UNIVERSITY OF DENVER ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2006

HERITAGE ERA INDUCTEES

Clayton Benham

Tennis, 1949-52 (Posthumously)
A native of Kahuku, Hawaii, Clayton Benham was a standout tennis player at DU and continued to make athletics his focus as a high school athletic director in Honolulu following his collegiate playing days. A three-time letterwinner at Denver, Benham starred at the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles, as well as serving as head coach of the Pioneers in his last two seasons. During Denver's days as a member of the Skyline Conference, Benham captured the conference singles and doubles title in 1951 and 1952. In addition to his collegiate accomplishments as a Pioneer, Benham also was a doubles champion 1950 National Public Parks tournament and dominated at the Denver City Open in 1950, 1952 and 1953 taking home both singles and doubles titles. After earning his master's in education at from DU, Benham served on the Honolulu Police Department before taking his post as the athletic director of his alma mater high school Kamehameha for 17 years. He followed up as executive secretary of the Interscholastic League of Hawaii, an all-private school league, which was his most influential professional role. Under the guidance of Benham, the ILH grew to include 28 programs sponsoring 22 sports. Benham's legacy as an educator and administrator is perhaps best reflected in the Benham Cup, annually awarded to the top Hawaiian high school in recognition of athletic excellence throughout the school year.

MODERN ERA INDUCTEES

George Kirkwood

Hockey, 1960-61
George Kirkwood's stellar play between the pipes helped DU to NCAA National Championships in 1960 and 1961. Kirkwood stopped 23 shots against Michigan Tech in the 1960 title game and added 17 saves against St. Lawrence in the 1961 championship game as DU successfully captured back-to-back NCAA National Championships. He was the WCHA Sophomore of the Year in 1960 and earned All-WCHA honors in 1960 and 1961. Kirkwood earned All-America honors after backstopping the 1960-61 team to a 30-1-1 mark, while posting single-season school records in wins (30), winning percentage (.953), goals against average (1.84), saves percentage (.910) and shutouts (4). The 30 wins and .953 winning percentage are still single-season records, while the 1.84 GAA ranks second all-time at DU. The 1960-61 team is arguably the best ever in the WCHA and one of the best in NCAA history. The Hockey News recognized the 1960-61 Pioneers as the All-Time Best Team in the WCHA in its 50th Anniversary issue in October of 1997. Kirkwood currently ranks tied for second on DU's career GAA list at 2.20, fifth in wins (57) and tied for fifth in shutouts (6). He is one of six DU netminders to post a career saves percentage above .900 in 57 years of varsity hockey.

Jon Terje Overland

Skiing, 1965-67
Terje Overland came to the University of Denver in the spring of 1964 after competing in the Winter Olympics for his native Norway. He made his mark on the DU skiing program in 1965 in his first year on the slopes. Creating a formidable tandem with Rick Chaffee, Overland consistently finished in the top-three places in the alpine and downhill all season long, capping it off with an All-America performance in alpine at the 1965 NCAA Championships. In 1966, he was again an All-American when he won the first of two individual national championships when he captured the downhill, DU's first downhill national champion in four years and one of just four athletes to ever win that event in school history. One year later in 1967, Overland won his second individual national title in the alpine combined and notched a third consecutive All-America honor. He was also awarded the Scholastic and Athletic Achievement Award in 1967, given to the most outstanding senior for academic and athletic success. Overland is one of just a handful of DU skiers to make two Olympic teams, as he competed for his native Norway in the 1964 games in Innsbruck, Austria and the 1968 games in Grenoble, France. Overland also competed in two World Championships and holds several Norwegian skiing championships. After graduating from DU and spending some time on a World Pro Skiing Tour, Overland returned to Norway to begin a successful professional path that would lead him to becoming Chief Financial Officer of one of the largest confectionary companies in Northern Europe. The company is now part of Kraft Foods Inc., the world's second-largest food company.

WOMEN'S INDUCTEE

Michaela "Misa" Pavlickova

Women's Basketball, 1997-01
Former DU forward Michaela "Misa" Pavlickova still shines as one of Denver's best players to don the Crimson and Gold. A native of the Czech Republic, Pavlickova followed up an illustrious career at Denver with professional honors on the national and international scale. Pavlickova's standout collegiate career at Denver was honored in 2005 as the Sun Belt Conference unveiled its All-Time Women's Basketball Team. Pavlickova was one of 30 current and former Sun Belt Conference players to be labeled with the distinction. Misa played for the Pioneers from 1997-2001, where she immediately established a new level of excellence for Denver women's basketball. During her collegiate career, Pavlickova and the Pioneers experienced an array of "firsts", including a move to the Division I level at the start of the 1998 season and a transfer into the Sun Belt Conference the following year. After a third-place finish in its first year in the Sun Belt Conference, DU enjoyed the most successful season in its Division I history in 2000-01 with a 24-7 overall record, a 14-2 league mark and an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Pavlickova was named SBC Player of the Year, earned her second consecutive First-Team All-Sun Belt Conference nod and became DU's first-ever All-American. She also left her mark on the DU record books, ranking first in career blocked shots (258), third in rebounds (869) and sixth on the all-time scoring list with 1,455 points. Following her collegiate playing career, Misa became the first Pioneer women's basketball player to be drafted to the WNBA when she was picked 24th overall by the Utah Starzz in 2001. She has played professionally in Europe since graduating from DU and in 2004, Misa represented her native Czech Republic at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

SPECIAL INDUCTEE

Harold Beier

University of Denver Supporter, 1949-Present
Harold Beier is known around the University of Denver community as its biggest hockey fan, supporter and alumnus. The 1947 DU graduate's endless support began when the Pioneers' varsity hockey team debuted in 1949. Over the years, Beier housed 15-20 hockey players at his home including Pioneer greats Keith Magnuson (`69), Gerry Powers (`69), Bob Trembecky (`69), George Morrison (`70) and Ron Grahame (`73). Beier has also hosted breakfasts, luncheons, and postseason tournament receptions for numerous years in Denver and Minneapolis for alumni and parents. He started the DU Hockey Alumni Association and chartered buses to hockey games in Colorado Springs against Colorado College for years. Beier donated a roomful of hockey memorabilia to the Penrose Library Archives in 2001 and he was the recipient of the Outstanding Service Award at the annual hockey awards evening in 2003. To this day, Beier maintains a hockey alumni email list of more than 500 names to keep former players informed with a periodic Hockey Alumni Newsletter. In 2005, Beier made the ultimate gift when he endowed the first DU hockey scholarship. The Beier Family Endowed Hockey Scholarship is available only to hockey players for use at the coach's discretion.

TEAM INDUCTEE

1967-68 Hockey Team

The 1967-68 DU hockey team solidified itself as one of the greatest teams in school history by culminating a school-record 22 consecutive wins with a 4-0 win over North Dakota in the 1968 NCAA National Championship game. The 1967-68 powerhouse posted a 28-5-1 overall record under the leadership of co-captains Jim Wiste and Cliff Koroll. The Pioneers captured the WCHA regular season championship, WCHA playoff championship and NCAA National Championship in the same season. Head coach Murray Armstrong earned WCHA Coach of the Year accolades and defenseman Keith Magnuson was the league's most valuable player. Magnuson and Wiste earned All-America honors as DU rode the outstanding goaltending of Gerry Powers to its fourth NCAA National Championship. Powers set a school record with seven shutouts, including a 17-save effort in the final against the Fighting Sioux that clinched Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player honors. The Pioneers outscored their opponents, 183-65, and their 1.91 goals against average ranks second in DU single-season history. Other members of the NCAA National Championship team included: Rich Blanche, Frank Daly, Al Genovy, Tom Gilmore, Tim Gould, Ed Hamilton, Gerry Jonasson, Terry Leifson, Tom Miller, Craig Patrick, Jim Shires, Don Thiessen, Bob Trembecky, Randy Ward, Dale Zeman, assistant coach Harry Ottenbreit, trainer Gene Bradshaw and manager Tom Sampson.