The Simon Fraser University Athletics Hall of Fame will be re-established on Wednesday, Feb. 29 with 13 new inductees being honoured at a luncheon, hosted at the Diamond Alumni Club on the Burnaby Campus.
The inductees include nine athletes, four coaches and two teams.
"It's a great cross section of athletes, teams and coaches," said Lorne Davies, founding athletic director. "The biggest problem with coming off a hiatus of not having inductees being placed in the Hall of Fame is we have so many deserving athletes but we can't put them all in at once in this year of renewal, but it does make this year's class a little more special."
Two former Clan football players who went on to stellar CFL careers will be enshrined. Defensive tackle Doug Brown and running back Sean Millington will be honoured.
Brown, started his professional career in the NFL, before enjoying a long and successful career with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Over an 11-year CFL career he was an all-star seven times, and named the CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian in 2010, while competing in three Grey Cups.
Millington played four years at SFU and still holds several Clan rushing records. He played 12 years in the CFL, earning the CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian twice.
Millington also won two Grey Cups, both with the B.C. Lions, and was named MVP of the 88th Grey Cup in 2000. Millington is also a member of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.
The women's basketball team will be represented by one coach and one player.
Legendary coach Allison McNeill coached the SFU women's basketball program for 13 years. Her first 12 years at the helm were in the NAIA before one season coaching in the CIS.
McNeill's players were named NAIA All-Americans 15 times, while two were named NAIA players of the year.
McNeill went on to coach the Canadian national team and is the current head coach of the women's team. She also served as the associate head coach for the University of Oregon from 2001 to 2005.
Six of her players went on to play with the Canadian National team.
Michelle Hendry is one of McNeill's players who achieved great success.
Hendry was a two-time NAIA player of the year and three-time All-American. She is SFU's all-time scoring leader and played in the Olympic Games for Canada.
Canada's first wrestling gold medalist, Daniel Igali, will also enter the SFU hall of fame.
Igali wrestled at SFU from 1997 to 1999 and won 116 consecutive matches during his collegiate career.
After winning gold at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, he went on to win gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
He was also the recipient of the Lou Marsh Award in 2000 as Canada's top athlete.
Igali will be joined by fellow wrestler and three-time NAIA champion, Jeff Thue.
Thue placed third at the World Championships and won a silver medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
Two of the new inductees into the hall will represent track and field, including current SFU track and field head coach, Brit Townsend, who will be inducted as an athlete.
Townsend is an NAIA 800-metre champion and held the record in that event for 25 years until one of her student-athletes, Helen Crofts, broke it last May.
Brit is a two-time Olympian, a Pan Am Games bronze medalist and a world indoor championship silver medalist.
Former NAIA cross-country champion Sarah Howell will also be inducted into the hall.
Howell is a four-time NAIA indoor champion, six-time NAIA outdoor champion and currently holds the NAIA record in the 1,500- and 3,000-metre events.
The Clan's second all-time leading scorer in men's basketball, Bob Hieltjes, will also be inducted on Feb. 29.
Hieltjes captained SFU during the most successful season in Clan history in 1986-87, when SFU won 24 games. He played professionally in New Zealand and Germany and is a member of the B.C. Basketball Hall of Fame.
Randee Hermus was a three-time NAIA first team All-American for the SFU women's soccer team from 1998 to 2000. She was also a second team All-American as a freshman in 1997 and won a national championship with the Clan in 2000.
Hermus was also a member of the Canadian Women's National team from 1998 to 2008 and played at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Her decorated career includes over 100 caps for Canadian national teams, a 2007 Pan Am Games bronze medal and a 2004 W-League Championship MVP Award with the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The late Keith Watts will be inducted as the longest-serving head coach in the history of the SFU men's soccer program. Watts served as coach for 20 years, while leading the Clan to two national championships.
Watts coached numerous players who went on to successful careers in the North American Soccer League, in Europe and on the Canadian National team.
Legendary swimming coaches Paul and Margaret Savage are also among those to be inducted.
The late Paul Savage was the first head coach of the SFU swimming program. Along with his assistant Margaret Savage, they coached many British Columbia and Canadian swimmers to international prominence in the 1960's, 1970's and early 1980's.
The tandem led the SFU men to 10 national championships and the women to three. Both are members of the NAIA Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame.
Rounding out the class of 2012 are two teams that achieved great success.
The 1970 varsity football team went 9-0 in the NAIA, one of the best seasons in the school's football history. From that team, 23 players were drafted into the CFL.
Finally, the 1982 men's soccer team will be inducted, which went 18-3-3, en route to the school's second national championship in men's soccer, and their first of back-to-back titles.
"Simon Fraser University has had the privilege of having some tremendously athletically gifted students who have represented the university, the province and the country in high-level intercollegiate and international competition. We are very proud of the achievements and the success of these people both in competition and in the classroom," concluded Davies.
For tickets to the induction, email Neena Singh at [email protected].
