EKU Athletics Hall of Fame

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University inducted seven distinguished individuals and a team of distinction into its Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday.
 
The 2023 induction class includes: David Bootcheck (men's basketball, 1976-80), Lori Duncan (volleyball, 1980-2018), Lydia Kosgei (cross country/track, 2010-12), Bernadette Kok (volleyball/women's basketball, 1972-76), Bruce Oldendick (golf, 1984-87), Kelly Swanson Saenz (softball, 1997-00), David Wilkins (football, 1988-91) and the 1971-72 men's basketball team.
 
The group was also recognized at halftime of the Colonels' football game against Southeast Missouri.
 
For more information about the EKU Athletics Hall of Fame, please contact Karl Park, Executive Director of the EKU Athletics Hall of Fame, at karl.park@eku.edu.

Here are the biographies for the 2023 induction class:
 
David Bootcheck (men's basketball, 1976-80)
Bootcheck played four seasons (1976-1980) for the EKU basketball team.  He began his career in style, averaging a team-best 19.7 points and leading the conference in rebounds with his 11 per game as a freshman while being named first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference.  He also finished that first year in the OVC's top 10 in field goal percentage (.533) and free throw percentage (.760).  Bootcheck scored less than 10 points just once his freshman year.  He scored 23 points and hauled in 13 rebounds in his first collegiate game against 20th ranked UNC Charlotte, playing opposite All-American and future Boston Celtics star Cedric 'Cornbread' Maxwell.  Bootcheck finished his first year as the fourth-highest scoring freshman in the country, topping such players as Louisville's Darrell Griffith and Indiana's Mike Woodson.  As a sophomore and a junior, he averaged 10.3 points and six rebounds, and 6.8 points and 5.4 rebounds while battling through injuries.  The Colonels won the OVC in 1978-79 and played in the NCAA Tournament, losing to Tennessee 97-81.  During his senior, with Turk Tillman and guards Tommy Baker and Bruce Jones providing the scoring punch, Bootcheck contributed 8.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.  For his EKU career, he is the 29th all-time scorer with 1,130 points and the 11th all-time rebounder with 728 boards.  Bootcheck postponed his business career for one year to play professional basketball for a team based in Luxembourg, averaging 30 points and 15 rebounds.  Bootcheck has worked for two major oil companies over 35 years – 25 for Shell Oil and 10 years for Chevron – where his job title was lead business development specialist.
 
Lori Duncan (volleyball, 1980-2018)
Duncan was connected with EKU athletics for nearly 30 years both as a volleyball player and volleyball coach.  She was a four-time All-Ohio Valley Conference selection from 1980-83; an OVC All-Tournament Team honoree in 1983; and an All-AIAW choice in 1980 as an outside hitter playing for legendary Hall of Fame coach Geri Polvino.  Duncan was chosen as EKU's Female Athlete of the Year in 1984 and won team awards for Best All-Around Player and Best Defensive Player following her senior year.  She still sits third among all EKU volleyball athletes with a .271 career hitting percentage.  Following an ACL knee injury her senior year, she had played two matches too many to get redshirted, her playing career ended.  Duncan began her coaching career at Penn State – McKeesport where she served as women's and men's head volleyball coach.  While at PSUM, she compiled a 78-14 record with the women's team.  Her best season there was in 1991-92 as PSUM won the Penn State Commonwealth Athletic Conference title.  Duncan led her Junior Olympic volleyball teams to the East Coast Championship for three straight years.  Her overall Junior Olympic coaching record was a very impressive 226-66.  She would return to EKU as head coach of the Colonels in 1998, inheriting a team ranked last in the OVC.  Duncan captured consecutive OVC regular season titles in 2004 and 2005.  The Colonels won the conference tournament title in 2004 earing the automatic berth to the NCAA national tournament.  She was named OVC Coach of the Year that year as the Colonels compiled the program's second highest single season winning percentage with their outstanding 27-5 record.  During her tenure at EKU she won 272 matches, coached six first-team All-OVC selections, two All-AVCA All-Region players and one All-American.
 
Bernadette Kok (volleyball/women's basketball, 1972-76)
'Bernie' Kok played four years for the EKU volleyball team and four seasons for the basketball team between 1972-76.  Before coming to EKU, her experience in basketball included competing in AAU basketball leagues in eighth and ninth grade since there was no high school Kentucky state basketball championship for girls.  In Kok's first season of volleyball, the Colonels finished 20-8 and she was the first substitute off the bench in her first year of competitive volleyball.  The team won its second consecutive Kentucky Women's Intercollegiate (KWIC) title, going undefeated in league play while winning the regional to advance to the AIAW national tournament.  In her freshman season of basketball, Kok started and led the team to the KWIC title, mirroring volleyball's undefeated slate against league foes.  EKU defeated Louisville, Georgetown and Murray to advance to the AIAW national tourney.  Kok led the team in scoring versus Louisville with 29 points and against Murray State with 18.  She also led the team in scoring in EKU's loss to South Carolina with 17 points.  Her sophomore season saw Kok gain a starting spot as EKU produced a 26-4 record and won its third consecutive KWIC crown.  The Colonels defeated Louisville, Bellarmine, Murray State and Kentucky on their way to the title, dominating Kentucky 15-3 and 15-5 in the championship game.  EKU placed third in the AIAW Regional tourney.  In her sophomore season in basketball, she was named as an Outstanding College Athlete of America for basketball, an award she also achieved in volleyball.  EKU again won the KWIC tourney, advancing to the AIAW Regional tournament where the Colonels went 2-2.  Kok's junior season in volleyball produced a third KWIC crown and second consecutive AIAW region championship, finishing with a 30-11 record.  EKU competed that season in the AIAW national tourney in Portland, Oregon.  In basketball, she led the Colonels to a fourth straight KWIC title, defeating Kentucky twice in the tournament.  Kok had 25 points, 17 rebounds in the first win over Kentucky and 23 points, 11 rebounds in the second matchup with UK.  Her senior season in volleyball and basketball was a "rinse and repeat" of the previous three years – KWIC titles in both sports and AIAW Regional crowns in both sports.  Following her senior year in basketball, she was named the 1975-76 College Athlete of the Year in the state by the Louisville Area Chamber of Commerce, averaging 16.7 points and 13.4 rebounds that season.  In her four seasons of playing volleyball, EKU compiled a very impressive 165-41 record, won four KWIC titles, three AIAW Region II championships and advanced to the AIAW national tournament three times.  Kok's basketball teams were 61-19 won four straight KWIC titles and competed in four AIAW Regional championships.  Upon graduation from EKU, Kok taught physical education and behavior disorders for 34 years in Kentucky.  She coached high school basketball for 22 years and high school volleyball for five years.  Kok's 1977-78 Betsy Layne High School basketball team went 26-2 and she was named Coach of the Year.
 
Lydia Kosgei (cross country/track, 2010-12)
Kosgei competed three seasons for coach Rick Erdmann's track and cross country programs.  She began her career by winning the 1,500-meter run at the Ohio Valley Conference outdoor championships.  Kosgei's career took off her sophomore year as she won the 2011 OVC cross country championship, was named Runner of the Year and Athlete of the Championship Meet.  During that stellar 2011 cross country season, she was a three-time winner of the OVC Cross Country Athlete of the Week and closed that season by finishing 37th at the NCAA national meet with a time of 20:27.7.  During her cross country career, Kosgei was a part of three OVC titles.  In both 2011 and 2012, she was named OVC Indoor Athlete of the Year by winning the mile run both years in addition to taking the 800-meter run and the 3000-meter run in 2012.  Kosgei was selected as the Champion of the Meet MVP at the conference indoor meet in 2012.  Her outdoor highlights included winning the 1500-meter run in both 2010 and 2011.
 
Bruce Oldendick (golf, 1984-87)
Oldendick played four seasons of golf at EKU from 1984 to 1987.  He enjoyed an outstanding career, leading the Colonels to three straight Ohio Valley Conference team titles from 1984 to 1986.  He was chosen as the OVC Golfer of the Year in 1985 and 1986, when he was medalist for those conference tournaments.  Oldendick was also runner up at the 1987 OVC Tournament and was a three-year selection on the All-OVC Tournament team from 1985 to 1987.  After graduation, Oldendick continued to play golf at a high level, winning the Kentucky State Amateur, the Kentucky State 2-Man Amateur, the 1995 and 1997 Pro-President and the 2009 Kentucky Pro-Match Play event.  He is the only player to win three consecutive Northern Kentucky Men's Amateur Championships.  Oldendick has won Kentucky PGA Player of the Year honors four times – including 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.  In 2022, he won eight tournaments – the Kentucky Senior Open, the Kentucky Senior Match Play event, the Kentucky Golf House Classic No. 2, the 2x2 Pro Am, the Titleist and Footjoy Team championships and the Kentucky Senior PGA Championship. During his golf career beginning at the age of 15, Oldendick has won more than 140 tournaments, has set three course records and has recorded 19 holes in one.  Oldendick serves as the pro at the Pendleton Hills Country Club. 
 
Kelly Swanson Saenz (softball, 1997-00)
Saenz played four seasons (1997-2000) for coach Jane Worthington's softball team.  Her best season came in 1998 when she hit .416 with 17 doubles, 12 home runs and 46 RBIs.  That season, she was ranked 20th in the nation in home runs, was chosen first team All-Ohio Valley Conference and picked as the OVC Player of the Year.  Saenz's career totals were 197 hits, 18 home runs, 99 RBIs and a .321 batting average.  Following her graduation, she remained in athletics, specifically coaching softball.  Saenz started the softball program at Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas and stayed there for two seasons before being named head coach in 2004 at San Jacinto College where she still serves.  Her SJC teams had compiled more than 600 victories in this 19-year period.  Saenz was inducted into the Manitoba Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Canadian Softball Hall of Fame in 2015.  She has led San Jacinto to five NJCAA national tournaments with her team's top finish of third coming in 2021.  Saenz has coached 81 all-conference players, 72 all-region players, 13 NFCA All-Americans, three NJCAA All-Americans among other Players of the Year and Pitchers of the Year.  She has also coached numerous players who were named to regional and national all-academic teams.  In 2012 Saenz was named athletics director for the SJC South Campus where she was able to improve the soccer and softball programs, along with increasing scholarships across all sports.  Saenz has also volunteered in her community with many projects and camps for kids and youth, including aiding in the Hurricane Laura relief donations for Louisiana in 2020. 
 
David Wilkins (football, 1988-91)
Wilkins played four seasons at defensive end for coach Roy Kidd's Colonels.  He came to EKU out of Aiken High School in Cincinnati where he gained all-city, all-conference, and all-state honors in football and served as captain for his Aiken High School basketball team.  After being redshirted as a freshman in 1987, Wilkins had 42 total tackles in 1988.  He was voted co-MVP for the Colonel defense his redshirt sophomore year when he posted 33 tackles, 46 assists and six sacks.  During his junior and senior seasons he was an honorable mention All-America choice and first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference pick both years.  As a junior, while serving as one of the team's co-captains, he collected 16 tackles for loss, nine sacks and 87 total tackles.  As a senior in 1991, he had 82 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 12 sacks leading the Colonels to the semifinals of the I-AA playoffs.  Wilkins was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as a free agent in 1992 and was part of that team that lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC championship game.  After being released by the 49ers in 1993, he was in the Falcons and the Cardinals camps in 1994.  Wilkins went to Europe and was on the World Championship team in 1995 with Frankfurt, Germany.  He was part of the Indianapolis Colts camp in 1995 and 1996 before being released.  In 1996, Wilkins suffered two injuries that curtailed his career – hypertension in his left knee and torn triceps.  At the time of induction, Wilkins was the vice president of the Cincinnati chapter of the NFL Players Association and a real estate investor who helps people with life Insurance annuities, wills, and trust estate planning. 
 
1971-72 EKU Men's Basketball Team (Team of Distinction)
The 1971-72 Colonels formed a special team that many fans remember as one of this university's most exciting.  This team, coached by Hall of Famer Guy Strong, was a home-grown team with four of the five starters hailing from Kentucky, including EKU Hall of Fame selections George Bryant (Burnside) and Charlie Mitchell (Louisville Seneca); the heart and soul of the team point guard Billy Burton from Louisville's Pleasure Ridge Park who played the game with passion; and dependable power forward Daryl Dunagan (Mill Spring).  The other starter was 6-foot-11 center Dan Argabright who came to EKU from Indiana.  This team had an impressive in-season tournament championship when it went to Oklahoma City and won the All-College Classic with wins over Texas Tech, Santa Clara and Oklahoma City.  In one of its most outstanding games of the season, the regular season finale in Alumni Coliseum before a standing room only crowd of 8,400, EKU destroyed Morehead State 121-91 as Bryant led the way with 39 points followed closely by Mitchell with 36.  After gaining a share of the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title, the Colonels defeated Morehead State 98-86 in Frankfort's Sports Center for the right to represent EKU in the NCAA Tournament.  As it turned out, the Colonels faced one of the first round's toughest teams in Florida State, but EKU battled the Seminoles to the end before losing 83-81.