ARCATA — Memorable performances have earned six former Humboldt State student-athletes induction into the university’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
Softball players B.J. Helfrich-Heilmann and Christen Hardee, and track and field athlete Keeta Zimmerman-Duke will represent the women’s athletics program, while football players Carl Posey and Rex Chappell, and track and field standout Dutcher Yerton are the men’s honorees.
This year’s class will be formally inducted during a banquet held Friday in the Kate Buchanan room on campus, and will also be introduced at halftime of Saturday’s homecoming football game against Southern Oregon.
Following are brief biographies of the inductees.
Rex Chappell
Rex Chappell excelled on the football field, earning all-Far Western Conference and Little All Coast team selection as a linebacker in 1964. As a player, Chappell helped the Jacks to the Far West Conference title in 1963, and as a Lumberjack coach from 1967-75, he helped the Jacks claim another league title in 1968 and the Camellia Bowl championship.
Chappell eventually became head coach at Sierra College in Rocklin, a position he held for 21 years. During his tenure, Sierra College claimed two league championships and consistently finished among the top three teams. He was named Bay Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 1990, and also served as Golden Valley Conference president for eight years.
Chappell and his wife, Yvonne, raised three children, Stacey, Kelly and Matthew. His grandson, Brad Hunkins, completed his career as a standout football player for HSU in 2009, and currently serves as a Lumberjack student assistant coach.
Christen Hardee
Hardee, a member of the 1999 softball national championship team, called pitches from the bench and worked with the pitchers during that storied season. She worked her way into a starting catcher’s role,
receiving National Fastpitch Coaches Association all-region honors in 2001.
Hardee graduated from HSU with a 3.96 grade point average, and was a three-time Academic All-America honoree. She earned Environmental Science and Geology degrees at HSU, with a minor in watershed management.
This fall Hardee accepted a position as assistant softball coach at San Jose State University. She previously worked as a science teacher and was an assistant coach at San Joaquin Delta College in 2005 and at the College of the Redwoods for the 2004 season.
BJ Helfrich Heilmann
Helfrich was another key member of the 1999 championship softball team who earned distinction in the pitcher’s circle. First-team all-Northern California Athletic Conference and all-West Region awards were bestowed upon Helfrich, who is listed in the HSU record books in 13 separate pitching categories.
Among Helfrich’s accomplishments are 72 victories, and 428 career strikeouts. In four years she posted a 1.22 earned run average, shutting out opponents 19 times in 88 starts.
Upon graduating from HSU with her BA in Psychology and Minor in Business, Helfrich moved back to the East Bay, where she met and married Tim Heilmann. The couple resides in San Ramon with their children, Zachary, 2, and Kallie, 7 months.
Carl Posey
Carl Posey struck fear into the hearts of opposing quarterbacks during his two-year tenure as an HSU defensive lineman. From 1994-95, Posey controlled the line, amassing 34 tackles for lost yardage and 12.5 sacks.
His efforts earned Posey two all-conference first team selections, and he was also named a 1995 all-West Region player and honorable mention All-American.
Posey is currently in his sixth year as head coach at Silverado High School, and his team has won four league titles and reached the sectional semifinals twice.
He previously coached at Victor Valley College for two years. Posey and his wife Jessica have two children– daughter Camryn (9), and son Jarrod (7).
Dutch Yerton
Dutch Yerton, a Eureka native, emerged from one of the deepest packs of talented middle distance runners in HSU history to firmly establish his own legacy. Starting out as a freshman, Yerton worked his way to the front of the field by his senior year of 1997.
As a sophomore, Yerton brought home the 800 meters championship in the conference meet, held in Redwood Bowl. In the fall of 1994, another highlight came when Yerton qualified for the cross country national championships, stretching his middle-distance success into a tough 10-kilometers.
He completed his career on the track by gaining All-America status and racing the third-fastest 800 meters in Humboldt State history. Yerton had dominated the conference competition that year, qualifying for nationals in the 800 and 1,500 meters.
Yerton married former HSU cross country runner Carrie Kosky, and they live in Portland, Ore., where he works as an engineering manager for a performance team at Intel. The couple has two children, Mia, age 9, and Paige, 6.
Keeta Zimmerman Duke
Zimmerman burned up the track for the Lumberjacks during her career, anchoring the Lumberjacks’ record-setting 4x400 relay unit. She also was the key to the Jacks’ 4x100 squad that earned All-American honors in 1996.
A local athlete out of Eureka High, Zimmerman qualified for the national championships in the heptathlon in 1998, and was named Northern California Athletic Conference Female Athlete of the Year. She still holds the HSU women’s records for the long jump (18- 11 ½) and triple jump (37-10 ½).
Upon earning her BA in liberal studies from San Francisco State, Zimmerman moved on to Fresno State, where she earned an elementary teaching credential, with a supplementary credential in physical education. She and her husband, Daniel, recently relocated to Arcata, where they live with their daughters, Amara, 4, and Sydney, 20 months.