Ex-Pro Players, Olympian Named

An elusive Aggie, a prolific Lobo, a high-flying Olympian and a flame-throwing Scorpion will join the ranks of the Albuquerque/New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame next March. Tuesday at the Marriott Pyramid, the Hall of Fame board presented its class of 2010. The inductees are: Pervis Atkins, former New Mexico State and NFL running back; Terance Mathis, former University of New Mexico and NFL wide receiver; Chainey Umphrey, a 1996 Oly mpic g y m n a st f rom Albuquerque; Duane Ward, a Farmington High School baseball and basketball star who later helped the Toronto Blue Jays win two World Series. "I think they're outstanding," Hall of Fame President Stan Whitaker said of the group. "... Certainly their athletic ability was tremendous, but I think, also, their character as individuals beyond their athletic ability was something that really caught everybody's eye. "When you combine their tremendous success as athletes with the kind of human beings they are and continue to be today, each one of them was well-deserving of this award." The Hall of Fame banquet is scheduled for March 4 at the Marriott Pyramid. Tickets, available at the University of New Mexico athletics ticket office, are $40 per person. None of the four inductees attended Tuesday's news conference. Ward had planned to attend but was caught in a snow storm; Atkins was in New York to accept induction into the National Football Foundation's College Hall of Fame. Atkins played three years at New Mexico State, helping the Aggies to Sun Bowl victories in 1959 and 1960. The 1960 Aggies went undefeated (11-0). In 1959, Atkins led the nation in rushing, scoring and puntreturn average. He led the nation in all-purpose yards in both his junior and senior seasons. He was a two-time all-Border Conference selection and was an Associated Press first-team All-American in 1960. Atkins went on to play seven seasons in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins and Oakland Raiders. Mathis played for UNM in 1985-87 and 1989. He left as the NCAA career leader in receiving yards (4,254) and receptions (263). He was the Lobos' first consensus All-American in 1989, when he caught 88 passes for 1,315 yards. Mathis played 13 years in the NFL. In 1994, he caught 111 passes for the Atlanta Falcons - at that time the fourth-best total in league history. Umphrey developed his gymnastics skills at Albuquerque's Gold Cup Gymnastic School, then was an All-American at UCLA. After narrowly missing an Olympic berth in 1992, he made the squad that represented the U.S. at Atlanta four years later. A 12-time national individual apparatus champion, he was a member of the U.S. team in the 1989 and 1991 world championships. Umphrey now is a physician, specializing an physical medicine and rehabilitation at the San Jose (Calif.) Medical Center. Ward was a two-sport star at Farmington, helping the Scorpions to a 26-0 record and a big-school state basketball title in 1982. Drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the 1982 draft, he was traded to Toronto in 1986. In 1992, he had a 7-4 record and a 1.95 earned run average as a middle reliever as the Blue Jays won the World Series. The following year, he took over as the team's closer and recorded an American Leaguebest 45 saves. The Jays again won it all. Ward finished his career with 121 saves, a 3.28 earned run average and 679 strikeouts in 666 2/3 innings.