UNIVERSITY CENTER -- Saginaw Valley State University athletics has officially announced the Cardinal Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2017. This year's class, the eighth in the history since the inception, consists of four individuals and one team. Former players Jade Fulton and John Jacobs enter as student-athletes. Longtime SVSU Faculty Athletics Representative and professor George Eastland will be inducted as a contributor and former women's basketball head coach and student-athlete Claudette Charney will be entering as a coach. The 1979 GLIAC Championship Football Team will also be enshrined in this year's class.
Jade Fulton - Softball
Fulton, the 2011 SVSU Female Ryder Athlete of the Year, led the Cardinals to the NCAA Division II World Series, finishing in the semifinals after a historic run. She earned Daktronics, Inc. All-American Honorable Mention honors in 2011, also earning First Team All-Midwest Region plaudits. She was named the 2011 GLIAC Pitcher of the Year while racking-up an SVSU single season record 426 strikeouts. Fulton is the leader in career strikeouts (907), saves (19), appearances (139) and holds the single season record with eight saves as well in 2008. Jade sits third in the SVSU record books with her 88 starts, 71 victories, 665.2 innings and 60 complete games.
John Jacobs - Football
Jacobs was a two-time all-american for the Cardinals, earning Daktronics, Inc. Second Team All-American plaudits for the 2008 and 2009 seasons, as well as being named an AFCA First Team All-American in the 2009 campaign. He was named the 2009 GLIAC Defensive Back of the Year after leading the nation in tackles for the second consecutive season. The SVSU career leader in tackles for loss (59.5) also earned First Team All-GLIAC honors in 2008 and is second in career tackles at Saginaw Valley with 408. The Cardinals made the playoffs in Jacobs's final season, the 2009 campaign.
Claudette Charney - Women's Basketball
Charney is the all-time leader in coaching victories for the SVSU Women's Basketball program, racking-up an overall mark of 196-92 in her 10 seasons at the helm. She led the Cardinals to a pair of GLIAC Championships, earning the 1985-86 and 1986-87 titles to make it four straight for the program. Her 1992-93 squad advanced to the NCAA Division II Round of 16 after an opening round victory of the national tournament, the first-ever for the program at the NCAA level. Claudette led SVSU to three NAIA National Tournament appearances as well, finishing fifth in the nation during the 1986-87 campaign and with an overall record of 30-2. Charney was a three-year standout as a women's basketball student-athlete as well for SV, scoring 1,502 points. She holds the Saginaw Valley record for most points in a game (42) and is the leader in single season scoring average (20.0) and career scoring average (17.1).
George Eastland - SVSU Athletics
Eastland joined the SVSU faculty in 1969 and served as its faculty athletics representative from 1973-2015, playing an important role in the growth of the athletics program at SVSU and the GLIAC. He also served as interim athletic director during the 2006-07 academic year.
Eastland has been a member of numerous NCAA and GLIAC Committees, serving on the NCAA nominating Committee and chairing the Conference's Eligibility Committee for a number of years. He also served as Parliamentarian to the GLIAC Management Council at conference meetings.
As a scholar, Eastland has written some 40 publications in the field of chemistry. He also has received a number of honors, including the Landee Teaching Excellence Award, SVSU's most prestigious honor for quality teaching, as well as awards from the Midland Section of the American Chemical Society for Outstanding College Teaching and Outstanding Service to the American Chemical Society. Eastland is one of only two people who have chaired the Midland Section of the American Chemical Society twice.
Eastland completed his bachelor's degree at Wittenberg University and a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry at South Dakota State University.
1979 GLIAC Championship SVSU Football Team
The 1979 SVSU Football Team claimed the first of the program's five Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships. The Cardinals posted an overall mark of 8-2-1, adding an unbeaten record of 4-0-1 in league play. The 1979 squad is just one of four teams to go through its GLIAC schedule unbeaten.
The 2017 Cardinal Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet will take place on Saturday, September 23 at 6:00 p.m. at the Curtiss Banquet Halls on the campus of SVSU. It will be held in conjunction with the SVSU Football game versus Michigan Tech University that afternoon at 1:00 p.m. Tickets for the banquet will be $35 for an individual and $65 for a couple. A Table of eight can be purchased for $240. All current SVSU employees, students and SVSU alumni can attend the event for $25.
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Click here for the SVSU Cardinal Athletic Hall of Fame Home Page