Cal Athletics
Cal Athletic Hall of Fame Adds 8 New Members
Class Of 2016 To Be Formally Inducted Friday, Nov. 4
BERKELEY – From record holders and All-Americans to national champions and a legendary coach, the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2016 features some of the most accomplished Golden Bears in school history. This year’s group of eight, announced on Wednesday, comprises the 31st class of inductees.
Those who have been elected into the Hall are:- Brent Burns (men’s track & field) – three-time Pac-10 champion in the pole vault who continues to hold the school record more than 20 years after graduating from Cal
- Jack Clark (rugby) – long-time rugby coach who has directed the Bears to 26 national titles and mentored 131 All-Americans since 1984
- Mike Deleray (men’s soccer) – Cal’s all-time leading scorer and the conference Player of the Year as a senior
- Steve DeVries (men’s tennis) – four-time All-American who played at No. 1 singles all four years and earned the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sportsmanship Award as a senior
- Vikki Laing (women’s golf) – Cal’s first All-American in women’s golf and the 2003 Pac-10 individual champion
- Mark McNamara (men’s basketball) – first-team All-Pac-10 pick who averaged 19.6 ppg and 11.6 rpg over two seasons with the Bears from 1981-82
- Veronica Nelson (softball) – two-time All-American holds Cal’s career home run record and helped the Bears to the 2002 national championship
- Jerrott Willard (football) – linebacker led Cal in tackles all four years and helped the Bears to victories in the Citrus Bowl and Alamo Bowl
With the addition of the new members, the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame now features 287 individuals and six rowing teams. The school’s Hall of Fame, which is located on the west side of Memorial Stadium and is open to all ticket holders after each home game, was inaugurated in 1986.
Brent Burns (men’s track & field, 1988-92) – The premier pole vaulter in school history, Burns set the school record in the event at the NCAA Championships his senior year in 1992 when he cleared 18-8.25 to place as the national runner-up. Nearly 24 years later, the mark still stands atop Cal’s record book. Burns captured Pac-10 titles in the pole vault as a freshman, junior and senior to become the first person in conference history to win the event three times. In addition to the school record, Burns also holds the Cal freshman (17-7.75), indoor (17-10.50) and Edwards Stadium (18-6.50) records. He also set a Big Meet record (since broken) when he cleared 17-8.50 vs. Stanford in 1991. Burns won the national junior title prior to enrolling at Cal and ranked among the top 10 in the United States in both 1993 and ’94.
Jack Clark (rugby head coach, 1984-present) – As head coach of Cal’s esteemed rugby program since 1984, Clark has directed the Bears to 26 national collegiate championships – 23 in 15s and three in 7s. Through May 8 of this year, he has produced an all-time record of 628-80-5 in 15s and 103-14 in 7s. A total of 131 Bears have earned All-America honors, with 47 players making 689 appearances with the U.S. National 15s team and five players with “Varsity Blues” at Oxford University. He has an all-time combined coaching record of 35-1 vs. U.S. military academics. From 1990-96, Clark’s Bears had a winning streak of 98 consecutive games, and they won 70 in a row vs. domestic competition from 1997-2003. Clark served as head coach of U.S. National Team 1993-99, earning most international victories ever (16) by a U.S. national team coach. He was inducted into the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame in 2014. As a student at Cal, Clark started at offensive tackle on the football team for two seasons and he was a starting rugby lock in 1977.
Mike Deleray (men’s soccer, 1983-86) – Deleray remains Cal’s all-time leader in both goals scored (56) and total points (130) nearly 30 years after he last suited up for the Bears’ soccer team. He also set school single-season record for goals (21) and points (46) during the 1985 season, while his 34 points from 1984 still rank fifth on the Cal charts. In addition, Deleray also paced the team in goals with 15 in 1984 (tied with Mike Nieto) and another 12 in 1986. He was the co-recipient (with Nieto) of the Bob DiGrazia Award as Cal’s MVP as a junior. A four-time selection to the All-Pacific Soccer Conference team, Deleray earned league Player of the Year honors in 1985. That same year, he was chosen to the All-Far West team.
Steve DeVries (men’s tennis, 1984-87) – An All-American in singles for the Bears from 1985-87, Devries added doubles honors in 1987. He captured the ITA All-American championship in singles his sophomore year and earned the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sportsmanship and Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship awards as a senior in 1987. DeVries played at the No. 1 singles position for all four of his seasons at Cal and led the Bears to the NCAA Tournament round of 16 as a junior and senior. He later enjoyed an eight-year professional career and played at all four Grand Slam tournaments. DeVries won four professional doubles tournaments, all in 1992, and ranked as high as 18th in the world in doubles in 1993.
Vikki Laing (women’s golf, 2000-03) – Laing captured the individual Pac-10 Championship title as a senior in 2003 and later earned second-team All-America recognition – the first Golden Bear to receive the honor. A two-time first-team All-Pac-10 choice, she was also an honorable mention selection her sophomore year. In addition, Laing made the all-region team as a senior and was twice voted Pac-10 All-Academic honorable mention. She helped Cal to the program’s first three berths to the NCAA Championship from 2001-03 and to the NCAA Central Regional title in 2003. Laing won her first tournament in the fall of her freshman year, becoming just the third Bear women’s golfer to earn individual medalist honors at the time. Originally from Musselburgh, Scotland, she remains active on the European Tour
Mark McNamara (men’s basketball, 1981-82) – McNamara played just two seasons for the Bears after transferring from Santa Clara, but his name remains firmly entrenched in the Cal record book. He set a school mark by scoring at least 30 points six times, while he shot a school-record 70.2 percent from the floor as a senior (231-329), and his career rate of 66.2 percent continues to top the record chart. McNamara finished with 1,041 points, becoming the first Cal player to reach the 1,000-point mark in only two years. His career scoring rate of 19.6 ppg is second only to Ed Gray at Cal, while his 11.6 rpg are No. 3 in school history. McNamara led the Pac-10 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage as a senior – a feat match by only three others in conference history (UCLA’s Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton; Arizona State’s Ike Diogu). He averaged 22.0 ppg and 12.6 ppg as a senior and 17.2 ppg and 10.5 rpg as a junior. McNamara scored a high of 37 points vs. Seattle Pacific and 36 against UCLA, which ties for most by a Bear against the Bruins. A two-time team MVP, he was voted first-team All-Pac-10 as a senior. McNamara was selected 22nd overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1982 NBA Draft.
Veronica Nelson (softball, 2000-03) – One of the most powerful hitters in Cal softball history, Nelson set a school record with 19 home runs in 2001 (since broken) and still owns the career mark with 55 homers. She is the NCAA record-holder for walks (395), including 108 in 2002 and 107 in 2003. A first-team All-American in 2001 and a second-team choice in 2003, she was a member of Cal’s 2002 NCAA championship team and helped the Bears to the Women’s College World Series all four of her years in Berkeley, earning All-WCWS honors twice. Nelson earned first-team All-Pac-10 recognition as a sophomore and senior and was on the second team her junior year. Her 168 career RBI continues to rank fourth in school history, while her .655 slugging percentage is second all-time at Cal. Nelson boasted a team-best .359 batting average her senior year and hit .329 as a junior and .353 as a sophomore.
Jerrott Willard (football, 1991-94) – One of the most prolific tacklers in Cal history, Willard was a two-time first-team All-Pac- linebacker who paced the Bears in tackles four straight seasons from 1991-94. When he completed his career, he had set a school record with 54.0 tackles for loss (since broken) and stood third all-time with 469 total tackles. He accumulated 147 tackles as a junior and 133 as a senior – both of which rank among Cal’s single-season top 10. Willard posted 22 tackles vs. USC in 1993 – a number no Bear has surpassed since. The Bears’ team captain as a senior, he was a two-time team MVP who played on a pair of bowl-winning squads – the 1991 club that went 10-2 and beat Clemson, 37-13, in the Citrus Bowl and the 1993 team that posted a 9-4 mark and downed Iowa, 37-3, in the Alamo Bowl. He returned an interception 61 yards for a score in the contest vs. Iowa. Following his Cal career, Willard was taken in the fifth round of the NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.
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