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The University of Miami will induct six sports greats
into its Sports Hall of Fame at ceremonies later this month.
The new Hall of Fame members are tennis legends John
Hammill and Ronni Reis-Bernstein, baseball greats Mike Fiore and Bill
Wrona and football giants Bill Hawkins and Michael Irvin.
Hammill played and coached tennis at UM. During his
playing days from 1961-64, he helped Miami to establish the longest
winning streak in men's intercollegiate tennis history with 137
victories. As the Hurricanes head coach from 1980-95, he compiled an
impressive 269-128 record and qualified for the NCAA tournament 13
times.
Reis-Bernstein played tennis at UM 1985-88 and was
honored as an NCAA All-American an unprecedented eight times for her
singles and doubles play. She won the NCAA doubles championship in
1986 and was consistently ranked in the nation's top five singles and
doubles players.
Fiore played outfield for the Hurricanes from 1985-88,
earned All-America honors as a freshman and again in 1988, had in a
career .360 batting average in 270 games, holds UM records for at bat
(946), hits (341), runs scored (258), total bases (506), RBIs (235),
walks (222) and consecutive hits (9) and was a first-team All America
in 1988 for both the American Baseball Coaches Association and
Baseball America.
Wrona was a smooth-fielding shortstop on Hurricane
teams from 1980-83 and an important part of the 1982 National
Championship team. He had a career batting average of .301, with 243
hits and 95 stolen bases, eighth on the UM all-time list.
Hawkins was a defensive end at UM from 1985-88 and
earned first-team All America football honors from ESPN, Kodak and the
Walter Campbell Foundation. He ranks sixth in sacks on the Hurricane's
all-time list with 22. Hawkins finished his collegiate career with a
total of 223 tackles.
Irvin was a Hurricane wide receiver from 1985-88 who
went on to play for the Dallas Cowboys, starred in three Super Bowls
and continues to distinguish with the NFL organization today. Irvin
holds the UM career record for receiving yards (2,423), is second in
total receptions with 143 and fourth in touchdown catches with 26.
Irvin won freshman All America honors from Football News in 1985,
followed up in 1986 with a similar award from UPI, then garnered
second-team honors and honorable mention awards in 1987 from Football
News and the Associated Press.
The six sports greats will be inducted during
ceremonies at the 32nd annual UM Hall of Fame banquet Feb. 24 at the
Hyatt Regency in downtown Miami. Tickets are $50 or $500 for a table
for 10.
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