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AUSTIN, Texas — Ten former University of Texas student-athletes and two coaches will be inducted this September into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor. These 12 individuals will be recognized as the Class of 2024 in an induction ceremony on Friday, Sept. 20.

The ceremony will start at 7 p.m. Central in the LBJ Auditorium and Conference Center on the UT campus (2313 Red River St.). Tickets for this year’s Hall of Honor show will be general admission and are available for $25 per person at this link.

The 70th Men’s Hall of Honor class includes: Reggie Freeman (Basketball, 1994-97), a two-time first-team all-conference selection who still ranks fourth on UT’s all-time scoring list with 1,958 career points; Marquise Goodwin (Football and Track & Field, 2009-12), one of the top wideouts and kick returners in school history who has played 10 seasons in the NFL and also was a two-time NCAA long jump champion, seven-time All-American and five-time Big 12 Champion in track and field who competed in the 2012 London Olympics; Colt McCoy (Football, 2006-09), whose number 12 is retired at Texas, is one of only three two-time winners of the prestigious Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF) National Player of the Year award, a two-time consensus first-team All-American, Heisman Trophy finalist and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year who finished his career as the NCAA’s all-time winningest quarterback with a 45-8 record before playing 13 seasons in the NFL; Alex Okafor (Football, 2009-12), an All-American defensive end and two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection who played nine seasons in the NFL and was a Super Bowl Champion in 2020 with the Kansas City Chiefs; Omar Quintanilla (Baseball, 2001-03), a two-time All-American and three-time All-Big 12 selection as a shortstop who led Texas to two College World Series appearances and the 2002 NCAA Championship before playing eight seasons in Major League Baseball; and Special Selection John Fields (Men’s Golf Head Coach, 1997-present), who has guided the Texas Men’s Golf program to a pair of NCAA team titles in 2012 and 2022, runner-up showings in 2016 and 2019, 10 top-five finishes and developed a pair of players who have gone on to reach the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Rankings in Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler.

The 25th Women’s Hall of Honor class includes: Julie Cooper Bliemel (Swimming & Diving, 1989-92), a 27-time All-American and seven-time NCAA Relay Champion who led Texas to a pair of NCAA Championships in 1990 and 1991 and runner-up showings in 1989 and 1992; Farley Taylor Lansing (Tennis, 1994-97), a three-time ITA All-American and 1996 Southwest Conference Player of the Year who clinched the deciding doubles match for UT’s 1995 NCAA Championship and helped the Longhorns reach the NCAA quarterfinals in all four of her seasons on the Forty Acres; Mira Topic Losert (Volleyball, 2001-04), a three-time All-American, 2004 Big 12 Player of the Year and four-time first-team All-Big 12 selection as an outside hitter who still holds the program record for career kills (2,116) and was just the second player in program history to record both 2,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career; Lexy Bennett Skaggs (Softball, 2009-12), a first-team All-American and three-time first-team All-Big 12 selection at second base who helped lead the Longhorns to the 2010 Big 12 Championship and the 2012 NCAA Super Regionals; Karen Nelson Walters (Track & Field, 1985-88), a standout sprinter, jumper and relay performer who represented Canada at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and was a six-time All-American, 10-time Southwest Conference individual champion and member of three NCAA Championship squads (1986 Indoor, 1986 Outdoor and 1988 Indoor); and Special Selection Carie Graves (Rowing Head Coach, 1998-2014), a legend in her sport both as a competitor, who was selected to three U.S. Olympic teams (1976, 1980 and 1984), and coach, who built the Texas Rowing program from the ground up beginning in the fall of 1998 and guided the Longhorns to two NCAA Championships appearances and five conference titles. Graves will be inducted posthumously, as she passed away from complications of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in December 2021 at the age of 68.

The newest members of the Hall will receive a special salute during the Texas Football game versus ULM on Saturday, Sept. 21.

2024 Hall of Honor Inductee Bios

A 27-time All-American and seven-time NCAA Relay Champion, Julie Cooper Bliemel was part of a truly dominant era for the Texas Women’s Swimming and Diving program in the late 1980s and early 1990s. One of the nation’s top freestyle sprinters, she helped lead Texas to a pair of NCAA Championships in 1990 and 1991 and NCAA runner-up showings in 1989 and 1992 as the Longhorns finished first or second in all four of her NCAA Championship appearances under head coach Mark Schubert. Cooper Bliemel was a key factor in a four-year stretch of Longhorn dominance in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays at the NCAA Championship meet. Beginning with swimming a leg on the American and NCAA-record setting and title winning 200 (1:28.90) and 400 free relays (3:15.38) as a freshman in 1989, she was part of the UT quartet that won the 200 free relay every year from 1989-92 and claimed victory in the 400 free relay three times (1989-90, 1992). All totaled, Cooper Bliemel was a member of 13 relay squads that finished among the top three at the NCAA Championships. Individually she was a seven-time first-team All-American in the 50 and 100 freestyle events with a pair of career-best third-place showings in the 50 free. She also twice earned honorable mention All-America accolades in the 200 free. Texas hosted the NCAA Championships her sophomore year in 1990, and Cooper Bliemel was a critical factor in the Longhorns narrowly edging Stanford by 9.5 points for the team title. That year, she posted a pair of top-four finishes (third in 50 free, fourth in 100 free) individually while also swimming legs on the victorious 200 and 400 free relays, runner-up 200 medley relay and third-place 800 free relay. She finished fourth in the 50 free, sixth in the 100 free and was a part of the winning 200 and 400 free relay squads in helping the Horns win the 1991 NCAA Championship. As a senior and competing at nationals in Austin once again in 1992, Cooper Bliemel played a key role on four relays that finished in the top three at the NCAA Championships, winning the 200 free relay, finishing second in the 400 free and 400 medley relays, and third in the 200 medley relay, while earning All-American honors in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events. She capped her illustrious career as a 23-time first-team All-American and four-time Honorable Mention All-American. Texas won the Southwest Conference Championship in each of her four years on the Forty Acres. Cooper Bliemel claimed the 50 free individual title as a senior in 1992 and swam on 11 SWC title-winning relays in those four years. Her success extended to the international swimming scene, too, as a three-time member of the USA National Team. She swam a leg on Team USA’s gold medal-winning 400-meter free relay at the 1991 FINA World Championships while also finishing eighth individually in the 100-meter freestyle at that event. Cooper was part of Team USA’s winning 400-meter free relay at the 1989 Pan Pacific Games. In 1992, she was honored as a CoSIDA second-team Academic All-American for her success in the pool and the classroom. A 1992 graduate of UT with a bachelor’s degree in Finance (B.B.A.) with honors, Cooper Bliemel was born in Berlin, Germany but grew up in St. Louis, Mo..

A two-time first-team all-conference selection and four-year starter at shooting guard (1994-97), Reggie Freeman is one of the most prolific scorers in Texas Men’s Basketball history. The first player in school history to participate in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, he still ranks fourth on UT’s all-time scoring list with 1,958 points in his 123 career games played (15.9 ppg). As a freshman in 1993-94, Freeman saw action in 32 of UT’s 34 games and made 21 starts, helping the Longhorns to a 26-8 mark, the Southwest Conference regular-season title, the SWC Tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. He upped his scoring average by over nine points a game (from 5.3 as a freshman to 14.7 as a sophomore) during his sophomore campaign in 1994-95 and earned the team’s Most Improved Player award. Freeman played in all 30 games with 12 starts and led UT to a 23-7 record, a share of the SWC regular-season title, the SWC Tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. In his junior season in 1995-96, he earned first-team All-SWC accolades and was named the team’s Most Valuable Player after leading the league and ranking 16th nationally in scoring (22.4 ppg). Freeman also claimed Most Outstanding Player honors at the final Southwest Conference Tournament, recording 83 points in three games (27.7 ppg). He recorded the only triple-double in school history with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 102-81 win at TCU on Feb. 11, 1996. The Longhorns finished the year with a 21-10 mark, a runner-up finish at the SWC Tournament and a trip to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. He earned first-team All-Big 12 Conference honors and was again named the team’s Most Valuable Player after averaging a team-high 21.8 ppg while starting all 30 games during his senior season in 1996-97. Freeman led the Longhorns to an 18-12 mark, a tie for third in the school’s first year in the Big 12, and a trip to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16. He scored a career-high 43 points during a 98-86 home win against No. 16 Fresno State on Dec. 14, 1996, a mark that is tied for the highest single-game scoring total by a UT player in Frank Erwin Center history. Following his collegiate career, Freeman played professionally overseas for more than a decade. He returned to campus in 2009 and earned his bachelor’s degree in Youth & Community Studies from The University of Texas in August 2012. Freeman served as the head coach for the Austin Rain AAU program from 2010 to 2015 and later worked as an assistant coach at Eastern Florida State College (2015-16), Missouri State-West Plains (2016-17) and Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College (2017-18). He has worked in sales at Dell Technologies in Round Rock since 2018.

Marquise Goodwin was Mr. Versatility on the Forty Acres and beyond as a two-sport letterwinner, 2012 Alamo Bowl Offensive MVP, Track & Field National and USA Champion, Olympian and NFL veteran. Goodwin, who played in 50 career games, including 22 starts at receiver during his four years, ended his career ranked 11th on the Texas all-time receptions list (120), sixth in kickoff return yards (985) and fourth in kickoff return attempts (44), while amassing 2,776 career all-purpose yards. Fresh off competing in the Olympic Games prior to his senior season, Goodwin quickly returned to football and helped Texas to a 9-4 record capped by a 31-27 win over Oregon State in the Alamo Bowl and a top-20 finish. He was named the Offensive MVP of the bowl after scoring on a 64-yard run and catching the game-winning TD pass with just over two minutes remaining. As a junior in 2011, he posted career highs in receptions (33), receiving yards (421) and all-purpose yards (888), while also carrying the ball 22 times for 220 yards. Texas finished 8-5 that season with a 21-10 win over Cal in the Holiday Bowl and ranked 24th in the BCS standings. The year before, Goodwin appeared in 11 games and tallied 31 receptions for 324 yards and a TD, while as a freshman in 2009, he had an immediate impact with 30 catches (No. 3 on UT’s freshman single-season list) for 279 yards and a TD, while returning 16 kickoffs for 349 yards and a score. The Longhorns went on to a 13-1 record that year, a perfect 8-0 mark in conference play with a Big 12 Championship Game win over Nebraska, and an appearance in the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama in the Rose Bowl. His clutch 14-yard TD catch in the Texas-OU game was the Horns’ only TD of the game in a 16-13 win and a critical play in the UT’s undefeated regular season. In addition to the biggest stage in college football, Goodwin made his presence felt on the highest levels in the world of track and field, most notably winning the long jump title at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials (27-4.25), earning a spot in the Olympic Games, and finishing 10th in the London Olympics. On the collegiate level, he was a two-time NCAA long jump champion, seven-time All-American and five-time Big 12 Champion. He won the 2010 and 2012 NCAA Outdoor titles and claimed the U.S. Outdoor championship twice as well (2011, 2012). He was the first collegian since 1960 to win both the Olympic Trials and the NCAA Outdoor long jump competition in the same year, and he was the first-ever Longhorn to reach the long jump final at the Olympics. Goodwin holds the UT long jump indoor record (26-8.50) and the second-best mark (27-4) outdoors. A two-time World Junior champion (long jump, 4x100m), he was also twice named Texas Gatorade Track & Field Athlete of the Year (2008, 2009) and set the national high school record in the long jump (26-10), finishing fifth in the senior division at the U.S. Championships in 2009. A graduate of Rowlett High School in Garland, Texas, he was only the 20th prep athlete all-time to jump over 26 feet. After his collegiate football career, Goodwin was chosen with the 78th overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft in the third round by the Buffalo Bills. He played his 10th NFL season with the Cleveland Browns in 2023 and has also spent time with the Bills (2013-16), San Francisco 49ers (2017-19), Chicago Bears (2021) and Seattle Seahawks (2022), missing the 2020 season during the pandemic. In that 10-year span, Goodwin played in 115 games, caught 191 passes for 3,090 yards (16.2 ypr) and 18 TDs, while also returning kickoffs. While with San Francisco, Goodwin was named the 2018 George Halas Award winner by the Pro Football Writers Association of American as the NFL player, coach or staff member who overcomes the most adversity to succeed. A three-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection (2010-12), Goodwin returned to school during his NFL career to complete his bachelor’s degree in Youth & Community Studies from UT in 2020. His wife, Morgan, is a Longhorn Track and Field All-American as well and they have three children.

A three-time ITA All-American with two honors in singles (1995 and 1996) and one in doubles (1996), Farley Taylor Lansing put together a tremendous four-year Texas career from 1994-97. That included clinching the deciding doubles match for the team’s 1995 NCAA Championship and being named the 1995-96 Southwest Conference Player of the Year. In those four seasons, Taylor Lansing compiled a 101-40 singles record, including 70-25 in dual matches, and an 81-25 doubles mark, including 51-17 in dual contests. She helped the Longhorns reach the NCAA quarterfinals all four years, making the semifinals in three of those (1994, 1995, and 1997) and capped by the 1995 NCAA title. Those teams also swept both the conference regular season and tournament championships all four years with the first three in the SWC, and the last in the inaugural season in the Big 12 for a total of eight conference championships. As a senior in 1996-97, Taylor Lansing and teammate Cristina Moros won the ITA All-American Championships doubles title and went on to reach the No.1 doubles ranking that December before finishing No. 13. The Longhorns finished 24-6 that year with a perfect 11-0 record in Big 12 play. Her junior season of 1995-96 was her most acclaimed individual year, as in addition to her All-America and SWC Player of the Year honors, she won both the SWC singles and doubles titles and was all-conference in both, as well. Playing mostly No. 1 in the lineup for both, she finished ranked No. 15 in singles with a high of No. 8 during the year and ended at No. 4 in doubles with Moros with a high of No. 3. In the fall, she and Moros reached the semifinals of the ITA All-American Championships and were the ITA Southwest Region doubles champions, while Taylor Lansing was also the Southwest Region singles runner-up. Her sophomore year of 1994-95 topped the team’s success in her time as she was a key part of the team’s National Championship and 26-3 final record. It was Taylor Lansing and partner Anne Pastor who clinched the title with a three-set win in the deciding doubles match against Florida. That year, Taylor Lansing was also an ITA All-American and All-SWC honoree in singles. She finished a season-high No. 18 in singles after compiling a remarkable 35-8 overall record, going 24-4 in dual matches, mostly at No. 2. She was also 17-2 overall in doubles and 14-1 in dual play, closing with a No. 21 ranking. As a freshman, Taylor Lansing won the SWC Doubles Championship with partner Lucie Ludvigova, as the duo earned All-SWC honors and won the Southwest Region doubles title on the way to a final ranking of No. 27. In singles, she ranked No. 78 with a high of No. 54 after registering a 25-10 overall record. Texas went 25-1 that year with the only loss coming in the NCAA semifinals. A native of Billings, Mont., Taylor Lansing attended school in Lawrenceville, N.J. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from The University of Texas in 1997. Taylor Lansing has guided safaris since her time in college and joined A.K. Taylor International in 2001. She met her future husband, Stuart, while guiding one, and after being married in 2006, the couple make their home in Chicago with their two children.

A prolific outside hitter from Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia, Mira Topic Losert helped put Texas Volleyball back on the map during her four-year career and set the table for the current 18-year run of dominance that includes 18-straight NCAA Regional Semifinal appearances, three National Championships and 11 National Semifinal appearances. Topic Losert became just the third player in Big 12 Conference history to record 2,000 or more kills and the first Longhorn player to register 500 or more kills in three different seasons. The 2004 Big 12 Player of the Year and four-time first-team All-Big 12 selection was a three-time All-American and finished her career with 2,116 kills, 1,267 digs and 185 service aces. When her UT career concluded in 2004, she ranked first in program history in kills and aces, second in total attacks and fourth in digs. Topic Losert was also just the second Longhorn player to eclipse the 2,000 kills and 1,000 digs mark in a career, and she still holds the program record for career kills. Her senior season was her best, earning first-team All-America honors and leading the team back to the NCAA Regional Semifinal before falling to eventual national champion Stanford. She finished with a career-high 593 kills (5.65 per set), 343 digs and 77 total blocks. Her first two years on campus were stellar, as she became the first player in program history to record 500-plus kills in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. As a freshman, Topic Losert was still learning the English language but had no trouble adjusting to the American game. She garnered first-team All-Big 12 honors as well as Freshman All-America honors and was named the 2001 Big 12 Freshman of the Year and AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year. Topic Losert earned seven career Big 12 Player of the Week honors, a then-conference record in volleyball, which included a single-season record of four in 2004. She still holds the single-match program record with 35 kills in a five-set win over Texas Tech in 2001 and had three other matches with 32 kills. In recognition of her incredible Longhorn career, Topic Losert was voted to the seven-member Big 12 Conference 10th Anniversary Team in 2005. She went on to play professionally for 10 years in Europe and for the Croatia national team, competing at the 2015 Women’s European Volleyball Championship. Following her playing career, Topic Losert moved into a coaching role and currently serves as an assistant coach for the Croatian U19 team. she earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies-Corporate Communication in 2004.

A legend in Longhorn football history whose retired jersey number 12 is prominently displayed in DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, Colt McCoy is one of only three two-time winners of the prestigious Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) National Player of the Year award. He also was a two-time consensus first-team All-American, Heisman Trophy finalist and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year in a historic run from 2008-09. In addition, McCoy claimed the Maxwell Award, AT&T Player of the Year, Davey O’Brien Award, Manning Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as a senior in 2009. McCoy earned bowl game offensive MVP honors three times in leading Texas to victories at the 2006 Alamo Bowl, 2007 Holiday Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl following the 2008 season. A four-year starter with a 45-8 career record, he finished his career as the NCAA’s all-time winningest quarterback and was the first QB in major college football history to lead a team to four 10-win seasons. He is also the first QB in Texas history to lead his team to consecutive 12-win seasons. A redshirt backup to Vince Young on the 2005 National Championship team, McCoy led Texas to a 13-1 record and No. 2 ranking in 2009, a 12-1 mark and No. 3 ranking in 2008, and a pair of 10-3 records in 2006 and 2007 with a No. 10 ranking in 2007 and No. 13 in 2006. Statistically, McCoy finished his career with 47 school records including 16 career, 13 single-season, five single-game, six freshman and seven miscellaneous marks. During his 53-game career, he completed 1,157-of-1,645 passes (70.3 percent) for 13,253 yards and 112 TDs for a passer rating of 155.0. When his career concluded, his 13,253 passing yards were sixth on the NCAA all-time list, his 112 TD passes ranked seventh and his 70.3 career completion was just shy of the NCAA record. In addition, McCoy rushed for 1,571 yards and 20 TDs on 447 carries (3.5 ypc), while rushing and passing for a TD in the same game 14 times during his career. In combining his passing (112) and rushing (20) TDs, McCoy finished his career ranked sixth on the NCAA’s TDs responsible for list and first at UT in that category with 132. He had scored at least one TD in 30 straight games entering the 2009 BCS National Championship Game. McCoy is UT’s all-time leader in total offense and finished his career ranked fourth on the NCAA all-time list in that category, having produced 14,824 yards (13,253p/1,571r) on 2,092 plays (7.1 ypp). In 14 games as a senior in 2009, the year he led Texas to a Big 12 title and the National Championship game, McCoy completed 332-of-470 (70.6 percent) for 3,521 yards and 27 TDs, while rushing for another 348 yards and three TDs. His 70.6 completion percentage led the nation. As a junior in 2008, he set UT single-season records for passing yards (3,859), passing TDs (34) and total offense (4,420). With the addition of his 11 rushing TDs, he also set the UT single-season record for most TDs responsible for with 45 that year. McCoy was the Sporting News National Freshman of the Year and Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2006 and set UT freshman records for victories by a QB (10) and TD passes (29). A standout on and off the field, he received the 2009 Bobby Bowden Award (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and was a National Football Foundation (NFF) Scholar-Athlete and three-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection. He also was a member of the AFCA Good Works team for his community service efforts as well. McCoy graduated from The University of Texas in December 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Management. A third-round selection by the Cleveland Browns in the 2010 NFL Draft, McCoy played 13 NFL seasons with the Browns (2010-12), San Francisco 49ers (2013), Washington Redskins (2014-19), New York Giants (2020) and Arizona Cardinals (2021-22). That’s second only to Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Bobby Layne’s 15 NFL seasons for a Longhorn quarterback. He played in 57 career games with 36 starts and threw for 7,975 yards and 34 TDs, while also rushing for 582 yards and two TDs. McCoy, who continues to be very active in the community while also beginning his post-football career in broadcasting, was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2024, Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in 2022, and the Big Country Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.

An All-American, two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection (2011-12) and Super Bowl Champion, Okafor was a three-year starting defensive end for the Longhorns. The four-year standout appeared in 52 career games on the defensive line, including 33 starts. During his prolific career, Okafor was a durable and versatile star who started 32-straight games before being sidelined with an injury late in his senior season (2012 at Kansas State). A prep All-American and local Austin hero at Pflugerville High School, Okafor burst onto the scene as a true freshman in 2009, appearing in 14 games at defensive end and on special teams. He was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman team by Sporting News after helping UT rank 12th nationally in scoring defense (16.7 ppg), third in total defense (251.9 ypg), first in rushing defense (72.4 ypg), 10th in pass efficiency defense (100.5 rating) and 19th in pass defense (179.6 ypg). Okafor posted 22 tackles, two TFL, a forced fumble and six pressures during his freshman campaign. As a sophomore in 2010, Okafor appeared in all 12 games with eight starts, tallying 30 tackles (14 solo), 2.5 sacks, four TFL, 13 pressures and one forced fumble. During his junior season in 2011, Okafor started all 13 games at defensive end and hauled in national honors including AFCA first-team All-American recognition along with unanimous first-team All-Big 12 accolades. He posted 58 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, seven sacks, three pass breakups, 17 pressures, two caused fumbles and one fumble recovery that season. Under his leadership on the defensive line as a senior, Okafor helped Texas lead the Big 12 and rank sixth in the nation in rushing defense (96.23 ypg) and 11th in total defense (306.08). Okafor put together a stellar senior campaign in 2012, earning first-team All-Big 12 honors after ranking first in the Big 12 and tied for ninth in the FBS with 12.5 sacks. He also led the team in QB pressures (20), forced fumbles (4), and tackles for loss (18). Okafor was one of two Longhorns (joining Kenny Vaccaro) named team captain after the season. Okafor had a historically dominant performance in the Alamo Bowl win over Oregon State, earning Defensive MVP honors after registering eight tackles, an Alamo Bowl-record 4.5 sacks and six tackles for loss. He was named to ESPN.com’s and SI.com’s All-Bowl team. Following his UT career, Okafor was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals with the 103rd overall pick in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft and played nine NFL seasons with the Cardinals (2013-16), New Orleans Saints (2017-18) and Kansas City Chiefs (2019-21). He played in 115 NFL games including nine playoff contests, starting 63 and posting 31.5 career sacks. He was a member of back-to-back Chiefs’ Super Bowl squads following the 2019 and 2020 seasons, including the Super Bowl LIV Champions in 2020. Okafor earned his bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies-Corporate Communication in 2012. After retirement, he returned to Austin and began a career in broadcasting and is heavily involved in community service efforts. He was elected to the Pflugerville School District Board of Trustees in the spring of 2024 (serving a three-year term). Okafor, who lost his mother (Sonia) to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in 2020, also was named a member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) board of directors in July 2024.

A two-time All-American and three-time All-Big 12 selection, Omar Quintanilla is one of the best middle infielders to ever play at The University of Texas. He helped lead Texas to two College World Series appearances in three years, winning the title in 2002 and advancing to the semifinals in 2003. After starring for the Longhorns, he enjoyed a nine-year Major League Baseball career with four different clubs. A first-round pick of the Oakland Athletics in 2003 (33rd overall), Quintanilla played for the Colorado Rockies (2005-09), Texas Rangers (2011), Baltimore Orioles (2012) and New York Mets (2012, 2013-14) during his professional career. At Texas, Quintanilla was an integral part of the Longhorns’ 2002 National Championship team, as well as the team that finished in a third-place tie after dropping a 5-4 heartbreaker to Rice in the semifinals of the 2003 CWS. The 2001 team MVP, Quintanilla hit .367 as a freshman and earned first-team Freshman All-America and first-team All-Big 12 honors that year. He also led the Longhorns with 22 doubles en route to being named Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year. The following season, Quintanilla batted .329 as the starting shortstop of the 2002 National Championship team, earning second-team All-Big 12 accolades and landing a spot on the College World Series All-Tournament team. He had four hits in the Longhorns’ 12-6 title game win over South Carolina that year. His final season as a Longhorn came in 2003, as he batted .348 with a team-high 29 doubles, the second-most in a season in UT history. His 76 RBI that season still stand as UT’s ninth-most all-time in a season. He had a .347 career batting average and .518 career slugging percentage during his time at Texas and ranks among the Longhorns’ all-time career top 10 in 66 doubles (third), 87 extra base hits (seventh), 361 total bases (10th) and 488 assists (10th). Quintanilla began his professional career at Single-A Vancouver in 2003 and was named to the Northwest League postseason All-Star team as the shortstop and finished that year with a .358 batting average. He batted a combined .321 with 13 home runs and 92 RBI in 131 games with Single-A Modesto and Double-A Midland in 2004 and was tied for sixth among all minor leaguers in hits (175). After a trade from Oakland to Colorado during the 2005 season, he made his MLB debut with the Rockies and was their starting shortstop in 30 games that year. After sharing time in the minors and majors in 2006 and 2007, he played in 81 games for the Rockies in 2008 and posted 50 hits, including a career-high 17 doubles. He spent the entire 2009 season on the Rockies roster. After a couple more seasons in the minors in 2010 and 2011, he had a short 11-game stint back in the majors with the Rangers in 2011. He returned to the big leagues as moves to the Mets, then Orioles, then back to the Mets resulted in 65 more MLB games in 2012. It was back full-time to the majors in 2013 with the Mets where he posted career highs for games played (95), at bats (315) and hits (70) before his professional baseball career concluded during the 2015 season with 402 major league games and 228 hits to his credit. Quintanilla was selected as a member of the 2024 class of the El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame and inducted in August. He was a standout during his prep days at Socorro High School in El Paso, had his jersey number 24 retired there and was one of the first two players inducted into Bulldogs’ Wall of Honor in 2016.

A four-year softball letterwinner from 2009 to 2012, Lexy Bennett Skaggs was an instrumental piece of the Longhorns’ Big 12 Conference championship-winning team in 2010 as well as three top-25 ranked squads (2010-2012). A first-team All-America and three-time first-team All-Big 12 selection at second base, the 2011 Top 25 finalist for USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year helped lead the Horns to 40 or more wins in each of her four seasons capped off by a 47-13 senior season in 2012 that saw Texas advance to the NCAA Super Regionals. She was the third overall pick in the 2012 National Pro Fastpitch League (NPF) draft by the Akron Racers in 2012. As well as she performed on the field, Bennett Skaggs excelled just as well off it by earning Academic All-Big 12 honors on three separate occasions as well as CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades in 2012, the last Longhorn softball student-athlete to earn such recognition. She was also a four-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region selection and used a stellar senior season in 2012 to earn herself NFCA All-American honors, becoming — at the time — the first Longhorn position player since 2000 to be selected as an NFCA All-American. Easton-Bell also bestowed All-American status to Bennett Skaggs for her on-the-field productivity throughout the 2012 campaign, a year that saw Texas finish ranked No. 9 nationally. Bennett Skaggs was an All-Big 12 performer in each of her four years on the Forty Acres. Despite concluding her collegiate softball career more than 10 years ago, her name is still found 14 different times throughout the program’s single-season records as well as 11 times in the program’s career record section. She was credited with two walk-off plate appearances and hit back-to-back home runs with a teammates six different times. Bennett Skaggs began her freshman season with a six-game hitting streak, which is tied for the fourth-longest such streak, and was a foreshadow of things to come as she recorded hit streaks of 10, 11 and 12 consecutive games throughout her career in addition to an 18-game on-base streak. She left UT with single-season school records in batting average (.438/2011), total bases (132/2012), slugging percentage (.792/2011), on base percentage (.510/2011) and RBIs (57/2012) to her credit. Over the course of her four-year career, Bennett Skaggs appeared in 221 career collegiate softball games and earned a starting assignment in 217 of them. Her career .385 batting average, 166 runs scored, 245 hits, 155 RBI and .464 on base percentage were all tops in the record book at the conclusion of her career in 2012. She also belted 36 home runs in 637 career trips to the dish. A native of Kingwood, Texas and four-time all-state selection at Second Baptist High School, Bennett Skaggs earned her bachelor’s degree in Physical Culture and Sports in 2012.

A six-time All-American and 10-time Southwest Conference individual champion who was a member of three NCAA Championship squads (1986 Indoor, 1986 Outdoor and 1988 Indoor), Karen Nelson Walters was a standout versatile sprinter, jumper and relay performer for dominant Texas teams from 1985-88. She was on Texas squads that posted six top-five team finishes at the NCAA Championships (four indoor, two outdoor), while the Longhorns also won all eight SWC titles in her four years on the Forty Acres. A member of Texas’ third-place 4×100-meter relay for the 1986 NCAA Outdoor Championship squad, Nelson Walters also tallied points with a third-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles as the Horns won the 1988 national indoor title. Her NCAA Outdoor Championships debut came at home in Austin as she ran a leg on the Longhorns’ runner-up 4×100-meter relay squad as a freshman. She finished third at the 1987 NCAA Indoor Championships in the 55-meter hurdles, was on the third-place 4×100-meter relay squad at the 1986 NCAA Outdoor Championships and took sixth in the 100-meter hurdles at the 1988 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Nelson Walters was ninth in the 100-meter hurdles at the 1987 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Four of her six All-American honors were earned with top-three finishes, including twice in individual events. She ran the anchor leg on Texas’ victorious 4×100-meter relay squad at the 1985 SWC Outdoor Championships and was an 11-time conference champion across five different events. Her league dominance earned her a spot on the Southwest Conference All-Decade Team for the 1980s. Nelson Walters swept the SWC Indoor 55-meter/60-yard hurdle and Outdoor 100-meter hurdle crowns in each of her final three seasons. She won conference indoor crowns in the long jump in 1986 and 1988 and swept the triple jump title indoors and outdoors in 1987. Named Team MVP in 1986, Nelson Walters finished her career with the top 10 times in school history as well as the SWC Meet record (13.32) in the 100-meter hurdles. She still ranks among UT’s top 10 all-time performers list in the 55-meter hurdles (7.61/1987) and long jump (21-0.75/1988) indoors as well as the long jump outdoors (20-9.5/1985). Her success extended to international competition, too, as she represented Canada in the 100-meter hurdles at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. A former Canadian senior and junior national long jump record holder and six-time senior national champion in both the hurdles and long jump in her home country, she was inducted into the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame, her hometown in Ontario, Canada, in 2023. Prior to coming to Texas, Nelson Walters placed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles at the 1982 Commonwealth Games and was sixth in the 100-meter hurdles, eight in the long jump and a member of the third-place 4×100-meter relay at the 1983 Pan American Games. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Educational & Youth-Serving Agencies from The University of Texas in 1989.

Leadership. Class. Integrity. Player development. Championship culture. These all define John Fields, who will begin his 28th season at the helm of The University of Texas men’s golf program in 2024-25. Fields became the Longhorns’ head coach in August 1997 and has guided Texas to 22 NCAA Championship appearances in his 26 opportunities (no NCAA tourney in 2020 due to COVID-19). Under Fields’ leadership, UT has posted 10 top-five finishes and 15 top-15 showings at the NCAA Championship, including NCAA team titles in 2012 and 2022 and runner-up showings in 2016 and 2019. The Longhorns have reached the NCAA quarterfinals (the ‘Match Play’ portion of the national championship) a total of seven times in their last 12 opportunities, the second-most nationally in that time window behind Illinois (eight). UT owns the nation’s-longest current streak of consecutive Division I Men’s Golf NCAA Championship appearances at 17, dating back to the 2007 season. Fields was selected as Golfweek’s Men’s National Coach of the Year in 2022. He earned the prestigious accolade for the third time during his tenure at Texas, as he previously received the honor in 2012 and 2016. Fields has been voted the Big 12 Coach of the Year a total of nine times in his time in Austin (2002, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2022). Texas has claimed a total of nine Big 12 Conference team championships under Fields. The Longhorns have won Big 12 team titles in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2024. In addition, seven different UT players have captured individual medalist honors at the Big 12 Championship, including David Gossett (1999), Jason Hartwick (2004), Matthew Rosenfeld (2006), Brandon Stone (2013), Scottie Scheffler (2015), Doug Ghim (2018) and Cole Hammer (2021). Fields has also been instrumental in developing a culture of individual success. Beau Hossler claimed the Fred Haskins Award in 2016, and Doug Ghim received the Ben Hogan Award in 2018 – both awards recognizing the National Player of the Year in men’s collegiate golf. Fields has helped four Longhorns earn the Phil Mickelson Award as the National Freshman of the Year: David Gossett (1999), Brandon Stone (2013), Scottie Scheffler (2015) and Cole Hammer (2019). In addition, Dylan Frittelli was named the winner of the 2012 Byron Nelson Award, given to the nation’s top graduating senior scholar-athlete in men’s collegiate golf. Fields, who has produced 27 All-Americans during his tenure at Texas, has the distinction of developing two players who have gone on to reach the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking in Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler, and that duo has won a combined five majors with Spieth capturing the 2015 Masters, the 2015 U.S. Open and the 2017 Open Championship and Scheffler claiming the 2022 Masters and the 2024 Masters. Fields came to Austin after leading the University of New Mexico to nine NCAA Championship appearances in 10 years (1988-97). While at the helm of the New Mexico men’s golf program, the Lobos won three Western Athletic Conference titles and never finished lower than third in the league championships during Fields’ 10 seasons. At the NCAA Championships, New Mexico placed in the top-15 a total of five times, including a sixth-place finish in 1996, the school’s best showing since 1979. He tutored four WAC Players of the Year, three WAC individual champions, nine All-Americans, 24 all-conference players and six Academic All-Americans. Fields earned four WAC Coach of the Year honors (1989, 1993, 1995 and 1996) and four NCAA District VII Coach of the Year honors (1993, 1995, 1996 and 1997). A native of Las Cruces, N.M., Fields was a four-year letterman at the University of New Mexico before earning his bachelor’s degree in 1982. He was a member of Lobos golf teams that finished fifth and seventh at the NCAA Championships. Fields and his wife, Pearl, a 1982 graduate of New Mexico, have two children, Marshall and April.

A legend in the sport both as a competitor and coach, Carie Graves built the Texas Rowing program from the ground up beginning in the fall of 1998, steering the Longhorns to two NCAA Championships appearances and five conference titles before retiring from coaching in 2014. Under Graves’ guidance, Texas earned its first NCAA Championships bid in 2003, when the first varsity eight placed 12th nationally and made a return visit to the championship regatta in 2004, with the first eight finishing 15th. It was an historic year for Texas in 2004, as Ruth Stiver and Julie Keedy became the program’s first Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) All-Americans. Graves directed Texas to four-straight Big 12 crowns, leading UT to victory at the inaugural Big 12 Championship in 2009 and repeating the feat in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The three-time U.S. Olympian also led the Longhorns to victory at the 2011 Conference USA Championship. The 2012 Big 12 Coach of the Year, Graves was also selected as the 2011 Conference USA Coach of the Year and named the 2011 CRCA South Region Coach of the Year after leading the Longhorns to dual conference championships. Graves’ Longhorns produced 15 All-Big 12 and 66 Academic All-Big 12 selections and collected 11 All-Conference USA honorees in its five seasons as a C-USA affiliate member. Jennifer VanderMaarel became UT’s third All-American under Graves’ tutelage in 2011, when she earned second-team honors and was selected as UT’s first Conference USA Athlete of the Year. Laurel McCaig became the Longhorns’ first-ever Big 12 Rower of the Year in 2012 after helping Texas to its fourth-straight Big 12 championship. Prior to taking the reins in Austin, Graves served as the head women’s rowing coach for 10 seasons at Northeastern University (1988-98). She broke into the coaching profession as the head women’s crew coach at Harvard/Radcliffe in 1977 and served there through 1983. A distinguished rower herself, Graves was selected to three U.S. Olympic teams (1976, 1980 and 1984) and five additional U.S. national teams (1975, 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1983). Graves helped the USA women’s eight to gold at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and bronze at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. She also was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team that boycotted the 1980 Moscow Games. At the 1975 World Championships, Graves won a silver medal as part of the “Red Rose Crew” that ushered in a new era of competition for women in what was previously a male-dominated sport. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) selected Graves as U.S. Rowing’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1981 and 1984. The National Rowing Foundation inducted Graves twice into its Hall of Fame as a member of the 1980 and 1984 U.S. Olympic Teams and she was selected as one of the “Century’s Most Notable People” in American Rowing by the 2000-01 American Rower’s Almanac. In 2022, USRowing renamed its Female Athlete of the Year Award in honor of the Graves. The Carie Graves Female Athlete of the Year Award is selected annually by athletes on that year’s senior national team. A 1976 graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Graves guided the Badgers to the 1975 National Rowing Association Championship, the first National Championship won by a University of Wisconsin varsity women’s team. A native of Madison, Wisc., Graves was the first-ever inductee into the school’s Women’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984 and was ranked No. 16 on her alma mater’s list of “Top 100 Athletes of the Century.” She completed a Master of Education at Harvard in 1985. Graves sadly passed away from complications of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in December 2021 at the age of 68. Her son, Ben Gross, will accept the Hall of Honor award on her behalf.