Five athletes were inducted into the 2006 Athletic Hall of Fame Oct. 19. Inductees included a standout tennis player, a two-time national champion skier, a national champion goaltender, DU’s first-ever women’s basketball All-American, a special individual inductee and the 1967–68 hockey team.
The ceremony, held at DU’s Cable Center, brought the Athletics Hall of Fame roster to 99 individuals and five NCAA National Champion teams.
HERITAGE ERA INDUCTEE
Clayton Benham, tennis 1950–53 (posthumously)
A native of Kahuku, Hawaii, Benham was a standout Pioneers tennis player 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 DU, Benham starred at the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles, as well as serving as Pioneers head coach in his last two seasons.
MODERN ERA INDUCTEES
George Kirkwood, hockey 1959–61
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.
John Terje Overland, skiing 1965–67
Overland came to DU in 1963 as a top-rated alpine skier in his native Norway. After sitting out a year to freshman ineligibility at the time, he made his mark on the Pioneers skiing program in 1965 during his first year on the slopes.
WOMEN’S INDUCTEE
Michaela “Misa” Pavlickova, women’s basketball 1998–2001
Former DU forward Pavlickova still shines as one of DU’s best players. A native of the Czech Republic, Pavlickova followed up an illustrious career at DU with professional honors on the national and international scale.
SPECIAL INDUCTEE
Harold Beier
Beier is known around the University of Denver community as DU’s biggest hockey fan. The 1947 DU graduate’s fervent support began when the Pioneers’ varsity hockey team debuted in 1949.
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 of 22 consecutive wins with a 4-0 win over North Dakota in the 1968 NCAA national championship game. The team posted a 28-5-1 overall record under the leadership of co-captains Jim Wiste and Cliff Koroll.