Dr. Ginny Hunt (middle) and Shannon Butler will be inducted into the Big Sky Hall of Fame this summer
Track Star Shannon Butler and Long-Time Administrator Ginny Hunt Earn Induction into Big Sky Hall of Fame in July
3/30/2023 3:30:00 PM | General, Men's Track and Field
Butler won two national championships in the Blue and Gold, while Hunt brought structure, opportunity and success for women student-athletes at MSU
BOZEMAN, Montana – The Big Sky Conference will honor two Bobcats legends this summer when it inducts Shannon Butler and Dr. Ginny Hunt into the league's Hall of Fame on July 22 in Spokane, Washington.
Part of the Big Sky Summer Kickoff event that includes media sessions and conference meetings that kick off the 2023 football season, the Big Sky Hall of Fame welcomes 14 new inductees in its second class. Butler was a two-time national champion distance runner for the Bobcats and won 12 Big Sky Conference championships during his three years at MSU after transferring to his home state from Auburn. The Eureka, Montana, product captured the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meter titles at the 1991 conference outdoor meet in Bozeman, becoming to first to accomplish that rare triple.
Hunt came to Montana State as the university's first Director of Women's Athletics in 1977. She upgraded both the quality and amount of opportunities for female athletes at MSU while serving in national leadership capacities in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) and later the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). She was AIAW president-elect when that organization was folded into the NCAA. As one measure of her success, she was one of 250 fans in attendance at her first women's basketball game at MSU but her last one saw the Bobcats beat Montana in front of more than 5,000 fans to claim the program's first Big Sky Championship. Hunt participated in field hockey, basketball and volleyball at Wooster, earning an advanced degree at Iowa. She passed away in 2022 at the age of 86.
Butler and Hunt join a dozen other members of the second class of Big Sky Hall of Fame inductees. Other inductees are: Archie Amerson, Football, Northern Arizona (1995-96); Lindsey Anderson, Track & Field, Weber State (2004-07); Geronne Black, Track & Field, Portland State (2010-13); Shannon Butler, Cross Country/Track & Field, Montana State (1989-91); Debby Colberg, Volleyball Coach/Administrator, Sacramento State (1976-07); Kim Exner, Volleyball, Eastern Washington (1995-98); Chick Hislop, Cross Country/Track & Field Coach, Weber State (1969-06); Margarita Karnaukhova, Women's Tennis, Sacramento State (2003-06); Larry Krystkowiak, Men's Basketball, Montana (1982-86); Jamie Martin, Football, Weber State (1989-92); Charles Roberts, Football, Sacramento State (1997-00); Michael Roos, Football, Eastern Washington (2001-04); Ron Stephenson, Big Sky Commissioner (1981-95).
The 2023 Big Sky Football Kickoff Weekend is set to take place on July 22-24, with the festivities located at the Northern Quest Resort & Casino in Spokane, Washington. This marks the fifth consecutive year for the in-person event in the Inland Northwest, thanks in part to an ongoing partnership with the Spokane Sports Commission. The 2023 Big Sky Hall of Fame banquet again opens festivities for the Big Sky Football Kickoff Weekend, as the ceremony will be held on Saturday, July 22, at 6:30 p.m. PT. Media Day on Monday, July 24, features over four hours of coverage and interviews live from Northern Quest, beginning at 9 a.m. PT on ESPN+. Big Sky reporter Alex Eschelman will talk with the head coaches and student-athletes from the conference's 12 football teams as well as Commissioner Tom Wistrcill and other special guests, all of whom will be available for others to interview throughout that day as well.
More details about the Kickoff, including the Youth Clinic and Big Sky U programming for current Big Sky football assistant coaches who aspire to become head coaches, will be released at a later date. In 2022 a league-record six football teams finished the year ranked in the Top 25. The conference matched its previous high for FCS Playoff teams in one season, set in 2021, with another five squads being selected to the 24-team field, and attracted ESPN College GameDay to a conference campus for the first time when it visited Montana State on November 19.
#GoCatsGo
Part of the Big Sky Summer Kickoff event that includes media sessions and conference meetings that kick off the 2023 football season, the Big Sky Hall of Fame welcomes 14 new inductees in its second class. Butler was a two-time national champion distance runner for the Bobcats and won 12 Big Sky Conference championships during his three years at MSU after transferring to his home state from Auburn. The Eureka, Montana, product captured the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meter titles at the 1991 conference outdoor meet in Bozeman, becoming to first to accomplish that rare triple.
Hunt came to Montana State as the university's first Director of Women's Athletics in 1977. She upgraded both the quality and amount of opportunities for female athletes at MSU while serving in national leadership capacities in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) and later the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). She was AIAW president-elect when that organization was folded into the NCAA. As one measure of her success, she was one of 250 fans in attendance at her first women's basketball game at MSU but her last one saw the Bobcats beat Montana in front of more than 5,000 fans to claim the program's first Big Sky Championship. Hunt participated in field hockey, basketball and volleyball at Wooster, earning an advanced degree at Iowa. She passed away in 2022 at the age of 86.
Butler and Hunt join a dozen other members of the second class of Big Sky Hall of Fame inductees. Other inductees are: Archie Amerson, Football, Northern Arizona (1995-96); Lindsey Anderson, Track & Field, Weber State (2004-07); Geronne Black, Track & Field, Portland State (2010-13); Shannon Butler, Cross Country/Track & Field, Montana State (1989-91); Debby Colberg, Volleyball Coach/Administrator, Sacramento State (1976-07); Kim Exner, Volleyball, Eastern Washington (1995-98); Chick Hislop, Cross Country/Track & Field Coach, Weber State (1969-06); Margarita Karnaukhova, Women's Tennis, Sacramento State (2003-06); Larry Krystkowiak, Men's Basketball, Montana (1982-86); Jamie Martin, Football, Weber State (1989-92); Charles Roberts, Football, Sacramento State (1997-00); Michael Roos, Football, Eastern Washington (2001-04); Ron Stephenson, Big Sky Commissioner (1981-95).
The 2023 Big Sky Football Kickoff Weekend is set to take place on July 22-24, with the festivities located at the Northern Quest Resort & Casino in Spokane, Washington. This marks the fifth consecutive year for the in-person event in the Inland Northwest, thanks in part to an ongoing partnership with the Spokane Sports Commission. The 2023 Big Sky Hall of Fame banquet again opens festivities for the Big Sky Football Kickoff Weekend, as the ceremony will be held on Saturday, July 22, at 6:30 p.m. PT. Media Day on Monday, July 24, features over four hours of coverage and interviews live from Northern Quest, beginning at 9 a.m. PT on ESPN+. Big Sky reporter Alex Eschelman will talk with the head coaches and student-athletes from the conference's 12 football teams as well as Commissioner Tom Wistrcill and other special guests, all of whom will be available for others to interview throughout that day as well.
More details about the Kickoff, including the Youth Clinic and Big Sky U programming for current Big Sky football assistant coaches who aspire to become head coaches, will be released at a later date. In 2022 a league-record six football teams finished the year ranked in the Top 25. The conference matched its previous high for FCS Playoff teams in one season, set in 2021, with another five squads being selected to the 24-team field, and attracted ESPN College GameDay to a conference campus for the first time when it visited Montana State on November 19.
#GoCatsGo
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