On October 20, the UCLA Athletic department will induct nine new members into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. The newest members will be honored at halftime at the October 21 UCLA-Oregon football game.
The 2017 class includes Toby Bailey (men's basketball), Robin Beauregard (women's water polo), Monique Henderson (track & field), Maurice Jones-Drew (football), Bob Larsen (track & field/cross country coach), Kristen Maloney (gymnastics), Brandon Taliaferro (men's volleyball),and Gina Vecchione (softball). Additionally, Bobby Field will be inducted for his extraordinary service to the athletic department.
Toby Bailey played for the men’s basketball team from 1995-1998. He was on the team that earned the 11th men’s basketball NCAA championship in 1995 , and during the championship game against Arkansas, scored 26 points and had nine rebounds as a freshman. He is the number five all-time scorer at UCLA with 1,846 points, averaging 14.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 129 career games. He was selected to the First Team All-Pac 10 in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Bailey was the Co-MVP in 1996 and 1998, and was a second round draft pick by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Robin Beauregard played women’s water polo from 1998-2003, and won three national championships during her time at UCLA. She was a two-time nominee for the Peter J. Cutino Award and was named the Most Outstanding Player at the 2003 NCAA Championship, where UCLA beat Stanford 4-3. She was on the 2000 and 2004 United States Olympic teams, winning silver in 2000 and bronze in 2004, and she also won gold at the 2003 World Championships. Beauregard became a member of the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2011.
Monique Henderson had an extremely decorated career in women’s track and field from 2002-2005. She won three individual NCAA titles, including the 2004 outdoor team and 400m and the 2002 indoor distance medley relay (DMR), seven Pac-12 titles and 10 All-America awards. Additionally, she won an Olympic gold medal in the 4x400m relay in both 2004 and 2008. She still holds records five events at UCLA (400m outdoor, 4x400m relay indoor and outdoor, 200m indoor, DMR), and was the 2005 NCAA outdoor champion at 400m, establishing a new NCAA record (50.10) that still stands. She was the Pac-12 Track Athlete of the Year in 2005 and the Newcomer of the Year in 2002, and was recently named to the Pac-12 All-Century Team.
Maurice Jones-Drew played for the UCLA football team from 2003-2005. He holds school records in career and single-season all-purpose yards, touchdowns in a game, single-game rushing yards, and single-season punt returns for touchdowns. He also set a NCAA record that still stands with a punt return average of 28.5 yards in 2005 and went on to earn first-team All-America honors as an all-purpose back/kick returner. In 2006, he was selected in the second round of the NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars and led the league in rushing in 2011 with 1,606 yards. He was a three-time pro-bowler and retired from the NFL in 2015 after playing his final season with the Oakland Raiders. He began working as an analyst for the NFL network after his retirement and is currently on the broadcast team for the Los Angeles Rams while he continues to support UCLA Athletics.
Bob Larsen coached men’s track and field from 1985-1999 and men’s and women’s cross country from 1980-1999. During his coaching tenure, the men’s track and field team amassed two NCAA Championships, nine Pac-12 titles and four national dual meet titles. In cross country, the Bruins earned two conference titles and had six NCAA appearances, which included UCLA’s first ever appearance in 1979. He coached 13 athletes to an amazing 25 national championships, and in 1995 he was named Coach of the Year by the United States Track Coaches Association and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2003. He was also inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2013, and in 2014, he coached Meb Keflezighi, also a UCLA Athletics Hall of Famer, to the Boston Marathon Championship.
Kristen Maloney competed for UCLA gymnastics from 2001-2005, and has an award named after her—the Kristen Maloney Heart of a Champion Award. He was a 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, and during her time at UCLA, fought through several surgeries and a bone infection that nearly ended her career. She ended up with five NCAA championships and was a nine-time All American. In 2005 she was the Honda Award winner, and was also named the National, West Region and Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year. Maloney has a skill named after her in the Code of Points: a toe-on Shaposhnikova (a clear hip circle on the low bar with flight backward to the high bar) transition on the uneven bars.
Brandon Taliaferro played UCLA volleyball from 1997-2000, during which time the Bruins won two NCAA titles in 1998 and 2000. He is the all-time leader in set assists with 6,840, and ranks number three in career aces (176), number three in career digs (831) and number ten in total blocks (396). He was named MPSF Freshman of the Year in 1997 and was a three-time first-team All-American and All-MPSF honoree and the 2000 NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player. He went on to play for the U.S. National Team from 2000-03 and 2006-08 and was recently named to the Pac-12 Men's Volleyball All-Century Team.
Gina Vecchione played for UCLA softball from 1980-1982, and was an assistant coach from. As a student-athlete, she earned All-Pacific Region honors three times and was a second-team All-American in 1982, as well as a member of the 1982 All-Women's College World Series team. She was later named to the Pac 12 All Century Team and had her jersey retired in 2007. She played professional softball for the Raybestos Brakettes, and won eight ASA titles and three World titles. She was a seven-time ASA All-American and the first UCLA player ever to be inducted into the ASA Hall of Fame in 1997. Vecchione coached at UCLA from 2000-12, during which time the Bruins picked up three NCAA titles (2003, 2004, 2010). She is currently an associate head coach at Cal Poly.
Bobby Field held many roles at UCLA, beginning with coaching in the football program from 1978-1979 and 1981-2000 when he was defensive coordinator for 16 years and assistant head coach for five years. He coached the UCLA football team to seven conference championships (more than any other coach) and five Rose Bowl appearances. UCLA won eight consecutive bowls during his time which included three Rose Bowls, a Fiesta Bowl and a Cotton Bowl. In 2001, he took on a new, administrative role as sport supervisor for football, rowing, track and field and golf, in addition to overseeing housing, parking, training table and video services for all sports. In 2001 he started the UCLA Coaches Development program, which offers professional growth opportunities for UCLA coaches, and he was also instrumental in helping Troy Aikman finish his degree at UCLA. He and his wife, Valerie Kondos Field, are now the first married couple to be inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame.
We hope you can make it out to the UCLA-Oregon game on October 21 to honor these amazing people. Their contributions to UCLA Athletics over the years cannot be underestimated.
Go Bruins!