PEMBROKE – The 1978 national championship cross country team, as well as four other standout student-athletes, will be officially inducted into the UNC Pembroke Athletics Hall of Fame as part of Homecoming Week in late October, athletics department officials announced Saturday.
 
The 17-member cross country team, as well as their head coach, Dr. Ed Crain, will become the first team to be inducted into the distinguished listing of former student-athletes, coaches and administrators. Basketball standouts Margaret Bell and Michael Emanuel, baseball's Tammy Ham and cross country's Amy Locklear will also be highlighted in UNCP's 39^th Hall of Fame induction class.
 
The 2017 UNCP Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremony is scheduled to take place on October 27 at 6 p.m. in the University Center Annex. Attendees must RSVP or purchase tickets (while supplies last) by calling (910) 521-6252.
 
Members of the 2017 Athletics Hall of Fame Committee include Tim Brayboy, Ronnie Chavis, Diane Jones, Whitney Graham and Dr. Jamie Litty.
 
"The only thing more impressive than how diligently the committee worked through the nominations was how substantial the lists of accolades were for our nominees," said UNCP director of athletics Dick Christy. "This job seems to get harder and harder on the committee as time goes along. It's exciting to see our first team induction, and it could not go to a more deserving group."
 
Bell was a three-year starter for the Braves from 1978-81 and currently ranks seventh on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,483 points. A three-time all-Carolinas Conference selection, Bell stormed onto the collegiate scene with a 1978-79 season that saw her connect on nearly 65 percent of her field goal attempts while averaging 24.9 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. She still holds five school records at UNCP, including marks for single game field goals (20) and single season field goals made (275).
 
A two-time NAIA All-America selection, Emanuel played in 61 games over two seasons (1982-84) with the Braves and averaged 18.9 points and 8.0 rebounds in pacing the Black & Gold to a 41-22 clip and a trip to the 1984 NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. Over the course of two productive seasons in Pembroke, Emanuel connected on nearly 52 percent (463-for-891) of his field goal attempts, while also registering a 68 percent (224-for-328) success rate from the free throw line. He finished his career at then-Pembroke State with 1,150 points (26^th all-time).
 
Ham was a four-year starter for the Braves from 1969-72 and collected a pair of all-district nods while leading the Black & Gold to top-10 rankings in all four campaigns. Hamm registered a .343 batting average as a sophomore and helped lead the Braves to a fifth place showing at the college world series, and turned in a .358 clip as a junior, including a district-best five triples. He led the team in both home runs and RBI as a senior on the way to an all-state nod from the Greensboro Daily News.
 
Locklear was a three-time All-Peach Belt Conference selection for the braves from 1993-96 and captured a the PBC's individual crown in 1993 and 1994. Having secured an all-region nod as well with a sixth place showing at the 1993 NCAA Southeast Regional, Locklear still holds UNCP's school record in the 3 mile run (18:37), and ranked sixth all-time with her mark of 19:03 in the 5K run at the 1994 Christopher Newport Invitational.
 
The 1978 cross country squad was one of just three American teams (Adams State, Lubbock Christian) to secure an NAIA men's cross country national championship amid a 21-year period from 1977-97. That season, which included the program's ninth-straight district championship, marked the program's fourth-straight trip to the national championship meet. The Black & Gold would go on to make five more trips to the national championship meet over the next nine years.
 
Four members of the 1978 national championship team – Jeffrey Moody (1988), Garry Henry (1989), David Lewis (1992) and Dan Ryberg (1994) – have already been inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame as individuals. Crain was inducted into the Hall in 2000.