2012 ISU Athletics Hall of Fame class announced

[May 31, 2012]  NORMAL -- The 2012 Illinois State Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame class was officially announced Wednesday, with Chris Bailey, cross country, track and field, an NCAA All-American and 10-time Missouri Valley Conference champion; Metria Bell, track and field, a five-time league champion and school record-holder in the outdoor 800-meter; Jenny Schmidt, basketball, a three-time first-team all-Valley selection and a career 1,500-point scorer; Wendy Smith, softball, who led the Redbirds to a No. 9 national ranking in 1981; and Lou Stefanovic, basketball, a member of three straight NCAA tournament teams, who led the squad in scoring during the 1984-85 season.

In addition to the 2012 Hall of Fame class, Marta Eynatten, who has been supporting Illinois State Athletics in various volunteer roles for close to three decades, will be honored with the Campbell "Stretch" Miller Award. The award is named for Campbell Miller, a former Redbird athlete who went on to broadcast Illinois State games in the 1940s before joining the St. Louis Cardinals broadcasting team. The award named in his honor celebrates the contributions of those whose main services were not playing or coaching, but were important to the program's success.

The honorees will be officially introduced during the Hall of Fame banquet Oct. 6, at 8 a.m., in the Brown Ballroom of the Bone Student Center on the Illinois State University campus. The class will also be recognized during halftime of the Illinois State-Southern Illinois football game later that day. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Reservations for the Hall of Fame ceremony are $25 per person and can be purchased through the ISU Athletics Department. To order tickets for the event or for more information, call Marianne Riddell at 309-438-3636. Tickets will go on sale July 30.

[Text from news release received from Todd Kober, associate athletics director, athletics communications, Illinois State University]