Five of the best student-athletes in school history and a trio of coaches/administrators have been selected for induction into the University of Central Oklahoma Athletic Hall of Fame.
Making up the 2008 class as athletes are tennis great Charl Bornman, football stars Clifford Chatman and Daric Zeno, wrestling national champion Joe Starzenski and volleyball standout Kristin Vincent, while Eddie Griffin, John Keely and Virginia Peters were elected as coaches/administrators.
The newest members will be formally inducted during the UCO Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet, set for Oct. 10 in the University Center on campus.
Charl Bornman is the most decorated tennis player in school history, putting together a phenomenal 198-29 career record in combined singles and doubles play while earning NCAA Division II All-America honors seven times and winning two national championships.
A native of South Africa, Bornman came to UCO in the spring of 1995 and went 10-1 in singles to earn All-America recognition. He was 31-3 in singles and 24-5 in doubles as a sophomore in 1995-96 as an All-American in both, leading the Bronchos to the Lone Star Conference and NCAA Division II Midwest Region titles along with a No. 6 national ranking.
Bornman won 55 matches again the next year (33-3 in singles, 22-5 in doubles) in repeating as an All-American in both and captured the national singles crown before capping his career with a sensational senior year in 1997-98.
He set school single-season records for wins in both singles (41-4) and doubles (29-5), won a second straight national title, was a twin All-American for the third consecutive year and was named Division II Senior Player of the Year. Bornman finished 115-11 in singles and 83-18 in doubles for his amazing career, both school records.
Clifford Chatman enjoyed a fantastic football career at UCO as a multi-talented running back, finishing his career as the school's second all-time leading rusher while also winning a pair of District 9 100-meter dash championships.
Chatman played three years (1978-80) and helped lead the Bronchos to a 23-9 record, including an NAIA national runner-up finish in 1979. He rushed for 3,316 yards and 33 touchdowns in 627 carries, averaging 5.3 yards a carry for his career while finishing fifth on UCO's all-time points scored list (200 points).
A native of Clinton, Chatman rushed for 930 yards and nine TDs in 1978, then had 237 carries for 1,275 yards and 11 scores in 1979. He carried 224 times for 1,111 yards and 13 TDs as a senior in 1980.
Chatman earned first-team All-District 9 honors twice and was a second-team pick once, receiving honorable mention All-America recognition all three years. He was a fourth-round draft pick by the New York Giants in 1981 and played one year in the NFL.
Joe Starzenski is another in a long line of wrestling greats to come through UCO and he's the only wrestler in school history to compete on four national championship teams. He was a three-time All-American for the Bronchos and finished with a 100-40-2 career record, which ranks 18th on the school's all-time win list.
Starzenski, a state champion at Midwest City High School, was a third-place national finisher at 126 pounds as a true freshman in 1982 in helping UCO capture the NAIA national title. He redshirted the following year, then came back in 1983-84 and was a national qualifier as the Bronchos won the team championship.
Starzenski was the national runner-up at 134 pounds in 1985 in helping UCO win its second straight team title and he ended his career as a senior in 1986 by winning the 134-pound individual championship to cap a 30-6 season as the Bronchos again claimed the team trophy.
Kristin Vincent was one of the top middle blockers in the Lone Star Conference throughout her career as a four-year starter at UCO from 1990-93. She finished with a league-record 515 assisted blocks, a school-record 177 solo blocks and a .323 career hitting percentage.
Vincent came in as a true freshman in 1990 and started all season, then was an honorable mention All-LSC pick in 1991 after collecting a single-season school record 164 assisted blocks while finishing second in the LSC in hitting percentage (.306).
A product of Arlington, Texas, Vincent earned honorable mention All-LSC acclaim again in 1992 while finishing second in the conference in both total blocks (211) and hitting percentage (.311). Vincent led the league in hitting percentage (.377) and finishing third in blocks (155) while collecting a career-high 313 kills in picking up first-team All-LSC recognition as a senior in 1993.
Daric Zeno ranks as one of the most electrifying players in UCO's rich football history, a big-play wide receiving threat who helped lead the Bronchos to a 30-9-1 record and an NAIA national championship during his career from 1980-83. He ranks fifth on the school's all-time receiving charts, averaging 19.5 yards a catch with 102 receptions for 1,957 yards.
Zeno earned first-team All-District 9 honors as a sophomore in 1981 after catching 13 passes for 251 yards while also ranking fourth in the nation in kickoff returns and ninth in punt returns. He had one of UCO's best-ever receiving seasons in 1982, catching 49 passes for 1,038 yards (fourth-best in school history) and a school-record nine touchdowns.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Zeno had 1,630 all-purpose yards (second-best at UCO) and was a first-team All-America selection as the Bronchos went 11-2 in winning the NAIA national title. He repeated as a first-team All-American for UCO's 1983 national playoff team after grabbing 25 passes for 453 yards and four TDs.
Eddie Griffin had an amazing four-year run as UCO's head wrestling coach, leading the Bronchos to three NAIA national championships. He coached 26 All-Americans, including 11 individual national champions, and put together a 40-18-1 dual record that included wins over Alabama, Arizona, Brigham Young, Oregon and Washington.
Griffin led the Bronchos to their first-ever national wrestling title in 1979 to earn college Rookie Coach of the Year honors by Amateur Wrestling News, with UCO finishing third the following season. Griffin's 1981 team was perhaps the best in NAIA history, scoring a tournament-record 155.25 points and crowning six individual champions in running away with the title, and the Bronchos won again in 1982.
Griffin, who was named NAIA National Coach of the Year in 1979, '81 and '82, went on to coach at Clemson and also served as athletic director for Oklahoma City Public Schools and Northeastern State University.
John Keely served as UCO's head women's basketball coach for 24 years (1980-04) and was also a long-time assistant/associate athletic director for the Bronchos. He won over 300 games as coach, with the 1981-82 team qualifying for the national tournament while winning a school-record 25 games.
Keely coached 48 all-conference players during his tenure and he had three of the four winningest seasons in school history. His teams also constantly ranked among the highest at UCO in graduation rates.
A graduate of Central who won one state championship during a successful high school coaching career, Keely served as the UCO's assistant athletic director from 1985-03 and as associate athletic director from 2004 until his retirement in 2006.
Virginia Peters had a greater impact on UCO women's athletics than perhaps any other female, first as a competitor and then as a coach and administrator.
Peters participated in basketball, field hockey, swimming and volleyball four straight years, earning the Outstanding Freshman Woman Athlete award in 1954 and the Outstanding Senior Woman Athlete honor in 1957.
She started her coaching career at Central in 1958 and directed the basketball, field hockey, track and field, volleyball and men's and women's fencing teams during a career that lasted until 1980. At individual sports days, she also coached archery, badminton, softball, swimming and tennis.
Peters served as Coordinator of Women's Intercollegiate Sports and Director of Women's Athletics from 1958-80 while also directing the Women's Intramural Sports Program for 20 years. She was active on several regional and national committees throughout her career.
