By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2020 will be inducted on Sunday, Dec. 13 at 4 p.m (PST) in a pre-recorded video premiere. Willamette's induction class features five former Bearcat student-athletes, plus the 1967-68 men's soccer team for meritorious service.
"COVID-19 has obviously had an impact on everything that we have tried to do the past seven months and at the same time it has led us to be more creative in what we do", said Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Rob Passage. "I really want to make sure we induct the Hall of Fame Class of 2020 in the year 2020 and I am excited to see this come together. We hope that we can invite the inductees, families, friends, and classmates to an in-person event next fall if we are back to a time when we can have large gatherings again".
Willamette's student-athlete inductees for 2020 are Nikki (Franchi) Kopple '09 (softball), Katie (Edmonds) Hartman '00 (women's soccer) Gary Johnson '77 (football), Maddie (Coffman) Lima '09 (cross country/track and field), and Kyle Stalker '09 (baseball). The 1967-68 men's soccer team will be inducted for its efforts in starting the sport at Willamette and supporting the men's soccer team since then.
Kopple earned a Willamette record .423 career batting average to go along with 150 hits, 93 runs, and 112 RBIs. As a pitcher, she achieved a 50-19 career record (.725) with a 2.06 earned run average. She registered a school-record 565 strikeouts and had 22 shutouts (18 solo). Kopple was named First Team All-America for NCAA Division III in 2008 and was Third Team All-America in 2009 as a utility player. She was chosen First Team All-NWC in 2007, 2008, and 2009, and was the NWC Player of the Year in 2008.
Hartman played on four conference championship teams for the Bearcats. She helped Willamette reach postseason play all four years with an overall record of 76-6-9 and a 54-1-5 record in conference play. She was named to the NCAA Division III Final Four All-Tournament Team in 1998. She was selected NWC Player of the Year and NCAA Division III All-America in 1999. Hartman also played basketball at Willamette. She ranks third with a .471 season 3-point shooting percentage and is sixth with 139 career steals.
Johnson was a four-year starter as a defensive end on the Willamette football team. He was named First Team All-America in 1975 and 1976 after earning First Team Little All-Northwest honors in 1974, 1975, and 1976. Johnson went on to an exceptional coaching career, including a State Girls' Basketball Championship at Cascade High School in 1984-85. As the head football coach at Salem Academy, he led the team to the 2016 OSAA State Championship. He won the J.H. Booth Award at Willamette in 1977 and was signed as a free agent by the Seattle Seahawks.
Lima earned NCAA All-America honors in cross country by placing 11th at the NCAA Championships in 2007 and then taking fourth place at the NCAA Championships in 2008. She was named NCAA All-America in track and field in 2009 when she placed fourth at the NCAA Championships in the 1,500-meter run. She was the Jean Williams Award winner in 2009 as the top senior student-athlete on the Willamette women's sports teams. Lima won NWC and NCAA West Region individual cross country titles in 2008 and won NWC titles in the 800-meter run and the 1,500-meter run in 2009.
Stalker set Willamette career records in baseball with 51 home runs, 161 RBIs and a .722 slugging percentage. He was named First Team All-West Region and Third Team All-America by the ABCA in 2008. He was named Third Team All-America by D3baseball.com in 2009. Stalker was selected First Team All-Northwest Conference in 2008 and 2009, and was the NWC Player of the Year in 2008. He led NCAA Division III with 0.56 home runs per game in 2008 (22 home runs in 39 games). When he graduated, he held school season records for home runs (22), RBIs (63), and slugging percentage (.960). He was tied for the season batting average record at .455.
Members of the 1967-68 men's soccer team worked to bring soccer to Willamette. Without funding or an on-campus facility, the team, led by Steve Rapf, Mike Bennett, Steve Gerrish, Tom Angelo and Kit Jensen found a coach in Al Berglund (an instructor at WU), negotiated with the City of Salem to practice and play in Bush's Pasture Park, and built their own goals. Team members, along with Berglund and Henrietta 'Hank' Altoff (a nurse at WU), provided the labor, problem-solving, leadership and teamwork needed to start soccer as an intercollegiate sport at Willamette.
