General | 3/10/2022 4:20:00 PM

DENTON, Texas (March 9, 2022) – A night of celebration and honor. A night of legends.
 
On the evening of February 26, Texas Woman's University Athletics held a banquet and inducted two members and a Team of Distinction into the TWU Hall of Fame.
 
The Pioneers inducted gymnastics coach Frank Kudlac, who led the Pioneers to nine USAG National Championships, volleyball player Chantelle (Clegg) Kadlec, the 1997 Lone Star Conference-North Player of the Year, and the 1993 Gymnastics National Championship Team, the first team in program history to win a national championship. 
 
FRANK KUDLAC
 
In 1978, Kudlac joined TWU to start a gymnastics team, which began as a club program. During its infancy, Kudlac said he would often walk around campus and ask students to join the gymnastics team. Fifteen years later, Kudlac championed the Pioneers gymnastic program to its first USAG National Title in 1993, which initiated the championship culture at TWU. Following the win in 1993, the Pioneers won three consecutive National Championships in 1994, 1995 and 1996. TWU stepped back on the podium for five more USAG National Championships while Kudlac was coaching, winning in 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2008.
 
Kudlac boasts a lengthy resume, as he set the tone and helped grow the culture of TWU gymnastics. He is a ten-time NCAA Division II Coach of the Year, who mentored 220 USAG All-Americans, 123 National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches/Women Scholastic All-America selections and 31 individual USAG National Champions. During his time at TWU, Kudlac's teams appeared 17 times in the NACGC/W Scholastic Top Twenty Teams list.
 
Kudlac coached the Pioneers from 1978 until 2011.
 
On Feb. 26, Kudlac was joined by friends, family and former gymnasts, as he was inducted into the TWU Hall of Fame.
 
Current TWU gymnastics head coach Lisa Bowerman, who served as Kudlac's assistant before becoming the head coach following his retirement, said she has been honored to work alongside Kudlac and still call him a friend, mentor and supporter.
 
"What Frank means to this program and to the sport of gymnastics as a whole is hard to put into words," Bowerman said. "Frank's relentless pursuit of excellence and growth allowed TWU gymnastics to thrive in a time when other universities in our state were eliminating their programs.  Because of his persistence, TWU has a rich history of being a highly competitive program and being respected nation-wide. We are incredibly grateful for all of the ways he still supports our student-athletes and this program. We will continue to build on the strong foundation he laid, and we will strive to continue making history in NCAA Gymnastics for many years to come."
 
Following the celebration, Kudlac just wanted to say thank you,  
"Thank you to those who attended and thank you to those who donated to the Kudlac Endowment scholarship fund," Kudlac said. "Your donations will always be there for the TWU gymnasts, and donations can still be made in honor of the 1993 team."
 
 
CHANTELLE (CLEGG) KADLEC
 
Kadlec, who was Clegg while in school, was known throughout the campus of TWU as "Utah." She said she became so accustomed to being called Utah, she almost never answered to Chantelle.
 
Dubbed Utah by her teammates, because she was from the state of Utah, Kadlec played volleyball at TWU from 1994 to 1997. To this day, she is one of the most accomplished players in Pioneer volleyball history.
 
In 1997, her senior season, Kadlec was named the Lone Star Conference-North Division's Player of the Year, after leading the Pioneers to the LSC-North title and runner-up in the LSC Championship match. Also, during her senior season, she was named AVCA All-Region. A three-time all-LSC honoree, a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, a three-time winner of the Jo Kuhn Award and the President's Award winner in 1997, Kadlec still holds TWU's all-time records for service aces (223) and blocks (475).
 
Kadlec's former teammate at TWU Michelle Murray said that Kadlec is extremely deserving of this honor.
 
"This is absolutely amazing, because I cannot think of a better person," Murray said. "She was the glue to our team. The word that comes to mind first to describe Utah [Chantelle] is wholesome. She is so pure of heart and her work ethics was at a 10. She drew people in and she made people feel safe around. When you feel safe with people, you want to work hard with them.
 
1993 GYMNASTICS TEAM
 
To understand the excellence of the 1993 TWU Gymnastics team, one has to step back one year prior. In 1992, the TWU Gymnastics team was poised to win a national title, but they came in second by sixth tenths of a point. The next year they used those six tenths to motivate them.
 
Fast forward to the 1993 season, each day the gymnasts stepped into the gym they read a statement which included the words "we will be the 1993 National Champions," and their words spoke truth.
 
The 1993 team won the first USAG National Championship in program history, which paved the way for ten more National Championships. On championships weekend in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Pioneers set a then-championship record of a 188.975. During that season, every individual and team record was broken, and the team boasted 11 All-Americans.
 
On the night of the banquet, the first championship feeling was relived as every team member in attendance was honored on stage. A special video tribute was also played for Laura Servidone, a member of the 1993 Pioneers, who passed away last year.
 
"What a fantastic Hall of Fame weekend," Kudlac said. "I can't put into words how awesome it was to watch the 1993 team get inducted as a team of distinction into the Hall of Fame – so many memories, so many stories were told and so many re-connections were made.  Not to mention the connection of the present TWU gymnasts under Lisa's Bowerman's guidance to the past (alumni) gymnasts."
 
The Hall of Fame Induction ceremony in February marked the first induction in 10 years.