source: wbuathletics.com

The Wayland Baptist Athletics Hall of Honor will grow by five this fall when Jim Carlisle, Shahala Hawkins, Alden Mann, Tamyra Mensah-Stock and former Flying Queen Mary Williams will be inducted into the prestigious group.

The induction is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, in the Pete & Nelda Laney Student Activities Center.

The late Jim Carlisle, a 1977 graduate of Wayland who later served as assistant track & field coach, was a well-respected track & field official at all levels – including the 1996 Atlanta Olympics – for many years. He held various USA Track & Field Association offices and was inducted into the National Officials Hall of Fame in 2016 and Texas Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2022. He died in 2020 at age 65.

Shahala Hawkins was a four-time All-American volleyball player – including three first team honors – from 2012-15. She was the Sooner Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and a two-time SAC Hitter of the Year and MVP, in addition to being NAIA All-National Tournament in 2013 when the Pioneers advanced to the national semifinals. A 6-foot middle from Denver City, Hawkins earned the Roscoe Snyder Award as the top female student-athlete as a senior. She was among NAIA statistical leaders throughout her career and continues to hold all hitting and blocking records at Wayland.

Alden Mann was a two-time all-American in football in 2015 and ’16, the first for the Pioneers since the school restarted its gridiron program in 2012. A linebacker from Wimberley, he was third in the NAIA in tackles as a junior and second as a senior when he was named to the Associated Press Little All-American Second Team and was a finalist for the Cliff Harris Award as the nation’s top small-college defensive player. The school record-holder for tackles in a game (25), season (136) and career (403), Mann was a three-time All-Central States Football League honoree and CSFL Defensive Player of Year in 2016.

Tamyra Mensah-Stock has become the face not only of WBU wrestling but USA Wrestling after winning a gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Before becoming just the second American female and first black woman to win gold since women’s wrestling was added as an Olympic sport in 2004, Mensah-Stock was a two-time National Women’s Collegiate Association national champion at Wayland in 2014 and ’17. A native of Katy, she has competed throughout the world, winning numerous titles, and continues training and competing at the highest levels.

Mary Williams, a native of Tulia, was a four-time letter winner for the Flying Queens from 1969-73 and was credited with breaking the color barrier for Wayland Baptist women’s basketball. She played on two AAU championship teams and four NWIT championship teams, earning all-tournament, and played on a USA Pan American team. As a senior at Wayland she was named the Roscoe Snyder Award winner as the school’s top female senior athlete. She went on to become a successful assistant girl’s basketball coach and head track coach at Sweeny High School.

The addition of the 2022 inductees will increase membership in the WBU Athletics Hall of Honor, which was started in 1992, to 113.

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