Sports

Successful athletes aren't superhuman. They simply possess and utilize consistent skill sets that elicit positive results. They believe in themselves and their ability to constantly improve. They set realistic goals, they surround themselves with the right people, and they stay the course through tough times.

Ryan Garthright 2010

Ryan represented the United States from 2017-2023 for the Aussie Rules Football team. Career highlights include: being named to the "All-World" team after the 2017 International Cup, being named to the US's "All-Star" team since the league's inception, and beating team Canada in Toronto.

Ryan has played "Aussie Rules" around the world. He played in Melbourne Australia for the premiership winning football club Prahran. In 2017 he played every game in the International Cup where the US finished 4th, behind Ireland.

His local club is the Denver Bulldogs where he was named to the "All-Star" team since the league's inception. A fellow CSU SigEp introduced Ryan to the game after he learned about 'footy' while studying abroad.

John Conrad (Trapper) Rudd, 1986

Fly Fisherman/Adventurer

Trapper is a juggernaut of angling, always jetting off to somewhere exotic in search of new places to fly fish. A typical month for Trapper would see him roaming the waters of the Zambezi River in Mozambique one week, jetting off to New Zealand for trout the next week and then literally days later prowling the flats of Micronesia searching for giant trevally. Over Trap’s career he managed to fish every continent on our planet.

In fact, Trapper is the only known angler to have ever fished the Imperial koi ponds of the Emperor of Japan. Unfortunately, upon his discovery, the Imperial Palace Guards were summoned, he was later released with a smile and asked never to return. In typical Trapper eventually blamed the whole affair on translation difficulties.

Trapper was featured on numerous television shows including "In Search of Flywater", "Legends of Rod and Reel", "Backroads with Ron and Raven" and "Eco Fishing Adventures". Trap also contributed many articles to Fly Fish America as a contributing editor. Trapper was one of the few on the G. Loomis Elite Pro Staff and also fished for Scientific Anglers.

He was also known as the first global do-it-yourself adventurer who published self-filmed videos.

Dr. Leonard P. Blach,1959

Co-owner of Mine That Bird, the 3-year old gelding which overcame 50-1 odds to win the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Ky., on May 2, 2009

Owns Buena Suerte Equine, horse-breeding facility in Roswell, N.M. In 1977 Lenord was New Mexico Quarter Horse Man of the Year. In 2005 he was the recipient of the New Mexico Horse Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and was named Man of the Year and was inducted into the Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame in June 2010.

In 2014 the film 50 to 1 was released based on the true story of Mine That Bird, an undersized thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2009 Kentucky Derby in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the race.

Ronald D. Stehouwer 1959

Ron graduated from Colorado State University with a BS in Electrical Engineering and Teacher Certification in Math and Statistics. He was sleceted in the 12th round of the 1959 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions and in the 1st round of the 1960 AFL draft by the Los Angeles Chargers. He played five years as an offensive guard with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1960 through 1964. While playing with the Steelers Ron completed his masters degree and Ph.D. candidacy in Industrial Psychology. Adjunct Professor at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas,

John Marvin Willhite 1952

Throughout Marvin ‘s life he focused on his love of racehorses. Marvin was one of the original founders of Gateway Downs Racetrack in Holly. He contributed in many ways to Gateway Downs from its inception through the 1990's.

He was a longtime member of the American Quarter Horse Association, He was an AQHA Director from Colorado from 1980 to 1999, was named a Director Emeritus in 2000. He was also a member of the AQHA racing committee. Marvin was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2007.

Dale F. Dodrill 1951

The Pittsburg Steelers drafted Dale in the 6th round (67th overall) in 1951, his contract was for $4,200. As defensive tackle a Dale earned All-Pro honors six times and played in five pro bowls during his nine years in the NFL. He was defensive captain of the team for three years and defensive MVP in 1954.

In 2007, the Steelers organization honored Dale during their 75th Season Celebration and named him to the Pittsburgh Steelers Legends team. Dale was inducted into the Pittsburgh Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

Dale is in the CSU Hall Of Fame, and in 1992 CSU selected him as a member of the school’s all-century team. In 1993, Dale was inducted into the Colorado Hall of Fame.

Robert Frederick Hainlen, 1950

Bob was and still is the youngest starting quarterback in CSU history, he was only 17-year-old, a true freshman from Trinidad, Colo. that put Bob is on an exclusive list of true freshman to start a major college football game, in their first game of eligibility and remain the starting quarterback for all four years. The list includes players like John Elway (Stanford) and Peyton Manning (Tennessee).

Bob left Colorado A&M early after being drafted by the Washington Redskins in 1949 in the 19th round, 188 person overall. Washington traded Bob to the Wilmington Delaware Clippers of the then American Association where he started as quarterback in their first game in the new AFL. The AAFC and NFL merged in 1949 and the American Association was renamed the American Football League. Unfortunately only a few short weeks later in a surprise move the Clipper ceased operations at the end of the 1949 season. Bob returned to his studies at Colorado A&M and graduated in 1950.

James L. Harsh 1933

Jim's competitive record began in 1917 at the Hot Sulphur Springs Annual Winter Carnival. Jim entered Colorado Agricultural College in 1929 and developed campus interest in skiing by winning intercollegiate meets for the Aggies. He organized the Aggie’s first ski club and served as its first president in 1932.

Because of his strength in jumping and cross-country, he was named to the Olympic Team as an alternate for the U.S. Nordic combined team in the 1932 Games at Lake Placid, N.Y. thus making him the first Coloradoan to qualify for the U.S. Winter Olympic Team.

In 1981 Jim was inducted into the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum’s Hall of Fame.