Inside Iowa State
June 27, 1997
First hall of fame class list spans eight decades
by Steve Jones
Olympic gold medalists, all-Americans and championship coaches make up Iowa State's inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame class.
The group of seven former athletes and three former coaches were announced June 12 by ISU's Letterwinners Club.
A committee of 16 voted on a list of nominees submitted by ISU athletic letter winners. More than 100 former Cyclone athletes and coaches were nominated, said Steve McDonnell, director of ISU's student-athlete services and chair of the hall of fame committee.
"We looked at people who have brought significant distinction to themselves and to Iowa State University because of their successful athletic endeavors," he said. In addition, inductees must have demonstrated a high quality of leadership and character.
The inaugural class will be inducted into the hall of fame at an Aug. 29 banquet at the Memorial Union. The inductees represent eight sports:
- Ed Bock, football, 1936-38. ISU's first consensus
all-American, Bock is the only Iowa State player in the
College Football Hall of Fame. He was a lineman who led the
1938 Cyclone team to a 7-1-1 record.
- Jim Doran, football, 1949-50. Once told he was
too small and slow for college football, Doran held nearly
every ISU and Big Seven Conference receiving record at the
end of his career. Doran spent 11 years in the NFL with
Detroit and Dallas.
- Nawal El Moutawakel-Bennis, women's track, 1983-
86. El Moutawakel-Bennis won the gold medal in the women's
400-meter hurdles at the 1984 Olympics. She was the first
African woman, first Arabic woman and first ISU track athlete
to win an Olympic gold medal.
- Dan Gable, wrestling, 1968-70. Gable finished his
Cyclone wrestling career with a 118-1 record, losing only his
last collegiate match in the 1970 NCAA finals. The loss
spurred Gable to a gold medal in the 1972 Olympics. En route
to the medal, he did not allow a single point to his
opponents.
- Ron Galimore, men's gymnastics, 1980-81. Galimore
won two NCAA titles in the vault for the Cyclones. He scored
the first perfect 10.0 in NCAA championship meet history
during a vault in the 1981 national meet. Galimore was named
to the 1980
U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.
- Harold Nichols, wrestling coach, 1954-85.
Nichols' Cyclones dominated collegiate wrestling from 1965 to
1973, winning five NCAA titles and earning three second-place
finishes. During his ISU career, his teams won six national
titles, seven conference championships and produced 38
individual NCAA champions. Nichols' dual meet record was 456-
75-11.
- Yobes Ondieki, men's track and cross country,
1982-85. As a Cyclone, Ondieki was a six-time all-American
and four-time Big Eight Conference champion distance runner.
In 1993, he set the world record for 10,000 meters, becoming
the first man to run the race in under 27 minutes. Ondieki
represented Kenya in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics.
- Gary Thompson, men's basketball and baseball,
1955-57. A guard in basketball and shortstop in baseball,
Thompson was ISU's first multi-sport all-American. He also
was ISU's first 1,000-point scorer in basketball and helped
lead the Cyclone baseball team to the 1957 College World
Series.
- L.C. "Cap" Timm, baseball coach, 1934-1974. Timm
coached the ISU baseball team from 1938 to 1974, except for
four years when he served in the military. He led ISU to the
College World Series in 1957 and 1970. Timm also was an
assistant basketball and football coach and an athletic
trainer for the Cyclones.
- Clyde Williams, coach and athletic director,
1907-1919. Williams was an innovative football coach, the
first men's basketball coach and an athletic director at Iowa
State. He had a 33-14-2 record as the Cyclone football coach.
Iowa State's former football stadium was named for
Williams.
Inside Iowa State, inside@iastate.edu, University
Relations
Iowa State homepage
Copyright © 1997, Iowa State University, all rights
reserved
URL:
http://www.iastate.edu/general/Inside/1997/0627/fame.html
Revised 6/26/97