Class of '04 Ken Covell Soccer Roy Duncan Track & Field Les Habegger Basketball Debbie Halle Jackson Gymnastics Bob Thompson Tennis

Class of '03 Loren Anderson Basketball/Baseball Doris Brown Heritage Track & Field Cross Country Dr. Ken Foreman Track & Field Coach Howard Heppner Basketball Steve Gough Track & Field Ben Moring Track & Field

Induction Ceremony Details

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SEATTLE – Five individuals who have become almost synonymous with their respective sports at Seattle Pacific University, will comprise the second charter class of inductees to the Falcon Legends Hall of Fame. Ceremonies will be held during a Jan. 23 luncheon in the Queen Anne Room of Gwinn Commons. Honorees will also be publicly acknowledged prior to the homecoming basketball game the next day in Brougham Pavilion.

The Class of 2004 includes soccer scoring sensation Ken Covell (1971-74), record-setting track & field sprinter Roy Duncan (1956-58), basketball coaching great Les Habegger (1956-74), gymnastics champion Debbie Halle Jackson (1974-77) and tennis ace Bob Thompson (1966-69). In addition, the late Jack MacDonald, a Falcon Legends cofounder, longtime booster and former basketball letterman, will receive the first Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously.

Tickets for the luncheon are $25 and must be reserved in advance. Former KOMO TV sports director Bruce King will once again serve as master of ceremonies.

The 2003 charter class featured six inductees: Loren Anderson (basketball/baseball), Doris Brown Heritage (track & field/cross country), Dr. Ken Foreman (track & field coach), Howard Heppner (basketball), Steve Gough (track & field) and Ben Moring (track & field).

Habegger was quite active at last year’s induction, serving as presenting speaker for both Anderson and Heppner, two of his best players. Habegger became head coach in 1957. His first team won just six games but within three years the Falcons made the NAIA district playoffs and in 1962 they earned the first of his six trips to the NCAA tournament. The 1965 unit was long regarded as the best team in school history, winning the West Regional and advancing to the Elite Eight. He remains the career record-holder for coaching wins, with a record of 267-170. Habegger later was an assistant coach for the Seattle SuperSonics’ 1979 NBA Championship team and, after that, served as both general manager and player personnel director. He returned to coaching in 1987, guiding German teams to several championships. Habegger is now retired and living in Phoenix.

The year before Ken Covell arrived, the soccer program had not won a single game and had scored just 10 times. Covell scored 12 goals himself as a freshman and Seattle Pacific made the NCAA playoffs for the first time. By the close of his career, he had scored 57 goals and the Falcons had made four trips to the playoffs, including their first championship game appearance in 1974. A two-time all-region selection, he graduated as the school’s all-time leader in goals, assists and points. He resides in Denver, where he graduated from Lincoln High School.

The accomplishments of Duncan have become more and more impressive over time. He remains the greatest sprinter to ever wear an SPU singlet, not just because he was the most decorated (threetime All-America in the 100 and 200-yard dashes), but because his school records have gone untouched for more than 40 years. Duncan, originally from Wenatchee, is a resident of Anacortes, Wa.

Debbie Halle Jackson becomes the second woman inducted. She was a member of the original gymnastics team which placed fifth in the national (all-division) championship, and Halle Jackson punctuated that first season by winning the school’s first national title, on the uneven bars. She graduated with each of the five school records–one of which lasted 13 years–and she was a seven-time All-America. A graduate of Seattle’s Ingraham High, Debbie is married to longtime Western Washington men’s basketball coach Brad Jackson and they live in Bellingham.

Without question, Bob Thompson set the standard for all tennis players at Seattle Pacific. In the spring of 1969, his senior season, Thompson reached the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championships in both singles and–along with partner Wilbert Look–doubles. That enabled the Falcons to finish seventh overall. He finished with a career record of 66-20 in singles and 56-23 in doubles–the most of any player. Thompson lives in Salem, Or. He is a graduate of Hudson’s Bay High in Vancouver, Wa.

MacDonald was a member of the Falcon basketball teams in 1945 and ‘46 but his demonstrated allegiance to his alma mater lasted well over 50 years and touched nearly every sport. He later became longtime president of the Falcon Club booster group and was the spearhead for creating the Falcon Legends Hall of Fame. He died Nov. 28, 2002–two months before the first class was inducted.

Hall of fame classes are limited to five inductees each year and must have no more than one nonathlete represented. Nominations for the induction Class of 2005 are now being accepted.