UAA announced a lone addition to the Seawolf Hall of Fame on Thursday -- and that's fitting, because Linda Bruns was always in a class by herself.
A pioneering women's basketball coach from 1979-90, Bruns coached the Seawolves from obscurity to prominence with few of the funds or other resources available today. She formed a booster club, she recruited some of the top talent the program has ever seen and she guided the team through the transition to NCAA Division II status in 1982.
She made a career out of sports at a time when there weren't a lot of opportunities in athletics for women. She was a pioneer who, as a coach at UAA, kicked open doors for young women by fighting for equality for her team and athletes.
When Bruns died two years ago of cancer at age 66, UAA associate athletic director Tim McDiffett remembered her as an effective ambassador for women's sports, someone who managed to fight passionately and successfully for her cause.
"It was a turbulent time for women's athletics when she came here and she had a way of advocating for women's athletics without being confrontational. That was a real art, and because of that she had a lot of success in making changes," McDiffett said.
She also had a lot of success in winning basketball games.
The Seawolves were 27-69 in Bruns' first three seasons, a period when the team didn't belong to a league and struggled for stability. But things made a rapid turnabout once Bruns began luring quality players and the program became part of the NCAA.
UAA was 149-73 in Bruns' final eight seasons -- a 67.1 winning percentage. From 1982-83 on, none of her teams won fewer than 17 games a season. Bruns took UAA to three NCAA Division II tournaments, including the Sweet Sixteen in 1988. In the 1989-90 season, Bruns and the Seawolves made history by becoming the first NCAA Division II team in the country to win an otherwise all-Division I, eight-team tournament when they beat Boise State, Wake Forest and South Alabama to win the old Northern Lights Invitational -- the women's version of the Great Alaska Shootout that Bruns played a role in creating in 1980.
Some of the greatest players in school history came to UAA during the Bruns era -- Robin Graul, Cheryl Bishop, Wendy Sturgis, Diane Dobrich, Debbie Clare and Greta Fadness.
Bruns is the 34th person, and the fifth coach, to join the Seawolf Hall of Fame.
Find Beth Bragg online at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call 257-4335.
Hall of Fame
2010 Linda Bruns, women's basketball, 1979-90
2009 Paul Crews, ski coach, 1982-2001 Jim Hajdukovich, men's basketball, 1995-99
2008 Rick Stafford, men's basketball, 1995-97
2007 Rob Conn, hockey, 1988-91 Elena (Tkacheva) Lowery, gymnastics, 1994-97
2006 Allegra (Stoetzel) Butler, women's basketball, 1992-96 Derek Donald, hockey, 1988-92 Harry Larrabee, basketball coach/administrator, 1979-86 and 1991-2000
2005 Jason Kaiser, men's basketball, 1993-95 Pete McEnaney, hockey, 1984-88 Ron Petro, athletic director, 1984-92 Ken Ralph, swimming, 1988-90
2004 Cheryl Bishop, women's basketball, 1982-87 Tiina (Kantola) Hoffman, skiing and cross country, 1982-92 Paul Krake, hockey, 1988-92 Jack Peterson, faculty athletic representative, 1975-97
2003 Dr. Jay Caldwell, team physician, 1979-04 Wendy Sturgis, women's basketball, 1988-92 Chuck Homan, hockey booster, 1977-present Jennie (Szczerbinski) Krupp, volleyball, 1988-92 Dean Larson, hockey, 1988-92
2002 Brush Christiansen, hockey coach, 1979-96 Jesse Jackson, men's basketball, 1985-87 Britta Kjellstrand, women's skiing and cross country, 1978-82 Jon Pauole, swimming, 1989-92 Mike Peluso, hockey, 1985-89
2001 Tom Besh, ski coach, 1977-90 Teri Frankie-Lavallee, gymnastics, 1985-90 Hansi Gnad, men's basketball, 1983-87 Robin Graul, women's basketball, 1985-89 Dr. Lee Piccard, administrator, 1976-94 Dennis Sorenson, hockey, 1980-84 Tracy Zink, volleyball, 1987-90
By BETH BRAGG
bbragg@adn.com