PORTLAND – Seven of Maine’s best coaches and athletes will be inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame Sunday, June 9.

Eugene Benner of South Paris, Theophilis Fitanides of Saco, Faith Littlefield of Wells, Daniel J. Gacetta, Sr., of Cape Elizabeth, Thomas Golden of Augusta, Dominic Puila of Rumford, and Nicholas C. Scaccia of Scarborough round out the 2002 inductees. Littlefield and Puila will both be inducted posthumously.

Benner will be inducted for football and track. He attended Edward Little High School in Auburn and the University of Maine at Orono. Benner was a state champion in three different track events and earned All-State honors in football. At UMaine he was named All-Yankee Conference, All-ECAC and All-New England, and was an honorable mention All-American. He holds two Yankee Conference records and eight UMaine records.

Fitanides attended Thornton Academy in Saco and the University of New Hampshire and was a top football player. In high school, he was an All-Conference and All-State quarterback and was a halfback and captain at UNH.

Littlefield coached at Wells High School and at Yankton College in South Dakota and will be inducted as a coach. As a coach and teacher at Bonny Eagle High School in Buxton, Littlefield’s field hockey teams won more than 350 games and earned seven state championships. She is featured in a 1985 book titled “American’s Greatest Coaches.”

Gacetta attended Stephens High School in Rumford and Boston University. A high school All-State football player, he was awarded a scholarship to BU where he was a member of the BU football and golf teams. He was a member of the U.S. Olympic committee from 1979-1996, and promoted preseason National Basketball Association games in Portland with the Boston Celtics. Gacetta helped to organize “Maine Day’ events with the New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, and Boston Red Sox.

Golden attended Cony High School, Higgins Classical Institute in Charleston and the University of Maine at Orono and will be inducted for football. In high school Golden was named All-State. He was named captain of football and track at Higgins and was named Little All-American at UMaine for football. Golden also served as captain of the UMaine gold team and Maine Intercollegiate Golf Champion.

Puila attended Stephens High School in Rumford, Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield, and Colby College in Waterville. He will be inducted as the All-Around Athlete. He played baseball, basketball and football at Stephens and at Colby. Puila was a member of the East-West College All-Star Team, playing at Fenway Park in 1946.

Scaaccia attended Sanford High School, Colgate University in New York, Suffolk University in Massachusetts and will be inducted for basketball. He was the leading scorer at Sanford High School and the winner of the George Vinal Trophy. He was All-New England and a Prep All-American in 1967. At Colgate he was an All-East senior and went over the 1,000 point mark to become Colgate’s third-highest scorer.