Fort Hays State Athletics will be inducting seven individuals into the Tigers Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 5. The 2011 induction class includes Bob Fornelli, Jim Homolka, Maisha (Prewitt) Dible, Lance Schwindt, Tyrone Tracy, Leland Trener (posthumous) and Jerry Valdez. The induction ceremony will be at 10am in the Fort Hays Ballroom of the Memorial Union, with registration beginning at 9:30am. The inductees will later be honored at halftime of the football game between Fort Hays State and Missouri Southern at Lewis Field Stadium, beginning at 2pm.

Also unique to this year will be a winter induction ceremony, which will feature the induction of former head basketball coach Gary Garner and the induction of his 1995-96 undefeated national championship team on Saturday, December 10, when FHSU hosts Missouri Western in basketball.

Bob Fornelli
Bob Fornelli was head baseball coach for seven years at FHSU from 1997 to 2003. He is the all-time leader in wins and winning percentage at Fort Hays State with a record of 306-113 and the only coach in the program’s history to record 300 wins. He guided the Tigers to five NCAA Division II West Regional appearances and the 2000 NCAA Division II National Championship game. His 2000 team finished as national runner-up with a record of 54-12, setting a school record for wins. Fornelli had a winning record in all seven years as head coach, winning at least 30 games in each season. He led the Tigers to at least 40 wins in five of those seven seasons. The Tigers had a winning percentage of better than .600 in each season with Fornelli at the helm. He is now the head coach at Emporia State University, where he also led the Hornets to the national championship game in 2009. Fornelli is a native of Lenexa, Kan.

Jim Homolka
Jim Homolka was a two-time All-American for the Tiger football team as a defensive lineman. The four-year letterwinner earned All-American honors as a junior in 1976 and as a senior in 1977. Homolka was also a two-time All-CSIC and All-District 10 selection at defensive tackle. In his four-year career with FHSU, Homolka tallied 199 tackles, including a staggering 81 (an elevated number for a defensive lineman) as a senior. He also recorded five fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles and one interception in his career. The lone interception he returned 20 yards for a touchdown in 1976. Homolka is a native of Claflin, Kan.

Maisha (Prewitt) Dible
Maisha Prewitt, native of Newton, Kan., was a nine-time All-American for Fort Hays State in track and field and was a standout player for the women’s basketball team. Eight of her nine All-American honors were in outdoor track and field. In outdoor track and field, Prewitt earned All-American honors in the 100-meter hurdles three times, in the long jump three times, and as a member of two 4×100-meter relay teams. Her only indoor All-American honor came in the 60-meter hurdles in 2002 when she won the NCAA Division II National Championship in the event. Prewitt’s highest finish at outdoor nationals was in 2000 with a second-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles. Prewitt competed four years in women’s basketball and owns the school career assist record with 478. She owns the two highest assist averages for a single season at FHSU (5.4 in 1998-99 and 5.1 in 1999-2000). She was an All-RMAC East Division Honorable Mention selection her senior year of 2000-01.

Lance Schwindt
Lance Schwindt was a standout two-sport athlete at Fort Hays State for four years from 1992 to 1996. Schwindt was an NCAA Division II First Team All-American at wide receiver in 1995 as a senior, hauling in a single-season school record 15 touchdown passes. He averaged 21.4 yards per catch and 103.5 yards per game that season, with a total of 1242 receiving yards (third-most in a single season at FHSU in all three categories). He holds the career record for receiving yards at FHSU with 2885, over 550 more than the next person on the list, and the career record for receiving touchdowns with 31. He had the most 100-yard receiving games in school history with 10 and still holds the single-game record for receiving yards with 240 against Mesa State in 1992. Schwindt also was a very accomplished track and field athlete at FHSU. He was a three-time RMAC Indoor Champion in the triple jump (1993, 1994, 1996) and a three-time RMAC Outdoor Champion in the triple jump (1994, 1995, 1996). He was the RMAC Outdoor Champion in the long jump as well in 1996, giving him seven individual conference championships overall. Schwindt is a native of Fort Morgan, Colo.

Tyrone Tracy
Tyrone Tracy, native of Indianapolis, Ind., was one of the most prolific offensive players in Fort Hays State football history, playing from 1986-89. He holds school records in single-season all-purpose yards (2,051 in 1987) and career all-purpose yards (5,457). He also holds the FHSU records for career kickoff return yards (2,307), career punt return yards (491), single-season kick returns (30 in 1987), career kick returns (95), and single-season points scored per game (10.8 in 1987). He is tied for school records in most points scored in a game (30 in 1987) and most touchdowns scored in a game (5 in 1987). He ranks second on the single-season scoring list with 108 points in 1987 and second on the career scoring list with 218 points in his four-year career. He also ranks in the top ten on the following FHSU single-season lists – receiving yards, receptions, receiving touchdowns, receiving yards per catch, receiving yards per game, kick return yards, kick return average, punt return yards and punt return average. Tracy was a two-time NAIA All-American, two-time All-District 10 and two-time All-CSIC First Team selection for the Tigers.

Leland Tresner (posthumous)
Leland Tresner was a two-time All-American for the Fort Hays State wrestling program. He was the first individual national champion at Fort Hays State in wrestling, winning the 152-pound weight class in 1968-69. Tresner finished sixth in the nation at 152 pounds as a junior in the 1967-68 season. He compiled an overall record of 34-9-1 in his two seasons, including a 21-2-1 record in his national championship season of 1968-69. Tresner became the first Kansan to win a national title since 1931, when Kansas State University’s Bill Doyle won at the NCAA Championships. Tresner, native of Garden City, Kan., unfortunately has passed away, but will be honored by his family at the ceremony.

Jerry Valdez
Jerry Valdez, native ofEl Paso,Texas, played for the FHSU baseball team for two seasons (1996 and 1997).Valdez earned NCAA Division II All-American, All-West Region, and All-West Region Tournament honors at catcher in 1997. He helped the Tigers to their first West Regional berth at the NCAA Division II level. He was an All-RMAC First Team selection in both of his seasons and was named to the All-West Region Second Team in 1996.Valdez still owns the single-season record for RBIs in a season with 96 in 1997. He also holds the single-season record for doubles with 28 and total bases with 184, each in 1997. His career total of 51 doubles is third-best in school history. His 164 RBIs is fourth on the career RBI list.Valdez had a career batting average of .408, which is second-best at FHSU.Valdez held the single-season home run record at FHSU with 20 in 1997, until Jeff Bieker eclipsed that mark twice in 2004 and 2005. His 36 home runs are third-most in a career at FHSU.Valdez is second on the career slugging percentage list (.799).

– FHSU Sports Information –