*All inductee information current up to the year they were inducted.
Eddie Taylor
Track 1943, 46-48
Inducted 1984
Hamtramck, Michigan
- Described as a “one man track team” during his Western Michigan career and frequently won four events in dual meets.
- Won high jump and high and low hurdles at 1948 Mid-American Conference championship meet. Placed third in NAAU and fifth in U.S. Olympic Trials in the high hurdles the same year.
- Set state collegiate indoor high jump record (6-6 5/8) and won the Central Collegiate Conference as a freshman in 1943 before two years of World War II service.
- Had a time of :14.8 for high hurdles and effort of 23-5 7/8 in the long jump and owned four school records at the end of his career.
- Won the high jump at 1947 Penn Relays. Western’s first individual champion ever at that meet.
Denny Telder
Tennis, 1955-57
Inducted 2007
Hudsonville, Michigan
- Helped WMU win three Mid-American Conference championships (1955-57)
- Won the MAC No. 2 singles title and No. 1 doubles title as a junior (1956)
- Repeated as the MAC Champion in No. 1 doubles and won the MAC at No. 1 singles as a senior (1957)
- Holds a 75-18 career record at WMU with an 80.2 winning percentage
- One of only three Bronco male tennis players to go undefeated in MAC singles and doubles play throughout their three-year varsity career
Wayne Terwilliger
Baseball, 1946-48
Basketball, 1947-48
Inducted 1987
Charlotte, Michigan
- Had career batting average of .323 with three separate .300 seasons and scored 51 runs over 56 games.
- Prior to college, he participated in U.S. Marine Corps invasions of Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima.
- Was involved in professional baseball every year but one from 1948 through 1994.
- Played parts of nine major league seasons with the Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, Washington Senators, New York Giants and Kansas City Athletics.
- Was a minor-league manager in New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Senators-Texas Rangers systems and also a major-league coach with the latter two organizations. Coach for the Minnesota Twins (1986-94) as team won two world championships.
Kelly Thayer
Softball, 1989-92
Inducted 2015
Union Lake, Michigan
• Named to All-MAC First Team in 1990 and 1992
• Named to All Region First Team in 1992
• Holds career record for at-bats (626), runs scored (115), stolen bases (88) and triples (19)
• Holds single-season record for triples (9) and is second for runs scored in a single season (36)
• Has three of the top four single-season steal marks in school history
• Is second in program history for career hits (187) and games played (208)
• Tied for sixth in career runs batted in with 67
Amy Timmers
Volleyball, 1980-83
Inducted 2009
Middletown, Ohio
- Two-time All-MAC First Team as an outside hitter (1982, 1983)
- Led MAC with .067 service aces per game, collecting a total of 61 her senior season (1983)
- Led volleyball team to No. 15 ranking and a 28-0 record (1983)
- Ranks fourth in all-time attack percentage (.327) and service aces (135) and 55 (1982)
- Named to WMU Volleyball Pre-1984 All-Decade Team
- Member of two undefeated team (1982, 1983)
Kathryn Ann Phelps Trenary
Field Hockey, 1969-73
Basketball, 1970
Inducted 2005
Birmingham, Michigan
- Coached Mendon High School to three state volleyball championships
- Team captain in field hockey (1972, 1973)
- Served as WMU’s assistant field hockey coach
- Played 12 years of club field hockey in Ann Arbor, including 11 years for the Great Lakes Field Hockey Association (1970-86), which is similar to a U.S. Regional team. Selected to and played in ten national field hockey tournaments (1970-80).
Ajac Triplett
Basketball, 1963-64, 66
Inducted 1990
Gary, Indiana
- Twice second-team All Mid-American Conference and had seasonal scoring average of 13.2, 16.4 and 13.1 points and cleared 605 career rebounds.
- Taught and coached three years in Gary, coached one year (20-5) at Chicago’s Kennedy-King Jr. College and served as Western staff for three years.
- Head coach at Florida A&M (115-49) and was “coach of the year” in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference three times and won three league titles.
- Coached five years at Delaware State and five at Polytechnic High School in Fort Wayne, Texas, winning district crown.
- Later coached at Morris Brown College in Atlanta.
Jeff Tyson
Basketball, 1974-76
Inducted 2000
Fostoria, Ohio
- The first bronco men’s basketball player ever honored as Mid-American Conference Player of the Year winning the award in 1976.
- Ranks 11th all-time in scoring (1,206) and sixth in career field goals (513) at WMU.
- Led Western Michigan in scoring during the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons.
- A third-round draft choice of the Portland Trail Blazers. Also, tried out for the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks Played three seasons with the Continental Basketball Association’s Northern (Alaska) Knights.
- Has served as a high school basketball and track coach in Alaska.
