Liberty inducts five alumni into the Athletics Hall of Fame

• Hall of fame inductees share stories of how attending Liberty impacted them spiritually and athletically.
• Induction ceremony included dinner and speeches about the uniqueness of Liberty’s athletic program.

Four new alumni and a former coach were added to the Liberty University Athletics Hall of Fame at the ninth annual induction ceremony Sept. 29, an event sponsored by the Flames Club. The five members increased the number of inductees to a total of 47.

 

The five inductees included Sam Chelanga from men’s cross country and track and field (2011), men’s basketball player Julius Nwosu (1994), softball player Katie (Phillips) Bigham (1999), football player Richard Shelton (1988) and strength and conditioning coach Dave Williams.

 

“They are a stellar class so no earth shuddering comment there,” Kevin Keys, chair of the Hall of Fame committee, said. “But where I think I am going to remember them the most is after tonight is over, which one of them is going to bring tears to the eyes. Every year there is always one person who tells their story of how Liberty impacted them that is just very moving.”

 

Four of the five were able to show up to the event, as Sam Chelanga, the absent nominee, was busy training for his next race. The event included a dinner along with speeches from each new inductee.

 

According to Keys, who was the founder of Liberty’s Athletic Hall of Fame, the importance of this event is not only to showcase the caliber of athletes Liberty has created, but also to show how important Liberty was in each individual’s life.

 

“It is a connection to the history of the program,” Keys said. “The thing that I like about our hall of fame is you have the chance to see what training ‘Champions for Christ’ really means. These people have been out there for 20 to 30 years and they are still talking about how Liberty impacted their life.”

 

During the event, the inductees gave personal speeches, telling stories of how Liberty has positively affected their futures.

 

Keys also said the other reason for creating a hall of fame was to show the current students that, even though these inductees may be a lot older than they are, they had an impact on their athletic programs and at Liberty as a whole.

 

At the ceremony, Williams talked about how he wanted to be a coach at Liberty over any other college.

 

“God blesses this place and has blessed me,” Williams said. “We want to lift the Lord up so the athletes that do honor the Lord really bring His blessing onto the rest of us.”

 

Along with the special blessing from God, the inductees also mentioned their reasons for coming to Liberty and the successes they’ve had.  Bigham said that this was a great environment for athletes and other students to flourish in and said she grew in her faith being at Liberty.

 

“Being in this environment, where most people come here for their faith, it was just a good environment for me to be in,” Bigham said. “Knowing that the people on my team believed what I believed and were proud of that was just really great.”

 

The inductees were selected through a committee of nine people that evaluated the nominations that were sent in from the general public along with their personal picks.

 

The only stipulation for nominations are that the athlete must be at least five years out of the program. The only exceptions have been Dave Williams this year, along with Jerry Edwards who have both been with the program close to 30 years.