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Sir John Franklin celebrates trio of outstanding athletes

When it comes to the relatively new Sir John Franklin High School Hall of Fame one could say there's a family atmosphere brewing.

Since it was formed in 2016 the hall of fame has inducted Olympian Kevin Koe and his sister Kerry Galusha (nee Koe).

In 2018 the school welcomed the final Koe into its good graces. Decorated curler Jamie Koe was a part of the third class of inductees into the Sir John Franklin High School Hall of Fame last Friday.

“The school helped me and my siblings grow as athletes,” said Jaime. “Just being able to be at the same high school as my brother and sister is something I always look back on.”

Jamie has competed in 10 Tim Hortons Brier Curling Championships. In 1994 he was awarded the silver medal as a representative of Slave Lake in the Arctic Winter Games.

photo courtesy : Andrea Pellerin
Jamie Koe, left Molly Milligan and Andrew Matthews were inducted into the Sir John Franklin athletic hall of fame last Friday at the school's award ceremony.

“It's nice to see the school continuing its sports programs...I really look forward to the evolution of sports at Sir John Franklin and I'm really excited about the next batch of athletes,” he said.
Accompanying him into this year's athletic hall of fame are snowboarding champions Molly Milligan and Andrew Matthews.

When Milligan was 19, she moved from Yellowknife to Whistler, B.C. with dreams of becoming a professional snowboarder and competing in national and international events.

She did just that, winning gold medal at the Canadian National Championships in 2014 where she was the only woman competing in the event to land a 540, giving her the best technical score of the competition. Unfortunately, she missed the cut to go to the Sochi Olympics.

Three-years ago she moved back to the NWT and is currently working at Coldwell Banker.

She said being inducted into the hall of fame was an honour.

“I had some great memories at the school,” she said. “ I appreciated being back and seeing my old teachers, getting high-fives...being back and being inducted into this hall of fame was like one big high-five from the school.”

Milligan added she never gets the chance to speak publicly about her career but she hopes the students came away with a sense of encouragement after her acceptance speech.

The final person being inducted into this year's hall of fame is snowboarder Andrew Matthews.

Matthews has represented Canada in three World Cup events, as well as the International Ski Federation World Snowboard Championships.

At one point in his career Matthews was ranked one of the Top 20 freestyle slope riders in the country. Having recently retired from the sport, Matthews was instrumental in getting youth involved in snowboarding.

He could not be reached for comment before press-time.

In 2016, Matthews helped launch the Ragged Riders Snowsports Society, which is dedicated to growing the sport of snowboarding in the territory.

He was involved in teaching lessons and offering resources to young riders.

Sir John hall of fame organizer Paul Shearme said it was Matthew's level community involvement, along with his accomplishments in snowboarding that made him perfect for the recognition.

“It's outstanding that (Matthews and Milligan) were able to compete at the level which they did for so long especially with the lack of resources for snowboarding in the territory,” said Shearme. “We need athletes like Matthews who have gone on and competed at a high level and who can now share their experiences to the youth in the North.”