Athletics News Releases

2008 Hall of Fame class includes nine student-athletes, three coaches and administrators

MOUNT VERNON — Cornell College will add 12 members to its Athletics Hall of Fame during an induction banquet at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10 in The Commons.

Cornell’s 2008 class features nine former student-athletes and three coaches and administrators. Those to be honored are Abe Tubbs ’94 (basketball), Matt Miller ’94 (football, track and field), Phil Pfeifer ’92 (football, baseball), Robin Dye Wall ’87 (volleyball), Rich Ray ’82 (football), Joe Vernon ’81 (football, track and field), Steve Dean ’79 (football), Gary Blanks ’79 (basketball, baseball), Charles Bray ’58 (football, track and field), Fred Burke (women’s tennis coach), Steve DeVries (wrestling, men’s golf and men’s tennis coach) and Ellen Whale (director of athletics, volleyball, track and field and swimming and diving coach).

Tubbs was a two-time first team all-conference basketball selection and named conference co-Most Valuable Player in 1993 and 1994. He led the Rams to a 45-22 record and three consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1965. His 1994 squad tied the single-season school record with 17 wins. Tubbs, who averaged 22.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in his senior season, holds the school mark for field goal percentage (64.0) in a season and ranks seventh on Cornell’s career scoring list with 1,240 points. He was a three-time academic all-conference performer, two-time CoSIDA academic all-district selection and an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winner. Tubbs was voted Cornell’s Outstanding Senior Male Athlete of the Year in 1994.

Miller was a two-time first team all-conference selection and quarterbacked Cornell’s only 10-0 conference championship football team in 1992. The two-time team MVP led the Rams to a 24-4 record, the most wins over a three-year period in school history. Miller was an assistant coach on Cornell’s 1995 conference championship team. He earned academic all-conference honors in football three years and track and field one year. Miller was an academic football All-American in 1993, a College Football Hall of Fame National Scholar Athlete in 1994 and an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winner in 1994.

Pfeifer earned four varsity letters each in football (1988-91) and baseball (1989-92). He was a defensive football team captain and guided the Rams to a 7-2 record in 1991. Pfeifer was an all-conference baseball pick and team captain in 1992. He compiled season batting averages of .489 in 1991 and .464 in 1992.

Wall was a four-year volleyball letterwinner and two-time all-conference selection (1984 and 1986). She guided the Rams to a 29-9-2 record in 1986, the best single-season mark in school history. Wall also started on the 21-4 conference championship team in 1983. She was selected Cornell’s Outstanding Woman Sportsperson of the Year in 1986 and 1987. Wall set 11 individual school records from 1983-86.

Ray was a three-year starter and member of the All-Century Football Team. He garnered CoSIDA All-America honors as a nose guard and was named first team all-conference three years. Ray led the Rams to a three-year record of 21-6 (1979-81), which included a conference championship in 1980. He was voted Cornell’s “Defensive Player of the Week” six times during his career.

Vernon earned four varsity letters each in football, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. A member of the All-Century Football Team, he guided Cornell to a four-year record of 30-6 with conference championships in 1976 and 1978. Vernon, a two-time all-conference football performer and team captain in 1979, totaled 19 career interceptions and was a key cog in the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense (5.5 points per game) in 1978. He received all-conference track and field honors in the 60-yard dash in 1977 and was a team captain in 1979 and 1980. Vernon was voted Cornell’s Freshman of the Year in 1977.

Dean was an all-conference football performer in 1977. He helped lead Cornell to conference championships in 1976 and 1978 and compiled a four-year record of 30-6. Dean holds school records for longest pass receptions of 97 and 94 yards. He previously held school marks for receiving yards in a career (2,486), kickoff returns in a career (32), kickoff return yards in a career (701) and average yards per reception in a season (24.8).

Blanks was a member on the Rams’ basketball (1975-76) and baseball (1976-79) teams. He was Cornell’s first African-American captain on the baseball team (1977-79) and earned all-conference honors in 1978. Blanks, who held the school’s stolen base record, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox and played semi-pro ball in Chicago from 1979-83.

Bray was a two-sport standout in track and field and football. He won Midwest meet track titles in the 60-yard dash (set meet record of 6.3 seconds), 60-yard hurdles, 8-lap relay and 12-lap relay. Bray captured Iowa AAU championships in the 60-yard dash, 100-yard dash and 200-yard dash. He was a conference champion in the 100- and 200-yard dashes and mile relay in 1956 and 1957. Bray ran on the Drake Relays Iowa College mile relay championship team in 1956 and was part of the Cornell Relays mile relay title team at the initial meet in 1957. An all-conference football selection in 1956, he was voted one of the best running backs in Iowa college football that season. Bray currently holds the school record for rushing yards per carry in a season (10.79), set in 1955.

Burke directed Cornell’s women’s tennis program to 28 consecutive winning seasons from 1979-2007. He compiled a career coaching record of 280-100, a flashy 73.6 winning percentage. Burke coached Cornell’s only Iowa Conference team championship in 2001 and won three Midwest Conference team titles (1982, 1984 and 1987). The Rams finished in the top three in the conference 24 of his 28 seasons. Burke was named IIAC Coach of the Year in 1998, 2001 and 2002. He coached seven 100-match winners and fielded the IIAC Women’s Tennis Player of the Year for five consecutive seasons (2000-04).

DeVries enjoyed a successful stint as head wrestling coach from 1982-2000. During his tenure, the Rams won 10 Midwest Conference team championships and placed in the top 25 seven times at the NCAA Division III Championships. DeVries crowned 66 individual conference champions and 19 All-Americans. He was a member of the NCAA Wrestling Committee (1998-2002) and NCAA Division III Wrestling Committee Chair (2001-02). DeVries was also Cornell’s head men’s golf coach (1982-83) and men’s tennis coach (1984-89).

Whale served as Cornell’s Director of Athletics from 1989-1997 and 2001-02. She was head volleyball coach from 1978-94, compiling a 270-208-4 record with two conference championships (1980 and 1984). Whale coached women’s track and field from 1979-83, winning a conference team title in 1981. She was women’s and men’s swimming and diving coach from 1982-85. Whale is currently a professor in the kinesiology department.