SPRINGFIELD, Missouri - The Archery Hall of Fame welcomed an especially spectacular group of individuals into the Class of 2015 induction ceremony on September 3rd: two Olympic Champions and the first archer to ever win a FITA Compound Bow World title, Darrell Pace, John Williams and Randy Ulmer, as well as archery writer and supporter Jack Witt.
Darrell Pace, who was named the Athlete of the Century in 2011 by World Archery, is a four-time Olympian who broke five Olympic records at the 1976 and 1984 Games and won two individual titles. He won the world title in 1975 and 1979 becoming the first person to win the title twice in the history of modern archery. At the 1988 Olympic Games, Pace won the team silver with Rick McKinney and Jay Barrs. Pace was also the first man in history to shoot a 1300 with 1316 in 1975.
John Williams, who hails from a historically successful archery family, won world titles in 1971 and 1972 and became an Olympic Champion at the 1972 Games. It was the first Olympic archery medal for the United States in 52 years. Williams holds the distinction of being the first archer to hold all three world titles at the same time after also winning the 1972 World Field Championship. He continued in the sport as one of the world's leading coaches, coaching the U.S. Olympic Archery team in 1984 where Pace won gold, and working with some of the most notable archers in history including Luann Ryan.
Randy Ulmer holds two ASA Men's Professional World Titles, two NABH Men's Professional World Titles, two IBO World Titles and one FITA World Title as well as NFAA National and Vegas indoor titles. After decades as an avid bowhunter Ulmer continues his pursuit of the sport - in fact, he arrived at the ceremony after thirty days spent tracking a record-breaking mule deer.
He has twice received the Arizona Wildlife Federation Annual Award for killing the largest elk in the state (any weapon) and currently holds the record for the largest elk killed in Nevada (archery). He was also inducted into the Bowhunter's Hall of Fame in 1999.
Jack Witt, whose award was accepted posthumously by Keith de Noble and Ben Pearson Jr., was a long time archer, coach, a leader in the adaptive archery world, and an author. His writings were featured in The Archers' Magazine and numerous national and international publications.
Diane Miller, Executive Director for the Archery Hall of Fame shared: "It was the best event that I've ever been involved with and I've been doing these for 12 years. I'm still floating on a high. We had over 200 attendees, which is the most we've ever had at our museum site. I don't know how we can ever top this. We had two Olympians, a World Champion bowhunter, and it was an Olympic year and a Presidential year, it was great."
"The event was a huge success and it was a pleasure and a privilege to be a part of it all," added Williams. "For me, the greatest honor was to be recognized not just as a shooter, but also for other things in addition to just shooting. The Olympic coach aspect and for innovating in what I like to think were the early days of the sport. Just to go into the Hall of Fame and think that I'm on the same wall as Fred Bear and Jim Easton is mind boggling to me."
"It's an incredible honor for all of us," added Williams on behalf of Ulmer and Pace. "One of the things that was so very cool about the ceremony was the fact that my children and grandchildren were there. I think that had to be very special for Darrell as well: to have his wife, his kids, and his kids' kids there. We have an archery family, but we have our family too. In that room we had them all together."
Adding to the festivities of the evening, Ted Nugent was presented with the Dave Staples Golden Arrow Award of Merit by Ms. Diane Miller. Nugent performed a musical tribute to Fred Bear and received a standing ovation from the crowd. "I am honored and humbled to the core," commented Nugent. "The mighty, mystical flight of the arrow has guided my spirit straight and TruNorth my entire American Dream life."
For additional information contact:
Diane Miller
Executive Director
58 North Main Street
Union City, PA 16438
814-392-8901
Info@archeryhalloffame.com
