Post by Admin on Sept 21, 2021 8:45:33 GMT -5
Western Carolina today proudly announced the selection of three for induction into its Athletics Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2021. Football student-athlete alum Harvey Walker (1969-71; 1975-76), baseball's Paul Menhart (1988-90), and Gerald Austin (1964-69), a two-time WCU graduate and well-known football official have each been selected as the 32nd class inducted into the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame.
Harvey Walker (1969-71; 1975-76) remains one of the greatest athletes to have ever graced the football field at Western Carolina University as his name continues to adorn many of the single-season and career charts in the program's defensive record books. His outstanding playing career spans seven total years, interrupted by three years of military service in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War.
Paul Menhart (1988-90, 2003-05) was a prominent member of the Catamount baseball pitching staff for three seasons from 1988-90 who went on to be drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the eighth round of the 1990 MLB draft. He progressed to the Majors in 1995 and pitched for three different MLB teams including Toronto, the Seattle Mariners (1996) and the San Diego Padres (1997). After retiring as a player, Menhart later returned to WCU to complete his degree and serve as an assistant coach from 2003-05, embarking on a coaching career that landed him a World Series ring in 2019.
Earning an honorary induction as a part of this year's induction class, Dr. Gerald Austin (1964-69) compiled quite the career as a sports official, primarily in football where he worked for 26 years in the National Football League (NFL). Beginning in 1982, Austin worked 525 career games including 23 playoff games with three conference championships and three Super Bowls – XXIV, XXXI, and XXXV. Perhaps the most famous game Austin worked was a game later known as "The Comeback" – the 1993 AFC Wild Card game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers, which the Bills rallied to win 41-38 after trailing 35-3 in the third quarter.