Football's Billy Blakeman, Henry Fields and Terry Irving along with Terry Burrows from baseball and Sita Waru from track and field have been selected for induction into the McNeese State Hall of Fame.
Induction ceremonies will be held at halftime of the McNeese State - Henderson State football game on Sept. 5 in Cowboy Stadium. A reception - sponsored by the Cowboy Club - in honor of the five athletes will take place at 6 p.m. in the Cowboy Room prior to the game.
All five were exceptional athletes in their respective sports and each continues to hold one or more McNeese record.
Blakeman was a defensive back and played for the Cowboys in the 1970s (1970-73), helping his team to a national No. 1 ranking as college division member in 1971 and a berth in the Grantland Rice Bowl. Twice he was named to the all-conference team, in 1970 to the all-Gulf States Conference team and in 1973 to the all-Southland Conference team and he was also an all-Louisiana pick.
He still holds the McNeese career record for pass interceptions with 25 (which he returned for 330 yards) and for pass interceptions in a single season of 10. In 1970 he intercepted three passes against Northeast Louisiana and that remains as a Cowboy Stadium record.
The Morgan City native also led the Cowboys in punt returns for two straight years, running one back for a touchdown.
He was an honor student and received his degree in Accounting. Blakeman is now a Senior Vice President - Branch Manager for Wells Fargo Advisors in New Orleans.
Fields, who passed away last year, continues to rank as McNeese's all-time rushing leader with 4,358 yards on 839 carries, playing from 1992 to 1995. He was the team's leading rusher for four straight seasons and broke the 1,000 yard mark three times with 1,206 in 1995, 1,198 in 1992 and 1,100 in 1994.
The Monroe native played on conference championship teams in 1993 and 1995 and in four straight NCAA playoffs. His 90 yard touchdown run against Idaho in 1994 continues to rank as a co-school record.
He scored 30 touchdowns rushing and among his top individual games were a 223 yard performance against Idaho in 1992 and 193 yards against Illinois State in 1994.
Fields was both an all-Louisiana and all-Southland Conference pick and was named McNeese's outstanding offensive player.
After his collegiate career he went to camp with the Carolina Panthers and then returned to Monroe to become a youth counselor.
Irving was a standout linebacker for the Cowboys from 1990 to 1993 and played on two SLC championship teams and in three NCAA playoffs. Twice he was named the McNeese athlete of the year, twice (1992, 1993) he was the football team's most valuable player and three times the team's outstanding defensive player.
He was named to five all-American teams his junior and senior years, was twice named the Louisiana player of the year and two times picked up the SLC defensive player of the year honor.
The native of Galveston, TX led the Cowboys in tackles three straight seasons, with a career high 159 tackles in 1993.
Following his collegiate career, Irving was drafted in the fourth round by Arizona and had a five year career with the Cardinals, playing middle linebacker in Buddy Ryan's 46 defense.
Irving had received a degree in engineering technology in 1994 from McNeese and added a master degree in Management from SMU in 2009. He is now an engineer for Lockheed Martin in Dallas.
Burrows, who is the current head baseball coach at McNeese, played two seasons for the Cowboys before going on to a pro career after being drafted by the Texas Rangers.
In his two seasons with the Cowboys, the lefthanded pitcher was named the Southland Conference's player of the year, and led the league in ERA (1.58), in victories (10) and in strikeouts (116).
He had a career record of 15-6 with the Cowboys, was named the team's MVP and set a school record with 19 strikeouts in a nine inning game vs UL-Lafayette (1990) and 15 strikeouts in a seven inning game vs Louisiana College (1989).
Burrows went on to play 11 seasons of professional baseball, posting a 4-4 record in the majors with stints at Texas, Milwaukee and San Diego and then began a coaching career that had him winning a district title at St. Louis High and then taking over as the head coach at McNeese.
Waru is one of the most decorated athletes in McNeese track and field history. Twice she was named the McNeese athlete of the year and on seven occasions she was named the Southland Conference athlete of the year (three for cross country, two for indoor track and two for outdoor track).
Now the associate head coach for track and field at George Mason University, she still holds Cowgirl outdoor records for the 3000 meters, 5000 meters and 10,000 meters and indoor records for 1600 meters and 5000 meters.
Twice she was named the McNeese team MVP and she won a total of nine conference titles while three times being the league's scoring champion.
After graduating from McNeese, Waru, who is a native of Waiama, New Zealand, went into the coaching ranks, joining the Lamar Cardinals and leading Lamar's men's and women's cross country teams to six SLC titles while earning six coach of the year honors.
The addition of these five athletes will lift the number in the McNeese Hall of Fame to 115.