Titan Athletics Hall of Fame
Launched
October 27, 2005
The Titan Athletics Hall of Fame,
honoring some of Cal State Fullerton’s best athletes and coaches,
will be launched at a dinner and reception beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday,
Nov. 5, in the Titan Student Union.
“This evening will provide us with the opportunity
to honor some of our best and brightest,” said Brian Quinn,
director of intercollegiate athletics. “It also provides us
with a chance to celebrate our rich athletics history, which includes
12 national championships.”
Among those who will be honored at the evening’s
event are Greg Bunch (men’s basketball), Nancy Dunkle and
Eugenia Miller-Rycraw (both women’s basketball), Tami Elliott-Harrison
(gymnastics), Augie Garrido (coach - baseball), Susan LeFebvre-Wyman
(softball) and Tim Wallach (baseball).
Greg
Bunch was the star of the Titans’ “Cal State
Who?” basketball team that advanced to the finals of the 1978
NCAA Western Regionals — the university’s only appearance
— coming up one basket shy of the Final Four. The Titans upset
highly favored New Mexico and San Francisco before losing in the
final seconds to Arkansas. The sinewy four-year starter at forward
also led the Titans to their only conference championship in 1975-76.
Bunch played briefly with the New York Knicks in the National Basketball
Association before launching a successful career in the cable television
industry, where he currently serves in an executive position with
SiTV, a station that programs to second and third-generation English-speaking
Hispanics.
Nancy
Dunkle is the fifth- leading scorer in Titan history, scoring
1,559 points during the 1973-77 women’s basketball seasons.
She was a three-time Kodak All-American (1975-77) who averaged 19.0
points (second best) and 9.1 rebounds (fourth best) as a Titan.
Dunkle was appointed Titans’ head coach for women’s
basketball in 1977, compiling a 28-23 overall record in her two-season
tenure. In 2000, she was inducted into the second class of the Women’s
Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn.
Tami
Elliott-Harrison was one of the nation’s top gymnasts,
winning All-American status 10 times before suffering a serious
neck injury that curtailed her 1987 season. In 1984, she was an
All-American on vault, uneven parallel bars and all-around, repeating
in vault and all-around, and adding floor exercise a year later.
Elliott-Harrison returned in 1986 to add additional awards on bars,
balance beam, floor exercise and all-around. Despite her injury,
she received the 1987 American Award, an annual award given to the
nation’s top collegiate senior gymnast. Elliott-Harrison returned
to Fullerton to coach for the 1988 season before moving to the East
Coast. In 1989, she was named Miss Virginia and competed in the
Miss America pageant. Today, she is owner and head coach at World
Class Gymnastics in Newport News, Va.
Augie
Garrido was the architect of Fullerton’s highly successful
baseball program. In 21 seasons (1973-87 and 1991-96), he compiled
a record of 931 wins, 391 losses and six ties, including 15 conference
championships — 11 consecutively. Garrido took the Titans
to the College World Series in Omaha on seven occasions, winning
national championships in 1979, 1984 and 1995, and placing second
in 1992. Selected national coach of the year four times, Garrido
coached three years (1988-90) at Illinois and since 1997, has been
at the University of Texas, where he has won two more national titles
and raised his 37-year victory total to 1,542.
Susan
LeFebvre-Wyman won the Broderick Award as the nation’s
top softball player in 1986 when she led the Titans to their first
and only NCAA softball championship. The two-time All-American posted
a 31-6 pitching record that season and holds virtually all of the
university career pitching records, including wins (100-21), appearances
(149), starts (116), complete games (98), shutouts (59), strikeouts
(702) and innings pitched (894.2). Her 34 complete games in 1986
also are a single-season record. LeFebvre-Wyman currently is a software
engineer at PacificLife.
Eugenia
Miller-Rycraw holds virtually every career record in CSUF
women’s basketball history. She led the Titans to their only
two NCAA tournament appearances in 1989 and 1991. In the latter
season, Miller-Rycraw was the Big West Conference player of the
year, the Big West Tournament MVP and one of 10 players on the Kodak
All-American team. She scored 2,415 career points and holds the
Big West record for single-season scoring. During her Titan career,
Miller-Rycraw grabbed 1,162 career rebounds and blocked 428 shots,
which stood as the NCAA record until this past season. She played
professionally in Japan (1991-93) and returned after several years
of raising a family to play for the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA
in 1998-99. She currently is in her fourth year (1993-94 and 2003
to present) as assistant coach in the Titans’ program.
Tim
Wallach was the Titans’ first baseball star. He won
USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award and the Sporting News College
Player of the Year awards in 1979 when the first baseman led the
Titans to the school’s first Division I NCAA title. Wallach
drove in 102 runs, which still is the CSUF single-season record.
He was a first-round draft choice of the Montreal Expos and hit
a home run in his first official “at bat” as a professional
and major leaguer. He spent 17 seasons with the Expos, Angels and
Dodgers, winning three Golden Glove Awards for fielding excellence
at third base and making the National League All-Star team five
times. Wallach returned to CSUF as an assistant coach in 2000 before
joining the Dodger’s as hitting coach.
Alumni Justin and Kristin Isom Alderson (B.A. communications-TV/film
’98 and B.A. communications-public relations ’97, respectively)
have pledged $25,000 on behalf of the Alderson Family Foundation
to fund the Titan Athletics Hall of Fame that will be established
in the gymnasium. Justin is the TitanSports.org
Web cast play-by-play announcer for men’s baseball and basketball
games.
Tickets are still available for this inaugural event
at $75 per person ($25 tax deductible) or $750 for a table of 10.
For further information, call 278-3480.
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