Five former student-athletes make up the Western Washington University Athletics Hall of Fame class of 2026. All of them achieved success at the national level during their time at WWU, with three having notable international backgrounds after their years as Vikings.

The induction ceremony, a private event, will be held on Saturday, February 28, at the WWU Athletics Hall of Fame Room in Sam Carver Gymnasium. Later that day, the inductees will be presented during halftime of the women's basketball game, which starts at 5 p.m.

The class features two of the greatest basketball post-players in school history, a two-time Summer Olympic race walker, a football placekicker whose career matches the four best consecutive seasons in WWU history, and a sprinter who set a school record that still stands after 32 years.

Highlighting the honor's exclusivity, the Hall of Fame Class of 2026 raises the total individual memberships to 168 in Western's 124-year athletic history.

The 2026 ceremony will mark the 48th for WWU individual honorees, along with 13 teams, all national champions, who were inducted during the 2024-25 school year.

The Vikings' Hall of Fame is the second oldest among colleges and universities in the Pacific Northwest, only after the University of Puget Sound.

Football placekicker Wade Gebers set nearly all school and league placekicking records during his four-year career (1993-96); during which Western won nearly 80 percent of its games and reached a national title contest in 1996 for the first time in school history in any sport.

Women's post-player Cim Hanson was the Vikings' leading offensive rebounder in each of her four seasons (1987-91), holding the school record upon graduation.

Marc Hill set a school record in 1994 with a 400-meter time of 47.35 seconds, a mark that still stands, and competed in Europe for a year with Nike Club Ballard.

Race walker Herm Nelson represented the United States in the 50-kilometer race walk at both the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics after finishing third at the 1987 NAIA nationals to earn All-America honors.

Men's basketball center Mike Palm had a distinguished career at Western (1999-2003), in Sweden's top professional league (2003-2018), and with the Swedish National Team (2003-2007).

All of the 2026 inductee's WWU careers began before 2000.
 
 
WADE GEBERS

Football (Placekicker)

Competed during best four-year stretch in school football history

Graduated as all-time school and conference record holder

During his Western football career from 1993 to 1996, placekicker Wade Gebers (pronounced GAY-bers) helped the Vikings to a 34-9 record (79.1 percent), the best consecutive four-year mark in school history, and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II national championship game in 1996, the school's first title contest in any sport.

"This is such a deserving honor for Wade," said his WWU head coach Rob Smith, "To earn All American honors twice in a career is a rare accomplishment only a few athletes have achieved in the history of Western athletics."

"Wade was a key player on some of our most successful teams in the early to mid-90's and with Wade it was always 'team first.'  He embodied the ideals of a student-athlete and embraced the experience by forming many friendships during his playing days that continue to this day. I am thrilled for Wade and his family and congratulate him on a long-overdue honor."

Gebers led WWU and the Columbia Football Association (CFA)  in kick scoring all four seasons, finishing his career tied for third among NAIA leaders in field goals made with 47, just five short of the national record.

A first-team NAIA All-American in 1995 and 1996, Western's first two-time, first-team pick in football, Gebers graduated as the all-time WWU and CFA career leader in kick scoring with 267 points. He was named to Western's All-Century team in 1999.

Gebers also was a first-team all-CFA and Little All-Northwest selection in 1996, leading the Vikings in scoring with 93 points that included a school-record 19 field goals. After posting one-point wins in both of their first-round and quarterfinal playoff games, WWU upset defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Findlay OH 28-21 on the road in the semifinals.

Six of WWU's school-record 11 wins in 1996 were against nationally ranked opponents and Gebers' kick scoring points per game average of 7.2 ranked third nationally.

In 1995, Gebers tied for first nationally in kick scoring with 70 points (7.0 avg.). That team finished 9-1 and ranked No.1 in the final regular-season national poll, losing in the first round of the playoffs to Central Washington, 28-21. The Wildcats went on to be national co-champions.

Gebers was eighth nationally in kick scoring in 1994 with 58 points (5.3) on an 8-3 team that defeated No. 1-ranked Linfield during the regular season.

A 2024 inductee into the Quincy High School Hall of Fame, Gebers was twice named to the Washington State Sportswriters Association Class A all-State team in football. As a prep senior, he played a key role on a team that reached the 1992 state semifinals. Gebers excelled in multiple sports as a Jackrabbit, earning four letters in football and three each in basketball and baseball.

An Accounting major at WWU, Gebers' grandfather, William Kawalac, played football at the University of Notre Dame.

Gebers has been a financial advisor at the D.A. Davidson office in Wenatchee for the last 20 years.

Gebers and his wife Kari have three children: stepson Nason, 22, daughter, Lilian, 20, and son Turner, 18.
 
 
CIM HANSON

Women's Basketball (Center)

One of Western's top two offensive rebounders

Played for two of the greatest college women's coaches

Center Cim (pronounced Kim) Hanson was Western's top offensive rebounder for all four of her years (1987-91). She finished with a then-school record 437 rebounds, averaging 3.5 per game and 109.5 per season.

The 6-foot-2 Hanson finished her career second among WWU's top 10 leaders in points (1,475) and blocked shots (156), and sixth in rebounds (890).

Hanson was named to Western's All-Century team in 1999.

"Cim was an outstanding basketball player for Western," said WWU Coach Carmen Dolfo, who was Hanson's head coach as a senior and top assistant her other three years. "She had a great ability to score, rebound, and alter shots on defense. She was also a great teammate. This is a well-deserved honor for Cim!"

As a sophomore in 1988-89, Hanson helped Western to the NAIA national quarterfinals, averaging 12.9 points and 7.0 rebounds. That team posted a school record with 30 wins (30-5) and claimed both the District 1 (made game-winning free throws in final seconds of title game against Simon Fraser) and Bi-District I titles.

As a junior in 1989-90, Hanson played on a WWU squad that finished 26-4 and reached the district championship series. She led the Vikings in scoring (15.4 avg.) and blocked shots (1.5), while also grabbing 8.5 rebounds and shooting 52.6 percent from the field.

That season Hanson earned honorable mention American Women's Sports Federation/NAIA All-American and NAIA District 1 all-star honors. She tied a school record with 35 points in a game against Concordia (Ore.), helping the Vikings post an 18-1 district record, which earned them the No.1 seed and home-court advantage in the district playoffs.

A four-year letter winner, Hanson contributed to Western's overall record of 99-25 (80.0 percent), winning over 20 games each season. She was also a district all-star as a senior in the 1990-91 campaign. As a team co-captain, she helped the Vikings achieve a 21-7 record.

As a freshman in 1987-88, Hanson was part of a 22-9 team, averaging 8.5 points and 5.7 rebounds, and leading the team with 47 blocked shots.

Hanson received honorable mention as a USA Today All-American during her senior year at Nooksack Valley High School. There, she contributed to the Pioneers' four consecutive appearances in the Class A state tournament, finishing third, fifth, second, and seventh, respectively. She was also part of three state championship volleyball teams and competed twice at the state meet as a high jumper in track & field.

Hanson graduated from WWU in 1991 with a degree in recreation. She earned a master's degree in education (K-8 with a health and PE endorsement) from City University of Seattle in 1997 and has been teaching elementary P.E. at Hilltop Elementary School in the Highline School District for the past 28 years. The daughter of Steven and Susan Hanson, the 56-year-old has one brother, Corbett.

At Western, Hanson played under two of the greatest women's college coaches. Her first three years were with Lynda Goodrich, who achieved 411 wins over 19 seasons (1971-90) and made five trips to nationals, twice being a finalist for National Division II Coach of the Year honors (1981 and 1982). She then left coaching to concentrate on her role as the Vikings' director of athletics, helping WWU to nine national team titles.

Hanson's last season was under coach Carmen Dolfo, who was beginning the first of now 35 campaigns with 721 wins and counting and three Elite Eight appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2022. 
                           
                           (L-R) Theron Davis, John Armeni, Greg Halberg and Marc Hill
 
MARC HILL

Men's Track & Field (Sprinter)

Set four school records, one of which still stands

WWU All-Century and District 1 Outstanding Male Athlete

Sprinter Marc Hill set four school records during his two years (1993 & 1994) at Western, including a 1994 time of 47.25 seconds in the 400 meters, that still stands.

The 400 clocking was the best of the season for the NAIA and came in a winning performance at the University of Oregon Invitational at Hayward Field.

The other three records were 21.4 seconds in the 200 meters (1994), 3:14.97 (1993) as a member of the 4x400 relay, and 42.05 as a member of the 4x100 relay.

In 1994, Hill was named the Outstanding Male Athlete at the NAIA District 1 Championships. At that meet, he won both the 200 (21.71) and 400 (47.58) meter events, finishing second in the 4x400 relay, and placing third in the 4x100 relay.

In 1993, Hill received All-America honors at the NAIA Nationals, placing fifth as part of the 4x400 relay team. That foursome of Theron Davis, John Armeni, Greg Halberg and Hill's  time of 3:14.97 broke a school record that had stood since 1968.

Hill finished seventh in the 400 at the 1994 nationals.

In 1999, Hill was named to the WWU All-Century Team.

"Mark Hill came into the program and made an immediate impact on the team," said head coach Pee Wee Halsell. "His talent and leadership helped the team accomplish its many goals. He was a factor on and off the field. I will always be honored to have been one of Mark's coaches."

After earning his degree in sociology and criminology at WWU in 1994, Hill traveled to Europe where he competed for Nike Club Ballard. There he ran in a relay race that included renowned Olympian Carl Lewis.

A two-year letter winner for the Vikings, Hill began his collegiate career at Western Oregon and then competed one year at Highline CC before transferring to WWU.

Hill, a graduate of Kent-Meridian High School in Kent, Wash., and his wife Nancy have two adult children, Chanel and Trevon. The 57-year-old Hill has worked as an airline pilot for the past 25 years, including the last 10 years as a captain at United Parcel Service, Inc.
 
 
HERM NELSON

Men's Track & Field (Race Walker)

Two-time Olympian following career at Western

Man without an event for Vikings, turns to race walking

Two-time Olympian Herm Nelson says he was pushed into race walking in 1986 by his WWU track & field coach. Before that he was a man without an event, overshadowed by teammates in both his specialties, the steeplechase and marathon.

That year, Nelson placed 10th at the NAIA nationals in the 10,000-meter race walk after finishing second in the District 1 championships. He also took fourth in the district marathon.

In 1987, Nelson placed third (46:44.3) in the race walk at nationals to earn All-America honors after winning the district title.
 
 After graduation, Nelson focused on training for the upcoming 1988 Olympic Trials 50-kilometer race walk. He placed fifth, just one spot shy of making the team, serving as an alternate with a time of 4:15:51. This brief taste of Olympic success was enough to motivate him to train diligently for the 1992 Games.

The commitment paid off as Nelson experienced a breakthrough year in 1989, setting personal bests at both the World Cup in L'Hospitalet, Spain, and the USSR national championships in Leningrad. He then improved his personal best again, breaking the American record for the track 50k with a time of 4:04:24.

Nelson became a two-time U.S. Olympian. He competed in the men's 50-kilometer walk at both the 1992 (Barcelona, Spain, 32nd, 4:25:48) and 1996 (Atlanta, U.S., NT) Games.

In 1992, Nelson finished second at the U.S. Olympic Trials with a time of 4:04:39, beating the qualifying standard by 21 seconds. His qualifying time in 1996 was 3:59.41.

Nelson then won three U.S. championships: the two-hour marathon in 1993 (25,918 meters) and 1998 (23,694) and the 30k in 1997 (2:28:07).

Nelson was ranked in the top 10 nationally in the U.S. by Track & Field News – four times in the 20k walk (1996, 10th; 1995, 2nd; 1993, 4th; 1989, 8th) and seven times in the 50k walk (1997, 7th; 1996, 8th; 1994, 3rd; 1993, 3rd; 1992, 2nd; 1991, 3rd; and 1989, 2nd).

Nelson concluded his career by winning the 1997 Canadian 50k national championship in 4:33, although he was not officially presented with the title.
 
Born in Renton, Wash., Nelson attended Seattle Prep for three years before graduating from the Marine Military Academy, a private school in Harlingen, Texas, in 1980. He then received a congressional appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy and spent nearly three years there before transferring to Western, where he earned his bachelor's degree in physics in 1987.

Nelson placed fourth in the 1986 NAIA District 1 marathon, riding his motorcycle from Bellingham to Seaside, Ore., in February to compete. Afterward, he was asked to become a race walker by Western head coach Ralph Vernacchia.

Nelson, who is 64 (born September 20, 1961), has worked the last 25 years as an optical thin film deposition specialist, including 10 years each at Laser Optics at Mellisgriot Corporation and the Collins Optronics Division of Raytheon Technologies Corp., both located in Carlsbad, Calif.

Nelson, who completed his first marathon at age 12, is a member of the Seattle Prep Hall of Fame.

Nelson's proudest accomplishment as a racewalker was setting a personal best in the 50k with a time of 3:59.41. This occurred on June 9, 1996, at Edmonds Stadium, making him the only American to accomplish this on a regulation track in under four hours. That time still ranks him No. 9 on the all-time U.S. list at any venue.
                                                  
 
MIKE PALM

Men's Basketball (Center)

Had standout collegiate and professional basketball careers

Record-setting all-star at every level

Following an outstanding four years in men's basketball at WWU, Mike Palm smoothly transitioned to another successful hoop career, playing 15 seasons (2003-2018) in Sweden's top professional league and competing in 44 games for the Swedish National Team from 2003 to 2007.

The 6-foot-9 Palm initially spent six seasons (2003-2009) with the Sundsvall Dragons in Sweden's Super Division, Basketligan. He helped the Dragons reach three finals, including a national championship in 2009.

Palm played with and against two Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers. NBA seven-time All-Star and six-time champion Scottie Pippen was his teammate on Sundsvall in 2008 and he faced 7-6 Yao Ming when Sweden played China in a game held in Lithuania.

Palm competed nine seasons (2009-2018) at the Basketligan level with Borås Basket. From 2013 to 2016 he also participated in the Europe Cup and EuroChallenge international tournaments with Borås Basket.

Palm completed his 15-year (454 games) career in Basketligan as the leader with 6,757 points (14.9 average) and rebounds with 3,883 (8.5 average), and third in blocked shots with 453 (1.0 average).

Among his professional accolades were being named a four-time Center of the Year in Basketligan and having his jersey No. 15; retired at Borashallen Arena in 2019.

Currently, Palm is in his eighth season (2018 to present) with Division 2 (fourth division overall) Borås Basket Viktor, helping it win four Western Sweden District titles.

Palm finished his four-year collegiate career (1999 to 2003) at WWU as the career leader in rebounds with 874, breaking the school's oldest individual record of 800 set by Jim Adams from 1960 to 1963. He was second in points with 1,649, including a school-record 442 made free throws, and third in blocked shots with 162. He became the only player in school history to graduate ranked among the top three in each of those categories.

Palm was a second-team Daktronics West Region and first-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-star as a senior for the Vikings, while being named Western's Male Athlete of the Year for 2002-03. He led the team in points (500, 18.5), rebounds (264, 9.8), field goal percentage (56.7, 187-330), free throw percentage (83.6, 117-140), and blocked shots (53, 2.0). He finished just six rebounds short of becoming the first Viking since 1975-76 to average double figures in points and rebounds.

On March 5, 2003, Palm achieved a career-high with 20 rebounds against Central Washington. He also matched his career high in points on Feb. 13, 2003, with 35 against Alaska Anchorage.

Palm was a second-team regional all-star and a first-team GNAC all-star as a junior. His free-throw accuracy of 89 percent ranked No. 10 nationally.

Palm was an honorable-mention Pacific West Conference West Division all-star and Little All-Northwest choice as a sophomore on a 27-4 team that reached the NCAA Division II national quarterfinals and won the West Regional championship.

Palm was the PacWest Freshman of the Year and a PacWest Tournament all-star as a redshirt freshman.

As a senior at Rogers High School in Puyallup, Palm was an honorable mention USA Today All-USA and first-team Washington State Sportswriters Association all-State selection. He helped the Rams finish with a 24-5 record and place sixth at the Class 4A state tournament.

The 46-year-old Palm was born in 1979 to a Swedish father, Ake, and an American mother, Carol. The 6-foot-9 Ake played basketball at Pacific Lutheran University from 1968 to 1972, where he was first-team All-Northwest League during his final two years. Ake and his wife, whom he met at PLU, returned to Sweden and played basketball there from 1972 to 1979 before moving back to the United States (Puyallup, Wash.), where they have lived ever since.

Mike married Emilia Johansson in 2010 and they have two daughters, Ariella 15 (2010) and Melamie 11 (2014). He coaches both their under-19 and under-13 teams.

A general studies major at Western, Palm now works at an international English school in Boras.