Photos are available at
www.peru.edu/marketing/2007/October/1008_HallofFame.htm.
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 8, 2007,
4:15 p.m. CDT CONTACT: Regan Anson, 402-872-2429 or
ranson@oakmail.peru.edu
Peru State College to
Honor 2007
Athletic Hall of
Fame Inductees Oct. 12-13
(Peru,
Neb.) Peru State College (PSC) President Ben Johnson
today announced that former track and fielder Melvin
Larsen, cross country runner Tim Hendricks, women’s
basketball player Lora White Gulley and the entire
1992-93 men’s basketball team will be officially
inducted into the college’s Athletic Hall of Fame
this weekend. A formal banquet honoring the
inductees will be held at 5:30 p.m., Friday, Oct.
12, in the PSC Student Center.
The
honorees will also be recognized at halftime of the
football game versus Benedictine (Kan.) College on
Saturday, Oct. 13. The game begins at 1 p.m. in the
Oak Bowl. Johnson said, “We’re thrilled to be able
to honor Peru State College’s outstanding student
athletes in this way. Each of these individuals has
made a significant and lasting impact on our
athletic programs that will not soon be forgotten.
Their talent and determination have greatly
contributed to the long and proud tradition of
athletic excellence. We look forward to honoring
more Peru State athletic standouts in the future.”
Following
are brief biographies of the inductees. Melvin
Larsen - Meritorious Service InducteeLarsen attended
PSC from 1942-1943. He lettered in track as a
freshman, focusing on sprints, hurdles and the long
jump. In December 1942, Larsen signed up for the
Navy’s V-12 Officer Training Program and was called
to duty at the end of his sophomore year. The Navy
sent him to Iowa State College (now Iowa State
University). While there, Larsen was a member of the
ISC track team that won the 1943-44 indoor and
outdoor Big Six Championships. He won the indoor
long jump, placed second in the outdoor long jump
and ran a leg in the mile relay. Larsen was also a
member of the 1944-45 ISC track team that repeated
winning the indoor and outdoor Big Six
Championships. He again won the indoor long jump,
placed second in the outdoor long jump, placed third
in the 100 meter dash and fourth in the 220 meter
dash. His best distance in the long jump was 23 feet
½ inch, which qualified him for the NCAA
Championships. He was named an All American,
finishing sixth. In 1983, the Illinois Senior
Olympic began. It was during the first year of the
program, at the age of 59, that Larsen won the
Illinois Senior Olympic long jump. He continued to
win the long jump as well as the 100 and 200 meter
dashes for 15 consecutive years. Larsen competed in
the World Master Championships at age 65 and was
second in the 200 meters. At age 70 he ran the 100
meter dash within one second of his high school
time. He holds or shares 12 world records and five
American records in sprints, long jump and hurdles.
Des Moines Register staff writer David Peterson
said, “At 80 years old in 2004 he was the fastest
runner in the world for his age.”
Tim
Hendricks – Student Athlete Inductee in Cross
Country Hendricks began his athletic career in high
school at Omaha South. In 1965 as a sophomore at
PSC, Hendricks was a member of the cross country
team that raced into national prominence as a result
of their third place finish in the 10th Annual NAIA
Cross Country Championships. A total of 48 schools
were represented, 22 with full teams, in the
national NAIA Harrier Run. At that time the third
place finish marked the highest point of any Bobcat
team in a national sports competition. Peru State,
virtually unnoticed in pre-meet prognostications,
finished third with 171 points. Hendricks’ third
year at PSC in 1967 was also exceptional. He won the
Junior National AAU Marathon and was voted the most
valuable runner on the Cross Country team, of which
he was captain. In 1967 the Harriers participated in
the NAIA cross country meet. He and a teammate set
the pace on the four mile course and tied with a
time of 20:45. They ended seventh out of 58 teams.
In the spring of 1968, Hendricks set a series of new
records (none of which currently stand), including
the mile indoor run with a time of 4:19.3, the two
mile indoor run with a time of 9:26.4 and the three
mile outdoor run with a time of 14:54.4. He was also
part of the two mile relay team which posted a time
of 7:50.4 and the distance medley team which posted
a time of 10:29.2. Hendricks was previously inducted
into the Peru State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990 as
a member of the 1965 outstanding cross country team.
After finishing at PSC, Hendricks competed in the
1970 World Cross Country Championship at Vichy,
France. He finished 37th individually and his team
achieved fifth place overall. Hendricks continued to
run and competed in the 1972 U.S. Olympic Trials. He
capped off his career with a second place finish in
the marathon at the 1976 U.S. Track and Field
Championships. Hendricks retired in 2006 after
serving as a cross country and track coach at the
University of Nebraska – Omaha for 19 years.
Lora White
Gulley – Student Athlete Inductee in Women’s
Basketball Lora White Gulley, a 5’10” forward from
Omaha Burke, came to PSC as a transfer from Kearney
State in 1990 as a freshman. During her active
playing time, Gulley was ranked nationally in
several individual NAIA Division II statistical
categories. She was an All-District player and an
honorable mention All-American two years in a row in
the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons. In her senior year,
Gulley was honored before the Nov. 24 game with
Graceland College for three career achievements,
including making 1,000 total points and holding
school records for steals with 318 and blocked shots
with 102. During that evening's game she led with a
game high 22 points and 14 rebounds, which were
topped off with six steals and three assists. During
the final semester of her senior year, Gulley’s
contributions continued to pile up. She was
co-captain and became the all-time leading rebounder
with a total of 967 rebounds during her PSC career,
an 8.1 rebounding mark per game. She remains PSC’s
career leader in rebounds and the fourth leading
scorer in school history with 1,416 points. Gulley
earned a sixth place record for total free throws
made with 228 and a fourth place record for free
throws attempted with 393. She holds the fifth place
record in the number of games played during her
career with 115, and the 12th place record for
all-time assists with 185. Gulley was named to the
Omaha World-Herald’s All NAIA Nebraska Women’s Team.
She was also a two-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete.
1992-93
Men’s Basketball Team – Team Inductee The
accomplishments of the 1992-93 Men’s Basketball Team
include holding the school record for most wins with
27; winning the district championship; advancing to
the national tournament; advancing to the final
eight in the national tournament; having a final
ranking of fifth in the nation at the end of the
tournament, which outside of the national
championship football team is the highest ranking
gained by any PSC team; and having the longest
winning streak in the nation with 18 games heading
into the national tournament. Additionally, the team
set the record at PSC for most steals in a season
with 375 and the season high total field goal
percentage with 52.4 percent. The team also ranked
second nationally in field goal percentage for the
year. Several individuals were key contributors to
the success of the team. Ivan Wineglass, PSC’s
center, was named the NAIA Division II Men’s
Basketball Player of the Year. Wineglass still leads
the nation in individual career field goal shooting
with 69.6 percent. He holds the third place record
in single season points with 653. PSC also had two
honorable mention selections to the All-District
team with Ryan Harshaw and Paul Howard who were
described as quiet but effective players. Fredd Ward
holds the current individual single season high
record for assists with 237, steals with 109 and
single season points with 559. Ward's single season
3-point field goals attempted stands at seventh with
189. His individual single game records include most
assists with 15 and most steals with 8. He also
placed among the Top 10 leaders in career scoring
with 1,110. Today he is still ranked 12th. Ward’s
record-breaking individual career assists (396) and
most steals (202) round out his record breaking
career at PSC. Ward and team member Scott Doan are
tied at eight for their single season 3-point field
goal percentage at 41.5 percent.
The 1992-93
Bobcat Basketball Team was coached by John Gibbs,
who was selected by his peers as the District 11
Coach of the Year. Assistance coaches were
Troy Dunn and Dave Jensen. Team members include
Scott Doan, Mark Fritch, Todd Gottula, Rod Green,
Ryan Harshaw, Paul Howard, Dan King, Dan LaRose,
Todd Pettit, Fredd Ward, Ivan Wineglass and Rob
Wright. Other team personnel include Trainer John
Gabriel and Student Managers Ben Royal, Michael
Poland and Greg Hendricks.
PSC's
"Campus of a Thousand Oaks," an arboretum campus, is
nestled in historic southeast Nebraska. The state's
first and fastest-growing college, Peru State offers
a unique mix of innovative online and traditional
classroom undergraduate and graduate programs,
including online graduate degrees in education and
organizational management. PSC is a member
institution of the Nebraska State College System.
For more information, visit
www.peru.edu or call
1-800-742-4412.
