ABILENE – Two of the greatest players in ACU football history, along with three other Wildcat standouts and a Lifetime Achievement Award winner who has chronicled the exploits of ACU teams and student-athletes for more than 40 years, 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 six inductees are Taylor Gabriel ('15) and Daryl Richardson ('14) from football, former track and field standout Steve Parker ('84), Jessica Withrow ('10) from women's track and field, and Jessica Shiery ('10) from softball. Also being inducted is former baseball letterman and the founding editor of ACU Today, Ron Hadfield ('79).
The Class of 2024 will be celebrated during the hall's induction ceremony on Friday, Oct. 18, at 6:30 p.m. in ACU's McCaleb Conference Center in the Hunter Welcome Center. With the addition of the six members of this year's class, the ACU Sports Hall of Fame now includes 256 men and women. Registration for the ceremony is now open and will remain open until October 14.
Here's a look at each of the honorees:
• WR Taylor Gabriel (2010-13) – One of the greatest playmakers in ACU football history, Gabriel finished his four-year career with 215 catches (fourth all-time) for 3,027 yards (second all-time) and 27 touchdown receptions (tied for second all-time). He holds the program's single-game record for receptions with 15 for 188 yards in a 34-29 loss at New Mexico State in 2013, ACU's first season at the NCAA Division I FCS level. Gabriel is fifth in ACU history in all-purpose yards with 3,880, and his 1,309 all-purpose yards in 2013 is the eighth-best single-season total in program history. He is tied for second in program history with 12 100-yard receiving games, one behind ACU Sports Hall of Famer Clyde Gates. He caught 64 passes for 988 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2011, leading ACU to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the sixth straight season and earning NCAA Division II All-American honors. Gabriel was a first team All-Lone Star Conference as a junior in 2012 and a second team pick in 2011. After his senior season, he played in the Medal of Honor Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina. Despite running a 4.27 at his Pro Day workout in front of NFL scouts, Gabriel went undrafted in the 2014 NFL Draft. That didn't keep him out of the league, however, as he signed a free-agent contract with the Cleveland Browns where he spent two seasons, catching 64 passes for 862 yards and one touchdown. Before the 2016 season, he signed a free-agent deal with Atlanta and played two seasons for the Falcons, catching 68 passes for 957 yards and seven touchdowns. He played in Super Bowl LI (51) for the Falcons, who lost to the Patriots, 34-28, in the first overtime game in Super Bowl history. Gabriel caught three passes for 76 yards in the game. After two seasons in Atlanta, Gabriel signed a free-agent deal with Chicago and had his most productive season as a pro in 2018 with 67 catches for 688 yards and two touchdowns. He finished his career with 228 catches for 2,860 yards and 14 touchdown catches. Gabriel played in six playoff games, finishing with 15 catches for 212 yards and no touchdowns in the postseason. He announced his retirement from the NFL in April 2021.
• Steve Parker (1980-82) – One of the fastest athletes to ever compete for the Purple and White, Parker was a two-sport standout for the Wildcats from 1980-82, running track and playing football. … However, it was on the track where he made his name. Parker was an elite hurdler, winning the 1982 NCAA Division II national championship with a time of 13.97. He also ran the lead leg on ACU's 1982 national championship 4x100 relay team. The Wildcat quartet of Parker, Tommy Thompson, Arthur Williams, and Albert Lawrence ran 39.80 seconds. Those two performances helped the Wildcats win the first NCAA Division II outdoor national championship in men's program history. The Wildcats beat Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo for the title, the first of seven consecutive outdoor championships, most occurring in dominating fashion. Parker was a six-time Lone Star Conference individual champion with three straight wins in the 110-meter hurdles (1980-82), two as part of the 4x100 relay (1981 and 82), and one in the 400-meter hurdles (1982). He helped the Wildcats LSC team championships in 1980 and 1981. He had personal bests of 10.30 in the 100 meters (Border Olympics in Laredo in 1981), 13.73 in the 110 hurdles (Mt. SAC Relays in San Jacinto, California, in 1982), and 21.21 in the 200 meters (1982). Parker also played football, and as a senior in 1982, he caught 37 passes for 711 yards and six touchdowns. He set the school record for longest kickoff return for a touchdown in 1982 with a 100-yard return against Angelo State. He also had an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Northern Colorado in 1981. He was selected honorable mention All-Lone Star Conference in 1982 and was drafted in the 11th round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.
• RB Daryl Richardson (2009-11) – Richardson put up some of the greatest individual statistics in football program history in just three seasons as a Wildcat. He is sixth all-time in rushing yards (2,303), eighth in carries (453), third in rushing touchdowns (34), and seventh in career points scored (228). … He is third in career scoring among non-kickers, trailing only his half-brother, Bernard Scott (438 points), and Wilbert Montgomery (422 points). He is third in school history with 38 touchdowns scored behind Montgomery (76) and Scott (73). Richardson posted six career 100-yard rushing games with a career-best 170 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries on Oct. 29, 2011, in a win over Texas A&M-Commerce. Richardson led the Wildcats in rushing in 2009 (961 yards on 199 carries and in 2011 (825 yards on 139 carries). … He ran for 16 touchdowns in 2009, tied for the fourth-most in a season in ACU history. He scored 102 points that season, tied with Montgomery for 10th-best in a season in ACU history. Richardson is 13th in ACU history with 3,082 all-purpose yards with 2,303 yards coming on the ground and another 779 in receiving yards…. He participated in the Players All-Star Classic in Little Rock, Ark., in January 2012, along with ACU teammate Aston Whiteside. … Richardson was a second team all-Lone Star Conference selection in 2009 and 2011 and an honorable mention all-LSC pick in 2010. … An All-Decade selection at ACU (2010-19), Richardson helped the Wildcats to the 2010 LSC title and three straight NCAA Division II playoff selections. Drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 2012, Richardson spent two seasons with the Rams, rushing for 690 yards on 167 carries in those two seasons. Aside from the Rams, he played for the New York Jets, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Indianapolis Colts in his six-year career.
• Jessica Shiery (2008-09) – One of the top power hitters in ACU softball history, Shiery played two seasons for the Wildcats after transferring from College of the Siskiyous. She played her freshman year at the University of Utah, hitting 12 home runs and earning All-Mountain West Conference honors. She was voted first team NCAA Division II All-American by Daktronics and second team All-American on the Louisville Slugger National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) team as a senior. She was also a first team All-American selection by Daktronics as a junior in 2008, the first Wildcat softball player to earn NFCA first team All-American honors. In two seasons at ACU, Shiery played 119 games, hit .435, belted 25 home runs, and drove in 93 runs. She drew a staggering 123 walks in those 119 games, 53 as a junior and 70 more as a senior. Shiery finished 2009 with a .429 batting average, 13 home runs in 49 RBI. She drew a school record and NCAA Division II-leading 70 walks on the season, helping her lead NCAA Division II softball with a .619 on-base percentage. As a junior in 2008, she hit .440 with 12 home runs and 44 RBI. She was a first team All-LSC selection each year and was an All-LSC Tournament selection in 2008. She was voted the LSC Most Valuable Player in 2009. Her other career numbers include 37 doubles, 93 runs scored, a .797 slugging percentage, and only 25 strikeouts in two seasons. Behind the plate, she threw out 21 runners and committed only seven errors. In Shiery's two seasons, she helped ACU to a 77-42 record, two LSC Championship series appearances, and two NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament bids. The 2009 team won a school-record 43 games with Shiery behind the plate and in the middle of the lineup.
• Jessica Withrow (2006-10) – One of the top all-around athletes in ACU women's track and field history, Withrow in 2007 became the first Wildcat to win the NCAA Division II national championship in the heptathlon. In her terrific sophomore season of 2007, she won the heptathlon with 5,041 points to capture the national championship. She didn't win an event but was runner-up after the first day with 3,049 points and then added 2,002 points on the second day to win the title. With ACU's Camille Vandendriessche taking the national championship in the decathlon, it marked the first time athletes from the same school won NCAA Division II multi-event titles in the same season. As a junior in 2008, Withrow was a key member of a Wildcat team that returned to the top of NCAA Division II outdoor track and field by winning the 22nd and final women's team national championship at the NCAA Division II level. She won LSC titles in the heptathlon and high jump, and at the outdoor championship meet, she was second in the heptathlon. Withrow missed the 2009 season because of injury but bounced back as a senior in 2010 to earn indoor All-American honors with a sixth-place finish in the pentathlon. Withrow burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2006, earning indoor and outdoor All-American honors. She scored 38 points at the LSC meet to help the Wildcats regain the conference championship with a meet-record 290 points. Withrow earned All-American honors indoors with a tie for second in the high jump (5-7.75). She earned All-American honors outdoors with a second-place finish in the heptathlon (5,291 points) and a third-place finish in the high jump (5-7). She won LSC titles in the heptathlon (5,042 points) and high jump (5-7) and added 18 more points with a second-place finish in the long jump, a third-place finish in the 100 hurdles, and a fourth-place finish in the 400 hurdles.
• Ron Hadfield, Lifetime Achievement Award – Named ACU's editor emeritus, senior writer, and university historian in 2022, Hadfield oversaw Abilene Christian's brand and communications work for 40 years, leading a talented team in Creative Services to thousands of marketing projects on behalf of the Wildcats. The veteran writer, editor, designer, art director, film producer, and administrator earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication in 1979 from ACU, where he was the sports editor for one year and editor for two years of The Optimist student newspaper, twice winning the Wendell H. Bedichek Award as a top journalist. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Hadfield also earned an associate's degree in 1976 from Rochester Christian University, played collegiate baseball as a pitcher for RCU and ACU, and, for more than a decade, organized annual Alumni Games for the Wildcat baseball program. His storytelling coverage online and in print of ACU Athletics have spanned some of the most iconic moments in Wildcat history, including Ove Johansson's world-record field goal in 1976, the 1977 Apple Bowl national championship football game in Seattle's Kingdome, dozens of NCAA team titles, stories about numerous Olympians and NFL and MLB players, and ACU's first three basketball games in March Madness. Signage and environmental graphics projects he leads help brand and celebrate history in venues across campus, including Wildcat Stadium, Byron Nelson Golf Clubhouse, and Moody Coliseum. For 32 years, he was the founding editor and a designer of the award-winning ACU Today magazine. He and his Creative Services team won more than 300 awards from the American Advertising Federation and 150 regional awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), many on behalf of ACU Athletics. He is an Emmy-nominated producer with films that won 14 Telly Awards. Projects he directed have won five awards in CASE international Circle of Excellence competition, including silver medals for ACU's Centennial Campaign film and a student recruiting film. Hadfield won a CASE international gold medal as editor and co-designer of the university's 2005 Centennial book, The ACU Century: One Hundred Years of Faith and Excellence, and he was a contributing writer to Lance Fleming's 2018 book, Wildcat Football: Three Cheers for the Purple and White. During the university's Centennial, Hadfield received a Gutenberg award from the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication for distinguished professional achievement and the John and Ruth Stevens Historical Hashknife Award for pioneering preservation of ACU history. He is the only person to be twice named the university's Staff Member of the Year (1987 and 2014).
