Fans rarely know when history will be made at a sporting event, but it's safe to say that September 8, 2001, will serve as a maroon-lettered date on Falcon calendars for years to come. On that evening at Interbay Stadium, Seattle Pacific University's new women's varsity soccer team will host its inaugural home game versus Central Washington.
This special event actually begins well before the 7 p.m. kick-off. A pre-game barbecue (admission $5, plus game ticket) will be held in the Alumni Center parking lot beginning at 4:30 p.m., with free shuttle service to the stadium. After the game, Coach Bobby Bruch and the Falcons will remain on the field for photos and autographs.
Bruch spent the spring putting together a formidable first-year squad which features three transfers from Division I programs plus several recruits from the local area. Following preseason drills at the Casey Conference Center, the team heads to Southern California and its opening three games, beginning August 25 at Point Loma Nazarene. There are seven home games on the schedule.
The men's soccer team opens the fall season with eight consecutive road games before hosting Sonoma State September 20. In volleyball, seven teams will converge on Brougham Pavilion Labor Day weekend for a tournament which opens with SPU facing national powerhouse Cal State L.A. August 30.
With such a rich and successful tradition in athletics, it seems only natural that Seattle Pacific University find a way to honor its most accomplished former players, coaches and administrators. To that end, the Falcon Legends Hall of Fame is now accepting nominations for its first class of inductees.
A panel consisting of former athletes and administrators as well as current staff members has developed guidelines and already begun evaluating nominees. The first of the charter members will likely be announced during the 2001-02 school year. A date for the ceremony has yet to be set.
Among the qualifications for nominees is that athletes must have completed their respective careers at least five years earlier, while coaches or administrators must have a two-year waiting period after leaving the staff.
If you would like to nominate an individual, contact Athletic Director Tom Box at 206/281-2085.
Seattle Pacific University's brightest sports stars of the past year were honored May 30 at the annual Athletic Awards Banquet, with juniors Rachel Ross and Stephanie Huffman reaping Athlete of the Year awards and four graduating seniors earning the Falcon Award for Excellence for career achievement in athletics and academics.
Ross and Huffman were both two-sport standouts who finished the track and field season as All-America, not once but twice. In the autumn, Ross began by winning four cross country races, including her second conference title, while Huffman made the all-conference team in volleyball and helped lead SPU into the NCAA tournament. In the spring, Ross raced to victory in 11 middle-distance races, repeated as Pacific West champion in the 800 and 1500 meters, and took fifth and fourth, respectively, at those distances at the NCAA Championships. Huffman won conference crowns in the javelin and long jump. At nationals, she was third in the javelin and fifth in the heptathlon.
SPU President Philip Eaton presented the Award for Excellence to basketball's Gyongyver "Gus" Balogh, soccer's Robbie Berg, gymnastics' Erin Kawasaki and track's Karen Summers.
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