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 on Oct. 16 in the Kate Buchanan room on campus, and will also be introduced at halftime of the Oct. 17 homecoming football game against Southern Oregon. For information on attending, call 826-5959.
Hardee was a member of the 1999 softball national championship team, helping call pitches from the bench and working with the pitchers. 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.
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.
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. Zimmerman-Duke qualified for the national championships in the heptathlon in 1998, and was named NCAC 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).
Carl Posey struck fear into the hearts of opposing quarterback 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.
Dutch Yerton, a Eureka native like Zimmerman, 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
He completed his career on the track by gaining All-America status, racing the second-fastest 800 meters in Humboldt State history. The prior fall, Yerton had qualified for the cross country national championships, stretching his middle-distance success into a tough 10-kilometers.
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.