ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame will be inducting five individuals, as well as teams from three sports, at its annual banquet on Sept. 26 at Jeff's Catering in Brewer.

The individual honorees include men's ice hockey goaltender Ben Bishop, who went on to play parts of 11 NHL seasons, and women's ice hockey forward Meagan Aarts, who went on to play 10 seasons in the leading women's leagues of earlier this century. They are joined by two-time America East/NAC shortstop, and the UMaine record holder for single season hits, Brian Seguin.

Rounding out the '25 class are Brandon McGowan and Bill Schroeder.  McGowan, an Associated Press (AP) Division-I AA All-American defensive back, played parts of five seasons in the NFL, and Schroeder soared to pole vaulting records and the New England collegiate title in 1958.

The teams include the 1977-78 champion women's swim team and the dominant cross country and track & field teams of the 1963-64 academic year, when the cross country and both the indoor and outdoor track & field teams swept the Yankee Conference meets. Maine took the Yankee Conference outdoor titles five straight years from 1961 through '65.

The 2025 UMaine Sports Hall of Fame class brings the total number of inductees to 240 individuals and 14 teams.

Bishop '08 was the goaltender for the Hockey East all-rookie team in 2006 and All-Hockey East second team in 2008. Bishop registered 55 wins between the pipes for Maine while posting a career .917 save percentage and a 2.29 goals against average. Bishop was selected in the third round, 85th overall, of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. In parts of 11 NHL seasons he finished second twice in voting for the Vezina trophy, as the league's outstanding goalie, and third once.  He led the NHL in goals against in 2015-16 and save percentage in 2018-19.  He was a two-time NHL all-star second team honoree. At Maine he is fourth in career goaltending games played, third in all-time saves, fifth in wins, fourth in lowest career goals against average, fifth in career highest saves percentage, fifth in most saves in a single season, fifth in lowest goals against in a season, fifth in best saves percentage in a season.

For 16 seasons, Aarts '04 was tied for UMaine's all-time lead in career points (115) by being prolific as both a goal scorer (61) and playmaker (54 assists). Aarts is represented throughout Maine's record books as she currently ranks fourth in both career goals and career assists. During her standout 2001-02 season, Aarts posted career-highs in goals (25) and assists (22) for 47 total points. After Maine, she played 10 seasons in the highest level of North American hockey available for women, the National Women's Hockey League (primarily in Canada) and the Canadian Women's Hockey League, both predecessors to the current Professional Women's Hockey League.  In her peak season in the NWHL she had 20 goals and 9 assists in 28 games for the Vaughan Flames in 2008-09. As a senior at UMaine, Aarts was a first team Hockey East all-star.

Seguin, a two-time America East/North Atlantic Conference All-Conference selection and 1989 ECAC North All-Conference honoree, holds Maine's single-season hits record with 91 recorded in 1990 including a program record 74 singles. During his 1990 campaign, Seguin pieced together a 27-game hit streak which still stands as Maine's longest hitting streak in program history. His 66 games played in 1991 are the most by a Black Bear in a single season while his 161 consecutive games played places him fourth all-time. Seguin, who led Maine with a .317 average in 1992, wrapped up his career with a .311 average to go along with 126 RBI, 156 runs scored, 37 doubles, five triples, and 11 home runs. His 261 total hits rank among the top-10 in Maine history. Seguin played a large role in Maine's success during the early 90s, guiding the Black Bears to NCAA Tournament appearances and America East/NAC titles in 1990 and 1991, and an ECAC Tournament Championship in 1991.

McGowan '05 was an AP Division-I AA All-American defensive back, as well as an all-conference first team selection, in 2004, and second team all-conference, in 2003, when he was named UMaine's most outstanding defensive player. During his career at Maine he twice led the team in tackles (2003 – 85 tackles, 2004 -101), twice was tied for the team lead in fumble recoveries and once was second on the team in interceptions. Following Maine, he was signed by the Chicago Bears as an unrestricted free agent and played parts of four seasons with the Bears and then a season with the New England Patriots. He made 184 tackles with four forced fumbles, two interceptions and 10 pass deflections in the NFL.

Schroeder '58 was a record-setting New England collegiate pole vaulting champion who swept the Maine, Yankee Conference and aforementioned New England pole vault championships his senior season. He set the UMaine indoor record in the pole vault and the school, state and Yankee Conference outdoor records in the same event. He was a team captain who also ran the hurdles. In fact, as a senior, he set a UMaine indoor 65-yard low hurdles record.

The 1977-78 women's swim team, coached by Jeff Wren, was as successful as ateam could possibly be, winning the New England championship. The team was headlined by UMaine Sports Hall of Famers Julie Woodcock and Beth Carone and multi-time event winner Jill Puzas. The team began a New England swim dynasty, as it captured the first of six championships over a 10-year period for the Black Bears. The highlight of the year was winning the New England championship as the Black Bears bested over 40 other New England schools to earn the title that season. At the New Englands, Woodcock earned five individual victories along with assisting on two relay wins while Puzas scored a victory in the 200 breaststroke. On its way to the New England Championship that season, the Black Bears went undefeated (10-0) in dual meets.

The 1963-64 outdoor track and field team came right in the middle of a five-year run when UMaine won the Yankee Conference spring championship. What made this team stand out in that stretch was that during that academic year the cross country team won the Yankee Conference in the fall, the indoor track and field team won the conference title spanning the fall and spring semesters, and the outdoor team followed up by winning the conference meet in the spring. To top it all off, the captain of all three teams was previously inducted UMaine Sports Hall of Fame member Jerry Ellis.

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