UNCG kicks off Spartan 40 celebration with Hall of Fame classes

GREENSBORO, NC – UNC Greensboro kicked off its Spartan 40 celebration – the celebration of 40 years of formal athletics at the University – with the announcement of two Athletics Hall of Fame classes to be inducted during this calendar year.

Because of the 40-year celebration of the formation of the athletic department, the Hall of Fame committee felt it necessary to induct a second class that was indicative of the Spartan 40 celebration.

The first class – which will have the traditional Homecoming weekend induction ceremony, this year on September 29 – will include women’s soccer player Ali Lord, baseball’s Tonka Maynor, women’s golfer Becky Morgan, and the 1981-82 women’s basketball team, which was the runner-up in the first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament.

The second induction class – to be inducted on February 16 prior to a home UNCG basketball contest – will include former men’s basketball coach Larry Hargett and athletic administrators June Galloway, Frank Pleasants, Cathy Roberts and Nelson Bobb. Galloway will be inducted posthumously.

“We think these classes are a wonderful way to help celebrate Spartan 40,” said Bobb, the current Director of Athletics at UNCG. “We wanted to recognize our traditional class, but at the same time felt it was great timing to recognize two people that really built the beginnings of the program in June Galloway and Frank Pleasants. The committee then thought, to my surprise, that it would also be a great time for Cathy and myself to be put in, as well. It is a great honor and I am proud to be joined by the fine individuals that make up both Hall of Fame classes.”

Nearly 10 years after her graduation, Lord is still UNCG’s record holder for single-season and career goals scored. She tallied 78 goals in her career, scoring 20 or more in three seasons. In 1996, she had a single-season record 26 goals, earning third-team All-American honors from the NSCAA and second-team honors from Soccer Buzz. The Big South Player of the Year in 1996 and Southern Conference Player of the Year in 1998, Lord led the Spartans to a 61-26-2 mark during her career and a perfect 25-0 mark in Big South and Southern Conference play. The Spartans went to three NCAA Tournaments during her career, including an upset first-round win over Duke in Durham in 1997.

Maynor capped off an outstanding career at UNCG when he was selected by Pittsburgh in the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft. An outfielder and first baseman, he ranks on the Top 10 list at UNCG in every offensive statistical category. He hit .363 in his four seasons at UNCG, logging 239 hits. Those numbers are still both good for third all-time at UNCG. He holds the UNCG record for career RBI with 171. In addition, he ranks eighth in at-bats (659), fourth in runs scored (170), fourth in doubles (50), fifth in triples (eight), third in home runs (25), fourth in total bases (380), third in stolen bases (77), and second in walks (123).

Maynor holds several high standings on single-season lists, as well, including records for on-base percentage (.519) and slugging percentage (.775). He also is one of two players in school history to hit better than .400 in a season, hitting .410 in the 1992 campaign.

Morgan is one of the most notable athletic alumni in school history as a member of the LPGA Tour for the last seven years. In that time, she has amassed more than $1.5 million in career earnings and has 16 career Top 10 finishes on the tour. During her time at UNCG, Morgan won the Big South individual championship three times and earned Big South Player of the Year honors all three of those years (1995, 1996, 1997). A three-time All-American, she won medalist honors 10 times during her collegiate career. Morgan qualified for the NCAA Regional all four years at UNCG, earning a spot in the national event three times. An Academic All-American in 1997, Morgan holds the UNCG records for lowest 18-hole score (67), lowest 36-hole tournament (140) and lowest 54-hole total (217).

The 1981-82 women’s basketball team at UNCG finished as the National Runners-up in the first-ever NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Spartans, who amassed a record of 25-3 that season, lost in overtime at Elizabethtown College (PA). With a team led by All-American Carol Peschel – the university’s first female to earn All-American honors and now a long-time assistant coach in the program, Lynne Agee coached the Spartans to the national title game in her first season as head coach. That season began a run of seven consecutive 20-win seasons for the women’s basketball program and was the start of more than 500 wins that Agee has amassed while the head coach at UNCG.

Hargett was the first coach to lead UNCG men’s basketball to success. Taking over a program in 1978 that had only recorded double-digit wins twice in its first 11 seasons and amassed only 72 wins during that time, Hargett needed just two seasons to turn the Spartans around and lead the team to its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid. In 1979-80, UNCG went 16-12 overall and 11-3 in the Dixie Conference, led by David Whiteside’s 17.8 points per game. Finishing second in the Dixie in the regular season, Hargett’s Spartans beat neighboring Greensboro College in the opener and then won back-to-back one-point thrillers over North Carolina Wesleyan and Christopher Newport to win the conference title.

The quartet of Galloway, Pleasants, Roberts and Bobb represent the foundation – past and present – of the UNCG athletic department. Galloway and Pleasants were the leadership of the department when it was formally founded in 1967. Although UNCG had some athletic teams prior to that year, the fall of 1967 was when the department was first formed with Pleasants being named the men’s athletic coordinator and Galloway the women’s athletic coordinator. Galloway passed away in 1978 while still serving in her position at the university. Retired, Pleasants resides in Pinehurst, NC.

Bobb was named the university’s first Director of Athletics when he came to Greensboro 25 years ago, while Roberts has moved her way up the ranks at UNCG – from student to administrator. She currently served as Associate Director of Athletics and the program’s Senior Woman Administrator.

“I am thrilled to be included in a class with June, Frank and Cathy,” said Bobb. “They are so deserving of this honor, more so than me, I think. When you think about Cathy Roberts, you think about the complete Spartan. She was a student here at the time that this university was just beginning to build its athletics program, graduating in 1973. She has seen it all here, lived it all. The three of them are truly those who have helped make this program what it is today.”

The announcement of the Hall of Fame Inductions is just the beginning of the festivities that will surround the celebration of Spartan 40 this academic year. Further ceremonies surrounding the sports of men’s and women’s soccer and men’s and women’s basketball are in the planning stages and additional activities will be announced in the coming weeks.

Including the new class, UNCG’s Hall of Fame includes 46 individuals, a small group of scholarship program supporters known as “The Big Five” and three teams. A complete list of Hall of Fame members listed with the year of their induction follows.

Beginning with the Charter Class that was inducted on September 29, 2000, the UNCG Athletics Hall of Fame recognizes and honors those special individuals who, through their superior athletic achievements or by outstanding service, have made long-lasting, exemplary contributions to the UNCG athletics program. Persons to be recognized for the excellence of their achievements may include former student-athletes, coaches, administrators and other individuals who brought recognition and honor to both themselves and to UNCG.

For ticket information to either or both Hall of Fame events, contact Stacy Kosciak at 256-1188. The September 29 induction will take place at the Sheraton Four Seasons, while the February 16 ceremonies are tentatively slated for the brand new Proximity Hotel off of Green Valley Rd.

PREVIOUS INDUCTEES INTO THE UNCG ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
TEAM INDUCTIONS
1973 Women’s Golf Team (2004)
1982 Men’s Soccer Team (2004) 

INDIVIDUAL INDUCTIONS
Lynne Agee, Women’s Basketball Coach (2004)
Jim Allen, Administrator (2003)
Maxine Allen, Duckpin Bowling Student-Athlete (2001)
Mike Berticelli, Men’s Soccer Coach (2000)
Mike Burke, Supporter (2001)
Marge Burns, Women’s Golf Student-Athlete (2000)
Renee Coltrane, Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete (2001)
Wendy Engelmann-Gettings, Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete (2002)
Mike Fleming, Supporter (2000)
Liz Gremillion, Volleyball Student-Athlete (2006)
Belmar Gunderson, Women’s Tennis Student-Athlete (2000)
Scott Hartzell, Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete (2006)
Jason Haupt, Men’s Soccer Student-Athlete (2001)
Winn Hazlegrove, Softball Student-Athlete (2005)
Pat Hielscher, Women’s Volleyball Coach (2001)
Elizabeth House, Media / Supporter (2003)
Lewis Johnston, Men’s Soccer Student-Athlete (2000)
Ellie Jones, Women’s Tennis, Women’s Basketball, Field Hockey Student-Athlete (2003)
Dock Kelly, Wrestling Student-Athlete (2006)
Dr. David B. Knight, Administrator (2003)
Ethel Martus Lawther, Adminstrator (2003)
Carol Mann, Women’s Golf Student-Athlete (2002)
Tom Martin, Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete / Supporter (2002)
Jill Masterman, Field Hockey Student-Athlete (2000)
Andrew Mehalko, Men’s Soccer Student-Athlete (2002)
Jo Ann Messick, Women’s Basketball, Women’s Tennis, Field Hockey Student-Athlete (2006)
Brian Moehler, Baseball Student-Athlete (2005)
William E. Moran, Chancellor Emeritus (2000)
Laura Mussulman, Women’s Soccer Student-Athlete (2002)
Michael Parker, Men’s Soccer Coach (2005)
Angie Polk-Jones, Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete (2000)
Nancy Porter, Women’s Golf Coach (2005)
Eddie Radwanski, Men’s Soccer Student-Athlete (2000)
Bruce Shaw, Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete (2000)
Mike Sweeney, Men’s Soccer Student-Athlete (2003)
Jim Swiggett, Administrator / Coach (2006)
Rita Wiggs, Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete (2000)
Donna Friesen Wigton, Women’s Volleyball Student-Athlete (2003)
“The Big Five”: Chuck Hayes, Mike Weaver, Jim Melvin, Stanley Frank, and Charlie Reid; Supporters (2000)

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