Eastern Washington’s Kim Exner, Michael Roos inducted into Big Sky Hall of Fame
As people waited to enter the banquet room at Northern Quest Resort & Casino on Saturday, many wore their Big Sky Conference affiliation by the logo on their shirt or by the color of their tie or dress.
But those who were there to support Kim Exner were even easier to spot, because they were holding a foot-high printed image of the former Eastern Washington volleyball player’s face, attached to a wooden stick.
“I hope it was a surprise. We just love her so much and this is a great way to rib her a little bit and make her laugh,” said Kim (Maxwell) Dempsey, Exner’s former teammate and the mastermind behind the cardboard cutouts. “She’s always the prankster for us, so this is a way to flip it on her a little bit.”
Exner was one of 14 inductees in the second class of the Big Sky Hall of Fame. The banquet coincided with the conference’s summer football media weekend, which runs through Monday at the Airway Heights venue.
Michael Roos, the former EWU football player (from 2001 to 2004) and 10-year NFL pro, was also recognized. The two are the first Eagles to be inducted into the now 28-member Big Sky Hall of Fame.
Exner played volleyball at EWU from 1995 to 1998, leading the Eagles to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1998. She was named the Big Sky MVP that season and co-MVP the year before that.
“You look back, and it’s hard to look back on all the details, but our team was special,” Exner said. “My freshman year we were terrible, and we completely (improved) throughout the time I was there and finished off on a really strong note and went to the NCAA Tournament.
“Having that and the stories that go with it, you don’t always remember the wins and losses, but I have all these friendships today … I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful for those friendships.”
Some of those friends and family drove from out of state or came down from Canada, where Exner is from originally, while others rearranged summer plans so they could be present to support her, Dempsey said.
“This is a really special group. Words just can’t explain how tight we are and how much we mean to each other,” Dempsey said. “These are the types of friends that you don’t get. They come around once in a million years, and we’re all so fortunate.”
Exner and 13 others from the conference’s history were chosen earlier this year as the second group to be inducted into the Big Sky’s Hall of Fame. This year’s class includes four football players, four track and field athletes, two volleyball players, a tennis player, a basketball player and coach, and two administrators.
“You don’t get everybody (in),” Big Sky Commissioner Tom Wistrcill said. “We could easily put in 30 people a year, but you can’t do that, so by a vote of (the 14-member selection committee) you’re essentially saying we’ve got to split some hairs. We knew getting these first two classes in was going to be a really tough challenge, so you spread it out as best as you can. You recognize the greatness of a lot of people.”
Criteria for eligibility include time spent in the conference – two years for athletes, five years for coaches and three years for administrators. Alumni were also only eligible five years after completing their eligibility. They should have made “outstanding contributions or offered extraordinary service to athletics at the institutional, conference and national level.”
Nearly every member of the class is a member of her or his college athletic department’s hall of fame, including Weber State’s Lindsey Anderson. In 2008, she became Weber State’s first student-athlete to qualify for the summer Olympics after she finished second overall at the U.S. Trials in the steeplechase. She also won six individual Big Sky championships.
“It’s humbling,” said Anderson, who is returning to Weber State as a coach this year. “I’m honored that I could be inducted at the same time with some of these other people who spent years and years and years at their different schools.”
Among the other inductees was Larry Krystkowiak, who played basketball at Montana from 1982 to 1986 and ranks eighth on the conference’s all-time scoring list with 2,017 points. He was the Big Sky MVP three times.
After a seven-year NBA career, Krystkowiak coached the Grizzlies from 2004 to 2006 and later coached the Milwaukee Bucks and the Utah Utes.
Roos, the former EWU offensive lineman, was recognized along with Weber State quarterback Jamie Martin (1989-1992), Sacramento State running back Charles Roberts (1997-2000), and Northern Arizona running back Archie Amerson (1995 to 1996).
Roos donned a red jacket for the occasion, one that bore no direct connection to his college until he put a $10 EWU logo patch on it some years ago.
“Very cheap,” he said, “but it looks custom made.
“As soon as I got the call, my first thought was, ‘I’m wearing the jacket.’ This is exactly why I have this jacket.”
At the time, Roos hadn’t made his way into the banquet hall, nor had he seen Paul Wulff, his head coach at EWU, who is now the head coach at Cal Poly. The significance of the event hadn’t yet sunk in, either, he said.
“I don’t think it’ll fully set in until a few days later when all of a sudden you’re like, ‘Oh you’re a hall of famer,’ ” Roos said. “Seeing the history of the (football players) who are way before me, to be considered with those guys is a huge honor.”