Weber State University Athletics
Weber State announces 2017 Hall of Fame class
1/9/2017 11:02:00 PM | Athletics
OGDEN - Three former standout athletes, a former coach and a former athletic director make up the 2017 class of inductees to the Weber State University Athletics Hall of Fame. The WSU Wildcat Club has announced this year's class of inductees.
This year's Hall of Fame inductees are: Lindsey Anderson (women's track and field/cross country), Nolan Archibald (men's basketball), Jeff Smith (women's golf coach) and Eric Styrmoe (men's tennis).
In addition, former athletic director Dutch Belnap will receive the Reed K. Swenson Distinguished Service Award.
The Wildcat Club Hall of Fame Banquet will be Friday, March 3. The class will also be recognized at Weber State's men's basketball home game against Montana State on Saturday, March 4. For more information about Hall of Fame weekend, contact the Weber State Wildcat Club at 801-626-6576.
Lindsey Anderson competed four years with the Weber State women's track and field and cross country teams and was one of the top runners in Weber State and Big Sky history. She competed at Weber State from 2004-07 and left as a two-time All-American and one of the top female athletes in Big Sky Conference history.
Anderson joined the Wildcat track and field teams from Morgan High School. She went on to become one of the top distance runners in Weber State and Big Sky history.
As a senior in 2007, Anderson won five Big Sky titles in indoor and outdoor track and twice earned All-American honors. She won the Big Sky title in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters at the indoor championships and helped lead the Wildcats to the conference title. She then went on to finish seventh in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Championships and earned All-American honors.
At the 2007 outdoor meet, Anderson won Big Sky titles in the steeplechase, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. During the season she broke the NCAA record in the steeplechase and went on to earn All-American honors as she finished second at the NCAA Championships.
Anderson was named the Weber State Female Athlete of the Year in 2007 and earned Academic All-American honors, was named the Big Sky Scholar Athlete of the Year, and was a finalist for the NCAA's Woman of the Year award.
In her career she won six Big Sky individual championships and three relay championships. When she left Weber State, she held three school records and still holds two and ranks in the top 10 in two other events. She is still Weber State's school record holder in the steeplechase at 9:39.95 which is also still a Big Sky Conference record, and holds the school record in the indoor 5,000 meters at 16:00.77.
In the summer of 2008, Anderson became the first Weber State athlete in any sport to compete in the Summer Olympics as she qualified for the Beijing Olympics in the steeplechase.
She continued her professional running career and also became an assistant coach for the Wildcat track and field teams. She spent time an assistant coach for the track and field teams at Cal State Bakersfield and is now the head cross country and track and field coach at the College of Southern Idaho.
In 2014, Anderson was named one of the top 10 greatest female athletes in Big Sky Conference history in any sport.
Nolan Archibald
Nolan Archibald played two seasons for the Weber State men's basketball team from 1966-68 and helped lead the Wildcats to Weber State's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Archibald was an Ogden native and graduated from Ogden High School. Despite not making the basketball team at Ogden High, he was one of the most recruited players in the nation after becoming a Junior College All-American at Dixie Junior College. He was recruited by more than 50 major universities, including Arizona, Oklahoma State, Utah, BYU and Utah State after leading Dixie to the National Junior College Tournament. He chose to play in his hometown at Weber State, then coached by Dick Motta and Phil Johnson.
Archibald immediately made an impact and led the Wildcats in scoring during his junior season at 15.9 points per game and he led the team in field goal percentage both his junior and senior season, shooting over 50 percent.
As a senior in 1967-68, Archibald led the Wildcats to the Big Sky Championship and Weber State's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, a field that included just 32 teams. He scored 14 points for the Wildcats against New Mexico State in the tournament. He was named to the UPI All-Big Sky First Team that season. Playing alongside Dan Sparks and Justus Thigpen, Archibald helped lead the Wildcats to a 21-6 overall record and a 12-3 mark in Big Sky Conference Play.
He finished his Wildcat career averaging 13.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. In 2013, he was named to the Weber State Men's Basketball 50th Anniversary Team.
Also during his senior season, Archibald was one of 15 players from across the country to earn Academic All-American honors. He was also named the Weber State Scholar of the Year and graduated Cum Laude from Weber State in 1968.
Following his Weber State career, he was invited to the Chicago Bulls Rookie Camp in 1969 and 1970. He was also offered a contract to play professionally for the Pittsburgh Pipers in the ABA in 1970. In 1993, the National Association of Basketball Coaches honored Archibald, along with four other All-American basketball players (including Elvin Hayes), as their Silver Anniversary NCAA All-American Basketball team. Archibald is the only Weber State athlete to ever receive this honor.
Following graduation from Weber State, Archibald graduated from Harvard Business School with a Master's Degree in Business Administration in 1970. He served as Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of The Black and Decker Corporation for 24 years, one of the longest serving CEO's of a Fortune 500 company. When named CEO of Black and Decker in 1986 at the age of 42, he was the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He currently serves as Lead Director on both Lockheed Martin and Huntsman Corporation's Board of Directors. He also is a member of the Board of Brunswick Corporation and recently was invited to serve on the Board of the NCAA National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Archibald has been cited by Business Week as one of the top six managers in the United States and by Fortune Magazine as one of the country's “Ten Most Wanted Executives.”
He and his wife Margaret (Hafen) have seven sons, one daughter, 28 grandchildren and counting.
Jeff Smith was the head coach for the Weber State women's golf program for 24 years and left a legacy in the Ogden community.
An Ogden native, Smith graduated from Ogden High School and earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Weber State in 1980.
“Smitty” was well-known in the Ogden community and had a large impact with golf in the area. He was very active with the PGA of America and worked and taught golf lessons as the head PGA pro at Golf City for 12 years where he ran the Ladies and Junior Associations. Prior to Golf City, Smith was the head professional at El Monte Golf Course in Ogden for 10 years. He taught numerous lessons to so many, especially youth. He was named the Utah PGA Teach of the Year in 1989 and was a recipient of the 1996 PGA Junior Golf Leader Award.
In 1992, he became the women's golf head coach at Weber State, a role he would serve for the next 24 years. He later became the Director of Golf and oversaw both the men's and women's programs at Weber State.
As head coach of the Wildcats, Smith won back-to-back Big Sky Coach of the Year honors in 1998 and 1999. In 1999, the Wildcats finished second and Tenille How won the individual honors at the Big Sky Championships.
In 2001, Smith led the Weber State to its first-ever women's golf Big Sky Championship. Weber State hosted the championship at Valley View Golf Course and the 'Cats won the tournament by eight shots. Smith also coached the Wildcats to five straight second-place finishes.
He also became a die-hard fan of all Weber State programs and attended nearly every home event.
In February 2016, Smith suddenly passed away at the age of 61 after a fight with leukemia. He was beloved by everyone who knew him. As a tribute, the Big Sky Conference Coaches named him the Big Sky Coach of the Year in 2016.
Smitty's legacy continues on with the Jeff Smith Memorial Golf Scholarship Fund which benefits the men's and women's golf programs at Weber State.
Eric Styrmoe
Eric Styrmoe played three seasons for the men's tennis team at Weber State from 1982-84 and was a three-time All-Conference perfromer.
A native of Tucson, Arizona, Styrmoe came to Weber State in 1982. As a sophomore his first season with the Wildcats, he won the Big Sky title at the No. 2 singles position.
Under the direction of head coach Keith Cox, Styrmoe helped lead the Wildcats to back-to-back Big Sky team titles in 1983 and 1984. In 1983, Styrmoe repeated as the Big Sky individual champion at No. 2 singles. During that season, he posted a 26-6 singles record, inclduing a 7-0 mark in the conference tournament. He also teamed with Craig Bell to win the conference title at the No. 2 doubles position in 1983.
As a senior in 1984, he became just the third Wildcat ever to qualify for the NCAA Championships. He lost in the first round of the tournament in Athens, Georgia.
Styrmoe still ranks eighth in Weber State history in overall wins with 123. He is ninth in career singles wins with 63 and is 10th in career doubles victories with 60.
He graduated from Weber State with a degree in Science in 1984. Following his Weber State career, Styrmoe went on to a strong professional tennis career. He is a 10-time USTA National singles and doubles champion and was a finalist 16 other times. He is also a four-time US Professionall Tennis Association National Champion. In 1997, he was ranked No. 1 in the world in the 35 and over doubles by the Interaional Tennis Federation, and was ranked in the top three in the world two other years. He also won the Italia Cup in 1997.
Styrmoe is currently the Director of Tennis at Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa in Tucson, where he has worked since 1985.
Reed K. Swenson Distinguished Service Award
Dutch Belnap
Former Weber State Athletic Director Dutch Belnap will receive the Reed K. Swenson Distinguished Service Award as part of the Weber State Hall of Fame ceremonies.
Belnap, an Ogden native, attended Weber High School and then Weber Junior College where he played football and basketball and baseball. He then went on to graduate from Utah State.
He began his coaching career at Weber High School where he coached for ten years, coaching baseball, basketball and football. In 1967, Belnap was hired as the General Manager for the Ogden Dodgers. His manager for two seasons was Tommy Lasorda and Ogden included future MLB stars Steve Garvey, Bill Buckner and Tommy Valentine. He was also named the Minor League Executive of the Year
Belnap then became an assistant basketball coach at Utah State under Ladell Andersen and in 1973 was named the head coach of the Aggies. He spent six seasons as head coach at USU and still ranks second in school history in career winning percentage.
He also had a long career in banking where he spent 14 years in administration.
Belnap twice served as athletic director at Weber State. He was named athletic director in 1995 and served for three years. During his tenure, Weber State added women's soccer as an NCAA sport. Belnap also instituted the “Golden Wildcat” seating at the Dee Events Center as well as installed a new floor, scoreboard and coaches offices at the Dee Events Center.
In 2004, Belnap again served as athletic director and guided the Wildcats to the Big Sky Presidents' Cup trophy.
Following his days in administration at Weber State, Belnap served on multiple committees and boards involving Wildcat Athletics. He was also a longtime radio and TV commentator for Weber State men's basketball games.
Belnap and his wife Karen have continued to support Weber State athletics.
