The Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame inducted seven new members to represent the 2022 class at The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center on Friday evening.
By adding a pair of NCAA champions, two Super Bowl champions and multiple ACC title holders, the coveted club continues to grow in both prestige and tradition, increasing the level of hierarchy for those lucky enough to have earned a plaque to hang high on the walls of the Cassell Coliseum concourse.
Selected to further engrain themselves into the forefront and foundation of Virginia Tech athletics, the impressive Class of 2022 is composed of former Virginia Tech quarterback Bruce Arians, two-time ACC champion Kam Chancellor, former Tech football strength and conditioning coach Mike Gentry, three-time All-American weight-thrower Dorotea Habazin, 2006 Dudley Award recipient Vince Hall, two-time national champion weight-thrower Marcel Lomnický and six-time ACC champion swimming and diving standout Sara Smith.
"[This is] quite an honor, especially to stand alongside so many of the previous inductees and other individuals that are here tonight," exclaimed Smith, a former All-American honoree in the pool back in 2007. "To be able to represent swimming and diving and to be able to represent Virginia Tech, especially with my family…it's an honor."
Smith excelled in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle and 200-meter freestyle relay during her time in Blacksburg, all of which she broke school records in. And following her final season putting on the goggles, she left Tech as both the fastest swimmer in program and ACC history to cap off a remarkable career.
"[To be] honored like this…it's a testament to the body of work displayed over the years here and all the hard work put in," added Chancellor, a two-time All-Pro player with the Seattle Seahawks. "When you dedicate a lot of [that work] into your craft and to this game, it just means a lot. I'm glad to be able to get honored here at Virginia Tech."
Chancellor recorded 208 total tackles during his time suiting up for the maroon and orange, adding four Pro Bowl appearances to a strong list of accolades after departing the Hokies' secondary after a strong four-year career.
Hall, a former four-year starter during his time in the New River Valley, holds the Virginia Tech record for consecutive games started with 44 straight suiting up on the football field. Arians, who laced it up for Tech from 1971-74, spent eight seasons in the head coach's chair at the NFL level that included a Super Bowl championship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Gentry, a member of the USA Strength and Conditioning Hall of Fame, served the maroon and orange for 29 key seasons during the growth of former head coach Frank Beamer's program from 1987-2015.
Moving away from the gridiron, Lomnický finished his collegiate career as one of the most accomplished athletes in Tech history, appearing in the Olympics three times and becoming the third Hokie to win multiple NCAA titles in 2012 with his weight throw championship. Habazin's accomplishments on the track remain historic, too. The Croatia native was just the second woman to ever win a national title at Virginia Tech, claiming an impressive four ACC titles, including three in the hammer throw and one in the weight throw throughout her amateur career.
"I think it's fantastic to get all these ex-players back into town first and foremost," said Mike Burnop, an inductee of the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame's Class of 2000. "This particular class is so cool because, yes, there's four football-related people. You think about the great job Mike Gentry did here with Coach Beamer. Kam Chancellor had a great career here and in the NFL, Bruce Arians….Vince Hall. But, you also have track and field, swimming and diving, all [different sports]...it covers the whole realm.
"It's good to get them back. They say, This is Home, and it's good to get them back home."
The term, This is Home, reigns true at each and every event associated with Virginia Tech athletics. Especially a night like this that's a culmination of hard work, dedication and accomplishment that brings everyone back into the inner-circle that surrounds Tech athletics and truly brings many from near and far back home.
Take Arians' words for example. The former record-breaking quarterback and star signal-caller has been to a multitude of places throughout his coaching career. But night's like these serve as a reminder for what is truly home for the two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year.
"[This is] somewhere [where I have] great memories that will never go away," Arians explained. "I spent seven years here, seven of the greatest years ever. It's always very important to come back here…it means the world. You're a Hokie for life."
The seven-member class increases the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame to a total of 218 members. The hall of fame, which was established in 1982, is located at the south end of the Cassell Coliseum ambulatory. The seven new members will be recognized at halftime of Saturday's football game vs. Georgia Tech.
For more information on the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2022 inductees' career accomplishments, click here.
Gallery: (11-4-2022) GEN: 2022 Hall of Fame Banquet
Gallery: (11-5-2022) GEN: 2022 Hall of Fame Recognition