By Danielle Daniels
EUGENE, Ore. – A diverse group of six Duck legends has been selected for the Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame class of 2024. All six were honored as All-Americans, including two who were named the national award winner for being the top collegiate student-athlete in their respective sport.
The 33rd Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame class includes:
Tyler Anderson – A Golden Spikes Award semifinalist who set school records for strikeouts in a game (14), season (114) and career (285).
Kenjon Barner – One of only 10 Ducks in program history to be a consensus first-team all-American, Barner still owns the Oregon single-game record for rushing yards with his incredible 321-yard performance at USC on Nov. 3, 2012.
Alexa Peterson – Earned All-America honors a catcher in 2013 with a .424 average and played on two Pac-12 championship teams and two Women’s College World Series teams for the Ducks.
Lauren Plum – The program’s all-time leader in career assists, was a 2012 AVCA All-America first team selection and the 2012 Pac-12 setter of the year.
Laura Roesler – The five-time NCAA champion was the winner of the women’s 2014 Bowerman Award given to the nation’s top track and field student-athlete.
Eugene Wong – The owner of the lowest three-round score in program history was selected as the 2010 Jack Nicklaus Award winner as the nation’s top collegiate golfer and was a two-time All-American (2010, 2012).
“We are excited to welcome one of the most diverse classes ever into the Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame this fall,” said director of athletics Rob Mullens. “The class of 2024 symbolizes the broad-based competitive excellence that defines the very core of athletics at the University of Oregon. All six earned All-America honors in their respective sports and are unquestionably some of the very best to ever wear the green and yellow.”
To be eligible for induction into the Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame, which originated in 1992, former athletes, coaches, administrators and teams associated with the school’s intercollegiate athletics success must have departed the University a minimum of 10 years earlier.
The 2024 honorees will officially join the exclusive club of 233 athletes and 30 teams previously selected at the Hall of Fame banquet that will be held the weekend of the Oct. 26 Illinois football game.
Tyler Anderson, Baseball, 2009-11
A cornerstone player when Oregon reinstated baseball at the varsity level, Tyler Anderson set seven school pitching records and was a Golden Spikes semifinalist before being selected in the first round of the 2011 Major League draft. Anderson was part of Oregon’s initial signing class when the Ducks began playing baseball again in 2009 for the first time in 28 years. Anderson’s final campaigns remain two of the best seasons complied by a UO pitcher. As a sophomore in 2010, he became the first Oregon player named to the Pac-10 all-conference team in 39 years after posting a 2.98 earned run average and striking out a then-record 105 batters. That season, he pitched the Ducks to wins over No. 4 Cal State Fullerton and No. 22 Stanford. His final year in Eugene, 2011, he broke his own school record by striking out 114 batters and also established the single-season mark for innings pitched – 107.2. With a 2.17 ERA, Anderson was selected to the 2011 Louisville Slugger All-America second team and was also named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award. In addition, he was chosen for the Pac-10 all-conference team for the second year in a row. The left-hander still holds Oregon’s all-time record with 285 career strikeouts. In addition to his single-season marks, Anderson fanned a career-high 14 batters in a win at Long Beach State in 2011, which at the time established the Oregon single-game benchmark. In his final appearance at PK Park, May 27, 2011, Anderson pitched the Ducks to a 4-1 victory over No. 6 Oregon State, holding the Beavers to one run in 7.1 innings, scattering four hits and striking out 10. He was selected by the Colorado Rockies as the 20th overall pick in the first round of the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He is currently in his ninth Major League Baseball season, having pitched for the Rockies, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Seattle, the Los Angeles Dodgers – where he was selected to the 2022 MLB All-Star Game – and the Los Angeles Angels.
Kenjon Barner, Football, 2008-12
After sharing the backfield with fellow Hall-of-Famer LaMichael James for his first three seasons in Eugene, Kenjon Barner became just the 10th player in program history to be named a consensus first-team All-American as a redshirt senior in 2012. He earned first-team honors from the AFCA, FWAA, Sporting News and Walter Camp Football Foundation. Barner still owns the Oregon single-game record for rushing yards with his incredible 321-yard performance at USC on Nov. 3, 2012. He also tied the modern record with five rushing touchdowns in that game and his 347 all-purpose yards rank second in single-game history. Early in his career as a Duck, Barner made his mark on kick returns. In 2009, he set the UO single-season record with 1,020 return yards. Included in that was a season-high 160 yards on eight kickoff returns against Oregon State. Yet it was his five-yard run on fourth down late in the game which secured the 2009 victory over the Beavers. In addition to his return yardage record, his 1,553 all-purpose yards ranked ninth on the school’s single-season list. As a member of Oregon’s 2010 team that played Auburn in the BCS Championship game, Barner turned in the first two 100-yard rushing games of his career and returned a punt for a touchdown at Tennessee. He rumbled for 147 yards and accounted for five touchdowns in the season-opening win vs. New Mexico. He posted the second 100-yard rushing game of his career against Oregon State, totaling 133 yards with a touchdown and also had a receiving score against the Beavers. He had an 80-yard punt return for a score against Tennessee, equaling the school’s eighth-longest punt return in school history. As a junior in 2011, Barner ranked eighth in the Pac-12 in rushing at 78.2 yards per game. He caught two passes for 52 yards and one touchdown and carried the ball seven times for 30 yards in the Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin. His senior campaign of 2012 remains one of the best in program history. In addition to earning All-America honors, Barner was also named to the all-Pac-12 first team. Including the 321-yard game against USC, which saw him earn both Walter Camp Football Foundation national offensive player of the week and Pac-12 offensive player of the week recognition, Barner rushed for 100 yards seven times in 2012. He gained 201 yards on 34 attempts with three touchdowns in a victory versus Fresno State. His 80-yard touchdown scamper highlighted his 195-yard performance against Washington State. He followed that with 122 yards against Washington and 143 at Arizona State. After gaining 104 yards on nine carries against Colorado, his final 100-yard game came in a victory at Oregon State, where he ran for 198 yards on 28 attempts and scored two touchdowns. His 1,767 rushing yards in 2012 rank third in Oregon single-season history, and his 21 rushing touchdowns remain tied for the single-season UO record. For his career, Barner ranks third in Oregon history with 3,623 career rushing yards, and is tied for third with 41 career rushing touchdowns. He is also No. 3 all-time at Oregon with 5,848 career all-purpose yards, and sixth with 300 career total points scored. Barner was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. His nine-year NFL career included stints with the Panthers, Philadelphia, New England, Atlanta and Tampa Bay and he won Super Bowl titles with the Eagles, Patriots and Buccanners.
Alexa Peterson, Softball, 2011-14
All-American Alexa Peterson played on two Pac-12 championship teams and two Women’s College World Series teams for the Ducks. The catcher had a career batting average of. 360 with 218 hits, 38 doubles, 30 home runs and 153 RBI in 232 games. She was a four-time NFCA all-region selection and was a two-time all-Pac-12 honoree. Peterson was named to the 2011 Pac-10 all-freshman team after hitting .344 with six doubles, five home runs and 18 RBI. As a sophomore in 2012, she nearly doubled her RBI total with 35 and hit .323 with seven doubles and six homers on an Oregon team that reached the WCWS for the first time since 1989. Peterson earned WCWS all-tournament honors at catcher after hitting .429 with an on-base percentage of .556. Her junior season remains one of the best in program history. She was named to the NFCA All-America first team and the all-Pac-12 first team after hitting .424 with 12 doubles, 12 home runs and 39 RBI as the Ducks won their first Pac-12 title. She had a slugging percentage of .784 and an on-base percentage of .527. Peterson ranked in the NCAA’s top 30 in batting average (28th), slugging (24th) and on-base percentage (24th). Her season batting average ranked fourth in program history at the time (now sixth) and her slugging percentage is still No. 2 on the Ducks’ single-season list. Peterson was even better in Pac-12 games in 2013, hitting at a team-best .492 clip. As a senior, Peterson was again named to the all-Pac-12 team after hitting .356 with 13 doubles, seven home runs and 61 RBI. Her RBI total remains the second-best in program history. She set a UO single-game record with six RBI at Utah. Peterson helped the Ducks win a second straight Pac-12 title in 2014. Oregon returned to the WCWS and advanced to the semifinals. The Ducks finished with a program-record 56 wins against nine losses and one tie. At the end of her Oregon career, Peterson ranked third in RBI, fourth in batting average, fifth in hits and sixth in doubles. She remains in the UO top 10 in RBI (eighth), doubles (ninth) and batting average (10th). She was also an academic All-American in 2013 and a three-time Pac-12 all-academic selection. Peterson was the second player in program history to earn both All-America and academic All-America honors in the same season. The Ducks had a 193-54-1 record during Peterson’ career. After graduation, she was the 11th overall pick in the 2014 NPF Draft.
Lauren Plum, Volleyball, 2010-13
The program’s all-time leader in career assists, Lauren Plum was a 2012 AVCA All-America first team pick, the 2012 Pac-12 Setter of the Year and a three-time all-conference performer who helped lead the Ducks to three NCAA Tournament appearances. The only setter in program history to surpass 5,000 career assists, she finished her storied career with 5,213 of them. Plum still holds the school’s career assists mark and the assists per set record (11.98). She owns three of the top seven single-season assist totals: 1,618 in 2012 (second), 1,330 in 2011 (sixth) and 1,246 in 2010 (seventh). In 2012 with Plum at setter, Oregon advanced to the NCAA national championship match against Texas. That run that included wins over No. 13 Dayton in the second round, No. 16 BYU in the Sweet 16, No. 10 Nebraska in the Elite 8 and top-ranked Penn State in the national semifinals before coming up short against the Longhorns. Plum led the nation by averaging 13.37 assists per set in 2012 and directed the offense to a .289 hitting percentage which tied the then-school record for a single season. She also established the school’s all-time rally scoring record with 75 assists against No. 6 Washington. In 2011, she was tabbed an AVCA honorable mention All-American and became the first UO setter to claim honorable mention All-America, all-region and all-conference nods in the same season. In her first season in Eugene, the Pac-10 all-freshman performer led all newcomers in the NCAA with 11.75 assists per set while directing the UO offense to a .256 efficiency, a mark that still stands in the top 10 in program history. Oregon was 90-29 during Plum’s four-year career, including a program-record 30 wins in 2012. The Ducks finished in the top four of the Pac-12 in her final two seasons, including a second-place showing in 2012. In the spring of 2011, Plum was named to the USA Volleyball Junior National and A2 National teams and helped the former to a fourth-place finish at the World Junior Championships, at the time tying the USA’s best-ever finish. After college, Plum played professionally in France, Germany and Puerto Rico from 2014-20. Plum is currently an assistant volleyball coach at Vanderbilt, which will play its first varsity season in 2025.
Laura Roesler, Women’s Track and Field, 2011-14
Laura Roesler is one of the most decorated runners in the storied history of Oregon track and field. She earned 17 All-America awards, won five NCAA championships and three Pac-12 titles, and was named the 2014 women’s Bowerman Award winner as the nation’s top track and field athlete. A middle-distance specialist at 800 meters, she claimed three straight Pac-12 titles at that distance between 2012-14 to become just the second woman in conference history to win three titles in a row in the event. She was a member of four consecutive NCAA Indoor national champions for Oregon (2011-14) and four straight Pac-12 team title winners as well. As a freshman in 2011, Roesler placed third in the 800 at the Pac-12 Championships and was 10th at that distance at the NCAA Outdoor meet. She won her first national championship as a member of the 4×400 meter relay team at the 2012 Outdoor Championships. Roesler captured the first of her three consecutive Pac-12 800 titles in 2012 as well and was fourth in the 800 at the NCAA Outdoor meet. Roesler added another relay title on the 4×400 squad at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships. She was the runner-up in the 800 at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor championships and also won her second Pac-12 800 title. The senior season that produced the Bowerman Award began at the Indoor Championships, where she won her first 800-meter national title and ran on the winning 4×400 team as well. After winning her third straight conference crown at 800 meters, Roesler completed the rare indoor/outdoor sweep by capturing the 800 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She set the school record indoors at 800 meters with a time of 2:01.32 and was also on the 4×400 teams that broke both the indoor (3:27.40) and outdoor (3:24.54) program records. Her collegiate best outdoors in the 800, 1:59.04 in 2014, still ranks No. 2 on the Oregon performance list. Roesler was also a second-team academic All-American in 2014. After college, Roesler qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials and finished seventh in the 800 meters at the 2017 USATF Championships.
Eugene Wong, Men’s Golf, 2009-12
Eugene Wong is a two-time Pac-12 golfer of the year, a two-time PING All-American and the 2010 Jack Nicklaus Award winner, given to the nation’s top collegiate golfer. Wong’s career scoring average of 71.65 is the fifth best in program history. He also owns two of the top six single-season averages in school history. His scoring average during the 2009-10 season of 70.24 is No. 4, while his 2011-12 average of 70.35 is sixth best. Wong is one of just two players in Oregon history with 500 career birdies. His three career tournament victories are tied for fourth all time. Wong’s freshman season was highlighted by his round of 65 at the NCAA West Regional. He became the 10th golfer in program history to card a 65 and the first Duck to do so at an NCAA Regional tournament. He won twice on the way to the Jack Nicklaus Award in 2010. Wong captured his first medalist honor at the USC Invitational, shooting a 10-under 203 with rounds of 65-69-69. Later in the season, Wong won the Western Intercollegiate at 8-under 202 (65-70-67). He tied for ninth at the 2010 NCAA Championships with rounds of 69-72-71 for a 4-under 212. Wong’s season scoring average of 70.24 ranked third nationally as he garnered all-Pac-12 and All-America honors in addition to the Nicklaus Award. As a senior in 2012, Wong led the Ducks into match play at the NCAA Championships where the team advanced to the national semifinals. He defeated Jordan Speith of Texas in his semifinal match, 1-up. Earlier in the season, Wong set the program’s tournament record by shooting an 18-under 195 to win the Allister MacKenzie Invitational. He fired rounds of 65-63-65 at that event and his second-round 63 was one off the school record. Wong placed third at the 2012 Pac-12 Championships at 9-under 279 (68-70-69-68) and was named the league’s golfer of the year for the second time after leading Oregon to its second straight runner-up finish at the championship tournament. The 2012 season also resulted in a second PING All-America first-team award for Wong.
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