BYU Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

PROVO -- The BYU Athletic Department will induct five former athletes, two former athletic trainers and the 1981 NCAA Champion men’s golf team into its Hall of Fame on Friday, Sept. 25. Former student-athlete inductees include Olympians Amy Steele-Gant (women’s volleyball), Ryan Millar (men’s volleyball), Leonard Myles-Mills (men’s track and field) and Maggie Chan-Roper (women’s track and field/cross country). Trainers George Curtis and Ollie Julkunen will also be inducted.

The induction ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. in the Cougar Room at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Below are biographical sketches of all eight inductees.

Amy Steele Gant

Women’s Volleyball

In a program rich in tradition and victory, few names stand out more than that of Amy Steele Gant. A BYU middle blocker from 1994-97, Gant finished her collegiate career as one of the most prolific players in program history, simultaneously loved by teammates and feared by opponents.

Gant began racking up honors early in her Cougar career after arriving on campus from Laguna Hills High School in Laguna Hills, Calif. As early as her sophomore year, volleyball aficionados on the conference and national level were taking notice of the 6-foot-2 powerhouse. That season she earned the first of her three All-Western Athletic Conference First Team awards and was honored as the WAC Player of the Year. She was also named to the 1995 American Volleyball Coaches Association All-District VII First Team, making her eligible for All-America consideration. The season culminated in Volleyball Magazine All-America Honorable Mention and AVCA All-America Second Team recognition.

Honors continued to pour in as Gant’s prowess on the court continued. In her final two years at BYU, Gant was named the AVCA National Player of the Week twice, earned AVCA All-District VII First Team citations in both 1996 and 1997 and was named to the NCAA Regional All-Tournament teams both years after leading the Cougars to the 1996 and 1997 NCAA Regional Finals. She was also named the 1997 WAC Mountain Division Player of the Year and earned honorable mention All-America recognition from Volleyball Magazine in 1996. The culmination of her career came with two All-America First Team awards in 1997 from the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine.

Gant did much more than just work hard on the court. Her academic success also set her apart. She was named to the 1995, 1996 and 1997 GTE/CoSIDA District VII All-Academic Teams and is one of only three Cougars all-time to earn All-America recognition in both athletics and academics. She was named to the GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team in 1997 after earning third-team honors the previous year. After completing her Cougar career, Gant received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.

After four years of dominating volleyball, Gant’s hold on the BYU record book continues to be impressive. She currently ranks third all-time in career blocks (694), career block assists (594) and career blocks per game (1.56). She is fourth all-time at BYU in career kills (1755), career kills per game (3.95) and career solo blocks (100). She is also tied for fifth all-time in season kills per game (5.13/1997) and season block assists (180/1996) as well as being tied for eighth all-time in season total blocks (204/1996) and 10th in season hitting percentage (.369/1997). The seven-time WAC Player of the Week led the team in kills as a sophomore, junior and senior; hitting percentage as a sophomore and senior; aces as a sophomore; and blocks for all four years of her career.

Upon graduation, Gant went on to compete on the 1998 U.S. National Team and was named a national finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year. She has since taken to sharing her passion for volleyball as a color analyst for television networks including ESPN2, The Mtn. and Fox Sports. She married Jesse Gant, a former setter for the BYU men’s volleyball program, and is busy raising their four children in California.

Maggie Chan-Roper

Cross Country/Track & Field

Entering her freshman year at BYU, distance runner Maggie Chan-Roper had high expectations. Chan-Roper grew up in the Hong Kong area and her running legend grew even while still in her teens. As a 15-year-old, she broke the Hong Kong national record for the mile and earned the nickname the “Distance Queen.”

Chan-Roper continued to dominate the distance racing circuit throughout Hong Kong. Her ability to run multiple events, and run them well, allowed her to break 12 Hong Kong records, which she still holds. Chan-Roper’s wide range of records includes the 800m, 1500m, one mile, 3000m and 5000m.

In 1996, Chan-Roper arrived at BYU as a highly accomplished recruit. After her first dual-sport season running both cross-country and track, Chan-Roper looked like a promising prospect. She finished 22nd at cross country Nationals (earning All-America honors), competed at the NCAA Outdoor Nationals, was named to the All-WAC Indoor and Outdoor teams and earned Academic All-America Honors.

One year later, as a sophomore, Chan-Roper continued to earn honors in both cross-country and track. She finished the 1997 cross country season by earning All-America honors for the second-consecutive year. The following track season, Chan-Roper raced to a sixth-place finish in the 3000m at the 1998 NCAA National Championships, earning a track and field All-America honor for the first time.

Although she was successful in all four years at BYU, Chan Roper’s junior season may have been her best. She finished seventh at the 1998 NCAA Cross Country Nationals, again earning All-America honors. Chan-Roper followed that once again with an All-America performance on the track, finishing fourth in the nation in the 3000m run.

Following a great junior year, Chan-Roper’s final season at BYU was anything but a letdown. As a senior, she did not run cross country, and it paid off on the track. For the first time in her career, Chan-Roper placed in the top 10 in two track events at Nationals, taking ninth in the 3000m and seventh in the 5000m.

Since graduating in 1999, Chan-Roper has continued to compete professionally. She reached her highest level of competition in 2000, as she ran the marathon in the Olympics while representing Hong Kong.

Chan-Roper’s main competition came in the form of marathons. Her best performances include placing third in the 2004 Salt Lake City Marathon and first in the 2002 Richmond Marathon, in which she ran the third-fastest time in the race’s history.

Today Chan-Roper works as the BYU Cross Country team manager, spending time trying to pass on some of her knowledge to current Cougar runners.

Leonard Myles-Mills

Track & Field

The road to the BYU Hall of Fame has led through many experiences and many places around the world for Cougar track standout Leonard Myles-Mills.

After older brother John, a former BYU sprinter and two-time Olympian, recommended his little brother Leonard to Cougar track coaches, the rest was history. The Ghana native's stay at BYU eventually led to three NCAA Championship titles and was the springboard to a prestigious career at the All-Africa Championships, World Championships and ultimately the Olympic Games.

Myles-Mills earned his first NCAA title and All-America citation his junior year in 1998, winning the 100-meter dash in 10.20 seconds at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. But nothing would compare to 1999 when Myles-Mills recorded one of the best seasons in the history of BYU track. Not only did Myles-Mills defend his 100-meter outdoor title, but he was also the indoor 60-meter dash NCAA champion and the anchor to the Cougar outdoor 400-meter medley relay team that finished third, making Myles-Mills a four-time All-American for his career.

In addition, Myles-Mills won the same four events in the Western Athletic Conference championship that season, including an NCAA-record time of 6.45 in the 60-meters. That time still stands as the fastest performance in NCAA history and African history and is the fifth-fastest time ever recorded.

At the All-Africa Games in 1999, the Cougar speedster won the 100-meters in Johannesburg, South Africa, and would later take the bronze medal at the Games four years later in Abuja, Nigeria.

Myles-Mills also competed in the IAAF World Championships, running the 60 meters in both 2003 and 2004, finishing seventh and third, respectively.

Myles-Mills holds numerous spots in the BYU record books, including second in the 100-meters (9.98), fourth in the 200-meters (20.54) and first in the 4x100 relay (38.88) in outdoor competition; and first in the 60-meters (6.45) and first in the 200-meters (20.61) in indoor competition.

After graduating with a degree in sociology in 1999, Myles-Mills went on to represent his native country in the 2000 Sydney and the 2004 Athens Olympics. In Sydney, he made it to the semifinals of the 100-meters, finishing ninth overall with a time of 10.25, in addition to participating in Ghana's 4x100-meter relay team. In Athens, Myles-Mills again competed in the same two events, barely missing the 100-meter finals with a time of 10.22. He also helped the national relay team to a sixth-place finish.

Leonard Myles-Mills married Tiffany Clawson in the Salt Lake Temple in December of 1998. The couple have three children, Benjamin, Alexander and Hannah. The family has found a home in Provo, as Myles-Mills has worked as BYU's sprint coach from 2001 to the present.

Ryan Millar

Men’s Volleyball

Ryan Millar, a four-time All-America selection and 1999 Volleyball Magazine National Player of the Year, led arguably the best BYU men's volleyball team in program history to a 30-1 record and the first of three national championships in five years.

Millar currently owns most of the BYU school records for side-out scoring statistics. He holds single match records for kills (48), kill attempts (95) and total blocks. Millar's single season records include kills (648), kill attempts, (1,259), block assists (192), block solos (22) and total blocks (214). His career marks include records for kills (1,797), kills per game (5.19), kill attempts (3,338), block assists (590), block solos (72), total blocks (662), blocks per game (1.91) and games played (346).

During his BYU career (1996-99), Millar was a three-time first-team All-MPSF selection as well as the 1997 MPSF Player of the Year. During his senior season in 1999, he led the country in hitting percentage (.498) and blocks per game (2.14). He is one of only five players to have ever received three first-team All-America citations.

After Millar's dominating career with the Cougars, he was selected to the USA National Team. As a member of Team USA, he has participated in three Olympic Games (2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens and 2008 Beiing). As a member of the 2008 team, Millar earned his first Olympic gold medal when the USA defeated Brazil, 3-1. In 2007, he was named USA Volleyball’s Male Indoor Player of the Year.

Millar has played nine years of professional volleyball, including six years in Italy and currently in Turkey. His major international competition includes the FIVB World Championship Qualifying Tournament, the NORCECA Continental Championships and the World Grand Champions Cup, where he was named "Best Blocker" of the tournament. Since his college days he has played in several places in the United States, Korea, Japan and Australia.

Millar has played under and coached with some of the best volleyball minds including former BYU head coach Carl McGown and former Olympic coaches Doug Beal, Marv Dunphy and Hugh McCutcheon.

In 2007 Millar teamed up with Shawn Patchell to become co-interim head coaches for the BYU men’s volleyball program. During that year BYU went 23-6 and finished the season with a No. 4 final national ranking.

Millar currently owns and operates a volleyball camp called Next Level Volleyball Camps where he travels around the country coaching volleyball to 11-18 year-olds.

A native of Palmdale, Calif., Millar is married to Suzanne Millar. The couple has one son, Max Ryan Millar born in July 2006. Millar earned a bachelor's degree from BYU in sociology.

BYU Men’s Golf Team

1981 NCAA Champions

After a string of six-straight top-five NCAA finishes without a title, the BYU’s men’s golf team broke through in 1981 and captured the school’s first outright NCAA Championship at the Stanford University Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif. Under the tutelage of Coach Karl Tucker, three Cougars — Dick Zokol, Keith Clearwater and Rick Fehr — finished in the top 15 as BYU edged out Oral Roberts in the final round to win the championship by two shots with a four-round score of 1161.

BYU trailed Oral Roberts by eight strokes after the first round but came back with the best round of the tournament, a four-under-par 280 on the second day. A 296 in the third round gave BYU a slim one-shot lead over the Golden Eagles with 18 holes remaining. Led by the senior Zokol, the Cougars fired a closing round 291 for a two-shot victory. Zokol’s 4-over-par 288, was good for eighth place individually. Clearwater finished tied for 10th at 5-over-par while Fehr was one shot back at 6-over-par, placing 15th.

Following the season, Clearwater received his second All-American citation, being named to the All-America First Team. He was also named the 1981 Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Zokol was named to the All-America Second Team after receiving honorable mention the previous year while Barry Willardson was named to the All-American Third Team for the second straight year. While Fehr did not earn All-America honors in 1981, his illustrious BYU career included two first-team selections in 1982 and 1984 and a second-team nod in 1983.

Several members of the 1981 squad went on to distinguished professional careers. Clearwater turned professional in 1982 and joined the PGA Tour in 1987, when he was named the 1987 PGA Rookie of the Year. He won both the Colonial Classic and the Centel Classic that season. He has competed in over 300 events in his PGA Tour career, finishing in the top 10 27 times. He was ranked as high as No. 22 in 1992.

Fehr also joined the PGA Tour in 1985 after earning the distinction of Low Amateur at both the 1984 U.S. Open and 1984 Masters. On the PGA Tour, he played in 366 events with 39 top-10 finishes among eight runner-up finishes. He posted victories at the 1986 B.C. Open and the 1994 Walt Disney World Oldsmobile Classic. In 1996, Fehr tied the course record at TPC at Summerlin with a 62 in the second round of the Las Vegas Invitational. He has been ranked as high as No. 27 (1994).

Zokol, the 1981 Canadian Amateur Champion, joined the PGA Tour in 1981 and won two Tour events in 1992, the Deposit Guarantee Classic and the Greater Milwaukee Open. While on Tour, Zokol played in 363 events, finishing in the top 10 19 times with two runner-up finishes. Zokol has also competed on the international stage, winning several events including the 1980 International Champions (Morocco) and the 1982 British Columbia Open.

Other members of the 1981 BYU men’s golf team are John Bodenhammer, Dave DeSantis, Neil Finch, Kent Kluba, Ted Lehmann, Robert Meyer and Craig Wilson.

The 1981 victory epitomized the history and tradition of championship golf at BYU. Since the program’s beginning in 1962, the Cougars have earned 14 top-five NCAA finishes and 20 top-10 finishes. BYU has also won 23 conference championships, including the 1981 title.

George Curtis

BYU Athletic Trainer

For George Curtis, being an athletic trainer means more than just healing sore muscles. While his training methods during his 20-year tenure as BYU’s head athletic trainer definitely kept the Cougars at the top of their game, Curtis’ most memorable work came as a friend, mentor and confidant to the hundreds of athletes he worked with.

Before coming to BYU in 1985, Curtis honed his skills at Santa Ana College, serving as the head athletic trainer for the college’s 16 sports and 300+ athletes. While at Santa Ana, Curtis was credited with designing a new training room and beginning a female training program, showing his early commitment to the development of his profession.

From Santa Ana JC, Curtis went to work with the Los Angeles Express of the USFL, serving as the head trainer and strength and conditioning coach for two years. When the opportunity arose to come to BYU, he jumped at the chance, saying he had always bled Cougar blue.

Not only was Curtis responsible for caring for the needs of Cougar athletes, but he was also charged with improving the state of BYU’s athletic training program as a whole. During his tenure over the next 20 years, Curtis oversaw the addition of state-of-the-art training facilities and top tier training staff at BYU. He was heavily involved in teaching in BYU’s sports medicine department, one of the largest and most prestigious in the nation, to help develop the next generation of elite athletic trainers.

No stranger to injuries, having had over 60 surgeries himself, Curtis proved a master at his profession, earning national recognition for his work. He has been inducted into the National American Trainers Association Utah and District VII Hall of Fame and will be inducted into the Santa Ana JC Hall of Fame this year. He is also the only trainer in the Southern Utah University Coaching Factory Hall of Fame. Curtis was honored by the NATA with the inaugural Athletic Training Service Award and the 1995 Outstanding Service award. In 1999 he was named the Outstanding Football Athletic Trainer of the Year by the All-American Football Foundation.

Despite all of these accolades, Curtis’ most memorable achievements have come in the lives of the athletes he has worked with. His strong testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his legendary bottomless heart have touched hundreds of lives. During his recent battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease, which has left him unable to speak, Curtis has experienced firsthand the love and compassion he taught to so many others as athletes from across the country and the decades have rallied to his side. While injuries have healed and been long-forgotten by athletes such as Steve Young, Ty Detmer and Chad Lewis, Curtis’ friendship will never be.

Ollie Julkunen

BYU Athletic Trainer

Ask any athlete to describe an athletic training room, and visions of taping tables and cold pools are instantly conjured. But for BYU athletes, the training room was synonymous with one image – that of Ollie Julkunen’s smiling face. An athletic trainer at BYU for 25 years, Julkunen was best known for his quick humor and easy-going manner, helping hundreds of athletes recover from injury with an arsenal of knowledge and more than a little laughter.

A native of Finland, Julkunen came to BYU as a student in 1968, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1971. He joined the Cougar training staff in 1975 and quickly went to work, serving as a trainer for the football, track and field and wrestling teams. Throughout his tenure, Julkunen had the opportunity to train world-class athletes and was responsible for keeping them on track for championship performance.

Considered by many to be the best trainer in the world in regards to lower extremity injuries for runners, Julkunen’s wealth of knowledge and experience proved invaluable in helping athletes recover from injuries large and small. He was known for doing anything and everything possible to help his athletes achieve and maintain top physical performance. With his incredible insight and reassuring manner, Julkunen was a tremendous asset and friend. He had the opportunity to work with athletes such as former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier, Super Bowl MVP Steve Young, world-class sprinters Carl Lewis, Ben Johnson, Dennis Mitchell and John Drummond, 13-time BYU All-American and Olympian Frank Fredericks and many others.

In addition to the time he spent working in the BYU training room, Julkunen was also asked by many of his athletes to accompany them in their professional pursuits. He served as a personal trainer to several athletes at the 1984 Olympic Games and helped prepare athletes for World Championships, Pan-American Games and Goodwill Games. His involvement with the Olympics continued in 1988 when he served as an athletic trainer for the United States before working as the head athletic trainer for Namibia at the 1992 and 1969 Olympic Games. Julkunen was also the head trainer for the USA Track & Field Team at the 1993 World Indoor Championships and several other events.

Julkunen’s passion for the sport did not end at the training room door. He worked diligently to improve his profession and share his expertise with others. He spent several years as a clinical instructor for the BYU Athletic Training program and was a prominent teacher and speaker in his native Finland. His passing in 2000 was felt not only by athletes and coaches at BYU, but also by champions nationwide and half a world away. His indelible image is forever imprinted not just on the BYU training room, but on the athletes he helped to the top.