COLCHESTER, Vt. - Leo Papineau, one of the early greats in the history of Saint Michael's College Athletics as a member of the Class of 1924, has been selected for induction into the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame on April 26 at the Delta Marriott Burlington Hotel in South Burlington. The former three-sport captain later won nearly 700 games as a high school coach in Northern Vermont and was also a well-regarded referee and advocate for girls' sports during his coaching career.
 
Lou DiMasi III M'11, the College's Assistant Director of Student Activities, Recreation and Fitness, has also been selected as part of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame's 12th induction class, composed of 13 honorees. Prior to returning to Saint Michael's in his current role in 2023, DiMasi was an All-America ice hockey player at Norwich University and long-time Saint Michael's men's golf coach. Ticket information will soon be available at VermontSportsHall.com.
 
A native of Waterbury, Conn., who grew up in Swanton, Vt., Papineau was one of the early greats in the history of Saint Michael's Athletics, serving as captain in three sports. He played No. 1 singles and doubles for men's tennis and was captain of that team and football as a senior. But it was on the ice where Papineau made his greatest mark, leading the Purple Knights to a 6-0-1 record during his junior and senior years, seasons in which he served as captain. He pushed Saint Michael's to it first two state championships, potting a hat trick during a 3-1 win over the University of Vermont to secure the initial title in 1923. Newspaper accounts of the day raved about the star center.
 
Not satisfied with playing three sports, Papineau was also baseball assistant manager as a junior and aided gameday operations for men's basketball as a senior. He stayed involved at his alma mater long after graduating, serving as the first secretary/treasurer of the Franklin County Chapter of the Saint Michael's Alumni Association when it was founded in 1930.
 
While Papineau left an indelible mark as a college student-athlete, his contributions to high school athletes and pupils as a long-time coach and educator in Northern Vermont's Franklin County paved his way to induction. Between Saint Albans High School, BFA-Saint Albans and Richford High School, Papineau posted a career record of 670-216-9 across five sports over 27 years, during three stints between 1925 and 1956, and was a strong advocate for girls' sports in that era. His teams won three state crowns and more than three dozen regular-season and postseason league championships.
 
Papineau's girls' basketball teams compiled a 368-95-5 record in 27 years, with his BFA-Saint Albans (168-41-1 in 14 years) and Richford High (188-45-4 in 11) squads both boasting .802 winning percentages. After Saint Albans High dropped the sport in 1927, Papineau resurrected the team at BFA when it opened in 1930, laying the foundation for a program remembered more for Doc Comi guiding the Comets to 10 state championships between the 1940s and '60s. However, Papineau's BFA team twice qualified for the New England Championship and, in an era when a state tournament did not exist, BFA and Richford both won one undisputed state crown while combining for three other disputed titles.
 
One of the state's top amateur players himself and a Vermont Tennis Association committee member, Papineau was the first boys' tennis coach at BFA, in 1933, leading the team to a 36-5-3 record during eight seasons across two stints. In February 1934, students at BFA convinced Papineau to help them organize a boys' ice hockey team, so he did - while still amid his girls' basketball season. Three days after its first practice, BFA tied Burlington High School in its first game. BFA ended up 17-7-1 in four years under Papineau, winning the state championship in 1934-35, its second season.
 
After a move to Richford High in 1945, Papineau took up the reins of not only the girls' basketball program but also boys' basketball and baseball, and immediately found success. Following a subpar 5-13 debut season as a boys' basketball coach at old Saint Albans High in 1925-26, only two years out of college, Papineau finally returned to the boys' basketball sidelines 20 years later at Richford High, which went 177-68 in his 10 seasons, qualifying for six state tournaments and winning seven league titles. Despite never previously heading a baseball team, he led Richford High to a 67-28 mark in 10 years, capturing five pennants. In 1959, Papineau was unanimously voted a life member of the Vermont State Coaches Association.
 
Papineau was also a well-regarded basketball official, often coaching one night and officiating the next. A 1930 Saint Albans Messenger story illustrated how three other Franklin County schools prepared their own schedules once he set BFA's in order to ensure his availability for officiating their games. He was a Vermont State Board of Approved Basketball Officials executive board member throughout the 1930s, being elected president by 1937, and was often selected to work state championships that necessitated reorganizing his own teams' game and practice schedules.
 
Papineau also served as business manager for four years with the Saint Albans Giants of the successful and popular collegiate baseball Northern League between 1938 and 1941. He was instrumental in the building of the Coote Field first base bleachers and helped sign many of the players, including future major leaguers Snuffy Stirnweiss and Al Campanis.
 
Throughout his coaching career, Papineau was an educator where he coached. A Latin and history teacher at Saint Albans High for five years, he taught French at BFA, later becoming department head. Papineau was a teacher of French, Latin, social sciences and physical education at Richford High before becoming principal in 1955, when he dropped all but the languages from his teaching duties. He served as superintendent of the Franklin Northeast School District from 1957 until his retirement in 1964. No longer a coach, Papineau continued advocating for those he oversaw during his near-decade as superintendent. He favored adding sports like badminton, tennis, golf and skiing to high school offerings, was outspoken about teachers' salaries, and helped Richford High join the National Honor Society.
 
A standout defenseman on the ice, DiMasi was twice named American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) All-America at Norwich, totaling 80 points in 115 career games. The two-year captain helped the Cadets win the 2003 NCAA Division III Tournament, one of three trips to the NCAA Tournament during his tenure. Following his graduation in 2004, DiMasi played professionally in the United States and Europe before coaching for six years at his alma mater, Burlington High School, where he was named Burlington Free Press Mr. Hockey as a player in 1999.
 
DiMasi has also coached boys and girls and served as an administrator in the Burlington Amateur Hockey Association (BAHA) and helped found the Pond Hockey Classic, which annually brings nearly 150 teams to Malletts Bay in Colchester. DiMasi was previously the Saint Michael's men's golf head coach for seven years (2008-09 to 2014-15) and the assistant coach for the following five. He was formerly a resident director and served for two seasons as a men's ice hockey assistant coach at the College, helping the 2008-09 squad win the Northeast-10 Conference Championship. He earned his master's degree at Saint Michael's in 2011 and was inducted into the Norwich Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.