SPOKANE, Wash. -- On September 25th Whitworth
University will induct four former outstanding student-athletes as
the 21st class of the Whitworth Heritage Gallery Hall of Fame. The
induction ceremony will take place at the Whitworth Hixon Union
Building’s multi-purpose room, beginning at 8:30 am. The four
inductees include Bryan Depew, the leading men's basketball scorer
in Whitworth history; John Gould, the first Whitworth All-American
in men's soccer; Melanie Kosin, the first Whitworth All-American in
women's cross country; and Kevin Wang, a two-time national champion
and former NCAA Division III record-holder in swimming.
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Bryan Depew retired as the leading scorer in
the history of Whitworth men’s basketball, finishing his
career with 2,013 points. He led the team in scoring all four
seasons, and became the first Pirate men’s player to earn
First Team All-Northwest Conference honors four years in a row. As
a junior, he led the Pirates to a Northwest Conference title and
the school’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III
tournament, earning NWC Player of the Year and Second Team
All-Region honors. As a senior, he led the conference with a
scoring average of 23.6 points per game and was named a Third Team
All-American by D3hoops.com. Whitworth had a 75-29 won-loss record
over his four seasons, including a 46-18 mark in NWC games. As of
his induction in 2010, he holds Whitworth basketball records for
career scoring average (19.4 points per game), career free throws
made (535), career free throws attempted (649), and single game
free throw percentage (12-12 vs. Pacific Lutheran in 2004).
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Whitworth has a rich, if relatively brief,
history in men’s soccer. And John Gould will go down as the
first Pirate soccer All-American. Only a two-year player at
Whitworth after playing two years for the Community Colleges of
Spokane, Gould still set Pirate records for career points (91),
points in a season (54), goals in a season (19) and assists in a
season (15) that still stand at the time of his induction in 2010.
He set his single season records as a junior in 1988, leading
Whitworth to a 17-3-2 record. He was named NAIA Third Team
All-American, First Team All-Northwest Conference of Independent
Colleges (NCIC) and First Team All-Northwest Collegiate Soccer
Conference (NCSC). As a senior he led the Pirates to a 15-3-2
record and to the school’s first-ever appearance in the NAIA
district playoffs. He was again named Third Team All-American by
the NAIA and was the NCSC Player of the Year after scoring 15 goals
and adding seven assists.
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The first in a distinguished line of
women’s distance runners at Whitworth, Melanie Kosin was one
of the first Pirate women to become an NAIA cross country
All-American. She earned that distinction as a freshman in 1989,
finishing 18th at the NAIA Championships. As a sophomore, Kosin led
the Whitworth women’s team to its first-ever national
championship meet, where the Pirates finished in 19th place. She
finished 11th in the nation as a junior, still the highest-ever
individual finish at a national championship meet for a Whitworth
woman. During her senior season, the women’s team rose to an
11th-place finish at the NAIA championships, led by her individual
race in 18th place. Also an outstanding track & field
competitor, Kosin set the school record in the 5,000 meters with a
time of 17:30.07 in the spring of 1992, a mark that stood until
2010. She was the NAIA District 1 champion in the 5,000 as a junior
and qualified for the NAIA Track & Field championships each of
her four seasons.
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Kevin Wang is the most dominant men’s
swimmer in Whitworth history. He was a two-time national champion
in the 400-yard individual medley, setting an NCAA Division III
record in that event as a junior in 2003. Over the course of his
career, Wang earned NCAA Division III All-American honors 10 times
and was a Northwest Conference champion in 11 of his 12 career
events. At the time of his Heritage Gallery induction in 2010, he
still held Northwest Conference records in the 500-yard freestyle,
1,650-yard freestyle, the 200-yard individual medley, the 400-yard
individual medley and the 800-yard relay. He led the Pirate men to
three Northwest Conference titles during his career and was the NWC
Men’s Outstanding Swimmer as a sophomore, junior and senior.
In 2003 the Pirates finished 7th as a team at the NCAA Division III
Swimming and Diving Championships, the highest team finish in
school history at the time of the induction.
The class of 2010 will join a group of 67
individuals and seven teams already enshrined in the Heritage
Gallery. The class of 2010, along with all current Heritage Gallery
members attending the induction, will be recognized at halftime of
the Whitworth - Lewis & Clark football game on September
25th.
The Whitworth Heritage Gallery Hall of Fame is
sponsored by the Crimson Club and the first class was inducted in
1990.
Reservations for the induction ceremony and
breakfast can be made by calling 777-3224.
