Owl hall of fame induction ceremony this weekend

PRESQUE ISLE — The University of Maine at Presque Isle Athletic Hall of Fame will grow by three on Saturday as Robert Grove-Markwood, Jeanette Morrill and Maurice “Spanky” White are set to be inducted.

The ceremony will be held as part of Homecoming activities at the university and the banquet will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Campus Center.

Grove-Markwood coached women’s soccer at UMPI from 1992-1997 and experienced much success. His teams compiled a 55-27-6 record during his tenure and picked up Maine Athletic Conference titles in 1993 and 1995. He coached four eventual Hall of Fame players.

His Owls won 11 games his rookie year, 13 during his first championship season, eight, 10 with the second title team, six and then seven his final season. The team qualified for the NAIA District V in three of his six seasons at the helm.

He served as pastor of the Presque Isle Congregational Church during his coaching years.

Morrill, a 1974 graduate of UMPI, is a Greenville High School graduate who went on to play four years of volleyball, basketball and softball for the Owls.

Two years after graduating and while serving as a teacher and coach, a fainting spell led to her being diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension and was given two years to live. She was forced to retire but after experiencing improvement, in 1982, she resumed her teaching and coaching career at Greenville. She served as a varsity softball and girls’ soccer coach and a sub-varsity basketball coach. Her health once again declined, forcing her to retire again in 1997.

Since then she has been a fierce advocate for those suffering from Pulmonary Hypertension. She has been a speaker at conferences held nationally and internationally and in 2010 published a book entitled “Living with Pulmonary Hypertension.” She is believed to be the person in the United States living the longest with the disease.

White, who graduated in 1958 from Aroostook State Teachers College (now known as UMPI), was a basketball standout. He started every game of his four-year career and was named to the Northeast College Conference all-tournament team all four seasons.

Known as a great teammate and leader, he averaged close to 18 points per game during his career and the team picked up the conference title his junior year.

He was a military man, having entered the Maine Army National Guard in 1953, becoming active in the Army in 1969, serving in the Vietnam War; joining the Army Reserves in 1975 and retiring in 1987 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He received many medals and badges during his career.

White had a lengthy career as a teacher, many of those years spent with SAD 1 in Presque Isle.