Live From CU's 2023 Athletic Hall of Fame Induction

(2023 Hall of Fame Release: https://cubuffs.com/news/2023/7/6/general-cu-athletic-hall-of-fame-announces-class-of-2023.aspx)

Welcome to the annual Plati-'Tudes" live blog from the CU Athletic Hall of Fame induction.   I'll be updating throughout the evening with comments from all our inductees! The program begins at 7 p.m. MST. Mark Johnson, the voice of the Buffaloes, is the evening's master of ceremonies.

Chase Seymour was the first guest speaker, a member of CU's alpine ski team, he's the president of CU's Student-Athlete-Advisory Committee (SAAC). He gave a quick overview of SAAC and then spoke about legacy, what it meant to him. He referenced a friend who was considering taking his own life; Seymour took the time to help his friend avoid such a fact and pointed out that the impact that you can have on just one individual could wind up being the legacy of a life you leave behind.

The executive director of the Alumni C Club, Kimbirly Orr, took the stage next. Gave kudos to all that made the event possible and then had those stand to be acknowledged if they were letterwinners and previous inductees into CU's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Athletic director Rick George was next, thanking many and pointing out that four coaches are in the room who have never been in the same room together at the same time: Ceal Barry, Linda Lappe, Kathy McConnell-Miller and current women's coach, JR Payne (who had the loudest round of applause when introduced earlier, after her #20 Buffaloes rocked No. 1 LSU earlier in the week). He also wished a speedy recovery to Hall of Fame member Jon Burianek, who had surgery earlier Thursday and would normally have been in attendance with his wife, Nancy.

Mark then cracked a joke that he got a text from coach Sanders, asking inductees Andre Gurode and Nate Solder, both offensive linemen, if they could play Saturday.  He then also mentioned the three members of the CU's Athletic Hall of Fame who have passed away since last year, Dave Bolen (track), Steve Sidwell (football) and Burdie Haldorson (basketball).
The first to be honored tonight are the two new members of CU's Athletic Hall of Honor … The CU Athletic Hall of Honor was resurrected last year after over three-decade dormancy. The distinction is presented those, while attending the University of Colorado, who were awarded a Varsity "C" and has attained distinguished achievement in his or her chosen professional field.

The two Hall of Honor inductees tonight are the first-ever former women letterwinners to be recognized: Heidi Burgett and Kate Fagan.

Heidi Burgett, Soccer (1996-99)
"She opened with her love for the university, and how she thanked her father for taking her to CU football games, and coaching her when she wanted to play little league baseball. She was proud to accept the honor as a member of CU's first soccer team, which actually was delayed a year before it going eventually (in 1996) – and that all the original recruits stayed at CU.

A day after her final soccer game (the late) Doc Kreis invited her to be an assistant in the strength and conditioning office. "I had never heard of a female strength coach." She appreciated the opportunities CU first gave her, crediting the school with where she is today (and executive with NIKE). The back of her "Zoom" screen is forever Boulder's Flatirons.

Kate Fagan, Basketball (1999-2003)
"She cited nine people at her table, including five special women, four of whom were crucial to her life. The first, Kris Livingston's basketball of operations when she was a player (now CU's executive senior associate AD for student success). She said Kris helped her get some direction on what she wanted to do in her future, and credits her for one of the most important conversations in her life. Next was her trainer Kristen Payne, who they were in a book club together. Kristen saw her as a full-rounded person, talked about books on the road, and helped her when she was struggling with mental health and considering leaving the team. Next was Ceal Barry – "I can't believe that I could be friends with coach Ceal Barry. I've always deeply admired who she is." The discussed when Kate was considering leaving the sport, and then came up with a plan where Ceal decided to coach her differently. She left her mom for last … mentioned her dad was a basketball player, but realized in the last few years that her mom was the core of who she really was—"cut from the same cloth" as she put it.

We're set to begin the induction of the 18th class in CU's Athletic Hall of Fame; it was the brainchild of athletic director Dick Tharp in 1997 to create one, and we've been catching up ever since. The 12 tonight will join 142 individuals (the 1959 ski team as a unit and two legacy inductees) who have been enshrined to date. And here we go!

Emma Coburn, Cross Country & Track (2009-13)
"She thanked her friend and family—there are 40 of them here! By plane, train, automobile… Her earliest memories of when she was 3-year old in a CU cheerleading uniform, cheering on her brother's flag football team. "I knew the words to the fight song before I l earned my A, B, C's." She even attended Ceal Barry's basketball camp—she loved other sports, but growing up, she hated running. "This boy from Wisconsin came to my high school and he liked running, I liked him, he liked me. I never thought I would run in college, have a decade long career (professionally). Her freshman year, she said she called her dad every day after practice because she felt she was the worst person on the team. "He told me to give it a semester, and that eventually I would like running.   Being a CU student-athlete is still one of my greatest joys. My last race, I was hurting and needed an MRI; turned out I had a fracture in my back. I couldn't imagine seeing someone without a Colorado jersey on winning the NCAA (steeplechase) championship. It was CU's race that we had owned, and I won it with a fractured back. I remember crawling around my hotel room that night, unwilling to take my jersey off—that's what it meant to me. I will always look back at my time at CU and will always cherish that time in my life."

Karol Damon, Track & Field (1989-92)
"Shocked is how I felt when I got the phone call. CU is just unbelievable. There's no place on Earth like Boulder, Colorado. This was where I was going to go. The academics are great. This put me on the path I am now. This is really a cool deal—this is just phenomenal. I am so honored to be a Colorado Buffalo, there are so many people who got me here as well. I am just speechless."

Robert Doll, Basketball (1939-42)
Accepting for Doll, who passed away at the age of 40 in 1959. Accepting on his behalf was his son, Bob Winsett. He thanked coach Tad Boyle for joining his family at their table. "Two months ago, I turned on PBS and saw the special, Born to Lead: the Sal Aunese Story. It got me going to research that team, and under a couple of the players, Darian Hagan and Eric Bieniemy, I discovered that CU had an Athletic Hall of Fame. I looked it up, scrolled down the list, and under the 'D's' was my dad's name. This was two months ago. (He hadn't known he was selected for induction in July.) He then reeled off a lot of his father's accomplishments and some of his statistics. He then did some more research, and discovered he had relatives he had never met; tonight marked the first night they all have been together. He had never met Larry Puttman, Doll's grandson from his second marriage and who nominated him for the Hall of Fame, as well as his niece, Kathy Koehler. It led to him doing a lot of research on Ancestry.com and the family had their first reunion here tonight."

Andre Gurode, Football (1998-2001)
He thanked "Our heavenly Father for giving him the gift to play football, and then his family, out in force, his wife, his mother and his brothers. I've always been asked the question of why CU? Rick Neuheisel had recruited me, and Gary Barnett had taken over. I needed to assure my grandmother that I would graduate from the University of Colorado, a promise I had made to her before she passed away. On Big 12 media day (his senior year in 2001), Gary Barnett took us to Cowboys Stadium and told us to envision ourselves playing on this field. He told us we were going to win the Big 12 Championship. When I came here, I have no goal of the Hall of Fame, I wanted my degree. But tonight, it brings me a lot of joy, a lot of smiles, and one person who should be here but he is not – my father. I appreciate the opportunity to stand up here with all my fellow inductees and say, "Go Buffs!"

Bill Harris, Football/Administration (1961-63; 2001-10)
Bill's wife of 54 years Sue and his son Trevor accepted in his honor; Bill passed in 2022 at the age of 79. Sue: "There are no words to describe that the joy that brings me, my family, and our deal Bill. He would have been so honored and so grateful.: Son Trevor—He told the story of how CU coach Sonny Grandelius recruiting Bill for the football team in 1959, and how on his visit to Boulder, the scenic overlook that gets so many into Boulder sold him on coming to Boulder. "Dad never cared how man yards or statistics he had in a particular game. He would tell me any my family how Joe Romig would stand up for him and other black players on the football team when they were playing LSU in the Orange Bowl. He talked about his best friend, John Meadows, and all his other teammates as brothers. He was on a mission to get all his '61 teammates to get an Orange Bowl ring for that year ('61) – Trevor brought the ring with him. "I want you to know number 33, also known as "head" (because of the size of his head), that he loved his teammates, his love for the University of Colorado that ran very deep and how he loved it when he was the director of the C Club. Especially when he helped get people from his era into the CU Hall of Fame. He closed with saying how grateful he was to CU for making the man that he was. Trevor also said when he sees his dad's face on the Hall of Fame wall, he all sees his mom's—they were a true team.

Clark Matis, Skiing (1967-69)
"Still have the mustache, just not the hair I had at CU. What an honor this is, especially in skiing where such iconic skiers such as Bob Beattie, Bull Marolt, Buddy Werner and Vidar Nilsgarrd. CU brought out the best in me, the winning spirit. I always loved the workouts we had in Boulder, the pits in the stadium, the stadium stairs, the hill. Training at Eldora, all of that hard work paid off. After he won two NCAA titles, he told about his next adventure, the Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. "One of the reasons I came to see was for a great education, and CU had a great Engineering School. That degree helped me start a company, Merrell, making the best footwear in the world (now a billion dollar company). CU put me on a path to be a designer of footwear."

Laura Munnelly, Soccer (2003-06)
Started by citing what an honor it was to be inducted as a female athlete in the 50th anniversary year of Title IX. She spoke about the CU jersey, once it's taken off, and how she followed other CU athletes such as Emma Coburn and Nate Solder. "I would not be the person I am today without the University of Colorado. It was such a privilege to play here; my name was never in the record books; all I wanted to do was win. As an extremely competitive young girl, I struggled to relate to my teammates, I deduced that winning was the only thing that mattered. My family hated to play games with me, because I hated to lose, I had the desire to win at all costs." She thanked her college coach, Bill Hempen, for "opening the door to let her play soccer 20 years ago." She also thanked her older sister, Fran, who preceded her at CU on the soccer team, and how she helped create a program that some team stars of the future followed Fran here. She thanked her parents for their sacrifices ("I don't know what they fed Fran and me"), and am so proud to be inducted; my dad passed away a year ago, and I know he'd be proud too."

Nate Solder, Football (2007-10)
"This is extremely unbelievable. I came from a small town of Buena Vista, with a graduating class of 75." He thanked coach Gary Barnett for bringing him here. He also brought his strength coach at CU and New England (James Hardy). He had some fun with his wife, telling that maybe now she could realize what a "big deal he is. Now I don't have to do the dishes, I'm a Hall of Famer." And about one of his sons, who told him, "This is cool. I want to go to school here." He spoke to his kids, "You get to the Hall of Fame through work and perseverance; but if you want to get to the true Hall of Fame, you do that through the work of Jesus. The one way to get to Heaven is to believe in Jesus. "I didn't do any of this by myself, I'm not so sure I deserve it." He thanked Dr. DiStefano for his leadership, Rick George for the way he runs the department, (me for working my SID magic), Kris Livingston in academics. I came here to get great education and play high-level football."

Brittany Spears, Basketball (2007-11)
The always soft-spoken Brittany took the stage as the final inductee of the main class. "I stand before you tonight, incredibly humble to receive this prestigious honor. I am truly thankful for everyone who voted for me, want to express my appreciation for the University of Colorado. My journey in the world of basketball has been filled with highs and lows." She thanked family members for convincing her to stick with things when times were tough. She also mentioned how she dealt with the same name as the pop singer, and that she also had a teammate named Whitney Houston.

The final two honors tonight mark the second annual induction into the newest wing of the Athletic Hall of Fame, the CU Legacy Wing. It was created for individuals who have made a lasting impression or contribution for, to or around CU athletics during their lifetimes. They do not have to be former student-athletes, "Honorary C" members or even CU graduates. Our inaugural inductees in 2022 were CU's "super fans," twins Peggy Coppom and the late Betty Hoover.

Tonight, the twins are joined in the Legacy Wing by the late Johnnie Parker and his wife, Shaaron, credited with saving the Ralphie live mascot program in 1985 and then running it for 16 years, and CU Boulder Chancellor Dr. Phil DiStefano, who is in his 50th year at the university and in his 15th, and last, as chancellor, the longest-serving one in UCB history.

Shaaron Parker
Accepting on behalf of Johnnie, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 83. "I have to say I was stunned when Rick (George) called to tell me that Johnnie and I were being inducted into the Legacy Wing. Our association with the university went back to the 60s. When the previous Ralphie caretaker moved to the western slope, Bill Marolt called and asked us if we could take over in a stop-gap measure. That stop-gap measure somehow led to 14 years of running the program. Our time in charge of the program ran from 1985 to 2001. It was a very special time to be involved with Colorado football; my only regret is that Johnnie is not here to accept this recognition with me."

Dr. Phil DiStefano
"He started by thanking several, including his wife Yvonne, an honorary member of the C Club, citing her longtime support of athletics, his daughters and several other family members. "I've been involved with CU athletics for over 40 years, starting in the last 1970s when athletic director Eddie Crowder asked me to serve on the faculty committee for athletics. That's where I met Joe Romig. Then I took over as the faculty rep, and had a hand in hiring several coaches (brought up naming Ceal Barry as the interim AD while, "searching for the best athletic director in the country, Rick George.") He spoke of the tremendous importance that the role of athletics plays on the CU campus – "moments that the students enjoy watching games at the Events Center, Folsom Field and Prentup Field, memories they will cherish when they become alumni. You can feel the heartbeat of the university when you go to the Pearl Street Stampede, or an alumni tailgate, or on a road trip. Athletics is the gateway for people across the nation to learn about the University of Colorado. Athletics can have a tremendous impact on the reputation of the university."

"I've also learned over the year that change is common when it comes to college athletics. Through it all, CU has been a major leader in placing student-athletes first and catering to their needs." He closed by citing, "the joy that athletics has personally brought me over the last 50 years and that he cannot wait to see what the future holds."

And with, Mark Johnson closed the ceremonies. If you have never attended this event, it is easily one of the best nights every year in CU athletics. All the inductees will participate in Friday's Pearl Street Stampede and be introduced at Saturday's football game against Arizona (Noon, Pac-12 Network).

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