New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame adds 8 – Rio Rancho Observer

ALBUQUERQUE — The New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2023 inductees on Feb. 10. They are George Brooks, Amber Campbell, Charlie Criss, Larry Hays, Jim Marshall, Frank Maestas, Glover Quin and Klaus Weber.

These athletes and coaches have had significant careers, achieving high standards of athletic success and/or made contributions to sports, thereby bestowing fame and honor to the State of New Mexico.

George Brooks: His 2004 UNM men’s ski team is the only men’s NCAA Division 1 champions in New Mexico in any sport. In 1970, George approached UNM about making skiing an intercollegiate sport. As a result, he became the university’s head coach at the age of twenty. He would be the coach for the next 37 years.

Amber Campbell: Campbell was a three-time USA Olympian in the hammer throw. At Coastal Carolina University, Amber was a five-time NCAA All-American, and won 11 national track titles and was a two-time Pan American Games medalist.

Charlie Criss: One of the greatest New Mexico State Aggie basketball players. Criss was the first Aggie named an All-American. He was the third leading scorer and top in assists for the 1970 Final Four NMSU team. He entered the NBA in 1977 as the league’s shortest active player at 5-8. He played 418 games over eight seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, San Diego Clippers, and Milwaukee Bucks.

Larry Hays: The Dora, N.M., native, has two degrees from Eastern New Mexico University and became a legend in the college baseball and softball ranks. He spent 22 seasons with the Texas Tech Red Raiders as their head baseball coach, winning more than 800 games and having his number retired.

Jim Marshall: Marshall coached for 42 years, including 27 years at New Mexico Highlands University; his teams won 619 college baseball games. His 1967 Cowboys team, which included the late Phil Schroer of Rio Rancho, won the NAIA national baseball championship.

Frank Maestas: A pioneer for Hispanics in journalism in general and sports journalism, he was one of the first Latino sports writers in the nation back in the 1960’s. He was a sportswriter for the Albuquerque Journal for 28 years.

Glover Quin: Quin was the MVP of the 2008 UNM football team, and only the second defensive player named the team’s MVP, and a first-team All-Mountain West Conference player. He started 162 of 165 games over 10 seasons in the NFL for the Houston Texans & Detroit Lions.

Klaus Weber: Weber came to UNM in 1976 to be the cross-country ski coach. Klaus has coached soccer, tennis, and skiing in over 2,500 games among high school, club and college. He also played in about 1,000 soccer games. He competed in his last “over-40” soccer match at the age of 66.

The Class of 2023 will induct the Elite Eight at the Induction Banquet on June 23 during the Induction Celebration Weekend. The Induction Banquet will be at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

One of the primary goals is to make this year’s Induction banquet the largest ever. There have never been more than 1,000 attendees. The 1974 Induction Banquet was the largest, and it had just under 1,000 attendees.

Early bird tickets cost $50 per person and $500 per table of 10 until March 31. The tickets will go to $75 on April 1 and to $100 on May 15. (nmshof.org)