Once a Marauder, always a Marauder

Four former student-athletes, one team and an outstanding builder will be inducted into the McMaster Athletic Hall of Fame next month.

Football players Kojo Aidoo and Ray Mariuz, swimmer Janet Cook, tennis player Michelle Greenwood and the 1991 women’s soccer team will be honoured at McMaster’s Celebration of Sport event during the University’s Homecoming festivities in October.

Les Miller, who served as manager of operations and facilities from 1988 to 2007 and who was responsible for overseeing a number of national championships hosted at the University, was inducted into the Hall as a builder at a special ceremony in April. He passed away in July.

Kojo Aidoo ’03 (Football)

A powerful running back, Kojo Aidoo burst onto the scene in 1998 and was named the CIS Rookie of the Year. He proceeded to re-write the OUA record book, setting new marks for rushing and scoring over his varsity career. The 2000 season saw Aidoo lead McMaster to it’s first-ever Yates Cup OUA championship.  He was named the Most Valuable Player of the OUA and the MVP of the championship game. Along with being named a first-team All-Canadian, Aidoo was named recipient of the Hec Crighton award as the most outstanding player in Canada, and was presented with the Howard Mackie Award as the outstanding Male Athlete in Canadian Interuniversity Sport. In 2001, Aidoo captured the Ivor Wynne Award as McMaster’s Male Athlete of the Year.

Drafted into the Canadian Football League by Edmonton, he played for the Eskimos, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts.

Janet Cook ’02 (Swimming)

A freestyle and butterfly specialist, Janet Cook swam for McMaster from 1998 to 2002, and was a key member of two OUA championship teams in 1999 and 2000. Over her four-year varsity career, Cook won 13 CIS medals, including three gold.  She achieved OUA All-Star and CIS All-Canadian status in every year she competed for McMaster. The 2000 season saw her go undefeated in both the 50 and 100 metre freestyle events and she was recognized as the OUA Female Athlete of the Year. On two occasions, 1999 and 2000, she was honoured as McMaster’s Female Athlete of the Year.

In addition to her varsity achievements, Cook swam for the Canadian Olympic team that competed at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.

Michelle Greenwood ’02 (Tennis)

In three years of varsity tennis competition, Michelle Greenwood collected seven OUA medals playing as McMaster’s number-one seed for both singles and doubles. During the 2000 season, Greenwood helped McMaster capture the OUA championship, winning the gold-medal in doubles and the silver-medal in singles. The Marauders then advanced to the National Collegiate Tennis Championship and won the national crown over the University of Alberta. She was also OUA doubles champion in 2001 and was named team MVP that season.

Her varsity efforts also saw Greenwood named to Canada’s team for the 2001 World University Games in Beijing, China, where she competed in both singles and doubles.

Ray Mariuz ’03 (Football)

Ray Mariuz enjoyed a stellar four-year career at McMaster. From 1999 to 2003, he was the leader of a McMaster defence that helped the team to OUA championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002. The 2001 season saw Mariuz named a first-team OUA All-Star at both linebacker and rush-cover — the first time a player was named at two positions. In 2002, he was again a first-team OUA All-Star at linebacker and was presented with the President’s Trophy as the Outstanding Stand-up Defensive Player. Mariuz was also named a first-team All-Canadian for the 2002 season. He was McMaster’s defensive MVP for both 2001 and 2002.

Drafted by the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts, Mariuz was a member of club’s 2004 Grey Cup championship team. He also played six seasons for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as part of a nine-year professional career.

1991 Women’s Soccer Team

In 1991, the McMaster women’s soccer team enjoyed a dream season that culminated in the program’s first national championship. Coached by McMaster Hall of Fame member Frank Donlavey, the Marauders defeated Western 1-0 in London, Ont. to capture the OWIAA championship and a berth in the CIAU tournament hosted at the University of Guelph. In pool play, the Marauders fought to a scoreless draw against Acadia and then defeated the host Guelph Gryphons 3-0 to advance to the gold-medal game against McGill. On a sunny but cold Sunday afternoon, the Marauders exploded for eight goals against the Martlets and won the national title by a score of 8-2. The eight goals is still a record for the most scored in a national championship game. McMaster All-Canadian and Hall of Famer Lydia Vamos was named tournament MVP.