mansfield University) is something I took really personally and is something I really wanted to do. I didn’t want to be a one-hit wonder and show up for training camp and then disappear. It’s an extremely competitive environment and I tend to thrive on competition and it’s something that really worked out for me.

“I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Fiacconi added. “Ten years went by too quick.”

While he was a player, Fiacconi joined a group of CFL players as they visited areas of Haiti affected by the 2010 earthquake in that country.

“I jumped (at the opportunity),” Fiacconi said. “I’ve always been community-driven in every city that I’ve been in and I always thought it was really important once you’re there to entrench yourself.

“To see what that part of the world it like and see if I could lend a helping hand, it was something that came natural,” Fiacconi added. “If I could do it again tomorrow, I would.”

Fiacconi was a three-year starter at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania after a standout high school career with St. Mary’s College locally. Fiacconi was named an all-American at Mansfield in 2001 and a conference all-star as well.

A cross-country skier, Kates was introduced to skiing at a young age by his parents.

Kates eventually joined the Soo Nordic Ski Club and he eventually began competing on an international level. Kates would go on to become an eight-time Canadian Junior Championship gold medalist.

He added a gold medal at the 1999 Canada Winter Games and was a member of the Canadian National Ski Team from 1999 to 2005.

“It’s obviously nice to have a lot of success as an athlete,” Kates said. “There are a lot of other positive benefits from it as well. I got to see a lot of places all over the world. I had a lot of great experiences and met a lot of great people.

“You have those relationships that you build and they last,” Kates added. “The competitiveness and the medals are great but those are the things that really have some staying power. I feel very fortunate to have those experiences.”

MacLennan has enjoyed plenty of success in his young speed-skating career.

In 2007, MacLennan won a gold medal at the Canada Winter Games and was a Canadian junior champion in 2009, the same year that saw him win a silver medal at the World Junior Championships in Poland.

He added a pair of silver medals in the World Junior Championships the following year in Russia.

Continued success is key for the young speed skater.

“This past year was great for me,” MacLennan said. “I had a lot of great international finishes and I’m hoping to keep it going. Hopefully the best is yet to come.”

Naturally, the goals for MacLennan going forward are high.

“I would really like to qualify for the next Olympics,” MacLennan said. “It’s a huge process and there’s a lot of growing to do still. There’s a lot that I’m going to have to work on and look forward to. It’s going to be a lot of fun along the way and hopefully it all pays off.”

Paralympian Mac Marcoux and brother B.J. were inducted in 2014 while the 2013 ceremony saw Team Jacobs (Brad Jacobs, Ryan Fry, Ryan Harnden and E.J. Harnden) inducted.

(Photo: Sault Ste. Marie sports hall of fame inductees, from left, Richard MacLennan, Aaron Fiacconi and Adam Kates. Brad Coccimiglio/SooToday)


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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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