UT Athletics Inducts 14 to Hall of Honor

By Brittany Lamas in 40 Acres, Sports on November 4, 2013 at 5:52 pm | No Comments

Most students spend their college years juggling classes, jobs, and internships. For some, those commitments also come with representing the University on a court, an athletic field, or in a pool. After spending their years on the Forty Acres at games, meets, and championships, some of these hardworking UT athletes are inducted into the Halls of Honor.

In two ceremonies on Friday, UT Athletics honored seven men and five women former student-athletes, plus two current athletics staffers, by inducting them into the Men’s and Women’s UT Athletics Halls of Honor. The new members were also recognized on the field during Saturday’s football game against Kansas.

The 14th women’s honor class included one Athletics staffer and five All-American former athletes who lettered in sports ranging from swimming to track and field:

• Diane Watson, BS ’89, Life Member— Volleyball, two-time All-American
• Katy Arris-Wilson, BA ’92, Life Member— Swimming, 20-time All-American, and NCAA Champion
• Robin Carter, BS ’96, MBA ’02, Life Member— Diving, 11-time All-American , 1994 NCAA Diver of the Year, and NCAA Champion
• Kelly Pace Wilson, BS ’02— Tennis, five-time All-American
• Melaine Walker, BS ’06— Track and Field, Olympic gold medalist, and three-time NCAA Champion
• Susan Sigmon, BJ ’81, Athletics staff photographer and the first person to hold the staff photographer position for a college program

“This is really the only way we honor our female athletes,” says Jill Sterkel, director of Women’s Athletics Letterwinners and a Hall of Honor member. “We don’t retire jerseys or retire numbers, so this is our way of highlighting people who came through and have succeeded athletically and academically.”

The 57th inductee men’s class were all veterans of the big three of UT sports: baseball, basketball, and football. The class included assistant athletics director Larry Falk, who has been with the University since 1981, plus three “vintage selections” who each played before 1975.

• Brian Cisarik, BA ’88— Baseball, still holds the program record for single season batting average
• T.J. Ford— Basketball, won the 2003 Naismith and Wooden Awards
• Quentin Jammer— Football, All-American and UT’s first Thorpe Award finalist
• Roy Williams— Football, three-time first-team All-Big 12 selection
• Lou Bagwell, BS ’70— Baseball
• Rene Ramirez, BS ’61— Football
• Julius Whittier, BA ’75, MPAff ’76, Life Member— Football
• Larry Falk— Assistant AD for operations administration, 1981-present

The inductees are nominated and voted on by separate committees. The women’s committee is made up of 22 members, including former athletes and journalists who cover UT sports, and the selection process considers both athletic and community achievements. The men’s hall is governed by the Longhorn Hall of Honor Council, a group made up of only former lettermen. A selection committee nominates 16 former athletes each year, and the four with the majority vote from the council are inducted.

Julius Whittier receives his Hall of Honor trophy Friday; Melaine Walker address the crowd during the women’s ceremony Friday.

Photos courtesy UT Athletics.

Tags: athletics, Hall of Honor, sports, UT