Athletic Hall of Fame
The Gustavus Adolphus College Hall of Fame was established in 1978 at which time 19 "Charter Members" were inducted either as coaches or as athletes. As of the fall of 2022, 348 individuals (321 athletes, 16 coaches and 11 benefactors) have been elected to the Hall of Fame.
The former Hall of Fame room on the second floor of the Lund Center was originally partially endowed by the families of both Dwight Holcombe's (the only father/son combination holding membership in the Hall). The hardwood plaque upon which the individual plates are permanently displayed, now in the Hall of Champions, was donated by the family of former football coach and Hall of Fame member Jocko Nelson, who passed away in 1978.
Sarah Edmonds Harris
Cross Country and Track & Field
Inducted: 2008
Sarah Edmonds Harris made national headlines in the fall of 1992 when, as a senior, she completed a perfect cross country season by winning the NCAA Division III National Championship after not having run cross country at the collegiate level before. Harris, who got the itch to run cross country after competing on a club team during her study abroad experience the year before in Edinburgh, Scotland, won all seven races she competed in during her senior season including the MIAC Championship, the NCAA Central Region Championship, and the NCAA Division III National Championship. As a result of her significant accomplishments, Edmonds was honored as the MIAC Runner of the Year, the NCAA Central Region Runner of the Year, and the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III Runner of the Year. She was also awarded the Honda Broderick Cup by the NCAA as the National Runner of the Year. In addition to her success in cross country, Harris also competed on the track and field team at Gustavus earning all-conference honors five times including winning the 3,000 and 10,000 meter races at the MIAC Outdoor Championships in 1991. An outstanding student, Harris was named to the GTE Academic All-America Team as well as being selected to receive a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. In the spring of 1993, Harris was named one of ten national finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award and was flown to Washington D.C. where she was honored for her outstanding accomplishments in athletics, academics, and community service.
A magna cum laude graduate in 1993, Harris majored in religion and was named to the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor fraternity as well as receiving the George Hall Award as the outstanding religion major at Gustavus. After graduation, Harris served as an English teacher at Shalom High School in Milwaukee, Wis. as a part of the Lutheran Volunteer Corps. She stayed on for another year at Shalom and then pursued a master's degree in social service administration at the University of Chicago. For the last 12 years, Harris has worked as a school social worker in the Waukesha and Milwaukee school districts. Sarah lives in Milwaukee, with her husband, Curly and their two children Cicely, and Ella.