Athletics Canada inducted five athletes, coach, builder and
three in memoriam inductees into the Canadian Track & Field Hall of Fame
Friday during the Canadian Track & Field Trials in Calgary.
The induction class included legendary University of
Sasktchewan professor and track & field coach Lyle Sanderson in the coach
category, as well as former Huskie athlete Bob Adams in the builder category.
Sanderson coached Olympians Diane Jones Konihowski and
Joanne McTaggart and served as head coach at the University of Saskatchewan for
39 years, leading them to 11 national and 33 conference titles. Sanderson was named to the Canadian
coaching staff of 54 Athletics Canada national teams, including three Olympic
Games (1976, 1980 and 1984), and two World Championships (1993 and 2001). He is
a two time recipient (1977, 1979) of the Canadian Track and Field Association
(now Athletics Canada) Coach of the Year award. In 2010 he was awarded the Geoff Gowan Award for his
lifetime contribution to coaching and development.
Robert “Bob” Adams’ involvement in the
sport spanned many decades as an athlete, coach, official and builder. 
Adams was well suited for his years in
coaching after competing as an athlete at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. He would later serve as
head coach at the 1958 Commonwealth Games and 1964 Olympic Games. In 1976 he was appointed chief judge of
the pole vault for the Montreal Olympic Games. Bob is a founding member of the Saskatoon Track and
Field Club and currently sits on the Board of Director for the Bob Adams
Foundation. The foundation
supports athletes, coaches and officials at the grassroots level. He competed
with the Huskies in the late 1940s.
Other inductees into the Canadian Track
& Field Hall of Fame include Charmaine
Crooks of Vancouver, B.C., Milton “Milt” Ottey of Toronto, Ont., Guillaume
LeBlanc of Sept-Îles, Que., Dave Steen of New Westminster, B.C., and Bruny
Surin of Montreal, Que., in the athlete category, and Myrtle Cook of Toronto,
Ont., Fred Foot from Toronto, Ont., and Harry Jerome of Prince Albert, Sask in
the in memoriam category.
