The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
UT Athletics inducts five into Women's Hall of Honor
10.14.2016 | T-Association, Track & Field / Cross Country
Edna Campbell, Michelle Carter, Andrea Hayes Dickson, Lucie Ludvigova Schmidhauser and Terri Turner Hairston earn the highest honor bestowed upon a former student-athlete or coach at Texas.
AUSTIN - The University of Texas Women's Hall of Honor added five new members to its ranks on Friday morning in the Lone Star Room at the Frank Erwin Center.
Edna Campbell, Michelle Carter, Andrea Hayes Dickson, Lucie Ludvigova Schmidhauser and Terri Turner Hairston joined a distinguished group in receiving the highest honor bestowed upon a former student-athlete at Texas. The members of this year's class hauled in a considerable amount of hardware during their time on the Forty Acres, including numerous national championship trophies in track and field, swimming and tennis, among other individual honors.
Hugs abounded as the inductees reconnected with friends, family and former teammates and coaches. Attendees strolled down a plush orange carpet lined with photographs of the inductees taken during their time at Texas.
The ceremony included speeches from the former athletes and highlight reels of their accomplishments. One by one, each inductee recounted the phone call they received from women's athletic director Chris Plonsky. Some were in their cars, others paused in shock at the news, but all described a sense of humility and pride.
"I can't even express it," said Turner Hairston, a former track and field NCAA champion at Texas. "I still haven't come down yet. I'm like a kid at Christmas."
Plonsky made sure to emphasize the distinction between a Hall of Fame and a Hall of Honor. In this case, Plonsky said the selection committee considers the entire body of work for each nominee.
"I think the word 'honor' is very indicative of what we look for in our selectees," Plonsky said. "They have to have brought great significance in terms of achievements for their athleticism, but also in the classroom. Then they will have to have done something extraordinary after graduation, and this group is so exemplary."
Campbell, a former basketball star at Texas, led the Longhorns to an NCAA "Elite Eight" appearance in 1990 while earning Southwest Conference Newcomer of the Year honors.
In 2002, while playing in the WNBA for the Seattle Monarchs, Campbell was diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite the diagnosis, Edna continued to shine on the court, and later made a return in 2006. Now a cancer survivor, author and health advocate, Campbell said she continues to value her place in the Longhorn family.
"I never imagined this day," Campbell said. "Even though I will probably say 'thank you' I don't know how many times today, it still doesn't seem like I can fully express my gratitude for this honor."
Former swimmer Hayes Dickson reflected on the first time she stepped onto campus 30 years ago. That year she aided the Longhorns in winning their fifth consecutive national championship in swimming and diving, and would capture two more before graduating.
"I don't think at the time we really realized how incredible that was and how special that was," Hayes Dickson said. "I think [this honor] is just icing on the cake for a career that meant so much to me. Swimming defined who I was as a person, and to be recognized for that is pretty special."
For many of the members of this year's class, the road to success at Texas was long and arduous. Nobody knows that better than Ludvigova Schmidhauser, a standout tennis player at Texas from 1993-95. Growing up in Communist Czechoslovakia, she dreamed of venturing to the West. A tennis scholarship to a junior college provided a ticket out, and Ludvigova Schmidhauser worked her way to Texas from there, eventually winning a national championship in 1995 with the Longhorns.
"When I first came to UT, my only goal was to make the starting lineup. That's all I thought about, and I honestly didn't think I'd have a chance to make the starting lineup," Ludvigova Schmidhauser said. "It's just an incredible honor to be nominated and to be inducted into The University of Texas Women's Hall of Honor. It's something that I didn't expect, and I was so excited when I got the call from Chris Plonsky letting me know that I would be inducted today."
Former track and field star Michelle Carter made waves in August by becoming the first American woman to win a gold medal in shot put at the Summer Olympics. Several individual and team NCAA championships highlighted her career at Texas, elevating her to the highest ranks of track and field athletes to come through the Forty Acres. She credits her time at UT with instilling a sense of high achievement in her, both on the track and beyond.
"They expected nothing but the best from me," Carter said. "Walking in excellence was something that was demanded of us. So I carry that with me today, to be excellent in everything I do, no matter how big or how small."