A national championship winning team, two standout athletes and a pair of administrators are set to be enshrined.
Fort Lewis College announced its 2015 inductees into the school’s hall of fame Thursday.
The 2005 men’s soccer team will be honored 10 years after winning the Division II national championship. They will be joined by former football quarterback Andrew Webb, women’s basketball star Amy Bahl – formerly Amy Mohr – and retired administrators Harlan Steinle and Dona Guy.
The 2005 men’s soccer team claimed the national championship, the first of three for the program. Led by head coach Jeremy Gunn, the Skyhawks went 22-0-1 that season.
The team defeated Franklin Pierce 3-1 in the title game played in Wichita Falls, Texas. During the regular season in 2005, the Skyhawks scored 85 goals, had 76 assists and 246 total points. While the offense put on a show, the defense was strong enough to record 14 shutouts while allowing only 14 goals all season.
The 2005 team included players Adam Beach, Jonathan Boyer, Nick Clark, Bernardo Costa, John Cunliffe, Tom Donley, John Eckhoff, Bryan Eisenbraun, Fabian Ferrada, Sean Flanagan, Kyle Frederick, Ben Gantenbein, Kieran Hall, Erik Hardin, Ryan Kerr, Nick Kirchof, Taylor Lavoy, Ryan Parsons, Carter Rice, Casey Roberts, Paul Sanchez, Cole Sweetser, Justin Valashinas, Cliff Wilmes and Kenny Wood.
“To be the first men’s soccer team to win it all, it was a proud moment for us,” said Cunliffe, who is still an assistant coach for the Skyhawks. “To win the final down in Texas and achieve and manage to do it, it was what we were focused on from the moment we walked into the program.
“The main part of this is that we haven’t been together since Christmas 2005 when all the seniors left. It’s going to be great to catch up with everyone.”
Joining Gunn on the coaching staff were assistants Andy McDermid and Darren Morgan as well as student-athletic trainer Scott McGinn.
The 2005 season marked Gunn’s second trip to the championship game and fourth overall NCAA Division II playoff appearance. He still is the winningest coach in program history with a record of 123-35-17.
“The best thing about Jeremy is the influence he had on the players off the field even after you left college,” Cunliffe said in a phone interview Thursday with The Durango Herald. “He left an impression with every one of us and helped us grow as men.”
The men’s soccer team will have a separate ceremony Jan. 24, 2016, while the other four inductees will be honored Oct. 4 at the Strater Hotel.
Bahl will add another achievement to her already decorated FLC career. She was a four-time team MVP and All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference first team selection. She was the RMAC Freshman of the Year during the 2001-02 season. She also was named to the Division II Bulletin All-American Honorable Mention selection in 2003-04, the same year she led the Skyhawks to their first ever NCAA Division II tournament.
The 2005 graduate still is the career scoring leader at FLC with 1,765 points. She also holds the record for career rebounds with 945 and made free throws with 452.
She is also second in steals with 237 and made field goals with 636, and she is seventh in blocked shots with 79 and 11th in assists with 229.
“I feel very honored to be inducted into the Fort Lewis Hall of Fame,” Bahl said in a news release. “Fort Lewis has always meant so much to me and has a special place in my heart. The memories are irreplaceable, and I have developed lasting relationships from my time playing.”
Webb was a standout on the FLC football team and still holds the program’s career records for passing yards (11,742), touchdowns (82), attempts (1,898) and completions (1,007).
During his junior season in 2002, Webb was the NCAA Division II leader in total offense with 4,245 yards on 613 plays in 11 games.
“I am honored to be inducted into the Fort Lewis College Hall of Fame and am very thankful for my time spent as a Skyhawk,” Webb said in a news release. “I have been truly blessed, and I am truly grateful for all my teammates, coaches, friends and family that have supported me along the way.”
Bahl and Webb will be joined at the Oct. 4 ceremony by Guy and Steinle.
Guy is affectionately known as “Grandma Skyhawk.” She held several positions at FLC and was the assistant athletic director from 2001 until her retirement in 2003.“I am absolutely overwhelmed by this induction,” Guy said in a news release. “The best working years of my life were spent at Fort Lewis College... And I especially enjoy seeing my athletes grow up and become adults and having kids.”
Steinle is a 1968 graduate of FLC, and he wrestled at the school from 1964-68. He returned as the college’s wrestling coach for one season in 1971.
He again came back to FLC in 1974 and held several titles on campus, including special assistant to the president. From 1993 until 2001, he served as the Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Admission. He also served as an interim athletic director for nine months. He is credited, along with former athletic director Joel R. Smith, for helping increase the school’s scholarship funding.
He previously was given the Talon Club Director of Athletics Appreciation Award.
“It is a tremendous honor to be selected...,” Steinle said in a news release. “It has been an honor to serve Fort Lewis College as a student-athlete, alumnus and employee over a 50-year period of time. I would not have earned this honor without the immense support of many friends, family members and colleagues to whom I will be eternally grateful.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
