Ask Kelly Rickon Mitchell ’81: Cut by the 1982 U.S. women’s rowing team, she won a silver medal in ’84. Or coach Dick Davey: After a 25-point run by Arizona, he pulled off the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history. Randy Winn ’96walked on to SCU’s basketball and baseball teams. Leslie Osborne ’05 tried to commit to SCU before she even had an offer.
Each of this year’s Santa Clara University Athletics Hall of Fame inductees faced obstacles throughout their careers but found strength within to persevere. They bet on themselves and made history.
Mitchell was a two-time member of the U.S. Olympic women’s rowing team. She was awarded a Congressional gold medal for the boycotted 1980 Olympic Summer games and went on to become the captain of the 1984 Olympic team, helping the American men claim the silver medal as coxswain. During her junior season at SCU, she was coxswain for the U.S. women’s team that placed sixth at the 1979 World Championships. She also ran cross-country.
Davey guided the Broncos for 15 seasons, posting a 251–190 record (.569) and leading the team to three NCAA Tournament appearances (1993–96). He led Santa Clara to three regular season conference titles (1995–97), four 20-win campaigns, and nine seasons finishing in the top three of the WCC. He also earned Coach of the Year honors four times and is a beloved member of the University community.
Winn was a two-sport standout at Santa Clara but made his mark professionally in baseball. As an outfielder he helped guide the Broncos to the 1994 NCAA Tournament and a first-place finish in the West Coast Conference. He played pro ball 13 seasons, most notably with the San Francisco Giants, and he hit .284 with 110 home runs and 662 RBIs. (See
here for a story on his latest work for the BAT charity.)
Osborne is one of the most decorated athletes in school history, earning first team All-American honors three times and winning the 2004 Honda Award as the nation’s top women’s soccer player. Before going pro, she was a two-time WCC Player of the Year (2003–04) and instrumental in leading the Broncos to the 2001 National Championship. Her jersey is one of only four to be honored by Santa Clara, and she was inducted into the WCC Hall of Honor in 2014.