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ISU announces five new Athletics Hall of Fame inductees

the tribune-star, terre haute, ind.
·4 min read

Nov. 21—A variety of influences marks the latest class of Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame inductees.

ISU announced its 31st induction class Tuesday morning. The group will be inducted into the ISU Athletics Hall in a Jan. 12 ceremony in the Sycamore Banquet Center. Inductees will also be honored during the Jan. 13 men's basketball game against Belmont in Hulman Center.

Sycamore track fans will remember the record-setting exploits of Frankie Young, a four-time NCAA All-American long-jumper and triple-jumper from 1996 to 1999. In that same era, Jenny Folz also made her mark with the ISU track and field program as a thrower, earning NCAA All-American honors twice. And, most recent, Megan Stone became the Missouri Valley Conference Softball Player of the Year in 2015.

Young, Folz and Stone will be inducted, along with two other notables who played different roles in ISU athletics.

Cathy Baker served the ISU athletic programs from 1986 to 2010 in academic administration, supervising the academic progress of nearly 400 student-athletes each year. With degrees in science and English (bachelor's), English (master's) and secondary education (doctorate), Baker helped guide 17 student-athletes to Academic All-American status.

And the late philanthropist and businessman Tony Hulman Jr. will be inducted posthumously into the Hall as a donor to ISU athletics. It was the gift of $2.5 million from Tony and Mary Fendrich Hulman in October 1969 that helped create Hulman Center, which formally opened in 1973 and still bears their names. The Mary Fendrich Hulman Charitable Trust also donated $8.65 million toward the construction of the Hulman Memorial Student Union, which opened in the mid-1990s.

Tickets are available, through Dec. 15, for the Jan. 12 ceremony at $50 per person or $350 per table. Tickets can be purchased by contacting John Sherman by email at John.Sherman@indstate.edu or phone at 812-237-3047.

Inductees at a glance:

—Cathy Baker, Academic Administration (1986-2010) — Started the Academic Study Center in 1985; supervised the academic progress of some 400 student-athletes over the course of a year; 17 student-athletes earned Academic All-American status; and eight years as Reading Specialist with the ISU Study Skills Center. Baker said in an ISU news release, "I like to say 'my team' wins when these students graduate. Actually, there's a lot more I want for these students. I want them to learn something while they're here. I want them to be personally and professionally successful."

—Jenny Folz, Women's Track & Field (1998-1999) — Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial Track and Field Team member; MVC Indoor Field Most Valuable Player (1999); five-time MVC champion (indoor shot put, indoor weight yhrow; outdoor shot put, outdoor hammer, outdoor discus 1999); two-time NCAA All-American (indoor weight throw, outdoor hammer throw 1999); competed in 2000 Olympic Trials (10th place shot put, 18th hammer); career records: first outdoor hammer (200 feet, 11 inches), outdoor javelin (139-5), outdoor shot put (51-9.25), outdoor discus (169-7), indoor weight (64-10.5); second indoor shot put (50-1.75).

—Anton Hulman Jr., Donor (1969-77) — Tony and Mary Fendrich Hulman's $2.5 million gift in October 1969 toward a new civic center, named Hulman Civic Center; inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1976; acclaimed best schoolboy pole vaulter in the United States by the Amateur Athletic Union (1919); acclaimed best schoolboy high hurdler in the United States by the Amateur Athletic Union (1920); freshman football coach at Rose Poly Institute of Technology (1924); re-established and developed the world famous Indianapolis 500 Mile Auto Race; member of the United States Tuna Team (1942-1952); state chairman of the Olympic Games Committee (1964); gift from Mary Fendrich Hulman Charitable Trust for an $8.65 million student union complex. The Hulman Memorial Student Union was competed in the mid-1990s.

—Megan Stone, Softball (2011-2015) — Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year (2015); First Team All-MVC (2015); Third Team All-Midwest Region (2015); Second Team All-MVC (2014); First Team All-MVC All-Academic (2015); Honorable Mention All-MVC All-Academic (2014); led MVC runs batted in (49, 2015); career rankings: first doubles (42), runs batted in (120), total bases (338); slugging percentage (.566), runs scored (107), walks (69), home runs (29), putouts (1170); second at-bats (597), hits (205), games played (210); third on base percentage (.425); fourth games started (200); fifth batting average (.343); tied fifth hit by pitch (17); and tied sixth stolen bases (34).

—Frankie Young, Men's Track & Field (1996-1999) — Four-time NCAA All-American (indoor long jump 1998, 1999; outdoor long jump 1998, 1999); Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial Team member; nine-time MVC champion; three-time All-MVC indoor (1996, 1998, 1999); four-time All-MVC outdoor (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999); school record-holder indoor long jump (26-1.75, 1999), outdoor long jump (26-3.5, 1999); second school record indoor triple jump (50-6.25, 1999), outdoor triple jump (50-5.25, 1999); participant World University Games (1999); participant U.S. Olympic Trials (2000); and Marks Field record holder long jump (25-6.25, 1999).