Current women’s head coach Tanya Vogel leads a class of seven former athletes elected Jan 8 into the GW Athletic Hall of Fame. Vogel, a four-year soccer standout (’93-96), is the first women’s soccer player chosen for the Hall of Fame, now entering its 42nd year. She ranks fifth among all-time school scorers with 52 points and in 1996 led the most successful women’s soccer team to its first NCAA Tournament berth.
Vogel said her election is a testament to the hard work of all those involved in the 21 years of GW women’s soccer.
“It’s a huge honor,” she said. “More than anything it’s an honor for this program. It’s not about me. It’s about the people who have put so much time and effort into making this program a success.”
Former athletes are nominated by teammates and coaches, then elected by a selection committee. This year, 32 athletes were nominated, seven were selected. They will be formally inducted at the Washington Marriott Hotel Jan 25, as the list of Hall of Fame members grows to 105.
This year’s class includes former basketball star Michael Tallent and quarterback Ray Looney, who led GW in its only bowl appearance, a 13-0 win over Texas Western in the 1957 Sun Bowl.
Back when GW had a football team, Looney was a three-time letter winner in both baseball and football between 1954 and ’57. In December 1957 Looney forewent his senior season of baseball and signed a professional contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Tallent was the third of a trio of brothers who starred for GW basketball. Tallent scored 1,085 points in less than three complete varsity seasons and is currently ranked 29th in Colonials’ scoring history. Despite suffering a knee injury, Tallent led the Southern Conference in scoring and earned first team All-SC honors as well as All-Tournament selection.
Other members include Hank Bunnell, who starred on the GW baseball team from 1967-1971, and is known today as the most dominant pitcher in GW history. Bunnell owns career marks for most victories (30) in a season, complete games (36) and shutouts (8), as well as the single-season mark for strikeouts (110 in 1970). Last year Bunnell was named GW baseball’s Player of the Century.
Cheryl Dodds was a member of the women’s volleyball team from 1985-1988. She earned All-Atlantic 10 Conference first team honors in ’87 and ’88 as well as team MVP in ’88 and team co-captain in ’88.
For five years (’83 and ’85-87), Steve Frick scored 12.3 points and 5.8 rebounds a game his junior year on the men’s basketball team. In his final year, Frick led the Colonials in rebounding (6.0) and was third on the team in both scoring (10.1) and assists (42), making him team MVP.
Debbie Hemery led the Colonial women team to a 94-32 record from 1992-95. Her 1,749 points ranks third all-time, 292 career steaks ranks second. Hemery was named the A-10 Player of the Year in 1995. That year, GW won its first outright regular season championship, seeded fourth in the NCAA Midwest Region, made its first appearance in the Sweet Sixteen, and posted 26 wins, which remains a school record for women’s basketball.
