Four former University of Northern Colorado athletes, including Greeley native and former Major League Baseball player and manager Tom Runnells, have been elected to the athletics hall of fame for its 30th anniversary, the athletic department announced Tuesday.
Savannah Smith and Jordan Davis, the all-time leading scorers of the Bears’ men’s and women’s programs, respectively, and former soccer player Mariel Gutierrez will also be honored Sept. 13-14 on campus.
Former UNC men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle, who is from Greeley and is currently the coach of the University of Colorado, former women’s basketball coach Jaime White and former football player Jed Roberts will also be inducted. Boyle, White and Roberts were previously elected to the hall of fame but deferred induction because of scheduling conflicts.
A ceremony for the inductees will be held from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13 at the University Center, 2101 10th Ave., Greeley.
Registration is open for the event at . The cost is $40 per person and $320 for a table of eight until Aug. 13. After Aug. 13, the cost increases to $50 per person and $400 for a table of eight.
The group will also be recognized the next day, Sept. 14, during the first home football game of the season at Nottingham Field.
“Congratulations to the outstanding 2024 University of Northern Colorado Athletics Hall of Fame class which includes some tremendous former student-athletes and incredible coaches,” said UNC Director of Athletics Darren Dunn. “This is a well-deserved honor for each of these amazing individuals, and we are extremely proud of them and all their accomplishments. We look forward to celebrating them at their induction ceremony in September.”
Smith, who played scholastic basketball at Fossil Ridge in Fort Collins, finished her career in 2019 with 2,013 points. She was named the Big Sky Conference’s most valuable player as a junior in 2017-18, and she was the conference tournament MVP in March 2018. Smith was also a three-time All-Big Sky first-team selection. Smith broke the Big Sky Conference tournament scoring record with 78 points in three games played.
She was named a Colorado Sportswoman of the Year in 2018 for college basketball.
Smith holds UNC career records in field goals attempted (1,775), and 3-point field goals made (300) and attempted (943). Smith holds single-season records in points (708), points per game (22.8), field goals made (114) and attempted (645), 3-pointers attempted (371) and free throw percentage (92.8).
Smith recorded two 40-point games in 2019 to set the program mark for points in a single game.
Davis, who like Smith played at UNC from 2015-19, finished his career with 2,272 points. He was the Big Sky Conference player of the year in 2019, and he was a unanimous selection to the conference first team following the regular season.
Davis averaged a Big Sky-best 23.8 points per game during his senior season in 2018-19 to rank in the top 10 nationally and move up to second on the conference career scoring list with 2,257 points.
Davis holds UNC career records for games played (130), assists (516) and field goals made (819).
Originally from Las Vegas, Davis has played basketball overseas in Germany, Spain and Israel since finishing at UNC.
Gutierrez played soccer for the Bears from 2014-18 and left as one of the program’s most decorated student-athletes.
She scored 36 goals and recorded 15 assists, which rank fourth and seventh all time, respectively. Gutierrez scored the most game-winning goals (14), attempted the most shots (220) and shots on goal (113) in the Division I era dating to the early 2000s. She ranks fifth all time in games played with 84.
Gutierrez, who is from Gypsum, was the 2018 Big Sky Conference offensive most valuable player, and she earned the conference’s Golden Boot trophy for most goals in Big Sky games. Gutierrez was a unanimous All-Big Sky Conference first-team selection in 2018. She was a member of the Bears’ team that earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the champions of the Big Sky Conference tournament in 2015.
Runnells, a Greeley West High School graduate, was a member of the last UNC team to appear in the College World Series in 1974. A 1977 UNC graduate, Runnells also played on three Great Plains Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championship teams.
Runnells hit .394 with 51 RBI and scored 73 runs in his UNC career playing for Hall of Fame coach Tom Petroff.
Runnells was in professional baseball for 41 years including 1985-86 as a player with the Cincinnati Reds and as the manager of the Montreal Expos in 1991-92. He later worked with the Rockies as bench coach from 2009 until his retirement in 2016. He served as the team’s bench coach from 2009 until his retirement following the 2016 season, according to his website, .
