Chico State’s history will come to the forefront as the Chico State Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2018 will be inducted at the Bell Memorial Union September 22 at 5:30pm.

This year’s class is made up of eight former athletes that span five decades and six sports.

This year’s inductees are Nick Bryant, David Burton, Leondra May Dodge, Art Hickey, Kristi Johnson, Mark C. Lord, John Oldemeyer and Jami ‘JR’ Roberts.

Including the athletes mentioned above, the Hall is also recognizing Mark Reischling with the Mac Martin Award. This award is reserved for former Chico State student-athletes who have distinguished his or herself in their post-collegiate career by bringing honor to the University, community and their vocation.

Along with the inductees and the Mac Martin award winner, there is also a team that will be recognized for their performance. This year’s squad is the 1973-1976 Chico State men’s swimming team.

Nick Bryant

Nick Bryant was a right-handed pitcher for the Chico State baseball team from 2004-2007.

Bryant still holds two program records in strikeouts. He still has the most career postseason strikeouts with 44 and single season postseason strikeouts with 26.

David Burton

Burton was a track and field athlete in 1992 and 1993.

Burton is best known for winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association title in the decathlon in 1993. He was also the Northern California Athletic Conference Male Track and Field of the year in 1992 and he was a three-time conference champion.

Leondra May Dodge

Dodge played for Chico State’s women’s soccer team from 1987-1990.

In her senior year, Dodge led the team to their most victories and best winning percentage in program history. Dodge was also a First-Team All-American, a two-time All-West Region selection and a four-time All-Conference choice.

Art Hickey

Hickey swam with the Chico men’s swimming team from 1975-1978 and was a three-time NCAA champion.

Hickey helped the Wildcats claim two NCAA team titles with 12 All-America finishes, nine of them coming in individual events and the other three coming in relay events.

Kristi Johnson

Johnson competed in women’s track and field in 1999 and 2000.

Johnson still holds the Chico State record in the javelin. Her throw of 149 feet and 3 inches is still standing after 19 years.

Along with her record breaking throw Johnson was also a four-time All-California Collegiate Athletic Association athlete.

Mark C. Lord

Lord competed in men’s swimming in 1975 and 1976. He is best known for breaking the NCAA record in the 200-yard breaststroke in 1975 and then breaking his own record in the same event in 1976.

John Oldemeyer

John Oldemeyer competed in two sports for the Wildcats, the first being men’s tennis from 1961-1964 and then men’s soccer in 1964 and 1965.

Oldemeyer helped Chico State claim the 1964 Far Western Conference title in tennis while also being the singles champion.

Oldemeyer is also credited with forming the men’s soccer team in their first two seasons while primarily playing left wing.

Jami ‘JR’ Roberts

Roberts was a multi-sport athlete playing softball from 1996-1999 and women’s soccer in 1995.

In softball Roberts received two-time All-American honors, was named a three-time All-West Region selection and was a four-time All-Conference selection.

By the time Roberts retired she held nine Wildcat records in softball and to this day she remains in the top 10 in 10 different categories.

Mac Martin Award Winner Mark Reischling

Reischling played men’s basketball at Chico State from 1966-1969, but is better known for being an NCAA referee from 1976-2011.

Reischling mainly officiated games in the NCAA’s Pacific-10 conference, but regularly officiated games at Universities like Notre Dame and North Carolina.

Team Recognition: 1973-1976 Men’s Swimming Team

From 1973-1976 the men’s swimming team won all four of their men’s NCAA division III titles.

With the help of two of this years hall of fame inductees, Hickey and Lord, and Head Coach Ernie Maglischo, the Wildcats had their most successful team of men’s swimmers.

As of right now there is a wait list for the event. To get on the list you must call the athletic department. The tickets are on sale for 50 dollars each and the deadline to RSVP is September 7.

Andrew Baumgartner can be reached at [email protected] or @abaum94 on Twitter.