Eight individuals and the first team to be honored will be inducted into the CSU Sports Hall of Fame at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, at CSU Stadium.
The Rams Alumni Athletes Association has invited the public to attend this marquee event. Tickets are $35 for RAAA members and $50 for on-members. Tickets are available online or by calling (970) 491-4666.
Former CSU and Denver Broncos tight end Joel Dreessen will co-host with alumna and Denver sports media personality Susie Wargin.
The Class of 2017 is one of the finest assembled in the 30-year history of the CSU Hall of Fame. It includes a pair of football legends, the greatest golfer in school history, an Olympic bronze medalist and the 1997 football team, which finished 11-2, beat Missouri in the Holiday Bowl and ended the season ranked 17th in the nation.
The full class includes women’s basketball star Ashley Augspurger Davis, volleyball standout Melissa Courtney-McKennon, track and field Olympian Janay DeLoach, golfer Martin Laird, swimmer Valerie Lang-McComb, track and field pioneer Barb Lawson-Alm and football legends David Anderson and Cecil Sapp.
David Anderson
Anderson was one of the most prolific and colorful football players in recent CSU history. He ranks second in career receptions (223) and yards (3,634) and third in touchdowns (20), and was a four-year starter. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the seventh round of the 2006 draft and played seven seasons in the NFL.
Anderson graduated in 2006 with a degree in speech communication and works in sports media in California.
Ashley Augspurger Davis
Augspurger Davis, a small forward from Wheat Ridge, Colo, was a three-time all-conference player and four-time academic all-conference selection for the Rams. The Rams earned postseason berths all four of her seasons from 1999-2003, including NCAA Tournament berths in 2001 and 2002. She ranks seventh in career scoring (1,477 points), seventh in 3-pointers (172) and ninth in blocked shots (66).
Augsperger Davis, who majored in biology, played four years of professional basketball in Europe before entering medical school at Ohio State. She’s a surgeon in Birmingham, Ala.
Melissa Courtney-McKennon
Courtney-McKennon is considered on the of the greatest setters in CSU volleyball history. She was a two-time Mountain West player of the year and three-time all-conference player. The Rams won four conference titles and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2001 and 2003 under her leadership.
Courtney-McKennon shares the school record for aces (138) with Angela Knopf and ranks sixth in assists (4,566). She graduated in 2005 with a degree in human development & family studies.
Janay DeLoach
DeLoach is a two-time Olympian who won the bronze medal in the long jump at the 2012 London Games. She is CSU’s only female Olympic medalist in track and field.
A fiercely determined athlete, she managed to qualify for the 2016 Olympics despite a painful ankle injury that forced her to learn how to jump off her right foot – changing the technique she had used in thousands of jumps. DeLoach graduated with degrees in psychology and human development and family studies in 2008 before earning her masters in occupational therapy in 2012.
Martin Laird
Laird, a Scotland native, had not set foot in Colorado prior to beginning his career at CSU. Despite not knowing what he was getting into he became the Rams’ greatest golfer, setting numerous school records before embarking on a successful professional career.
Laird has won three PGA Tour events, finished second six times and finished in the top 10 32 times during his 10-year PGA Tour career. He ranks 98th on the career earnings list with $15.7 million. He graduated in 2004 with a degree in business administration.
Val Lang-McComb
Lang-McComb was one of CSU’s greatest female swimmers, winning numerous conference titles and earning All-America honors during a stellar career from 1986-88. She won the Virginia K. Frank Award as CSU’s most outstanding female athlete in 1987, and was named collegiate swimmer of the year in 1987 and ’88 by Sportswomen of Colorado.
Lang-McComb qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1988 but a back injury ended her career before she could compete. She earned a degree in health and exercise science in 1990 and spent several years in banking before returning to school so she could work in the health industry.
Barbara Lawson-Alm
Lawson-Alm became the first woman to win a national championship at CSU before the university even sponsored a varsity track and field program. The Colorado native had not been a runner prior to coming to CSU but won the national 1,500 meters in 1971 in 4:23.8 – a stunning time which still ranks second on CSU’s all-time records list 46 years later.
Lawson-Alp won the prestigious Drake Relays mile twice and was ranked among the top middle-distance runners in the country for a decade. She graduated in 1972 with a degree in business administration and a masters of education in 1986 before embarking on a long career in education.
Cecil Sapp
Sapp – known as “Cecil the Diesel” – was one of CSU’s greatest running backs. He ranks seventh all-time at CSU with 2,642 yards and fourth with 29 rushing touchdowns from 1999-02.
Sapp was a two-time all-conference pick, led the Rams to four bowl games and played on three Mountain West championship teams in four years. He went on to play six seasons in the NFL, primarily with the Denver Broncos.
