(Canadian Sportsman file photo of Dennis Fairall during the years he owned Ontario Sires Stakes performer Clear Path)
St. Denis Centre Fieldhouse at the University of Windsor is being re-named the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse to honor the remarkable contributions of the longtime Ontario standardbred owner, who is one of the most decorated coaches in Canadian university sports history.
The announcement was made by University of Windsor president Alan Wildeman Thursday (Feb. 25) during an event at Caesars Windsor to celebrate Fairall, who took a long-term medical leave in October of 2015 from his position as the head coach of the University of Windsor’s track and field and cross country teams.
Fairall’s coaching achievements are legendary. Take a second to absorb his coaching resume.
Fairall led University of Windsor Lancers teams to 25 national championship titles (Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championships), 46 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) titles, and has been honoured 65 times as either CIS or OUA coach of the year in track and field and/or cross country. His Lancer teams have 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. He was inducted into the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
Away from his human athletes, Fairall is a passionate standardbred owner who has owned a long list of horses going back to 1988, many competing in the Ontario Sires Stake program.
A Tillsonburg, ON native, Fairall was childhood friends with Paul Chapman, the son of Cliff Chapman, a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Famer who was the longtime publisher of
The Canadian Sportsman.
As a teenager, Fairall worked for a summer jogging horses at a farm near Dutton, ON, but it wasn’t until he was firmly ensconced as the U of W’s track coach and his wife, Janet, became an established teacher in Windsor that the couple began owning horses. In 1991, Fairall approached Pete Zirnis about horses. At the time, Zirnis was a student in the Human Kinetics faculty in the same building as the track and field office. Zirnis’ brother, George Zirnis, is an established Ontario standardbred trainer. Pete arranged for his brother to meet Dennis and before long the track coach had his first horse.
The pair had modest success together over the years, but Dennis really excelled on another track. His track and cross country teams’ championship banners fill the rafters of the fieldhouse now named in his honour.
"This is a fitting tribute to a man who has had an extraordinary impact on the lives of student athletes and on the University of Windsor," Wildeman said of renaming the building. "Dennis is known across the country for his dedication to excellence in track and field, and has been a coach, mentor and friend to all he has worked with. He is a legend."
Fairall began his coaching career in his hometown of Tillsonburg in 1974 when he founded the Tillsonburg Legion Track Club. He remained the club's head coach until 1985 when he joined the University of Windsor. Fairall has coached a number of national teams and served as head coach of Team Canada at the 2005 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships held in Windsor. Under his direction, Team Canada earned their highest medal count in the history of the event.
"Dennis is an iconic figure here at the University of Windsor and in the history of Lancer athletics. He has been a model of class, humility and professionalism his entire career and has been someone who has always put the team first,” said director of athletics, Mike Havey. “He has mentored generations of student-athletes, coaches and colleagues alike. We have all been made better because of his influence and leadership."
Though he has left the coaching staff, Fairall remains a member of the Lancer family and continues to coach Canadian middle distance runner and U of W alum Melissa Bishop, who won a gold medal at the 2015 Pan Am Games and set a new Canadian record in the 800 metres last summer, while also capturing a silver medal at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing. Last week, Bishop broke her own Canadian record twice in three days, setting a new mark at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday.
— with files from the University of Windsor
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