2005

Mary Jo Campbell has been involved in sports as a participant, teacher, coach, professor, and administrator since elementary school days. She has competed in golf, softball, basketball and volleyball during high school and college, and was the first girl to compete on a boy’s high school golf team in her hometown of Independence, Mo.

In 1960, Campbell won the Kansas City Junior Golf Tournament.  During her college days, Mary Jo was an athletic and academic force.  Not only was she a consistent member of the Dean’s Honor Roll in the UNM General Honors Program and a top-flight golfer, Campbell holds the distinction of being the first woman to receive a sports scholarship from the University of New Mexico.

After Ms. Campbell completed her B.S. at UNM, and a M.A in Exercise Physiology and Motor Learning from the University of California at Santa Barbara, she taught high school physical education and coached the girls track and field team.  She taught physical education at Ohio State University and ultimately received her Ph.D. in 1973.  Campbell came back to UNM where she would eventually live and breathe her 30-year career in Physical Education.

During Dr. Campbell’s tenure at UNM she has served as a program coordinator, department chairperson, division director and Chair of the Department of Physical Performance and Development within the College of Education.

Among Campbell’s passions is her lifetime work in directing and overseeing youth sports programs.  For more than 30 years, she has been the director of the Summer Youth Sports Program, and since 1995, Mary Jo has led the National Youth Sports Program at the University of New Mexico.  Charlotte Piper, a former professor and UNM Hall of Honor recipient in 1999, proudly states, “Dr. Campbell doesn’t brag of her laurels, but she has positively touched many students’ lives as well as her colleagues.”

In June of 2005, Campbell started another chapter of her athletic life – she retired from UNM.  Campbell will be sorely missed by all those that benefited from her lifelong knowledge of promoting physical activity and championing fitness and sports for children and college students.  Mary Jo will now be enjoying the lush fairways and green pastures of myriad golf courses across the country.

Gary Colson is one of the most successful coaches in NCAA Division I history with 563 wins.  While compiling over 36 years of basketball experience, his basketball career highlights an impressive tenure at the University of New Mexico, achieving some of his greatest professional and personal accomplishments as a collegiate head coach.

Colson began his career with New Mexico in 1981, taking over a team in need of guidance, support and restructuring. His stint began in the harbor of Marina del Rey in Southern California.  After reading a story in the local paper about the turmoil happening at the University of New Mexico, Colson told one of his friends that he had a feeling that he was about to receive a call that would change his life. Within an hour, he received that call from long-time friend John Bridgers, the University of New Mexico athletics director. The next day, Colson traded in the Marina waters for the New Mexico sun.

Colson joined the Lobos not as a coach, but as a recruiter, friend and supporter. He spent his first season learning, studying and patiently waiting to jump into his role as head coach. In 1981, he took to the sidelines, guiding a team of walk-ons and hopefuls through the season.

By his fourth season, the fog lifted and the haze disappeared.  UNM went 24-11 in 1983-84 to earn the Western Athletic Conference coach of the year honors. He had taken a team of managers, holdovers and rookies to the top of their game. Several of his players during his eight-year career at the UNM were drafted to the NBA with Luc Longley at the top of that list.

Colson left the team in 1988 as the second-winningest coach in school history. In eight seasons, he accomplished more than records, wins and upsets. He earned the trust of colleagues, players, coaches and the NCAA. He made winners into believers and believers into winners.

Carol Thomas Rhudy graduated from UNM in 1964 but didn’t receive her varsity letter until 1991.  It was then that the Alumni Lettermen’s Association identified 67 female athletes whose performance and dedication to their sport brought honor to their university.  Rhudy was inducted into Hall of Honor for her accomplishments as a swimmer, specializing in the breast and backstrokes. 

Rhudy began her swimming career at the suggestion of a friend when she was a senior at Highland High School.  Highland did not have a pool so Rhudy trained at the Acapulco Swim Club near the old airport.  It was there Rhudy met Jim Stevens who coached her and gave her confidence.

At UNM, Rhudy competed four years for coach Charlotte Piper, and was team captain her senior year.  Rhudy met her future husband, Bo, at UNM.  He was captain of the men’s swim team.

Since graduating from UNM, Rhudy taught K-12 in several states before settling in Michigan in 1977.  In 1985 she was in a serious car accident and turned to water therapy to help heal her many broken bones.  Rhudy designed a therapy program for herself and within months was back at the Michigan Masters competing and winning.

Soon afterwards, Rhudy began helping others recover from injuries and surgeries with her water therapy routines.  She then began consulting and started a business.  Eventually, Blue Dolphin Aquatic Rehab kept her working nearly fulltime in retirement.

Rhudy is an active volunteer in many organizations, including the United Way, American Cancer Society, National Arthritis Foundation and the American Red Cross.  In 33 years, she never missed a Masters competition for her state of Michigan.

Bill Weeks didn’t plan to make a career of coaching, but thank goodness for the UNM Lobos he did.

An outstanding athlete in football, basketball and track at Iowa State, Weeks was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles and saw this as a way to pay for law school in the off-season.  But the Korean War interfered and Weeks served two years in the Marines.  When he returned he was injured in a car accident that would end his chances of playing professional football.

Weeks returned to ISU in 1953 and worked as a graduate assistant in coaching while completing his master’s in psychology.  He was then offered a job coaching high school football and thought he would do that for a few years before again heading off to law school.  Two years into that job, Weeks was lured to UNM by friend and head football coach Dick Clausen.  Weeks served as end coach and chief scout until Marv Levy took over in 1958 when he became the backfield coach.

Two years later in 1960, Weeks took over the head spot when Levy accepted the head coaching position at California.  Weeks was 30 years old and the youngest head coach in UNM’s history.

After a 5-5 season in 1960, the Lobos went 7-4 in 1961 that included a victory over Western Michigan in the Aviation Bowl.  The Western Athletic Conference started in 1962 and the Lobos flourished, winning league titles in 1962 and ’63, and tying for the crown in 1964.

In 1965, two-platoon football was introduced, meaning the same players would not play both offense and defense.  However, without a budget increase for the program, UNM could not keep up.  The Lobos ended the season at 3-7.  Weeks resigned as head football coach after the 1967 season, compiling a school-record 40 wins, a mark that stood for nearly 40 years.

Weeks held several positions in the UNM administration, including administrative assistant for the regional Medical Program, director of development and liaison to the Board of Educational Finance and executive assistant to President William “Bud” Davis.

Woodrow “Woody” Clements served two terms as the University of New Mexico’s head men’s basketball coach.  Coach Clements arrived on campus and began building his basketball team with returning GI’s, some of whom had played for the Lobos before the United States entered the World War II in 1941.

Clements’ first stint was seven years coaching in the Border Conference from 1944-45 to 1950-51.  He produced four winning seasons and an overall record of 84-76, including a sparkling 14-2 mark in his rookie year when the Lobos took first place in the Border Conference with a perfect 12-0 ledger. After a one-year hiatus following the 1950-51 season, Clements returned for three years from 1952-53 through 1954-55.  His career record was 113-119.  Clements was named Skyline Coach of the Year in 1953, and was also given ‘honorary lettermen’ status. 

With UNM’s enrollment increasing yearly after the war, buildings were being utilized to its fullest and the university struggled to keep pace with construction. Carlisle Gym was pressed into service for men and women’s physical education, dances, assemblies, registration, concerts, commencement, offices and the men’s basketball team. Scheduling was tight, thus players would help clear the basketball court of chairs and other apparatus before they could practice or play.

Despite much interference, Clements always managed to maintain a sense of humor and these inconveniences were all taken in stride. One of Clements’ players was Larry Tuttle, a 2004 Hall of Honor recipient.  Tuttle described Clements as, “very low key – no shouting – and he sought input from his players.”

Dave Barney, another Alumni Lettermen Hall of Honor inductee also accounts fond memories, but remembers Clements for his teaching of physical education, theory and practice, facilities and educational philosophy.  “Of all the teachers I had at UNM, Clements was the most even tempered and mild mannered. He was always available for counseling and in general, he was a kindly fellow.”  No wonder legendary Utah coach Jack Gardner said, “Woody Clements got more out of his players than any coach in the Rocky Mountains, perhaps the nation.”            

After leaving UNM, Clements became active in agriculture, 4-H, and related farming ventures. He also became involved in civic and government matters, including holding the position of Sheriff and Councilman in Estancia until his death in 2004.

• Led his alma mater to a 5^th-place finish at the 2005 NCAA Championships, UNM’s best finish since 1979

• Lobos won the Mountain West Conference team championship for the second straight season

• Spencer was second team All-American and Charlie Beljan was MWC Freshman of the Year

• Three-year letterman for the Lobos between 1994-98

Football

• Four-year starter at outside linebacker from 2001-04…started the final 42 games of his career

• Four-time Academic all-Mountain West Conference, finishing with a 3.97 cumulative grade-point-average

• 1^st team all-Mountain West as a senior, finishing 14^th all-time at UNM with 317 career tackles

• Selected by the Cleveland Browns in the 6^th round of the 2005 NFL Draft