Join students, staff and supporters as Orono High School honors athletes and a faculty member from the past at tonight’s half-time ceremony. Orono Homecoming activies have been happening all week in anticipation of the Orono/Mount View Football game.
Posted Sept. 15, 2015, at 11:22 a.m.
ORONO, Maine — Six new members of the Orono High School Athletic Hall of Fame will be inducted during ceremonies at halftime of the Red Riots’ Sept. 25 football game against Mount View of Thorndike.
Jack Bicknell, Bill Busching, Bernie Corneil, Roberta Fowler, Larry Gross and Amy Taylor have been selected as the eighth class to be inducted into the hall, with Busching and Corneil being honored posthumously.
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Class of 1954
Busching (Class of 1954) played football, basketball, track and baseball for the Red Riots after moving to Orono with his family before his sophomore year.
He was a two-time All-LTC tight end in football who as a sophomore helped the Red Riots to an undefeated state championship season. Busching also was a state track champion in the 440 and 880, earned all-tournament honors as a senior basketball player for Orono, and was a pitcher and third baseman in baseball.
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Class of 1953
Corneil (1953) played halfback and defensive back in football and participated on the first-ever Little Ten Conference game against Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln.
As a senior he helped lead the Red Riots to an undefeated record and the 1952 state championship. He also co-captained the school’s 1953 baseball team that reached the Eastern Maine semifinals.
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Fowler taught physical education at Orono from 1965 to 1990 and then worked in administration until her retirement in 2002.
Fowler became known as the pioneer of women’s athletics at Orono during the late-1960s and 1970s. She coached varsity basketball from 1965 to 1975 and was named the 1970 Penobscot Valley Conference coach of the year. She also coached softball and volleyball, served as cheerleading adviser and was the school’s intramurals director.
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Class of 1995
Taylor (1995) was an instrumental player on Class B state championship field hockey teams in 1991 and 1993 and in basketball was a four-year starter who earned All-Eastern Maine Class B and All-Maine honors as a senior when she led coach Steve Gardner’s club to the Eastern B final.
Taylor won multiple state track titles in the long jump, 400 relay and 400 dash and set school records in the long jump and 400 en route to earning All-PVC and All-Maine honors.
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Class of 1981
Bicknell (1981) starred in football and indoor track and also played golf for the Red Riots. He was a four-year letterwinner in football as an All-LTC offensive lineman and linebacker who was part of a team that went undefeated in 38 games with four state championships.
He went on to Boston College, where he played center for his father, Jack Bicknell Sr. — and snapped the ball to Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie for his “Hail Mary” touchdown pass to Gerard Phelan that defeated the University of Miami on Thanksgiving weekend 1984.
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Class of 1964
Gross (1964) started at end on three consecutive Little Eight Conference championship football teams, earning All-LTC honors as a junior and senior while leading the Red Riots to a combined 12-2 record.
In basketball, he played on teams that won two Eastern Maine championships and the 1964 Class B state title. He set a single-game tournament scoring record by totaling 35 points on 15-of-18 shooting from the field en route to being named to the all-tournament team.
Gross was named to the All-PVC baseball team as a senior after batting .600 for the Red Riots.
HALL OF FAME Specifics
