The ACU Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2016-17 will be officially inducted during festivities on Friday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m. in the McCaleb Conference Center of Hunter Welcome Center.
Seven former athletes and coaches will be added to the Hall of Fame, making the number of Hall of Famers 185. Three women are being added to the Hall of Fame on Friday, bringing the number of women athletes and coaches to 30.
The inductees are as follows:
Ryan Boozer (2001): A football standout at the end of the 20th century, Boozer was selected to the First Team NCAA Division II All-Region team in 1999, and was selected as Second Team All-Region in 2000 and 2001. He was also selected as a First-Team all-Lone Star Conference in 2000 and 2001, is ACU’s all-time leading tackler with 388 tackles, and was selected to ACU’s all-Decade Team for the 90’s, and is a second-team selection for the all-Century team.
Amanda (Slate) Farrell (2005): Slate is the most decorated ACU Volleyball player of all time. She holds a school record with 12 service aces in a single match, and was selected as a 2005 AVCA Second Team all-America. Slate was also two-time First Team All-Region, two-time Lone Star Conference MVP, and three-time First-Team All-Lone Star Conference and ACU Most Valuable Player. She also ranks third all-time at ACU in blocks and kills.
Peter Kiganya (2001): Named “Kenya’s Most Accomplished Player” in basketball by kenyapage.net, Kiganya was also named a part of the Wildcat Starting 5, one of 5 players chosen by fans as the top players during their tenure in the Lose Star Conference. First team all-Region in 1999-2000, and three-time all-Lone Star Conference. Played professionally for the Kenyan National Team until retiring in 2012 and becoming a college assistant coach.
Brad Massey(2003): Massey was named the offensive MVP for the ACU Baseball all-Century Team, and was called by coach Britt Bonneau “The best player to ever step foot on the field at Crutcher Scott Field.” When he finished in 2003, he was the program’s all-time leader in home runs and total bases, and is still in the top-10 in most every other offensive category. Massey was a three-time all-Lone Star Conference post-season tournament selection, three time first-team all-Lone Star Conference, and carried the wildcats to the 2003 NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championship, and ACU’s only appearance in the College World Series.
Shelley Owen (1998): Owen was one of the first greats for ACU’s softball program. Third-team NFCA all-America, two-time First Team NFCA All-Region, and two-time first-team all-Lone Star Conference. Owen holds many ACU softball records, including innings pitched, strikeouts, ERA, wins and complete games. She is also an ACU season record holder in six categories, and threw 5 no-hitters, including two in one day at a double-header.
Carol Tabor(1987): Tabor was a two-time LCS doubles chance with Donna Sykes in both 1986 and 1987. Was also NCAA D-II all-America, and later served as the inaugural softball coach with a 7-year record of 172-166 and two LSC south division titles.
Ron Willingham(1954): Willingham receives the Lifetime Achievement Award from ACU Athletics this Friday. Willingham drove from Amarillo to Abilene every Monday for nine years, delivering leadership training lessons to the ACU Football team. He also made a significant donation to ACU Athletics toward the purchase of new weight room equipment at the Powell Fitness Center.
As well as these seven former athletes , Dr. Joel Wells, M.D., M.P.H. (2006) will receive the Jim Womack Award, which honors former ACU student-athletes who excelled not only on the field or court, but also in the classroom. Wells played baseball for ACU and was the 2006 LSC MVP, and is now the assistant professor of Orthopedic Surgery at UT-Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, after graduating near the top of his class at Tulane.
