Courtesy of the Bemidji Pioneer

BEMIDJI — Bemidji State University’s 2015 B-Club Athletic Hall of Fame weekend begins today and will feature numerous events honoring former BSU players, coaches and supporters.

BSU is inducting six individuals and an outstanding team into its Athletics Hall of Fame Saturday as part of the Athletics Hall of Fame Weekend.

BSU’s 2015 individual honorees include: Ron Bornetun (men’s swimming and diving, 1976-80), Bruce Ecklund (football, 1980-83), Jim Scanlan (men’s hockey, 1978-82) and Kim (Babula) Zerr (women’s basketball 1983-87). The Alumni Coaching Achievement Award recipient is Gail (Hecimovich) Nucech (1967-69), and the 2015 John S. Glas Honorary Letter Winner is Joe Dunn.

In addition, Bemidji State’s 1979-80 men’s swimming and diving team will be enshrined into the Team Hall of Fame.

The public is welcome to celebrate BSU’s 23rd Athletic Hall of Fame class at the induction brunch, which begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Sanford Center main ballroom. Tickets are $35. To register, for more information and for a complete rundown of the events of the weekend, visit bsualumni.org or call (218) 755-3989.

The 2015 honorees also will be recognized at the Beaver Pride Luncheon today at 11:30 a.m. in Walnut Hall on the BSU campus, and again during BSU’s 7:37 p.m. men’s hockey game against Alaska Anchorage at the Sanford Center.

There will be an alumni athlete reception at the Sanford Center at 5 tonight.

In addition, BSU men’s and women’s hockey and men’s and women’s basketball have home games in Bemidji today and Saturday.

Established in 1978, the BSU Athletic Hall of Fame includes 183 individuals, 24 coaches and 20 teams. Inductees are selected by a committee of elected members of the B-Club.

2015 BSU Athletics Hall of Fame Inductees

Ron Bornetun, 1976-80: Bornetun was a four-year letterwinner for the BSU men’s swimming team and was a four-year member of the All-Northern Intercollegiate Conference squad from 1976-80. He earned NAIA and American College Coaches Association All-America honors in 1978, 1979 and 1980.

Bruce Ecklund, 1980-83: A four-year letterwinner for the football team, Ecklund was a three-time All-NIC tight end for the Beavers and was selected team captain for the 1983 season. He remains in the top 10 among all receivers and first all-time among all BSU tight ends in career receiving yardage and receptions. He went on to play semi-pro football after graduation.

Jim Scanlan, 1978-82: Scanlan was a four-year letterwinner for the men’s hockey team and is head women’s hockey coach at BSU. The BSU team captain had a career record of 62-19-0. He backstopped the Beavers to four consecutive NAIA national tournaments, a pair of national championships in 1979 and 1980, and the 1982 National Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season championship. He was named NAIA All-America in both 1981 and 1982 and was named the 1982 NCHA Player of the Year. Scanlan is already enshrined in BSU’s Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the 1978-79 and 1979-80 men’s hockey teams. In 2005-06, he also was named to BSU’s 50 Legends for 50 Years team, honoring him as one of the 50 greatest players from the first 50 seasons of Beaver hockey.

Kim (Babula) Zerr, 1983-87: A four-time letterwinner for the women’s basketball team, Zerr was the starting point guard during each of her four seasons. She completed her collegiate career with 1,137 points, 843 assists and 293 steals and is the only player in BSU history with more than 1,000 points, 800 assists and 200 steals. She is 13th on BSU’s all-time scoring list and she remains BSU’s career leader in both steals and assists.

ALUMNI COACHING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Gail (Hecimovich) Nucech, 1967-69: Nucech participated in softball, field hockey, volleyball, women’s basketball and track and field at Bemidji State and pioneered many of those teams from their transitions from extramural programs into varsity sports.

She was a longtime physical education teacher and coach at Hibbing High School and started the school’s girls basketball program in 1974 and guided it to the 1976 Minnesota State High School League tournament, the same year she also started Hibbing’s softball program. She was also head volleyball coach at Hibbing High from 1969-2012, compiling an overall record of 884-254 en route to becoming the MSHSL’s all-time winningest coach. In 1990, Nucech was inducted into BSU’s Athletics Hall of Fame as a student-athlete.

BSU ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME TEAM INDUCTEE

1979-80 men’s swimming and diving team: Under the direction of BSU Hall of Fame coach Lee Ahlbrecht, BSU posted an 11-1 record and established four event records en route to a first-place finish at the Northern Intercollegiate Conference meet with a league-record score of 701. Eighteen members of the team garnered All-NIC honors, either as swimmers or divers, which included 11 individual or relay conference champions. The team advanced to the NAIA Championships, where it placed fourth. The team also had 10 American College Coaches’ Association All-Americans. Ahlbrecht was selected as the NAIA Coach of the Year.

JOHN S. GLAS HONORARY LETTER WINNER

Joe Dunn: Joe Dunn has been named the 2015 John S. Glas Honorary Letter Winner. The award, created in 2011, recognizes an individual or individuals who were not student-athletes at BSU, but who have had a significant impact on BSU athletics. Dunn was originally picked by head football coach Jeff Tesch to spearhead the Beaver football fundraising effort, Dunn’s involvement blossomed into a one-year assignment as BSU’s Athletic Development Director and eventually a stint as president of the BSU Foundation Board of Directors. Dunn is an active member of Beaver Pride, who served on the organization’s board for 10 years, including three years as its president.