Hall of Fame inductee - 1996 X-Men Football

Leading up to the StFX Sports Hall of Fame Induction ceremony on September 29th, we will be profiling all the inductees. Today we honor the 1996 X-Men Football team.

2016 StFX Sports Hall of Fame Inductee – TEAM CATEGORY
X-Men Football, 1996

The 1996 X-Men football team were Vanier Cup finalists and remain only the second football team in StFX history to reach the CIS national championship game. Coached by John Stevens, the X-Men played to a first place finish in the AUAA regular season with a 6-2 record. The X-Men went on to claim the Jewett Trophy as AUAA conference champions with a 30-22 win over Mount Allison, then the Atlantic Bowl title with a 13-5 victory over Ottawa. The team came up short against Saskatchewan (12-31) in the Vanier Cup game played in Toronto. The 1996 X-Men squad included 11 AUAA conference all-stars with further recognition of three CIAU All-Canadians in receiver Andre Arlain, defensive lineman Mark Verbeek, and linebacker Paul Frlan who was also earned the distinction of the AUAA defensive player of the year.

Team members include:  Murray Appleby, Andre Arlain, Kris Arnold, Jermayne Baldwin, Richard Bergeron, Alex Best, Willy Burgess, Mike Burke, Colin Bush, Kevin Cowell, Derrick Cvitkovich, Shawn Davison, Greg Delaval, Rick Delorme, Christian Demers, Travis Dow, Andrew Dowker, Danny Durand, Jason Elliott, Jason A. Elliott, Ryan Ernst, Daryn Fernandez, Dave Finlay, Paul Frlan, Scott Gardner, Adam Geris, Bob Giffard, Nate Gorham, Dave Grandy, Paul Henry, Ben Hiron, Tim Hunter, Rob Johns, Todd Jones, Mark Kawchuk, Paul Kealey, Mike Kushnir, Ron Lirette, Darin Loucraft, Dan Lumsden, Jacob Marini, Derek Martin, Allyn Marshall, Neil McCallum, Robert McConnell, Rich McKenna, Scott Moreton, Wade Murray, Sean Musselman, Neil Myers, Chris Newberry, John Northcott, Jamie O'Reilly, Mark Pitts, Ryan Poser, Aaron Power, Sean Price, Mike Quinn, Ian Richmond, Philip Reid, Stephen Richards, Mark Royale, Raoul Rozier, Todd Sarty, Steven Slinn, Ryan Smith, Jamie Stacey, Rob Steiner, Jason Stewart, Ryan Thomson, Mark Verbeek, Zoran Vulic, Lee Weismiller, Andrew Williams, head coach John Stevens, assistant coaches Blake Nill, Scott Annand, Terry Chisholm, Mike Stewart, Steve Sumarah, Des Pitts, Kevin Artichuk, Mike D'Addario, Frank Gesztesi, Gord Beatie, Jim Aucoin, Grant McIsaac, Pat Flemming, and Ron Dickie; student therapists Andrea Benoit, Donna MacPhie, Jeff MacKinnon, Lisa Parsons and manager Mike Dickey

The 2016 complete list of StFX Sports Hall of Fame inductees are as follows:

Athletes
Bob Mincarelli, Football (1974)
Deanna Corbett-White, Basketball & Field Hockey (1986)
Allan MacIsaac, Hockey (1991)
Lavinia (Gough) Carreau, Cross Country (2001)
Michelle (Chisholm) Murray, Cross Country & Soccer (2003)
Eric Gillis, Cross Country & Track and Field (2004, 2006)

Builder
Mike Cavanagh, Rugby (2013)

Teams
1996 X-Men Football
2003-04 X-Men Hockey

The St. Francis Xavier University Sports Hall of Fame was founded in 1976 and exists to honour those individuals who have contributed significantly to StFX sports as athletes, teams, or as builders. Those chosen inductees have exemplified the spirit and ideals of Xaverian athletics in their professional and community lives.

For more information on the StFX Sports Hall of Fame, click here

To watch the induction ceremony live via webcast on Thursday, Sept. 29th at 7:30 pm, CLICK HERE