Posted: February 15, 2024
The New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame held a formal press conference on Saturday morning, February 10th, at the Albuquerque Convention Center to announce the Class of 2023 inductees. The New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame welcomes George Brooks, Amber Campbell, Charlie Criss, Larry Hays, Jim Marshall, Frank Maestas, Glover Quin, and Klaus Weber to the class of 2023.
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 – George’s 2004 men’s ski team is the only men’s NCAA Division One champions ever 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. www.nmshof.org/GeorgeBrooks
Amber Campbell – is a three-time USA Olympian in the hammer throw. At Coastal Carolina University, Amber was a five-time NCAA All-American (Weight Throw, Hammer Throw, Shot Put, & Discus). She won eleven national track titles and was a two-time Pan American Games Medalist. www.nmshof.org/AmberCampbell
Charlie Criss – One of the greatest New Mexico State Aggie basketball players. Charlie 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 would play 418 games over eight seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, San Diego Clippers, and Milwaukee Bucks. www.nmshof.org/CharlieCriss
Larry Hays– The Dora, New Mexico native, who has two degrees from Eastern New Mexico University, has become 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. His college baseball teams have won over 1500 games, which made him the fourth baseball coach in NCAA history to reach that milestone. 47 years after starting to coach, he is still a head coach, currently leading the Colorado College Softball team.
Jim Marshall – Jim coached for 42 years – 4 years in high school, 27 years at New Mexico Highlands University, and 11 years at College of the Southwest. His teams won 619 college baseball games. His 1967 Cowboys team won the NAIA National Baseball Championship. www.nmshof.org/JimMarshall
Frank Maestas – Frank Maestas was a pioneer for Hispanics in journalism in general and sports journalism, as 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. His feature articles brought tremendous pride and a sense of accomplishment to numerous New Mexico families and communities. www.nmshof.org/FrankMaestas
Glover Quin – Glover is one of the best Lobo players in the storied history of UNM football. In 2008, Glover was the MVP of the University of New Mexico football team, only the second defensive player named the team’s MVP; the other was Brian Urlacher. Quin was a first-team All-Mountain West Conference player. He started 162 of 165 games over ten seasons in the NFL for the Houston Texans & Detroit Lions. He was an All-Pro in 2014. www.nmshof.org/GloverQuin
Klaus Weber – He came to the University of New Mexico in 1976 to be the cross-country ski coach. Klaus has coached soccer, tennis, and skiing in over 2,500 games between high school, club, and college. He also played in about 1,000 soccer games. He competed in his last “over-forty” soccer match at the age of sixty-six. www.nmshof.org/KlausWeber
The New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame celebrates 50 years of inducting the greatest coaches and athletes in New Mexico history. The first Induction Banquet was on March 5, 1974.
The Class of 2023 will induct the Elite Eight at the Induction Banquet on June 23rd 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 1000 attendees. The 1974 Induction Banquet was the largest, and it had just under 1000 attendees.
Since it is our 50 Anniversary, the board has decided to have an early bird ticket special – $50 per person and $500 per table of ten until March 31st. The tickets will go $75 on April 1st and $100 on May 15th.
Please join us in honoring our New Mexico Sports Heroes.
For more information and updates on the candidates, inductees, partnership opportunities, and event information, please visit the updated New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame Website at www.nmshof.org.
For More New México News: ElSemanarioOnline.com
