Five individuals and two teams will comprise the eighth class of inductees into the Eastern Washington University Athletics Hall of Fame in ceremonies that will take place on Sept. 29 in Cheney.
The new inductees include All-America cross country and track standout Kari McKay, record-setting All-West Coast fullback Meriel Michelson and former gymnastics coach and longtime supporter Thorne Tibbitts.
The other two individual inductees were members of Eastern's highly-successful volleyball program in the late ‘90s -- player Kim Exner and her coach Pamela Parks, who has been a fixture for more than 30 years in the Eastern athletic department.
Two teams will also be inducted as Eastern celebrates the 25th anniversary of the school's 1982 NCAA Division II cross country title and the 30th anniversary of the 1977 NAIA wrestling championship. Established in 1996, this year's inductees will bring to the total number of individuals in the Hall of Fame to 40 and teams to five. More information may be found at: http://www.goeags.cstv.com/hallfame.
McKay was an All-American in the 10,000 meters at the 1992 NCAA Track & Field Championships and also made two appearances at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
The graduate of nearby Almira High School went on to a successful road-racing running career, including a string of six-straight years as the top area female finisher at the annual Lilac Bloomsday race.
Michelson held the school's career rushing record for nearly 40 years. He finished with 2,517 yards, including the school's first 1,000-yard season as he led Eastern to 29 victories and three conference titles. He had 1,049 yards in 1950 when he led the nation in rushing and was selected to the United Press Little All-West Coast team. Michelson, who was a counselor and teacher in Pasco, Wash., for more than 30 years, passed away recently on July 18 after a battle with lung cancer.
Tibbitts has been recognized as one of 34 “pioneers” of the sport of gymnastics in the State of Washington. He coached Eastern to a second-place finish at the 1965 NAIA Championships, and helped lay the groundwork for the school's future success in that sport. He has been a fixture in Cheney ever since, and has been a huge supporter and contributor to athletics.
Exner led Eastern to 46 victories in her last two seasons (1997 and 1998), including a NCAA Tournament berth and co-Big Sky Conference title. Twice she was the league's MVP and earned All-Region VIII honors as she finished her career with school and Big Sky records for kills (1,860). Formerly from Vernon, B.C., she is married to former Eastern and current Washington State assistant football coach Timm Rosenbach.
Parks began her legacy at Eastern as a volleyball player, then won 291 matches in 18 seasons as the school's head coach. In her tenure, Eastern had six 20 victory seasons, won two Big Sky Conference regular season titles, one BSC tournament title and advanced to three NCAA Tournaments. She remains on staff as an associate athletic director.
The inductees will be honored with a social that starts at 10 a.m. on Sept. 29 at the Pence Union Building. The public is invited to attend (RSVP to 509-359-2463 or 1-800-648-7697).
Recipients will also be honored at the volleyball match against Northern Arizona that starts at 1 p.m. at Reese Court, and EWU's football game with Portland State that begins at 6:05 p.m. at Woodward Field.
The induction is part of the All Athletes Reunion and Hall of Fame Weekend at EWU.
More information may obtained at: http://www.ewu.edu/x49735.xml.
Reader Comments(0)