MOBILE, Ala. – The 2015 University of South Alabama Athletic Hall of Fame class, announced Monday, includes the school's all-time winningest men's basketball coach and a pair of members of the Jaguar track and field programs who competed at the NCAA Championships.
Ronnie Arrow, Olga Mencnarowska and Tonny Okello comprise the class, with the induction ceremony for the three scheduled for Sept. 26 at the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center on campus. The trio will also be recognized that day at halftime of the Jags' football game against North Carolina State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Arrow guided the USA men's basketball program first from 1988-95 and again from '08-12, and in 12 full seasons plus parts of two others he led the Jaguars to a 211-161 record overall and 126-48 Sun Belt Conference mark; in addition to posting the most total and league wins in school history, he held the conference record for victories at the time of his retirement. Selected the Sun Belt Coach of the Year on three occasions, Arrow guided the Jags to a 23-9 finish in 1988-89 following the only NCAA Tournament win in program history, an 86-84 decision over Alabama. He led USA to the event once again two seasons later as well as in 2007-08, when the Jaguars earned their first-ever at-large berth to the tournament after collecting a school season-record 26 wins that included going 16-2 en route to winning the SBC East Division crown.
During his time at the helm of the program, Arrow guided the Jags to a pair of SBC regular-season championships, two league tournament titles and a regular-season division crown, and he had 13 individuals earn all-Sun Belt honors on 18 occasions.
Mencnarowska lettered for the Jaguar women's track and field program from 1996-99, helping USA win its first-ever league titles at the Sun Belt Indoor and Outdoor Championships as a senior, in addition to becoming the first female in South Alabama history to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She was selected the Outstanding Meet Performer and earned top-scoring honors at the '99 SBC Outdoor Championships after winning the heptathlon and long jump, finishing third in the javelin and tying for fourth in the 100-meter hurdles before moving on to the national championships in the latter event. Mencnarowska ended her career with the league record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.35 seconds — still a school standard in the race — and remains among the top 10 in USA history in the heptathlon, 60-meter hurdles, javelin and long jump.
She earned all-league honors a total of eight times while being selected to the Sun Belt's 30th Anniversary All-Time Women's Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Teams, and was also voted third-team CoSIDA Academic All-American in 1998.
A four-time All-American, Okello also collected all-region accolades each of his three years running cross country and would be voted to the Sun Belt Conference's 30th Anniversary All-Time Men's Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Teams. He earned All-America honors in cross country in 2004 and '05 — also finishing 41st at the national meet as a senior — as well as in the 5,000 meters at the 2006 and '07 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Okello earned seven individual Sun Belt titles while picking up all-league recognition a total of 18 times over three seasons. In cross country he won the conference championship his first time at the meet, finishing as the runner-up each of the next two years, while Okello was chosen the most outstanding track performer and top point scorer at the 2005 Sun Belt Indoor Championships after winning the mile, 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs while helping the Jaguars to the team crown. In addition to receiving the same honor that spring at the SBC Outdoor Championships, he helped the Jaguars win a share of the conference indoor title his final season by placing in the top three in the mile, 3,000- and 5,000-meter races.
The induction of the three will bring the total number of former student-athletes, coaches and administrators in the USA Athletic Hall of Fame — which was created in 1989 — to 71.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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