Five former Cougars inducted into BYU Athletic Hall of Fame

Brigham Young University inducted four former All-Americans and a nationally recognized track coach into the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame on Thursday, Oct. 15. John Hedengren (cross country/track), Willard Hirschi (track coach), Rob Morris (football), Nina Puikkonen Mortensen (volleyball), and Luke Staley (football) were formally inducted during a ceremony hosted by the Cougar Club at the Gordon B. Hinckley Center.

The five inductees will also be honored during a special halftime presentation at the BYU vs. Cincinnati football game on Friday, Oct. 16.

“Each year we have the opportunity to pay tribute to the finest student-athletes and coaches in BYU history,” said director of athletics Tom Holmoe. “We are proud to honor the 2015 Hall of Fame class for their achievements in athletics, in the classroom and in the community.”

Since its inception in 1975, more than 200 student-athletes, coaches, administrators, teams and broadcasters have been inducted into the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame. Among the criteria to be considered for induction are All-American status, university graduation, professional accomplishments and community service.

John Hedengren introduction by Sherald James 

Success both in athletic competition and the classroom defined the career of 2015 BYU Hall of Fame inductee JOHN HEDENGREN. An accomplished runner and respected chemical engineer, Hedengren has represented BYU in all aspects of his life. 

During his time as a BYU athlete, Hedengren was a catalyst on both the men’s cross country and track teams. He was part of a combined 11 conference championship teams in both cross country and track during his BYU career. He earned first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors in cross country three years in a row, highlighted by a MWC individual title in 1999. The next season he earned NCAA All-America status at the NCAA Championships. In track, Hedengren’s most notable accomplishment came at the 2001 MWC Championships, where he took second in the 10k.

Hedengren was also an outstanding performer in the classroom. He was named a CoSIDA Academic All-America an amazing five times — more than any athlete in BYU history. Hedengren was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America first team in both cross county and track in 2000. He also garnered Academic All-America second team honors in track (2000) and cross county (2002) and third team honors in cross country (2000) for maintaining a 3.95 GPA in chemical engineering. At the conclusion of his senior year, Hendengren was awarded the prestigious NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship.

After receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees from BYU in chemical engineering, Hedengren went on to receive a Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin. After graduate school, he and his family moved to Houston to work with oil and gas companies on research and development projects. After six years in Houston, Hedengren accepted a position to return to BYU as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

In 2014, Hedengren received the AIChE CAST Division Himmelblau Award, which recognizes an individual or group making new and novel contributions to computer aids for chemical engineering education. He was a 2000 Thrust Fellowship recipient, and he earned a scholarship from 2002-04 at the University of Texas.

Hedengren has continued to run in races since finishing his BYU career. In 2007, he won the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) 10k national championship. Hendengren, who served a two-year LDS mission in Rome, Italy, now resides in Provo with his wife, Sarah, whom he met while the two were freshmen at BYU. The couple has five children — Eric, Isaac, Jane, Peter and Susan.

Willard Hirschi introduction by Glen Tuckett

WILLARD HIRSCHI was never one for fanfare or public recognition. He preferred to coach and let his athletes receive the recognition they earned.

A Rockville, Utah, native, Hirschi was a hurdler at BYU. He also attended Arizona State and Stanford, where he completed coursework toward a doctoral degree. Following various teaching and coaching positions, he joined the BYU faculty in 1964 as a health science teacher and volunteer track coach. After years of helping Clarence Robison build the BYU track and field program and training numerous successful athletes as an assistant, Hirschi was appointed men’s head track coach in 1988.

Under Hirschi’s direction, BYU’s track teams dominated the West Athletic and Mountain West Conferences. In his 12 years as head coach, the Cougars won 11-straight indoor conference championships (1990-2000) and nine outdoor conference championships (1989-93, 1995, 1998-2000). Due to his teams’ success, Hirschi was named the indoor or outdoor WAC/MWC Coach of the Year 14 times in his 12 years as head coach.

Hirschi’s teams also achieved great success on a national stage. He coached three athletes who claimed a total of six titles at the NCAA championships and 29 of his athletes combined to earn 57 All-America honors. He led his teams to three top-15 finishes at the NCAA Indoor Championships and three top-15 finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

In addition to his many years coaching at BYU, Hirschi was also a two-time USA Track and Field coach in the Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996) Olympics. Several of the athletes Hirschi coached as an assistant and head coach at BYU athletes also went on to compete in the Olympics, including four-time silver medalist Frankie Fredericks, bronze medalist Ralph Mann, silver medalist Oluyemi Kayode and Leonard Myles-Mills.

Hirschi was a 1999 recipient of BYU’s Circle of Honor award. He has served in numerous church callings, including bishop and stake presidency counselor. Hirschi also served an LDS service mission at the Welfare Services Department and was an ordinance worker at the Mount Timpanogos Temple.

In addition to his church service, Hirschi’s hobby has been local history. He conducted historical research on the Southern Utah and Arizona Strip areas, including collecting oral histories from elderly residents of those areas. Hirschi also wrote biographies on all of the World War II and Korean War veterans from Rockville, Utah. Hirschi and his wife Barbara are the parents of four children and have 14 grandchildren.

Rob Morris introduction by John Tait

ROB MORRIS is one of the greatest BYU defensive players to put on a Cougar uniform. His speed, tenacity and impact on BYU’s defense earned him All-America honors as both a junior and a senior. Born and raised in Nampa, Idaho, Morris was recruited out of Nampa High School where he was a USA Today All-American.

He came to BYU in 1993 and played running back for several games before switching to linebacker. After serving a church mission to Toronto, Canada from 1994-96, he returned to BYU where he played linebacker during the 1997-99 seasons. Morris earned All-America honors in both 1998 and 1999. He was also a two-time Western Athletic Conference All-Conference selection and was named WAC Defensive Player of the Year in 1998. As a senior in 1999, Morris was a semi-finalist for the Butkus Award.

Morris led the Cougars in tackles in 1997 and 1998 and posted 345 tackles during his career, the eighth-most in BYU history. In 1998 he totaled 147 tackles, the seventh-highest total by a Cougar in a single season. He also helped BYU to bowl games in three of his seasons and was a team captain in 1999.

During his career Morris was a fan-favorite at BYU. To promote him for the Butkus Award his senior season, the athletic department created Rob “Freight Train” Morris train whistles and handed them out at the home season opener. The nickname came from in interview where Morris jokingly commented that sacking a quarterback was like a freight train hitting a Yugo.

In 2000, Morris became the ninth Cougar to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, going 28th overall to the Indianapolis Colts. He spent his entire eight-year NFL career with Indianapolis, starting at middle linebacker for five seasons. He started every postseason game of the 2006 season, helping the Colts win Super Bowl XLI.

Over his eight-year NFL career, Morris had 482 tackles, seven sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one interception. In 2002, Morris received the NFL’s Ed Block Courage Award. The annual award is given to select players that are voted on by their teammates as role models of inspiration, sportsmanship and courage. He retired from the league in 2008.

Morris graduated from BYU with a degree in communications. He and his wife Tracie reside in Lehi, Utah, with their two children Carter and Paige.

Nina Puikkonen Mortensen introduction by Elaine Michaelis

Former BYU women’s volleyball middle blocker NINA PUIKKONEN MORTENSEN is one of the more decorated female athletes in BYU history. Puikkonen Mortensen began her remarkable career at BYU as a redshirt freshman in 1998. In her first season as a Cougar she led the nation in blocking with an average of 2.17 blocks per set, setting a BYU record. Puikkonen Mortensen helped lead BYU to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. At the conclusion of the year, she named the 1998 Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and to the Volleyball Magazine Freshman All-American Team.

As a sophomore in 1999, Puikkonen Mortensen led BYU to a 28-5 overall record, a conference championship and a Sweet 16 appearance in BYU’s first season as a member of the Mountain West Conference. She followed her junior season with an invite to play on the A-2 U.S. Women’s National Team, one of just 14 players throughout the country to make the team.

Despite being hampered by a leg injury throughout her senior season, Puikkonen Mortensen capped off her time as a Cougar by averaging a conference-best 4.24 kills per game. In Puikkonen’s remarkable BYU career, she received All-American accolades in 1998, 1999 and 2000, in addition to being named a four-time all-conference selection. She ended her time as a Cougar as the all-time leader at BYU in blocks per game (1.87) and finished No. 1 in career hitting percentage (.349), No. 3 in kills per game (3.96), No. 4 in solo blocks (105) and top-10 in career digs (840).

Following her time at BYU, Puikkonen Mortensen went on to play with the U.S. National Team in 2002 before finishing the year playing professional volleyball in Finland. After taking gold in the top league, Puikkonen Mortensen began her coaching career as an assistant at Utah Valley State College (UVU) for two seasons. She retired from coaching after her stint at UVSC to raise her family.

Volleyball soon came calling again and in 2012 she joined the Utah Unity — a new professional women’s volleyball team sponsored by the Intermountain Volleyball Association — where she helped her team take fifth at nationals in her one season.

Puikkonen Mortensen graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s degree in zoology in 2002 and a master’s in exercise science in 2007. She and her husband Ryan have four children – Elina, Tyler, Maija and Jakob.

Luke Staley Introduction by Lance Reynolds

LUKE STALEY is one of the most prolific offensive players in BYU history. His physical gifts of size and speed helped him record to one of the greatest single seasons ever by a Cougar running back.

In 2001, Staley led all of Division 1 college football with 8.1 yards per carry and scored 15.5 points per game. He finished the year with 1,582 rushing yards, breaking the old BYU single-season record set by Pete Van Valkenburg in 1972. Staley also rushed for a school-record 24 touchdowns, tops in the nation in 2001, and added four more receiving touchdowns for a school single-season record of 28. He currently holds the BYU rushing touchdown record for a career (41), season (24) and game (5).

At the conclusion of the 2001 season, Staley won the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation’s top running back, and was a Consensus All-American, receiving first-team honors from the American Football Coaches Association, the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, Football News, the Football Writers Association of America and the Walter Camp Foundation.

Born in Bountiful, Utah, the Staley family eventually moved to Oregon. Staley was recruited out of Tualatin (Oregon) High School, where he was named Gatorade Player of the Year and USA Today Player of the Year for the state of Oregon.

Staley played for BYU from 1999-2001, before entering the NFL Draft after his junior season. In 1999 he was named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, after rushing for 432 yards and 10 touchdowns on 92 carries and caught 26 passes for 339 yards and three touchdowns. Sporting News awarded him with third team Freshman All-America honors.

Despite having mid-season knee surgery in 2000, Staley put up impressive numbers in his sophomore campaign. He rushed for 479 yards and seven touchdowns on 130 carries. He also had 327 receiving yards. As a sophomore, Staley was named to the All-MWC second-team.

During his junior season in 2001, Staley led one of the most productive BYU offenses of all time as the Cougars led the nation in points (46.8) and yards (542.9) per game. The Cougars went 12-2, winning the Mountain West Conference. BYU started the season 12-0 and suffered its first defeat only after Staley broke his ankle before the last regular-season game.

Staley is the BYU career leader in total points scored by a non-kicker at 290 and is No. 7 in school history in career rushing with 2,644 yards. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 2002 NFL Draft by Detroit Lions. Staley graduated from BYU with a degree in sociology. He and his wife Heather reside in Draper, Utah, with their two boys Tate and Crew.