Submitted by Saint Martin’s University
Eight Saint Martin’s alumni who have made outstanding contributions to the Saint Martin’s athletic program will be inducted into the Saint Martin’s Athletic Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor Saturday, Feb. 11, as part of the University’s Homecoming 2017 festivities for alumni.
The Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor Celebration is an annual tradition at Homecoming, which brings together alumni of Saint Martin’s High School, College and University.
The 27th Hall of Fame/Hall of Honor ceremony and celebration begins at 3:30 p.m. at the University’s Norman Worthington Conference Center, 5300 Pacific Ave. SE. To register or for more information, please go to https://www.stmartin.edu/alumni-and-friends/news-and-events/homecoming
Saint Martin’s College/University Hall of Fame Honorees
Gerritt Eades – Men’s basketball, 1998-2002
Gerritt Eades compiled 1,525 points during his Saint Martin’s University career, ranking him 6th all-time at Saint Martin’s. He made 18-32 field goals, and in one game against Alaska-Anchorage in 2002, scored 46 points, a Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) record. He ranks 14th all-time in the conference in points scored and field goals made. Eades averaged 14.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in 106 games during his career; he shot 45.6 percent from the field, 35.6 percent from the three-point line and 80 percent from the free-throw line. He had 15 career double-doubles, and in 2001, was named to the Second Team All-GNAC and Third Team Little All-Northwest.
Blake Poole – Men’s basketball, 2007-2011
Blake Poole was a five-time GNAC Player of the Week and was named GNAC Player of the Year in 2011. He also was honored as GNAC’s Freshman of the Year in 2008, and was named GNAC All-Conference First Team in both 2010 and 2011. Poole recorded 53 double-doubles and had seven 30-point games during his career. In the 2008-2009 season, Poole ranked 27th in scoring and sixth in rebounds nationally. In 2010-2011, he was second in rebounds. He was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ First Team and the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division II Bulletin Third Team in 2011. That same season, he was chosen for the Coaches’ All-West Region First Team. He was also picked as a member of the Sports Information Directors’ All-West Region Team and holds the individual conference game record in rebounds, with 24, as well as the career record in offensive rebounds with 229 and total rebounds with 662.
Jill Jensen-Webb – Women’s soccer, 2008-2011
Jill Jensen-Webb played three years at Saint Martin’s, where she was named Most Valuable Player, First Team All-League and Second Team All-Regional as a sophomore. In 2008, she ranked nationally, placing 25th in points, 28th in points-per-game and 24th in assists-per-game. She was a four-time GNAC Player of the Week, and was honored by GNAC with the Newcomer of the Year Award in 2008 and Player of the Year Award in 2010. Jensen-Webb was a three-time GNAC All-Conference member and the only three-time winner in Saint Martin’s history. She also was a two-time GNAC All-Academic winner and holds GNAC records in multi-point games in a season (seven) and career (18), along with multi-goal games in a season (five) and career (11). Her GNAC records also include goals scored in three years, with 39. She is ranked seventh overall in GNAC history. Her Saint Martin’s career spanned 56 games, in which she had 23 assists and racked up 101 points for a 1.80 average, a GNAC record.
Dara Zack – Women’s basketball, 2007-2011
Dara Zack has a special place in Saint Martin’s history, both as the women’s leading scorer, with 1,503 points, and as the leading rebounder, with 831 rebounds. She also is first in field-goal percentage for a career at .474, and, in GNAC history, ranks seventh in rebounding. Zack was a three-time Academic All-Conference selection and a 2009 CoSIDA Academic All-West Region honoree. She was selected First-Team All-Conference in 2009 and 2011, and was named GNAC Player of the Week twice.
Saint Martin’s High School Hall of Fame
Mike Danford – Wrestling, 1968-1972
In four years, Mike Danford posted a record of 72-9-1 and, as a freshman, won the city championship. He won the state championship at 136 lbs. as a sophomore, and was the first wrestler in Saint Martin’s history to bring home a first-place medal. As a junior, he took second in the state. Following his junior season, he was chosen to wrestle on the area’s All-Star Team against a Japanese cultural exchange team touring Washington. He went undefeated through the regular season as a senior, advancing to the state championships for the fourth year in a row. Danford was co-captain of his team in 1971-72, and was three times the recipient of his team’s Most Valuable Player Award. During his senior year, he also served as acting head coach.
Joe Monroe – basketball, baseball and football, 1964-1968
Joe Monroe was a valued member of the basketball and baseball team. During his junior year, he also was quarterback for the football team. That season, he led the Central League in basketball, scoring 199 points, and helped his team win the league in football with a 6-0-1 record. In basketball, he topped off his senior year by finishing third in the conference, with 186 points in basketball. During high school, he also was class secretary his senior year, M-Club vice president for two years and a member of the school band.
Monty Walker – coach of football and track, 1960-1969
Monty Walker coached and also taught at Saint Martin’s from 1960 through 1969. He coached basketball for two years, and football and track for nine. He also founded the school’s wrestling program during his tenure. In 1965, the high school’s football team he coached went undefeated and was ranked first in the state. Coach Walker was seldom without a stopwatch and whistle around his neck. Sportsmanship and humility were expected and taught by Coach Walker throughout his career.
Saint Martin’s Hall of Honor
Bob Whitney ’71
Bob Whitney entered Saint Martin’s as a freshman in 1967, the same year the Pavilion opened, and has long been a stalwart supporter of Saints Athletics. Before graduating, he attended many basketball games, something he kept doing after graduation. He served as a scorekeeper during the Coach Dick Kaufman era until he moved to Bellingham. In 1976, he returned to the area when his first wife, Eileen, was asked to start the women’s basketball program at Saint Martin’s College. He became an assistant coach. His affiliation with the University spans many areas, and includes membership on the Hall of Fame selection committee. For 20 years, he has been a volunteer driver for athletes. He also has served as Saint Martin’s Athletic Foundation vice president. Whitney has continued to attend nearly all home basketball games, both men’s and women’s, and many away-games. His support for Saints Athletics does not stop at basketball. He is a regular at many other University sporting events and at the annual Saint Martin’s Golf Classic each summer.
Saint Martin’s University is an independent, four-year, coeducational university located on a wooded campus of more than 300 acres in Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of Saint Benedict, the University is one of 14 Benedictine colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s University prepares students for successful lives through its 25 majors and seven graduate programs spanning the liberal arts, business, education, nursing and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes more than 1,243 undergraduate students and 277 graduate students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its Lacey campus, and 350 more students to its extended campus at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Visit the Saint Martin’s University website at www.stmartin.edu.
