The 10 newest inductees of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame include two winter Olympians, a hardwood legend, a baseball player who earned a World Series ring, an All-American lacrosse player and an award-winning sportswriter, the VSHOF’s Board of Directors announced in a news release on Thursday, Jan. 22.
The 10 members will officially be enshrined during a celebration banquet at the Delta Marriott Burlington Hotel on 1117 Williston Road in South Burlington on Saturday, April 25.
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The dinner begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by the induction ceremony. Ticket information for the 2026 event will be available soon on the VSHOF website at vermontsportshall.com.
More: MLB player to horseshoe star: Vermont Sports Hall of Fame 2025 class
Proceeds from the dinner and raffles will benefit Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, the VSHOF’s designated charity. Previous dinners have raised over $37,000 for the organization, a news release stated.
This year’s class brings the hall’s membership total to 153 since the first class was inducted in 2012. The inductees now represent 64 towns in the Green Mountain State and 13 of the state’s 14 counties are represented. The class was selected by three groups: the 15-member VSHOF board of directors, a statewide sports advisory panel and the previous inductees, the news release said.
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This year’s class (courtesy of the VSHOF release):
Sarah Dalton Graddock
Women’s lacrosse
The most decorated lacrosse player the state of Vermont has ever produced, Sarah Dalton Graddock went from a multi-sport high school star at Middlebury Union High School to two All-America selections at Boston University, where she led the Terriers to four consecutive America East championships. After helping Middlebury to four straight trips to the D1 state title games including the 2001 and 2004 championships, she went on to set several BU single-season and career scoring marks earning a spot on the U.S. National Development Squad. She has been the head coach of the University of Vermont women’s lacrosse team since 2016, leading the Catamounts to its first NCAA tournament in 2022.
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Susan Dunklee
Biathlon/multi-sport
One of the most accomplished American females competing in biathlon, Susan Dunklee competed in three Winter Olympics and eight World Nordic Skiing Championships from 2012 to 2022. Dunklee won a silver medal in the 2017 World Biathlon Championships, becoming the first American to win an individual biathlon medal at either the Worlds or the Olympics. She would win another silver in the sprint in 2020. Prior to her national biathlon success, she was a standout runner and Nordic skier at St. Johnsbury Academy, winning a combined six state and New England titles, and competed in three sports at Dartmouth College, where was a three-time all-American Nordic skier helping the Big Green to the 2007 NCAA Ski Championship.
Dick Falkenbush
Basketball (player/coach)
One of the state’s top collegiate players at St. Michael’s College, Dick Falkenbush would stay in Vermont as an exceptional high school coach for 35-plus years. At SMC, he graduated as the school’s second all-time leading scorer (1,431 points in three years) and helped the Purple Knights to the NCAA College Division (now D-II) “Sweet 16.” An All-American, he was picked in the ninth round of the 1967 NBA Draft by the St. Louis Hawks and also selected that year in the inaugural ABA Draft. He eventually went into high school teaching (40 years) and coaching (35 years). He was the first head coach at Colchester High School in 1976 and went on to coach at Burlington, where he won 276 games in 21 seasons including the 1996 Division I title.
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Steven Forrest
Wrestling
One of Vermont’s and New England’s all-time elite wrestlers during his time at powerhouse Mount Anthony Union High School, Steven Forrest continued his wrestling career reaching a level no other Vermonter has to date: the U.S. National Team. The first wrestler inducted in the VSHOF, he finished his high school career in 2000 as a three-time state champion with his Patriots winning four straight team titles. He also was a two-time New England regional champ graduating with a 192-23 record — more wins than any other Vermonter at the time. He was the 1999 junior national champion in both freestyle and Greco wrestling. Injuries curtailed his college career so he chose to join the Marines, serving in active duty from 2003-14, with tours to Iraq and Cuba. From 2010-2011, he earned a spot on the U.S. National team and was a three-time all-American at the U.S. Open meet.
Mickey Heinecken
Football (coach/contributor)
From the day Mickey Heinecken became the head football coach at Middlebury College in 1973, he has built a legacy in developing the sport at all levels in Vermont. An All-American receiver at Delaware in the early 60s, he went on to be the head coach of the Panthers for 28 years, compiling a 126-95-2 record, including seven one-loss seasons. The state’s winningest collegiate football coach, he was the first at a Vermont college to reach 100 career wins and was twice named New England Division III coach of the year. In 1993 he established the Vermont Chapter of the National Football Foundation that promotes the sport, awards scholarships to high school players and honors the state’s individual contributors to the game.
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Mary Heitkamp
Track and field/cross-country running
A high school All-American and a New England champion, Mary Heitkamp also was the two-time Gatorade Vermont Track Athlete of the Year (2003 and 2004) winning a then-record combined 23 Vermont individual state titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track at Fair Haven Union High School. In high school she finished with a state-record 14 individual outdoor titles across middle-distance races, relays, and jumps, setting multiple state and division records, including three that still stand. Heitkamp also qualified for the 2002-03 national indoor championships in the 600 meters in New York City. She had three-straight podium finishes in the state pentathlon meet, winning the title in 2004, shortly after winning the New England 800 meters with a record time. She went on to compete as a scholarship athlete at Boston College in the ACC.
Hannah Kearney
Freestyle/moguls skiing
Learning to ski in the Upper Valley, Hannah Kearney would take the World Cup moguls circuit by storm as a youth and became only the second American woman to top the Olympic podium with a gold medal in her discipline. She would represent the U.S. in three Olympics, competing at age 19 in Turin in 2006, winning gold in Vancouver in 2010 and capping it with bronze in Sochi in 2014. At just 17, she jumped into the moguls World Cup circuit full-time, winning two competitions in her rookie season, then in her second year, she won the 2005 moguls World Cup title. She was also the overall World Cup champ in single moguls in 2013 and in 2014. Kearney retired in 2015 with eight World Championship medals, three U.S. championships, and a record-tying 46 World Cup victories. She was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2024.
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Mike McShane
Hockey coach
After successful tours at Division I St. Lawrence and Providence, Mike McShane took over the Norwich men’s program in 1995 and led the Cadets to their first of four NCAA Division III titles (2000, 2003, 2010 and 2017). During his 23-year tenure he guided Norwich to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances including 12 NCAA Frozen Fours. His teams won 19 of 20 New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) regular season titles, including an unprecedented 17 in a row. His Cadets went 498-130-38 and his .776 winning percentage is also tops in program history. He was honored five times by the ACHA as its Ed Jeremiah National Division III Coach of the Year.
Matt Raleigh
Baseball
A top all-around athlete from Swanton and Missisquoi Valley Union High School, Matt Raleigh went on to be a record-setting all-American baseball player at D-I Western Carolina and had a lengthy minor league playing and coaching career. His years as a minor league hitting instructor in the Marlins system paid off with a World Series ring in 2003. At Missisquoi he was the Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year in 1988 and helped the Thunderbirds to three straight D-I titles from 1986 to 1988. He went to Western Carolina, playing for VSHOF inductee Jack Leggett, where he was a three-time all-Southern Conference selection and its 1992 player of the year. He was selected by the Montreal Expos in the 14th round of the 1992 June MLB Draft and played nine years in the minors, capped with two in Triple A.
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Tom Haley
Sportswriting (Mal Boright Inductee)
One of the most prolific sports journalists in Vermont history, while laboring as a full-time reporter, editor and columnist at the Rutland Herald since 1987, Tom Haley has highlighted and showcased more with features and columns that stretch minds and hearts all across Vermont At age 78 (in 2025) there is no slowing him down.
He has captured the Vermont Sportswriter of the Year 10 times, tying for the most, and has been honored for his work by the Vermont Press Association, New England Associated Press, Vermont Basketball Coaches Association, Vermont Soccer Coaches Association, Norwich University, Devil’s Bowl Speedway, and the Vermont Chapter of the National Football Foundation.
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Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont Sports Hall of Fame’s 2026 class, induction dinner details
