By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2020 was inducted on Sunday, Dec. 13 in a virtual ceremony. In addition to the initial live steaming, the induction video remains on the Willamette Athletics website at wubearscats.com for future viewing.
Willamette's induction class features five former Bearcat student-athletes, plus the 1967-68 men's soccer team for meritorious service. Former student-athletes included in the WU Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 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.
Student-Athletes
Nikki (Franchi) Kopple '09, Softball
Nikki (Franchi) Kopple, who was a pitcher and designated player for the Bearcats from 2006-09, earned Willamette records with a .423 career batting average and 112 RBIs. She registered 150 hits and 93 runs. As a pitcher, she achieved a 50-19 career record (.725) with a 2.06 earned run average. She attained school career pitching records with 565 strikeouts and 18 solo shutouts (22 total). Franchi 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 selected First Team All-West Region in 2008 and 2009, after being named Third Team All-West Region in 2007. She was chosen First Team All-NWC in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and was the NWC Player of the Year in 2008. Franchi set single season offensive records in 2008 with a .518 batting average, a .955 slugging percentage, a .588 on-base percentage, 57 hits and 10 home runs. She set single season pitching records in 2008 with 19 wins and 203 strikeouts.
Katie (Edmonds) Hartman '00, Soccer, Basketball
Katie (Edmonds) Hartman played on four conference championship teams for the Bearcats in women's soccer from 1996-99. She helped Willamette qualify for postseason play all four years with an overall record of 76-6-9 and a 54-1-5 record in conference play. The Bearcats went undefeated in the conference in 1996, 1998 and 1999. In 1999, Willamette was 18-0-3 overall.. Hartman was named to the NCAA Division III Final Four All-Tournament Team in 1998. She contributed to Willamette reaching the NAIA Nationals in 1996 and the NCAA Final Four in 1998. She was selected Northwest Conference 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.
Gary Johnson '77, Football
Gary Johnson was a four-year starter in football at defensive end for Willamette from 1973-76. He was named First Team All-America in 1975 and 1976. He earned First Team Little All-Northwest honors in 1974, 1975, and 1976. He put together an illustrious coaching career, including a State Girls' Basketball Championship at Cascade High School in 1984-85. As head football coach at Salem Academy, Johnson led the team to its first state title game in over 20 years in 2016. He was chosen First Team All-NWC in 1974, 1975, and 1976. He won the J.H. Booth Award as a senior at Willamette. He was signed as a free agent by the Seattle Seahawks in 1977. He currently volunteers with his local church and community food bank, helping deliver over 50,000 pounds of food to needy families.
Maddie (Coffman) Lima '09, Cross Country/Track and Field
Maddie (Coffman) Lima competed at Willamette from 2005-06 through 2008-09. She 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. 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. She helped WU earn NWC cross country team championships from 2005-08 and NWC track and field team titles from 2006-09. She was chosen Second Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America and First Team Academic All-District on the College Division Women's Cross Country and Track and Field Team by CoSIDA in 2008-09.
Kyle Stalker '09, Baseball
Kyle Stalker set Willamette career baseball records from 2006-09 with 51 home runs, 161 RBIs and a .722 slugging percentage while playing first base for the Bearcats. He was named First Team All-West Region and Third Team All-America by the ABCA in 2008. In 2009, he was selected Third Team All-America by D3baseball.com and was chosen Second Team All-West Region by the ABCA. 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 in 2008), and slugging percentage (.960 in 2009). He was tied for the season batting average record of .455 in 2009. He achieved a .990 career fielding percentage and earned 555 putouts.
TEAM
1967-68 Men's Soccer
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 (head nurse at Willamette), provided the labor, problem-solving, leadership and teamwork needed to start soccer as an intercollegiate sport at Willamette. Scoring leaders for the Bearcats were Mark Brennand and Steve Gerrish, who each scored 6 goals. Bill Lebov earned 201 saves in goal.
