Katie Class Marquard

Induction Year : 2010

Sport: Speed Skating

Family has played a major role in shaping the career and lifestyle of Katie Class Marquard, just the third speed skater inducted into the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame.

At age five, Marquard, the youngest in a family of seven siblings, followed an older sister back in their native Minnesota to the Midway Speedskating Club (sis claimed it had the best uniforms of any club). She eventually met her husband Dennis, a Clevelander and fellow National Hall of Fame inductee, through the ice sport, and now coaches her children Abbie and Nick at the rink near her home in Westlake.

In several interviews, Katie has repeated that speedskating is a family sport and that since she took to the ice before she was old enough to attend school, her family has been involved and very supportive.

Twice a member of the U. S. Olympic team (Sarajevo in ’84, Calgary in ’88), Marquard was on five World Sprint squads, three World Allround and three additional World Cup teams.

Her best finishes in speedskating came at the World Championships in 1987, when she captured a bronze medal in 500m. Katie was also third overall in the 1500m World Cup rankings in 1986 and 1987.

Marquard competed in the 500m, 1000m and 1500, in the Olympics. While the Games of Calgary were open and carefree, she recalls the Games of Sarajevo for its tight security that included security guards toting machine guns in the athlete’s village.

Katie retired from competition a year after the Calgary Olympics and a year later graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in business/marketing.

Speedskating remained paramount for Marquard as she became executive director of U.S. Speedskating. The relocation of the office brought her to Ohio.

Last year, Marquard was inducted in the U.S. Speedskating Hall of Fame. Again, her strong family ties came into play when Katie said one of the best parts of the honor was having her mother tell her how proud she was of her.

Ben O'Sickey

Induction Year : 1980

Sport: Speed Skating

First Ohioan elected to the Speed Skating Hall of Fame. Started competitive racing in 1906 at age 13. Set senior men’s indoor record in the half mile in 1916. Turned professional in 1920 and raced professionally until 1940s. Trained numerous young speed skaters after turning pro, best known of whom was Jack Shea, winner of two gold medals in the 1932 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid.

Jenny Fish Baker

Induction Year : 1996

Sport: Speed Skating

At 16, Jenny Fish Baker was already a world class women’s speed skater. Thus her selection to the 1968 U.S. Olympic Team as a Baldwin-Wallace College freshman was no surprise. Nor was it a surprise when she earned Olympic Silver in the 500 meter sprint at Grenoble, France. She began her glide to the Olympics in 1961 at the age of 12, winning the Ohio indoor championship and the Cleveland Press Silver Skates Midget-Novice title. She repeated in the Juvenile division the next year, adding the Ohio outdoor championship. In 1964 she won Ohio and National indoor and outdoor Junior championships, then added the U.S. National Open indoor and outdoor titles. She won the Junior Division indoor and outdoor championships again in 1965 and in 1966 she became the U.S. National Intermediate Champion indoors and outdoors.