Six Athletes, Swim Team to Enter CWU’s Athletic Hall of Fame

Six former Central Washington University athletic standouts along with a national championship team will be honored as the 2014 class of inductees into CWU’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

“This is a tremendous group of inductees that represents a wide variety of sports,” said CWU Athletic Director Dennis Francois. “The team and each of these individuals were outstanding representatives of Central when they competed for the Wildcats and after, and they are all most deserving of our highest athletic honor.”

The selections for the 31st anniversary class are:

• Keith Baker, track and field. A five-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American, Baker won the 60-meter indoor hurdles at the NAIA National Track and Field Championships in 1991 and placed second at nationals in 1992. He also finished sixth in 1990, fourth in 1991, and second in 1992, in the 110-meter outdoor high hurdles at the NAIA national meet. Baker is still the school record holder in the 110-meter event.

• Jim Clem, baseball. Clem coached Dayton and Burlington-Edison high schools to 481 wins over 30 years, which included 22 consecutive winning seasons. He was elected to the Washington State Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1993 and named the National High School Baseball Coaches Association coach of the year for Washington in 2006. Clem pitched for the Wildcats in 1974 and 1975. CWU advanced to the NAIA playoffs in both seasons.

• Judy Koenigs, women’s soccer. Koenigs still ranks as CWU’s all-time leading career scorer with 27 goals and 65 points. In 1997, she set school single-season records for goals, with 16, and points, with 39, which was the fourth best mark in the Pacific Northwest Athletic Conference. That year, she was selected as a first team all-conference forward. In addition, she was named a second team Pacific Northwest Region all-star.

• Tyson Raley, football. Raley is one of just six players to earn Columbia Football Association first team all-league honors for four straight seasons, which he did from 1990 to 1993. Raley’s 4,416 all-purpose yards rank third in CWU history. In addition, he is also fifth on the school career receiving list with 178 catches. During his first season with the Wildcats, Raley was honored as CWU’s outstanding freshman of the year.

• Kit Shaw, wrestling. Shaw won the 142-pound NAIA wrestling championship in 1973 and 1974, when he was named the outstanding wrestler in the tournament. Shaw also received that year’s Gorriaran Award, presented to the wrestler who pinned the most opponents in the least amount of time, while leading CWU to the national team title. In addition, he made it to the quarterfinal round at 158 pounds at the 1977 national tournament.

• Rose (Shaw) Wessels, women’s basketball. Recording 1,696 points during her career, Wessels is CWU’s all-time women’s scoring leader. That mark ranks third all-time in Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) history. She also ranks 13th all-time in the conference all time in rebounding, with 790, and sixth in blocked shots, with 73. The only CWU player to earn All-American honors during GNAC era, she was named a fourth team Division II Bulletin All-American in 2002.

• The 1984 swim team. Led by CWU Athletic Hall of Fame swimmers John Sayre and Jeff Walker and head coach Bob Gregson, the Wildcats claimed 26 All-American awards at the NAIA Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving National Championships. Fourteen came in individual events and 12 in the relays. It was the first of three men’s national swimming team titles that CWU won over a four-year period. The women’s team also went on to claim the 1986 national title.

This year’s CWU Athletic Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony is Saturday, May 17, in Nicholson Pavilion. A no-host social hour and silent auction gets underway at 5:00 p.m., with the banquet and ceremony to follow. Tickets are $35 and are available through May 2 at wildcatsports.com/hof. For additional information, call 509-963-1976.

With the 2014 class, the CWU Athletic Hall of Fame will have inducted a total of 174 individuals and 16 teams since it was inaugurated in 1983.

Media contact: Robert Lowery, Public Affairs, 509-963-1487, loweryr@cwu.edu

March 12, 2014