Dre Bly #32 of the St. Louis Rams celebrates after his touchdown during a game against the Carolina Panthers at the Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo: Ezra O. Shaw /Allsport)
PORTSMOUTH, VA – The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame announced its class of 2017 on Wednesday, as chosen by the statewide Honors Court committee.
The Class of 2017 features:
- Beth Anders, a former field hockey coach who spent 30 years at Old Dominion University and led them to 28 NCAA tournament appearances.
- Dre Bly, a three-time All-American football player at the University of North Carolina, Super Bowl XXXIV Champion and a two-time Pro Bowl selection.
- Jack Bogaczyk, a writer who spent 28 years in the sports media business in Roanoke.
- Bimbo Coles, a former Virginia Tech basketball standout who enjoyed a 14-year NBA career.
- Kim Hamilton Anthony, a former gymnast on the U.S. National Team, who was a six-time All-America selection at UCLA.
- Claudio Reyna, a three-time All-American soccer player at the University of Virginia and captain of the U.S. National Team.
- C.J. Woollum, a former Director of Athletics at Christopher Newport University and basketball coach who transformed CNU into a Division III powerhouse.
The 46th Annual Induction Banquet will take place on Saturday, April 29, 2017 at the Renaissance Portsmouth- Norfolk Waterfront Hotel in Portsmouth, VA as the headline event of Hall of Fame weekend. Tickets are now on sale. For more information, call (757) 393-8031 or visit www.vshfm.com.
More on the Class of 2017:
Beth Anders started her coaching career at Old Dominion University in 1980 after being a member of the 1980 and 1984 U.S. Olympic Field Hockey teams. The team won the bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics and Anders finished with the most goals scored in Olympic competition. At Old Dominion, Anders mentored the field hockey team for 30 years and led her teams to 28 appearances in the NCAA tournament. Under her tutelage, the Lady Monarchs have achieved more honors than any other field hockey program in NCAA history. Among the most prestigious, Anders and her teams brought the NCAA Championship trophy back to Norfolk an unprecedented nine times. In addition, the Lady Monarchs won the CAA regular season crown 15 times and the CAA Tournament 14 times since joining the league in 1991 while making 17 appearances in the NCAA Championship Round. Anders also captured 12 CAA Coach of the Year awards. Upon retirement, Anders was the nation’s winningest coach in NCAA history with a 561-136-7 record. Anders also coached the U.S. Women’s National Field Hockey team on three occasions; the team qualified for the 1994 World Cup, where they would capture the bronze medal. Anders is a member of the United States Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, Old Dominion University Sports Hall of Fame and the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame.
Defensvie back Dre’ Bly of the North Carolina Tar Heels looks up field as he makes a cut to the outside while running with the football following an interception in the Tar Heels 16-0 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Dre Bly, a native of Chesapeake, Virginia, graduated from Western Branch High School, where he was an all-state high school football player before attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a redshirt freshman, Bly led the nation with 11 interceptions, receiving All-American honors. Bly is one of only five players in NCAA history to be selected an All-American in his freshman season. The following season, Bly was selected as one of three finalists for the NCAA Defensive Player of the Year award. Bly ended his NCAA career with 20 interceptions, and was a three-time All-American. Bly was drafted in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. Bly played for the Rams for four seasons, earning a Super Bowl ring in Super Bowl XXXIV, before signing with the Detroit Lions as a free agent. 2003 was a banner year for Bly, when he intercepted six passes and scored two defensive touchdowns, earning first team All-Pro and was a Pro Bowl Selection. Bly was the 2003 recipient of the Detroit Lions/Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association/Pro Football Writers Association’s Media-Friendly “Good Guy” Award. The Good Guy Award is given yearly to the Detroit Lions player who shows consideration to, and cooperation with the media at all times during the course of the season. Dre Bly was traded to the Denver Broncos in 2007, where he had a total of 98 Tackles and 7 Interceptions. Bly also played for the San Francisco 49ers and played a second stint with the Detroit Lions, to finish his career. Over his 11-year NFL career, Bly finished with 43 interceptions, 420 tackles, seven defensive touchdowns and was a two-time Pro Bowl selection. Bly was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
Jack Bogaczyk spent 28 years in the sports media business in Roanoke, nearly 27 of those in the newspaper business, first at The World-News and then The Roanoke Times after the merger of the two daily papers. At the Roanoke newspaper, Bogaczyk was a beat reporter, general assignment reporter, senior writer and lead columnist. He also wrote the newspaper’s Sports TV/Radio column for 19 years- one of the first in the nation to do that on a weekly basis. Bogaczyk won 13 national writing awards and 35 state honors in his daily newspaper career that started in 1966 while he was in high school.
While in Roanoke, Bogaczyk’s work focused mostly on major college athletics, and he was the beat reporter covering Virginia Military Institute and then Virginia Tech in a period from 1979-88. His award-winning, 35-part series on Hokies athletics in 1985 contributed to administrative and culture changes in the Tech program. That same year, he won the Virginia Horse Council’s media award for a series on the equine business in the Commonwealth. In his career, Bogaczyk covered the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the Super Bowl, the World Series, multiple Daytona 500s, 11 NCAA Final Fours, 28 NCAA basketball tournaments and 15 different college bowl games (31 total). The conference basketball tournaments he has covered include the ACC, Big East, Metro, Colonial, Southern, Atlantic 10, Big South, ODAC and WVIAC.
Bimbo Coles dribbles the ball during the game against the Seattle Supersonics at the Oakland Coliseum Arena in Oakland, California. (Credit: Vincent Laforet /Allsport)
Bimbo Coles was born in Covington, Virginia and grew up in Lewisburg, West Virginia. At Greenbrier East High School, Coles played football, basketball, baseball and ran track. He made the high school All-American team as a free safety. Coles was also a great baseball player, and was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies after his senior year of high school in 1986. Coles was recruited heavily to play football in college, but he later announced he wanted to play basketball in college. Coles signed with Virginia Tech and played under Virginia Sports Hall of Fame coaches Charlie Moir and Frankie Allen for his four years. Coles would finish his collegiate career as the leading all-time scorer in school and Metro Conference history and also set an all-time scoring mark for Division I players in the state of Virginia. He scored a total of 2,484 points during his four seasons and became the first player in Metro Conference history to lead the league in scoring three consecutive years. Coles burst on the national scene by become the university’s first student-athlete to play in the Olympics when he made the United States Olympic team in 1988. He played a leading role at point guard for that team which won the bronze medal in Seoul, Korea. Coles was a second-round pick of the Sacramento Kings in the 1990 NBA draft, but was immediately traded to the Miami Heat. Over his 14-year NBA career, Coles would also play for the Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. Overall, Coles played in 852 games, scored 6,628 points, and had 3,318 assists. Coles was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
Kim Hamilton Anthony, a native of Richmond, Virginia was the first African-American to receive a full athletic award to attend the University of California at Los Angeles for gymnastics. At UCLA, Anthony earned All-America honors six times and was the first female gymnast to win three consecutive NCAA individual floor titles. At the NCAA Regional level, Hamilton won seven individual titles, which is tied for the most-ever at UCLA. Hamilton won Pac-10 Championships on uneven bars and floor exercise in 1988 and 1989. Hamilton Anthony was the first to win three consecutive Floor exercise titles. Prior to her career at UCLA, Hamilton Anthony was a member of the US National Team from 1984-1986, an All-Around Gold Medalist at the 1984 South African Cup, and a Gold Medalist in Floor Exercise at the 1984 Coca-Cola Invitational in London, England. Hamilton became the second gymnast inducted into UCLA’s Athletic Hall of Fame and was named to the All-Century Pac 12 Women’s Gymnastics Team.
Claudio Reyna of the New York Red Bulls speaks to the media during a press conference to announce his retirement at St. Benedict Prep School on July 16, 2008. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images for New York Red Bulls)
Claudio Reyna, Claudio Reyna was born in Livingston, New Jersey, where he learned the game of soccer from his father. Reyna graduated from St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in 1991. During Reyna’s three years with the team, St Benedict’s went undefeated (65–0), while Reyna was named as the only two-time Parade Magazine’s national high school Player of the Year and the Gatorade National Player of the Year. Reyna earned a scholarship from the University of Virginia. With the Cavaliers, he would go on to win the NCAA championship each of his three seasons, while earning first team All-American honors. Reyna was awarded the Hermann Trophy in 1993, given to the United States’ top soccer player and was named the 1992 and 1993 Soccer America Player of the Year.
Reyna joined the professional ranks in 1994 with German Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen after playing in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He would have a 13-year professional career in Europe. Reyna played for the Bundesliga’s Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg from 1995-99, Glasgow Rangers of the Scottish Premier League from 1998-2002, followed by Sunderland and Manchester City of the Premier League from 2001-07. In 1999-2000, Reyna helped lead Rangers to its 11th Scottish Premier League title in 12 years. Reyna made his way back to the States in 2007, joining Major league Soccer’s New York Red Bulls for their 2007 and 2008 seasons, announcing his retirement on July 16, 2008. Reyna played for the United States National Team for 13 straight years from 1994-2006, earning 112 caps and 94 starts. Reyna also scored eight goals, and his 19 career assists rank third all-time. Reyna was a member of four FIFA World Cup teams and was captain of the 2006 team. Reyna was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012.
C.J. Woollum, a native of Alexandria, was a powerful figure who built a legacy at Christopher Newport University that could be topped by no other. Woollum transformed Christopher Newport’s small area college into a Division III powerhouse. As the leader of the men’s basketball team for 26 seasons, C.J. Woollum established a standard of excellence and a winning tradition rivaled by very few. His contributions to the sport and accomplishments on the court were numerous and well documented – 502 wins; 17 NCAA tournament appearances and 13 conference titles. Woollum served as Director of Athletics for 26 years at CNU and oversaw the facilities boom that included the Freeman Center, a Division III masterpiece, where the basketball court bears his name. Under his realm, the athletic department won 15 straight President’s Cups, awarded to the USA South’s top overall athletic program. Woollum was inducted into the CNU Athletic Hall of Fame and the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame.
About the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame & Museum:
Since 1972, the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame & Museum has been proud to honor Virginia’s contributions to the world of sports. The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame & Museum is the Commonwealth’s official hall of fame, and one of only 16 throughout the nation. Their mission is to honor athletic excellence and serve as a nonprofit educational resource centered on health, math, science and character development programs, while inspiring visitors through sports history and interactive entertainment. For more information, go to www.vshfm.com.
