Five former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletes will be inducted next month into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame, and four special awards will be presented.
The 2015 inductees are baseball player David Fussell, basketball coach Grace Keith, runner Lani Marchant, football player David McCrary and softball player Melissa Ramirez. They will be honored Feb. 20 in a banquet at the Chattanooga Golf & Country Club, hosted by the UTC athletic department and the office of alumni affairs.
“This class represents many eras of UTC athletics,” vice chancellor and athletic director David Blackburn said in a released statement. “It celebrates the history of our baseball and football programs, the start of women’s basketball as a varsity sport and more recent success in softball and track.”
Fussell played from 1966 to 1969 and was captain of the Mocs baseball team in 1969. A standout catcher who was drafted by the San Diego Padres, Fussell died last fall.
Keith helped establish the women’s basketball program at UTC and coached the team in its first two seasons of scholarship play, in 1974-75 and 1975-76. Her first team was led by Sharon Fanning-Otis, a UTC Hall of Fame member who coached the team from 1976 to 1987.
Marchant ran cross country and track and field from 2004 to 2007, earning numerous awards. She was named Southern Conference Female Athlete of the Year in 2007 and was the SoCon cross country champion and runner of the year in 2006, when she qualified for the NCAA meet. She won three SoCon titles in indoor track and four in outdoor competition, and she holds the SoCon records for the women’s 5,000 and the 10,000.
McCrary, an all-conference defensive back, played from 1982 to 1985 and was named to the Times Free Press UC/UTC All-Century team in 2003. He earned All-SoCon honors in 1984, helping UTC to the league title and its last appearance in the national playoffs before this past season. He is tied for fourth at UTC with 11 interceptions, including three returned for touchdowns. In addition, he was one of the top punt returners in SoCon history, holding the league record for returns (118) and second place in yards (1,253).
Ramirez played softball from 2002 to 2005 and was a two-time SoCon tournament most outstanding player and the SoCon player of the year in 2004. She holds UTC career records with 286 hits, 63 doubles and a 15-game hitting streak in 2003. During her playing career, the Mocs claimed two regular-season league championships and three SoCon tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times.
Davis Tull, the All-America defensive end who just ended his UTC football career, will be given the A.C. “Scrappy” Moore Award as the current student-athlete who best personifies the athletic department’s mission of equipping for success in the classroom, in competition and in the community. Tull helped lead the Mocs to a undefeated SoCon record last fall and a trip to the FCS playoffs, and he is the SoCon leader in career sacks.
Longtime men’s basketball supporter Todd Duff will be honored with the Gordon Davenport Award as a person who has shown outstanding commitment to the athletic program.
Former UTC football standout Pete Pullara (1974-77) will receive the Joe Morrison Award, given to a former student-athlete or coach for notable accomplishments and life experiences. Pullara is the superintendent of Yankee Stadium, and he managed stadium operations during the Yankees’ transition from the old stadium to the new facility in 2009.
Unofficial UTC athletics photographer Dale Rutemeyer will receive the Harold Wilkes Award, which is given to a volunteer, coach, staff member or university administrator who has demonstrated exemplary leadership in furthering the vision of UTC athletics, according to the release. Rutemeyer has been volunteering his photograpy skills for more than six years, shooting photos of athletes for school publications and the GoMocs.com website.
The banquet is open to the public, but seating reservations are required. The cost is $30 per person. To make a reservation, call the alumni affairs office at 423-425-4785 or send an email to Jayne-Holder@utc.edu.