Hilda Ranscombe
September 11, 1913 – August 25, 1999 Simply put, Hilda Ranscombe was regarded in her time as the greatest female hockey player in the world. She might even have been the greatest female hockey player of all time. Former Olympic gold medalist and later, Globe and Mail sportswriter Bobbie Rosenfeld, who was named Canada’s female athlete […]
Patti (Rope) Portis
The summer of 1976 was a dream come true for Cambridge’s Patti Rope. As Canada’s top gymnast, she represented her coun- try at the Montreal Olympic Games, with her family, including father Don, a former Olympian (hockey) himself, in the stands. Rope finished 27th at Montreal, the highest-ever placing at an Olympics by a Canadian […]
Greg Streppel
Called “the greatest marathon swimmer of all time,” by Australian coach Laurie Laurenson, Cambridge’s Greg Streppel made a strong case for himself by winning the world marathon swimming championship in 1994 at Rome, Italy. A year later he was recognized in his home town by being presented with the Tim Turow Cambridge athlete of the […]
Galt Football Club 1904
Galt F.C. 1904 Olympic Champions It would have surprised no serious follower in the city of Galt that the Galt Football Club won the right to represent Canada in 1904 at the Olympic Games in St. Louis. The club, comprised entirely of local talent, had a 25-year record of success in the sport we now […]
Galt Terriers 1922
OBA Champions En route to Galt’s first-ever Ontario baseball championship the Terriers opening opponents were also their most difficult ones. The Guelph Maple Leafs had won the Intercounty title three years in a row but lost to Galt in what the local newspaper described as a major upset. In that series a familiar pattern unfolded: […]
Galt Terriers 1923
If you liked a come-from-behind team and extra-inning playoff games, then the 1923 Galt Terriers baseball club was your kind of team. As good as they were that year, and despite their many thrilling late-inning heroics, they failed to record one playoff-clinching victory at Dickson Park that season. The Terriers championship drive began with a series against their […]
Galt Terriers 1960-61
Allan Cup Champions, representing Canada at the 1962 World Championships The city’s first Canadian senior hockey championship was won by the Galt Terriers, who peaked at exactly the right time under unusual circumstances. The team was based at Galt Arena Gardens, a venerable rink that had seen outstanding hockey in years past, including some talented […]
Preston Rivulettes
Six-time Dominion Champions in the decade of the 1930s Male or female, professional or amateur, backlot or big-league, no Canadian team has ever dominated their game like the Preston Rivulettes did for a decade in the 1930s. In an estimated 350 games the Rivulettes lost just once, to Edmonton, in Edmonton, with the Dominion title […]
France & Mills
Josie France and Paul Mills know what it feels like to be on top of the world. In March, 1977 the Preston Figure Skating Club pair won the world junior pairs championship at Megeve, France. The world title capped off a meteoric rise to the top for France, who began her figure skating career in […]
Ward & Carpenter
Linda Ward and Neil Carpenter got a thrill out of meeting Ice Follies star Harris Legg in the spring of 1956 when Legg returned to Galt at the invitation of the Galt figure Skating Club. Within a few years Carpenter and Ward would be reaching the heights of the figure skating world themselves as the […]