Nine alumni were inducted into the school’s sports hall of fame Friday evening, with representatives from football, baseball, women’s tennis and track and field.
Lindsay (DeHoff) Brewer, 1998-2001, was selected three consecutive years as a first-team all-Lone Star Conference selection from 1999-2001. During her freshman year, she was also selected as the 1998 LSC Freshman of the Year after a season in which she had 150 blocks, which ranks as the fifth best single-season total in ACU history. She ranks fourth all-time with 471 blocks and 11th best all-time with 1,207 kills. Brewer died earlier this season after a battle with cancer and was honored on Thursday with a pre-game ceremony against Southeastern Louisiana.
Brandon Stover, 1999-2002, was the lone representative from the baseball program in the 2019 induction. Stover was the fifth Wildcat in school history to be named an All-American after a historic senior season. The 2002 graduate hit .415 in his senior year, while hitting 10 home runs and driving in 55 RBIs. As a junior, Stover was named first team all-conference and was a key component in the Wildcats’ three consecutive NCAA Div. II South Central Region tournament qualifiers. After his playing career, he joined the ACU coaching staff and served as the assistant coach and the associate head coach through the 2016 season.
“I was honored and humbled to receive that honor,” Stover said. “I am extremely thankful for the players and their families and I hope that I had a similar impact on them as they had on me.”
Meredith (Garner) Powell, 1992-2002, was an eight-time NCAA Div. II All-American for women’s track and field, including six in pole vaulting and twice in the 400m relay. She was the first woman ever at ACU to clear 13 feet in the pole vault, with a career-best mark of 13 feet, two inches. She was voted as an All-American from 2000-2002 by the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association and was a three-time Lone Star Conference Champion in her time at ACU.
John Kemboi, 1999-2002, is considered one of the greatest individual champions in the history of ACU track and field, as well as cross country. He tied Bobby Morrow with 10 career individual NCAA Div. II national championships, as well as led the Wildcats to back-to-back NCAA Div. II South Central Region championships in 2000 and 2001. On the track and field side, Kemboi capped his senior season by winning the indoor and outdoor 800 meter race, as well as the mile indoors and the 1500 meter outdoors. That would be his second consecutive season to win all four of those individual titles.
Jerale Badon, 2004-2007, was an honorable mention in the NCAA Div. II football All-American running in 2007. He still holds ACU’s all-time record in receptions with 235, receiving yards with 3,311 and ranks eighth all-time in career touchdowns with 19. Badon was a two-time captain from 2006-2007 and helped lead the Wildcats to their first two NCAA Div. II playoff appearances during those years. He was a three-time first team all-Lone Star Conference selection from 2005-2007 and was later selected to the all-Decade Team of the 2000’s.
Sam Collins, 2005-2008, is the second representative from the football program. Collins holds the record for consecutive games started at ACU with 46, not missing a game during the entirety of his four year career. In 2008, he was awarded the Gene Upshaw Award for being the top lineman in all of NCAA Div. II college football, and was the winner of the Dave Rimington Award as the top center that same year. Collins was a three-time academic all-Lone Star Conference selection and was honored later with a selection to ACU’s all-Decade Team for the 2000’s.
Irene Squillaci, 2006-2009, was a three-time All American from 2007-2009 for the women’s tennis program. She was voted as the 2007 Lone Star Conference Player of the Year, as well as a three-time first team all-LSC selection in both singles and doubles matches. Squillaci took the LSC singles championship in consecutive seasons from 2006 to 2007 and was one-half of one of the top NCAA Div. II doubles team in tennis with partner Aina Rafolo. The duo won the Lone Star Conference doubles titles from 2006-2008 and were nationally ranked during that time.
Al and Dottie Scott were awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for their longtime dedication to ACU Athletics, more specifically baseball. Al Scott, who died in October of 2013, pitched for Abilene High as well as the Wildcats. His love for baseball influenced his tireless work to help restart the intercollegiate program at ACU in 1991 with the construction of Crutcher Scott Field. Dottie, who died in January of 2005, was an active member of the League of Women Voters and the Republican Party, as well as a devoted fan of Wildcat baseball.
“Getting to see the Scott Family be recognized as well was very special,” Stover said. “I got to share in those times (of personal success) when Al and Dottie Scott were such a big part of the program.”
