SPOKANE, Wash. – The 32nd class to the Whitworth Heritage Gallery Hall of Fame is as decorated as any to come before it. A multiple swimming All-American and conference record-setter, a woman who starred in basketball and tennis, one of the best scorers in Pirate men's basketball history, and a Division III national champion and four-time All-American comprise the newest Whitworth Heritage Gallery class.
Ryan Freeman, KC McConnell, David Riley and Kerry Wright will be inducted as the 32nd class of the Heritage Gallery. The ceremony takes place on Saturday October 8th in the Hixon Union Building at 9:00 am. The ceremony includes a breakfast and reservations can be made by calling 509-777-3224. The cost is $15 per person.
Ryan Freeman set Northwest Conference records in three events during his Whitworth swimming career, which ran from 2000 through 2003. He held conference marks in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstrokes, as well as the 200-yard butterfly while competing for the Pirates. He was also part of two-record setting relays in 2003 – the 200-yard medley and 400-yard medley. He was a seven-time individual NWC Champion and the 2003 NWC Men's Swimmer of the Year after claiming conference crowns in the 200-yard I.M. and the 100 and 200 backstrokes. Ryan was on nine NWC championship relays. He was a three-time NCAA All-American and four-time honorable mention All-American.
KC McConnell graduated in 2016 as the third-highest career scorer in Pirate women's basketball history. She claimed All-Northwest Conference honors each of her four seasons, including first team recognition as a junior and senior. During her final year she was a WBCA first team All-American, a CoSIDA first team Academic All-American, a Josten's Award finalist and the conference's nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year. McConnell played in 109 career games and scored 1,605 points. She was also a four-year starter for Whitworth's tennis team, playing mostly at #6 on the singles ladder.
David Riley finished his Whitworth career as the fourth-highest scorer in the history of the men's basketball program with 1,655 points, averaging 14.6 points per game in 114 contests from 2008 through 2011. He was a three-time first team All-NWC honoree, one of only 15 players in the history of the conference to do so. Riley set Whitworth single game records for three-pointers made (10) and attempted (19) in a game against Willamette in 2011. He retired ranked second all-time at Whitworth for three-pointers made (300) and attempted (696) in a career. As a senior he earned third team All-Region, helped the Pirates finish 28-2 and reach the NCAA Division III quarterfinals.
Kerry Wright dominated her event over four years at Whitworth (2013-16). She was a four-time Northwest Conference champion in the javelin, the only four-time champion in that event in NWC history. She set a conference record of 157'-10" in 2015 that still stands through the 2022 outdoor season. Wright was also a four-time NCAA Division III All-American, claiming a national javelin title in 2015 and a runner-up finish in 2013.
The class of 2022 will join a group of 106 individuals and eight teams already enshrined in the Heritage Gallery. The current class, along with all previously-inducted Heritage Gallery members attending the event, will be recognized at halftime of the Whitworth – Linfield football game that afternoon.
The Whitworth Heritage Gallery Hall of Fame was created in 1989 by the (then-named) Whitworth Crimson Club and inducted its first class in the fall of 1990.
