SEATTLE – Two of them ran faster than anyone else.
One put balls through the basket. One put balls into the net – and one kept balls out of the net.
One vaulted to championship heights in the gym. One was the consummate team player on three teams that went all the way. And one shined like a diamond on the diamond.
Eight athletes, whose careers in their various Seattle Pacific uniforms ranged from the 1950s through the first decade of the 2000s, were inducted into the Falcon Hall of Fame on Friday , Feb. 1.
The dinner and induction ceremony at Upper Gwinn Commons on the SPU campus celebrated women's track and cross country stars Jessica Pixler and Gitte Karlshoj, men's basketball player Jeff McBroom, women's soccer scoring record holder Sarah Martinez, men's soccer goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, gymnast Kathie Cradduck, men's soccer midfielder Scott Cairns, and the late Perry Stangvik, a baseball standout.
"Seattle Pacific athletics has a long legacy of success, and the individuals honored reflect that legacy incredibly well," Falcons athletic director
Jackson Stava said. "Not only have these inductees achieved national and international success, but they have also, in many cases, established the standard of excellence to which all SPU athletes aspire."
FALCONS HALL OF FAME 2019 INDUCTION CLASS
Scott Cairns
Men's Soccer
• VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/312849824/5d985236f6
Selected to the Senior Bowl after the 1986 season, Cairns played in the NCAA national championship game each of his four years, and came away with three titles: 1983, 1985, and 1986. When his collegiate career concluded, Cairns owned the school record for single-season and career assists, and still ranks No. 2 and No. 7, respectively, in those two categories. He was a three-time All-Region and a four-time All-Conference player.
Kathie Cradduck (Koch)
Women's Gymnastics
• VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/313087525/23409117c5
As a junior in 1992, Cradduck excelled on all four events to win the national all-around championship, and helped the Falcons capture the team title as well. By the time her career was over, she had nine All-America awards and was a two-time team MVP. Since then, she has gone on to build a state gymnastics powerhouse at Woodinville High School.
Marcus Hahnemann
Men's Soccer
• VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/312849730/c0d8c1705c
Hahnemann is the only three-tine All-American in any Seattle Pacific team sport. He led the Falcons to the 1993 NCAA Division II championship, and was named SPU's Athlete of the Year the following spring. During his time here, the Falcons went 66-10-7. Hahnemann still ranks No. 1 on the school's career list for shutouts (46) and No. 2 in goals-against average (0.72). He went on to earn three caps for the U.S. national team and played with Reading and Wolverhampton in the English Premier League.
Gitte Karlshoj
Women's Track & Field
• VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/313261162/03cf5b9f86
Karlshoj won the NCAA 3,000-meter championship as a sophomore in 1987, and never finished lower than third at any national meet. She was a five-time All-American. By the time she was finished, Karlshoj owned school records in the 1,500- and 3,000-meter events. She helped lead the Falcons to fourth place, sixth place and third place at NCAA outdoor track championships, and was the team's co-MVP as a senior. She was a member of Denmark's 1992 Olympic team.
Sarah Martinez (Eldridge)
Women's Soccer
• VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/312210136/6433a1c955
Martinez completed her career as the all-time Seattle Pacific and Great Northwest Athletic Conference scoring leader with 49 goals and 122 points – and those marks still stand. She also distributed 24 assists during her four years (2004-07). Martinez was a two-time All-American, a four-time All-GNAC first-team selection and a two-time GNAC Player of the Year. She was part of three conference championship team, and four NCAA Tournament qualifiers, with two of those teams reaching the Final Four.
Jeff McBroom
Men's Basketball
• VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/313087440/a604c29ad9
As a senior in 1999, McBroom set the SPU season record for average points per game at 24.3, and helped lead the Falcons into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division II Tournament. That helped make him a first-team All-America selection, and earned him the Pacific West Conference Player of the Year award. In fact, three of the Falcon teams on which McBroom played reached the NCAA playoffs and advanced to the third round.
Jessica Pixler (Tebo)
Women's Cross Country / Track & Field
• VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/313261204/625053f8d4
Pixler originally came to Seattle Pacific to play soccer. But even before the end of her freshman year, it was clear that her calling was cross country and track. By the time she graduated in 2010, she had won 12 NCAA Division II titles: three in cross country, six in indoor track, and three in outdoor track. She also won 19 Great Northwest Athletic Conference crowns: four in cross country, nine in indoor track and six outdoor.
Perry Stangvik
Men's Baseball
• VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/312185725/578bd98040
Stangvik played baseball with the Falcons from 1949-52 after graduating from nearby Ballard High School. A shortstop, Stangvik batted .268 with seven steals as a freshman in 1949. He was twice named Amateur Player of the Year in the regional semipro tournament, and went on to become a longtime teacher and coach in the Snohomish School District north of Seattle.
"These eight individuals have represented Seattle Pacific well, and I could not be more excited to welcome them to the Falcon Hall of Fame," said Stava.
