Seven Wildcat greats to be inducted into ACU Sports Hall of Fame

ABILENE, Texas – The all-time leading passer in ACU football history, along with six other Wildcat standouts will take their place among the university's athletics greats later this fall when they are inducted into the ACU Sports Hall of Fame. 
 
This year's inductees are Angie Aguilar (women's track and field), Cyril Bouniol (men's golf), Mitchell Gale (football), Nick Jones (men's track and field), Ijeoma (Moronu) Alstrup (volleyball), Aston Whiteside (football), and Arthur Williams (men's track and field).
 
The Class of 2022 will be celebrated during the hall's 39^th induction ceremony, which is set for Friday, Oct. 14, at 6 p.m. in ACU's McCaleb Conference Center in the Hunter Welcome Center. With the addition of the seven members of this year's class, the ACU Sports Hall of Fame now includes 240 men and women. To RSVP for the event, please click here. 
 
Three of this year's honorees are among the most highly decorated student-athletes in ACU's long athletics history. 
 
Mitchell Gale 
Gale is the all-time leading passer in ACU history with 12,109 yards from 2009-12, and when he finished his career was the all-time leading passer in Lone Star Conference history. He and the four-year starting quarterback who immediately preceded him (Billy Malone from 2005-08) each threw for more than 12,000 career yards, becoming only the fourth set of consecutive four-year starting quarterbacks in NCAA history – regardless of division – to each throw for at least 12,000 career yards. 
 
Nick Jones
Jones is one of the most accomplished and decorated athletes in ACU's storied track and field history. In 2012, he became the first man in NCAA history – regardless of classification – to win four straight outdoor individual national championships in the discus. He was also part of three NCAA Division II national championship teams, including the 2011 indoor title where he, Amos Sang, Desmond Jackson, and Ramon Sparks scored all 49 of the Wildcats' points to bring home the national championship trophy. Those four and one other Wildcat scored all of ACU's points at the outdoor championship meet later that spring as ACU won the outdoor national title. He was inducted into the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division II Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2022. Jones also played football for the Wildcats in 2008 and 2009, recording 18 tackles and one sack for the 2009 team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation.
 
Cyril Bouniol
Bouniol won the NCAA Division II individual national championship in 2010, becoming the second Wildcat after Jeev Singh (1993) to win the title. As a senior in 2011, he won a second straight NCAA Division II South Central. Midwest Super Regional individual title, helping the Wildcats earn a Super Regional co-championship and qualify for the national tournament where ACU fell to Cal State-Monterey Bay in the semifinals of the national tournament. Bouniol was selected as a PING first team All-American as a senior in 2011. Bouniol has been playing professionally for the last decade-plus.
 
Angie Aguilar
Aguilar's decorated pole vault career, which ran from 2003-07, included three LSC titles and seven All-American honors, but her biggest claim to fame was becoming the first female pole vaulter in NCAA history to win both indoor and outdoor national titles in the same year (2006). Her winning indoor height measured 12-11.50, while her outdoor mark reached 12-10.25 as ACU finished as the national runner-up at each meet. After graduating from ACU she continued to compete through 2013 and narrowly missed the 2008 Olympic Trials, despite recording a personal best of 14-0.
 
Ijeoma (Moronu) Alstrup
Alstrup is one of the great players in the history of ACU volleyball, finishing her career second on ACU's career assists list (4,813 from 20070-10), which is where she still resides. Alstrup ­– the setter on three of the greatest teams in program history – is also 10^th on the program's all-time blocks list with 300. The Wildcats were a combined 97-35 in her four seasons but were 82-21 in the final three seasons with an appearance in the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament in 2010. Alstrup was a two-time first team all-LSC selection who was the LSC MVP at setter in 2010. She also served two stints as an assistant coach at ACU after her collegiate career ended. She continues to play professionally overseas.
 
Aston Whiteside
Whiteside was one of the most dominating, disruptive defensive players in ACU football history, helping the Wildcats to two Lone Star Conference championships (2008 and 2010) during his four-year career, which spanned from 2008-11. An NCAA Division II first team All-American in 2011 and second team selection in both 2009 and 2010, Whiteside is third in ACU history with 31.5 sacks, while also recording 57.5 career tackles for loss for 335 yards in losses. Whiteside was selected to ACU's All-Decade Team for the 2000s, was the LSC Freshman of the Year in 2008, and was the LSC Defensive Lineman of the Year from 2009-11. In addition to two perfect regular seasons (2008 and 10), Whiteside helped ACU to four straight NCAA Division II playoff berths.
 
Arthur Williams
Williams was a 10-time NCAA Division II All-American in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays and the 200 meters, and a two-time NCAA Division I All-American (4x100 relay in 1984 and 4x400 relay in 1985). Williams won six NCAA Division II individual outdoor national championships (200 meters in 1985, 4x100 relay in 1982 and 1984, and 4x400 relay from 1983-85), helping the Wildcats win four NCAA Division II team outdoor national championships (1982-85). Williams also played football for the Wildcats, and his 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Northern Colorado in 1985 is the fifth-longest in ACU history. He signed free agent contracts and went to training camp with both the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns. His son, Avery, was an integral part of the ACU track and field team from 2016-20. Arthur and Avery are the only father-son combination in ACU track and field history to win individual conference titles: Arthur won the LSC championship in the 200 meters in 1984, and Avery won the Southland Conference title in the 400 meters in 2018.