LANCER NEWS
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Lancers mourn the passing of Dennis Fairall & Dr. Bob Boucher
The University of Windsor Lancers are extremely saddened by the passing of two legendary figures in the Lancer family, track & field/cross country head coach Dennis Fairall, and former dean Dr. Bob Boucher.
Dennis passed away on Nov. 6, 2020 after a courageous battle with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), while Dr. Boucher passed away just nine days later on Nov. 15, 2020.
Dennis Fairall
The “Big Dawg,” as he was affectionately known, was part of the Lancer family for 30 years as head coach of the cross country and track & field programs from 1985 until his retirement in 2015. He had a lifetime of great personal athletic achievement and reached great heights as one of the best track and field coaches in Canadian history.
“Dennis Fairall was a special person,” said Director of Athletics Mike Havey.
“His record of accomplishment put the University of Windsor and the Lancers track and field and cross country programs on the map. But that was not what made him special. He was a humble and incredibly effective team builder and collaborator. He positively impacted so many student-athletes and community groups over the years that keeping count was impossible. When you met with Dennis you always felt better afterwards. He made you feel good. That was his gift.”
Among the hundreds of outstanding achievements in a stellar career, Dennis led the Lancers to 25 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championships, 46 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) titles, and had been honoured 65 times as either CIS or OUA coach of the year in track and field and/or cross country. Leading into his retirement, his Lancer teams had won 22 of the past 25 provincial championships in men's track and field, and 17 of the past 25 provincial championships in women's track and field.
In February 2016, the University of Windsor renamed the fieldhouse inside the St. Denis Centre to the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse.
A Celebration of Life was hosted for Dennis on Saturday, Nov. 14.
Dr. Bob Boucher
As a former dean, professor, and director of athletics in the Faculty of Human Kinetics, Dr. Boucher had an outstanding career at the University of Windsor that spanned 37 years from 1974 to his retirement in 2011. He provided outstanding leadership for the school’s athletic and recreation programs and played a central role in developing several widely respected programs in the faculty.
While athletic director, Dr. Boucher served as the Chef de Mission for the 1997 World University Games in Sicily, Italy and as the Assistant Chef de Mission for the 1995 World University Games in Fukuoka, Japan. In 2005, he was the chairperson of the organizing committee for the Junior Pan-American Track and Field Championships.
In his field, sport management, Dr. Boucher was considered an expert and had extensive academic and applied experience. Most notably, Dr. Boucher served as the President of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) and the Canadian Intramural Recreation Association (CIRA).
In addition to his many awards and recognitions, upon his retirement in 2011, Dr. Boucher was the Richard Peddie Leadership Award which is presented to an individual who has provided outstanding leadership and made significant contributions to the overall success of Lancer Athletics.
Lancers Launch Behind the Shield Podcast
The Windsor Lancers have launched a brand new podcast channel. The podcast channel, sponsored by the Alumni Association, will feature multiple new student-staff led podcast shows, including the main series known as Behind The Shield, which is now available on all mainstream podcasting platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The podcasts will also be widely available on our social media pages including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and at goLancers.ca. Behind The Shield is co-hosted by Cailey Theos and Andrew Papadopoulos and will air on a bi-weekly basis throughout the school year to help keep Lancer fans engaged during the current hiatus of regularly scheduled varsity sports seasons being postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Theos and Papadopoulos will be taking Lancer fans ‘Behind The Shield’ by speaking with many members of the Lancer Family whether they are current athletes, alumni, coaches, training staff, administrative staff, broadcasters, and anyone directly associated with the blue and gold who has dawned the Lancers shield at one point in time. The pair will hope to lead engaging key and insightful discussions by offering a wide range of topics and a diversity of guests to showcase to offer unique perspectives on current events surrounding the Lancers and impacting our University of Windsor Lancer community.
goLancers.ca gets a fresh new look!
The Windsor Lancers have given their website a fresh new look. The new design puts the game results right up top, while also giving fans an inside look into Lancer recaps, their social media channels, and athlete profiles. Check out the new Lancer website at goLancers.ca!
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