08 Jun 2022 UCA inducts eight into Sports HOF

CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame will induct eight new members this fall, the 22nd class in the Hall.

The new members will be inducted at a banquet on Saturday, Oct. 8 prior to UCA’s home football game with Lindenwood at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

The Class of 2022 includes: Howard Felts, Gary Flenoy, Max Graham, Shawn Hamilton, Mary Hamner Latham, Harold Lewis, Ronnie Schroeder and Vance Strange.

Felts, of Newport, Ark., was a four-year football letterman who played on both sides of the ball from 1963-67, earning All-Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference honors.

Flenoy, from Lufkin, Texas, was a highly decorated track athlete for the Bears, earning NAIA All-America honors twice and numerous All-AIC honors in the mid-1970s.

Graham, from Carlisle, Ark., was an All-AIC football player and track athlete for the Bears in the early 1950s, and later put together an outstanding high school coaching career at Stuttgart and Benton high schools.

Hamilton, from Fort Smith, Ark., was a rare two-time NAIA All-American defensive lineman who helped the Bears to the 1991 NAIA national championship.

Hamner Latham, from Hot Springs, Ark., was one of the most decorated tennis players in UCA history, earning All-Gulf South Conference honors three times, and was UCA’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year in 2002 and the NCAA Women of the Year nominee from the state of Arkansas in 2002.

Lewis, from Proctor, Ark., was a two-time All-AIC football player for the Bears, earning the L.B. Jackman Award  in 1979. He is still the No. 3 tackler in UCA football history.

Schroeder, from Hot Springs, Ark., was an All-AIC and All-District 17 guard for the Bears and had a 16-year high school coaching career, including a spot on the Arkansas All-Star staff.

Strange, originally from San Francisco, Calif., enjoyed a long and multi-faceted career with UCA, as a coach, administrator and public address announcer, as well as earning a pair of degrees from the institution. He will join the Hall with a much-deserved meritorious service distinction.