The athletic department will induct 15 individuals and two teams into the Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday, May 24, during a dinner and ceremony to be held on campus.
Wishing to reestablish the tradition of inducting deserving alumni into the SU Athletic Hall of Fame which had been dormant for many years, Athletic Director Bill Hogan convened a committee of current Hall of Famers, other alumni, and staff members. Over the series of three meetings, the committee put together a nomination list and voted on the new class of inductees.
Al Brightman established the winning tradition of the basketball team in the 1950s, posting a 180-68 record as coach from 1949 to 1956. He also served as athletic director and baseball coach (153-55 record) during his tenure at . Bob Klug started as the basketball and baseball statistician in the 1950s and stayed on as a volunteer for almost 50 years, spending numerous hours making sure the stats for the teams were accurate.
During his time at , Fr. Francis Logan, S.J., was a strong supporter of SU athletics and has the softball field named after him. The Hall of Fame dinner and ceremony have also been named in Fr. Logan’s honor. Bill Meyer excelled as both a player and a coach of men’s golf, advancing to the NCAA Championship as a player in 1965 and leading his team to six team and seven individual conference titles as coach from 1972 to 1980.
A member of the 1958 basketball team that reached the NCAA title game, Charlie Brown averaged 14.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game during his time at . In the mid-1970s, Jeff Coston was one of the top collegiate golfers in the Northwest, finishing second in the WCAC Championship and seventh at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Tournament.
The first All-American in the women’s soccer program, Ingrid Gunnestad finished her career with 44 goals and 25 assists for 113 total points, still in the top five in SU history in all three categories. Her teammate Julie Holmes, now head women’s soccer coach Julie Woodward, was a two-time All-American as a defender and a member of the team that went to the NAIA Final Four.
Two of ’s top women’s basketball players in the 1980s, Michele Hackett and Lisa Hill each played three seasons, finishing with at least 950 points and 400 rebounds as the team enjoyed great success. Baseball players John Kelly and Ernie Pastornicky anchored Seattle University’s pitching rotation in the 1950s, with Pastornicky pitching three no-hitters in 1953 and Kelly posting a 9-0 record in 1952.
Brian Parrott competed in two NCAA tennis tournaments in the late 1960s, joining current Hall of Famer Tom Gorman in the national amateur doubles tournament. Parrott and Gorman are also part of the 1968 tennis team, coached by Cliff Hedger, which is being inducted collectively for its exemplary run to the NCAA Tournament.
The 1997 men’s soccer team is being inducted after posting a 25-1-2 record and winning the NAIA National Championship. Two members of that squad are also being inducted as individuals: Kurt Swanson, the school’s all-time goal scorer with 58 career goals, and Jason Palmer, an outstanding goalkeeper who posted 13 shutouts, including eight consecutive shutouts, during the 1997 championship season.
The large class is the committee’s way of making up for all the years that no one was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame. Last fall, three former men’s soccer players were the first soccer athletes to be inducted: Joe Zavaglia, Tom Hardy, and Bobby McAlister. At last year's men's basketball auction and dinner, Jim Harney and Ernie Dunston were honored and are included as present members of the Hall of Fame. In the future, the plan is to induct up to five individuals plus one team into the SU Athletic Hall of Fame, with the ceremony to take place the same weekend as an important men’s basketball home game.
The Father Francis Hall of Fame Dinner and Awards Ceremony will take place Saturday, May 24, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Campion Tower Ballroom.