EL PASO, TEXAS – Troy Bassham, Bob Kitchens, Kelly Parker, Dick Shinaut and Stacie Townsend compose the 13th induction class into the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame. They will be honored at the induction banquet on Friday, Oct. 23 at the Larry K. Durham Sports Center, as well as at the UTEP football team’s Oct. 24 home game versus Florida Atlantic.
Bassham was a student-athlete with the rifle team from 1989-93. Kitchens was the Miners’ track and field head coach from 1988-2010. Parker played soccer at UTEP from 1999-2002, Shinaut played football from 1951-53 and Townsend played softball from 2007-10. Parker and Townsend are UTEP’s initial Hall of Fame inductees from the soccer and softball program, respectively.
Bassham was a 12-time national champion. He also set four national records and won the world championship in the 300 meters in 1999. Bassham was UTEP’s first four-time All-American, a four-year member of the national team and a member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. At UTEP, Basssham earned All-America honors in 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1993. He was also the only Miner to compete at the NCAA Championships for four straight years. Bassham is the author of “Attainment – The 12 Elements of Elite Performance.”
Kitchens capped a brilliant track and field coaching career five years ago after mentoring a combined 265 All-Americans and 26 NCAA champions at three different schools. In 22 seasons at the helm of the UTEP program, Kitchens produced 143 outdoor All-Americans, 73 indoor All-Americans, 15 cross country All-Americans and his athletes hold 18 of the school’s indoor records and 27 of the outdoor records. He led the Miners to six top-five NCAA finishes (four indoor, two outdoor) and 16 conference titles (six outdoors, five indoors, five cross country). Kitchens was a seven-time Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and a three-time Conference USA Coach of the Year. He oversaw the training of 23 NCAA champions, 231 NCAA All-Americans and 374 conference champions. He also coached athletes who combined to make a total of 47 appearances in the Olympics, including six medalists.
Parker was one of the greatest players to ever wear a Miner uniform. She piled up 84 points (third all-time at UTEP), including a school-record 30 assists, while tormenting the opposition from 1999-2002. She was an All-WAC performer in both 2000 (second team) and 2002 (first team), earning placement on the All-WAC tournament teams each of those campaigns. Parker also received recognition in the Central Region in 2002, securing second team accolades from SoccerBuzz.com and a spot on the NSCAA’s third team. She was a key member of the 2002 Miner team which paced the country in scoring (4.42 goals per game) on the way to a 16-3 record. Parker scored 11 goals with a nation-best 19 assists (1.0 per game) while starting all 19 matches. She was team captain in 2001 & 2002 and team MVP in 2000. Off the field, she was a Dean’s List student in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and an Academic All-League pick four times.
Shinaut was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1954 Sun Bowl. The quarterback threw two touchdown passes and kicked four extra points to amass 19 of the Miners’ points in a 37-14 victory over Southern Mississippi. Shinaut was the Miners’ leading passer during the 1952 and 1953 seasons. In 1952 he completed 102-of-208 passes for 1,520 yards with 13 touchdowns. He was named the Border Conference MVP that year after ranking eighth nationally in total offense and 10th in passing. In 1953 he completed 53-of-92 passes for 720 yards with five touchdowns. He threw for a career-high 216 yards at West Texas State in 1953. He also handled PAT’s from 1951-53 and was the punter in 1952. Shinaut was first team All-Border Conference in 1952 and second team in 1953. He was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in 1954 but chose to pursue a law career instead. He will be honored posthumously after passing away in 1991.
Townsend was a finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year during her senior year with the Miners. Her 2010 honors also included Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I Player of the Week and ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team. She was recipient of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and the C-USA Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship. A two-time first team All-Conference USA selection (2008 & 2010), Townsend owns UTEP career records for ERA (2.80), wins (64), complete games (72), shutouts (11), innings pitched (722.1) and strikeouts (802). She also hit .319 with 33 home runs and 124 RBI as a Miner. As a senior in 2010, she posted 25 victories with a .254 ERA while also batting .367 with 11 home runs and 33 RBI. She graduated from UTEP Suma Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in business.
UTEP has been inducting classes into its Athletic Hall of Fame annually since 2002, with the exception of 2014 when the football, men’s and women’s basketball Centennial teams were honored.
