Aug. 26, 2005
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State Department of Athletics will welcome a new class this fall of four individuals and one team into its Aztec Hall of Fame, presented by the Wise Foundation.
The newest Aztecs to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame include a pair of former football players in All-American offensive lineman Henry Allison (1969-70) and running back Kern Carson (1961-63), former basketball standout Bernie Finlay (1958-60), former track and field star and Olympic medalist Lynn Kanuka (1980-82) and the 1987 national collegiate rugby championship team.
The honoring of the 1987 rugby squad begins a process of recognizing all Aztec national championship teams by the Hall of Fame.
The new class will be enshrined on Hall of Fame Weekend, slated for Nov. 18-19. The official induction ceremony will take place Friday evening, while the new class will be recognized at halftime of the Aztecs' final home football game of 2005 versus Wyoming.
The Aztec Hall of Fame, presented by the Wise Foundation, inducted its first members in 1988 and has welcomed a new group of legends every year through 1999. Inductions were put on hold for two years while work was completed on the Aztec Athletics Center, which is the first permanent home of the Hall of Fame.
The following is a quick look at the newest Aztec Hall of Fame members:
Henry Allison played two seasons at San Diego State from 1969-70, after transferring from College of Sequoias, where he also lettered twice. Allison anchored the SDSU offensive line that set the record for points in a season (44.7 per game) and ushered in the Division I era with a perfect 11-0 record in 1969. As a senior in 1970, he received first team All-America honors from The Sporting News, Time Magazine and the Newspaper Enterprise Association.Allison was selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles and also played in both St. Louis and Denver. He currently resides in Inglewood, Calif., and was inducted into the California Community Colleges Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
Kern Carson was a standout running back for the Don Coryell-led Aztecs from 1961-63, helping the squad to a pair of California Collegiate Athletic Association titles, including a perfect 6-0 league record in 1962. A two-time first team all-league pick and team MVP, he ran for 1,911 yards during his career, which still ranks 10th in school history.Carson's most notable performance as an Aztec came in a 29-26 win over Fresno State in 1962, when he ran for 236 yards and scored three touchdowns, including an 88-yard effort.Carson, who played one season with the New York Jets, was born in Arkansas, but raised in San Diego. He attended both Lincoln High School and San Diego City College before moving onto SDSU. Carson passed away in March 2002.
One of the top scorers in Aztec men's basketball history, Bernie Finlay played at SDSU from 1958-60, finishing his career with 1,110 points. He was a three-time all conference selection and had an outstanding senior campaign which saw him average 20.1 points per game, the fifth-best single-season scoring average in school history.An excellent free-throw shooter, he remains in the SDSU top 10 in both career (78 percent) and single-season percentage (83 percent - 1959).Finlay, who was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals in the 1960 NBA draft, is currently a dentist in the San Diego area.
The Aztec record-holder in the 10,000 meters, Lynn Kanuka established herself as one of the school's best-ever distance runners from 1980-82. Kanuka still ranks in the school's top 10 in four different individual events and is a member of the Aztecs' fastest ever 4x800 and distance medley relays. She also claimed a pair of conference titles during her career in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters.As a member of the SDSU cross country squad, Kanuka earned three varsity letters and posted four of the school's top 11 times in 5K races.After college, she represented her native Canada in both the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal in the 3,000 meters in 1984. Kanuka, who now resides in Surrey, B.C., was a member of the Canadian cross country team and set 11 national records from 1983-89. She still holds the Canadian national record in the outdoor 1,500 meters and the indoor mile and 3,000 meters.
The 1987 San Diego State rugby team won the national championship in Pebble Beach, Calif., by defeating Air Force, 10-9. The Aztecs, who knocked off Dartmouth in the semifinals, advanced to the final four by knocking off then six-time national champion California for the Pacific Coast championship. The team ended the season with a perfect 13-0 record, including a 5-0 mark in the playoffs, while three players earned All-America accolades. Sean Allen, Dennis Gonzales and Chris Lippert went on to become members of the U.S. men's national team program.