TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State University will welcome eight new members to the Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame during ASU's October 14 football game versus Washington.
Eight student-athletes from seven different varsity sports makes up the 2017 Class, including one inductee who was both a student-athlete and assistant coach. Alejandro Canizares (Men's Golf), Amy Hastings-Cragg (Track and Field/Cross Country), Emily Westerberg (Women's Basketball), Aaron Aguayo (Track and Field/Cross Country), Andrew Walter (Football), Jim Newman (Men's Basketball, posthumously), Ron Davini (Baseball) and Adria Engel (Women's Tennis) will be honored at halftime of the Sun Devils-Huskies game at Sun Devil Stadium.
The Hall of Fame Luncheon and Induction Ceremony will take place Friday, Oct. 13, at the Pera Club (1 E. Continental Dr, Tempe, AZ 85281) from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The luncheon will include a formal ceremony into the SDA Hall of Fame by the ASU Athletic Heritage Committee. Tickets are $50 per person or $500 for a table of 10. Register for the luncheon HERE.
The Hall of Fame was established in 1975 to honor the school's most distinguished student-athletes in all sports. The ASU Athletics Hall of Distinction, inaugurated in 1982, recognizes outstanding contributions from coaches and administrators. Student-athletes become eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame 10 years after their senior class has graduated.
2017 Inductees
Aaron Aguayo – Track and Field/Cross Country/2003-07
Justice Studies (BS) 2007
Aaron Aguayo is one of two Pac-10/Pac-12 student athletes to win the same track event in four different years, taking top honors in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (2003-07). Aguayo was a two-time NCAA Cross Country All-American, finishing 9th in 2006, and ranks not only as the ASU school record holder in the steeplechase, but is also top 10 in the indoor 3,000, the outdoor 1500, the mile, and the 5000 meters. He is also ranked among the top 10 steeplechasers in Pac 10/12 history. Aaron also earned outdoor All-American and All-West Region honors in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (2005-07). Aaron earned a third-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the steeplechase and followed it up with a second-place finish at the 2007 USA Championships, which earned him a spot on Team USA at that year's World Outdoor Championships.
Alejandro Canizares – Men's Golf/2002-06
Interdisciplinary Studies (Sociology/Landscaping), May 2006
Alejandro Canizares became the sixth freshman to win the NCAA Individual Golf Championship in June of 2003 with a 1-under 298 at the Karsten Creek Course in Stillwater, Okla. By the end of his Sun Devil career, Canizares had earned back-to-back Pac-10 Player of the Year honors (2005, co-2006) and four All-America selections (First-Team 2003, 2006; Third-Team 2004, 2005), the fourth Sun Devil to earn four All-America honors. He posted 22 top-10 finishes in his ASU career and won six tournaments. He set Palmer Cup career marks in victories (13) and singles record (8-0) and earned the Arnold Palmer Award in 2003. The Madrid, Spain, native played on the PGA TOUR and also won two European Tour titles. He earned back-to-back CoSIDA Academic All-America honors (2005-06) and finished his Sun Devil career by earning his interdisciplinary studies degree with concentration in sociology and landscaping in May 2006 with a 3.87 grade point average.
Ron Davini – Baseball/1966-68
Education (BA) 1970
As ASU's starting catcher in 1967, Ron Davini was instrumental in the Sun Devils' second National Chamionship. His .409 batting average at the College World Series earned him Most Valuable Player honors. Davini led the Devils that year with a .311 batting average and a school-record .992 fielding percentage. Ron was also selected the 1967 College Baseball Player of the Year by the Columbus, Ohio Touchdown Club and was a two-time all-Western Athletic Conference selection. Davini was a first round selection of the Chicago White Sox in the 1969 Major League Baseball January Draft-Secondary Phase, and played five professional seasons. Following his playing career, Davini became one of the top High School baseball coaches in Arizona, serving for 28 years as the Head Coach at Tempe Corona Del Sol and Tempe McClintock.
Adria Engel – Women's Tennis/1999-2002
Political Science (BA) 2003
Adria Engel made history as ASU's first Pac-10/12 Champion in Women's Tennis. She was a three-time first-team All-Pac-10 selection, and earned All-American honors three times in singles and once in doubles at Arizona State. She was a five-time All-American, once as a freshman at Wake Forest and four times while at ASU. Her 132 victories in singles set a school record, and her 32 wins in 2001 are the second-best single season mark in school history. Engel led ASU to top-10 national finishes from 2000-02, and in 2001, was one of six student-athletes named to the USA Tennis Collegiate Team. She played professionally for four years after leaving ASU, winning two singles and two doubles titles.
Amy Hastings-Cragg – Track and Field/Cross Country/2003-07
Kinesiology (BS), May 2007
Amy Hastings-Cragg is regarded as perhaps the most successful cross-country student-athlete in ASU history. She was the first three-time All-American in ASU cross country history and was the first Sun Devil in men's or women's cross country to win a Pac-10 Championship (2004). She was named Pac-10 Cross Country Athlete of the Year in 2004, and won the Pac-10 Medal of Honor in 2007. In track and field, Hastings-Cragg (known then as Amy Hastings) won the 2006 NCAA Championship in the 5,000 meter run, and established an indoor collegiate record in the 5,000 meter run in 2007 (later broken in 2009). She was a two-time All-American in the outdoor 10,000 meter run (2005-06). She also is the school outdoor record holder in the 10K and indoor 5K and ranks on the ASU all-time list in the outdoor 1500, the 3k steeplechase, and the 5K and 10K's. Following her ASU career, Hastings-Cragg qualified for the 2016 Rio and 2012 London Olympics in the women's marathon and won the American Championship in the marathon (2015) and 10,000 meters (2012).
Jim Newman – Men's Basketball/1956-58
Education (BA) 1959
Jim Newman was a distinguished member of the Sun Devil men's basketball program as a student-athlete and an assistant coach. Following two years at Los Angeles Harbor Community College, he averaged 15.6 points, leading ASU in scoring each season as he earned All-Border Conference honors twice and was named Border Conference MVP in 1958. Recruited by Sun Devil legend Bill Kajikawa, he played on Coach Ned Wulk's first NCAA Tournament team in 1958. After 15 seasons as a highly successful high school and junior college coach in Compton, California and one year at New Mexico, Coach Newman returned to Tempe and helped mentor such Sun Devil greats like Byron Scott, Fat Lever, Johnny Nash and Sam Williams. That core led ASU to a 46-11 mark in 1979-80 and 1980-81 and two NCAA Tournaments. The NBA's Syracuse Nationals drafted Newman, but he decided to pursue an administrative and coaching career. He passed away in June of 2017 and is survived by strong family of wife of 58 years Harriet, son Jim Jr. and daughter Alison.
Andrew Walter – Football/2001-04
Communication Studies (BS) 2004
Andrew Walter set numerous passing records over his four years in a Sun Devil uniform. Walter's 85 career touchdown passes set a Pac-10 record, breaking the mark set by John Elway. He set the ASU record with 536 yards on October 19, 2002 at then sixth-ranked Oregon. In addition to touchdown passes, Walter also holds the school record for 300-yard passing games (13), and left ASU as the school's career leader in passing yards (10,617), completions (777), attempts (1,426), interception percentage (2.5%) and total offense (10,142 yards). In addition, Walter left ASU holding the top three marks on ASU's single-season lists for passing yards, attempts and completions. As a senior, Walter was named a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Quarterback Award, both of which are awarded annually to the nation's top collegiate quarterback. Voted a co-captain in each of his last three seasons at ASU. Andrew was selected second-team All-Pac-10 as a senior. In his three seasons as a starter, Walter led ASU to two bowl appearances. He was selected in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders, where he played all five of his NFL seasons.
Emily Westerberg – Women's Basketball/2003-07
Elementary Education (BS) 2007
Emily Westerberg was Arizona State's first three-time all-Pac-10 selection in women's basketball. In her four years at ASU, Westerberg helped lead ASU to three appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including the school's first-ever appearance in the Elite Eight (2007). She ended her ASU career ranked in the top 10 in five different catagories – free throws (3rd, 352), free throw percentage (4th, .802), points (6th, 1,340), field goals (7th, 468) and rebounds (9th, 582). In addition, ASU recorded a 95-34 won-loss record (.736 winning percentage) during her career. Her senior season was a historic year for ASU, as the Sun Devils set school records for wins (31), Pac-10 wins (16) and road wins (10), while finishing the year ranked 8th nationally, also a school record. Westerberg averaged 10.5 points in nine NCAA Tournament games. She was also a three-time Pac-10 all-Academic selection (Honorable Mention 2005, First Team 2006-07).