Inaugural CSU-P Athletics Hall of Fame class inducted

PUEBLO, Colo. - Eleven individuals and one team became the inaugural inductees at the CSU-Pueblo Athletics Hall of Fame, which took place Oct. 30 at the Pueblo Union Depot.

A capacity crowd of 250 were in attendance at the induction, as each inductee made acceptance speeches for their honor.  Most Hall of Famers were in attendance to accept their honors.  Two inductees, longtime track and field coach James "Spank" Blasing, and the University's first athletic director, Dr. Dale Rea, where inducted posthumously.  Another inductee, two-time women's tennis all-American, Daniela Ivana, could not be on hand as she was in her native Romania.  The ceremony was emceed by former local radio personality, Wallace Cotton.

Though athletics have existed at CSU-Pueblo for over 60 years, through name changes from Pueblo Junior College, Southern Colorado State College, University of Southern Colorado and now CSU-Pueblo, Friday night's induction marks the beginning of the first Hall of Fame to recognize all of CSU-Pueblo's current and past athletic programs.

Pat Bekeza (Baseball/Men's Basketball), Nadia Fercha (Women's Basketball/Women's Soccer), Frank Grant (Football/Men's Track), Freda Hancock (Women's Track), Ivana (Women's Tennis), John Martinez (Men's Track), Chuck Pipher (Wrestling), Cal Tatum (Men's Basketball), coach inductee Blasing (Track and Field), Pueblo Chieftain publisher Robert H. Rawlings (contributor), and special inductee, Dr. Rea, were inducted Friday.  Also inducted were the 1960-61 men's basketball NJCAA National Championship team.

"This has been a long time coming," CSU-Pueblo Director of Athletics Joe Folda said.  "This first class honors 'the best of the best' and we are proud of this class."

The inductees made poignant speeches in accepting their honor.  Several thanked the committee and those in attendance for remembering their accomplishments, including Bekeza, who was a 1969 baseball all-American and drafted into the Major Leagues three times, Hancock, who was a track all-American in 1986 as she approached nearly 30 years of age, and Tatum, who is the men's basketball program's all-time leading scorer.  Rawlings, the special contributor inductee who made several athletic programs possible at CSU-Pueblo, set the tone of the night by remarking, "There is something special about people who are involved in sports."

Others, including Fercha, Grant, and Martinez, reflected on how their decision to attend CSU-Pueblo changed their lives. 

Fercha, a Colby, Kan. native who had split time playing basketball and soccer, remembered how she considered leaving the University after her head basketball coach left following her freshman season.  But a meeting with current athletic director, Joe Folda, who was coaching men's basketball at the time, convinced her to stay.

"He promised me that he would find the best women's basketball coach he could," Fercha said of her meeting with Folda.  "When we hired Misty Murphy as coach (in 2001), she convinced me that we were going to win.  She and (then-women's soccer coach) Roy Stanley worked together and allowed me to play both sports, and the next three years were amazing."  Fercha was eventually a two-time all-region selection in both basketball and soccer.

Grant, who came to Southern Colorado State College all the way from Newark, N.J., said he chose to go to college as an alternative to the involuntary United States draft during the Vietnam War.  He eventually became an all-American at SCSC and was drafted by the Washington Redskins, where he enjoyed a six-year NFL career.

"I never thought I would get a chance to play in the NFL playing at a small school (like SCSC)," Grant said.  "But scouts had said they were looking at small schools just as much as the larger schools, and I was excited that the Redskins chose me in the 13th round in 1972."

Grant has recently retired from his career in Virginia as a counselor for at-risk youth.

Martinez gave perhaps the most emotional speech of the night, thanking then-coach and fellow inductee, Blasing, for recruiting him.

"When he recruited me, it changed my life forever," Martinez, a 1967 national champion in the mile run, said.  "He taught me so much.  I've been coaching track and field for 40 years now, and I owe my life to him."

On a lighter note, Pipher, a three-time national champion at USC, the current head wrestling coach at Mesa State College, after calling his time at USC "the best years of his life," used the state to issue a little smack talk on behalf of his current employer.

"I look forward to whipping [CSU-Pueblo] again this year," Pipher said, to a chorus of good-natured boos from the audience.

Dale Rea, Jr., who accepted the posthumous induction on behalf of his father, Dale Rea, Sr., used his time on the stage to tell the capacity crowd about his father's long list of professional accomplishments.

"He was the most driven and motivated man I've ever known," Rea said.   Rea, a Pueblo Centennnial High School alumnus who was the first president at Fort Lewis College in Durango, has been inducted into numerous halls of fame, but Rea, Jr. said, "this honor would likely be the most special to him as it came from the place where he got his start."  Rea began athletics at then-Pueblo Junior College in 1937, coaching three sports before leaving for World War II and later earning his doctorate and become the FLC President.

One of the most gripping speeches of the night came from former CSU-Pueblo tennis coach, John Galena, who accepted the induction of Ivana to the Hall of Fame.  He told the personal story of a young woman coming to America after experiencing tough times in Romania, knowing just 25 words of English when she arrived.  Though she experienced a different in American than she had known in Romania, her head spinning from the freedoms and choices that existed in the United States, she overcame the culture shock to dominate on the tennis court.

"I don't remember her ever having lost a single set in conference play," Galena said.  "I remember her first match here, she beat another school's top singles player in just 20 minutes.  She was one of the best tennis players I had ever seen."

The night was topped off by the induction of the 1961 NJCAA Men's Basketball national championship team.  Seven members of the team were in attendance as team-member and Central High School alum, Tony Hegler, accepted the honor on behalf of the team. 

"This was a great way to get our new Hall of Fame off on the right foot," Folda said.  "We look forward to growing this Hall of Fame over the years with these oustanding inductees from this inaugural class as our foundation."

To nominate your favorite CSU-Pueblo/USC/SCSC/PJC student-athlete, coach, contributor, or team, visit the CSU-Pueblo Athletics Hall of Fame page at http://www.gothunderwolves.com/halloffame.  The second induction class, to be announced in July, will be inducted next fall.