Few have given as much to their high school and community, as a player and later as a coach, as Duane Ward. Duane lettered in football, basketball and track at Sandpoint High School, graduating in 1961 (the Class of 1961 is responsible for building the legendary Victory Bell at Barlow Stadium at War Memorial Field). In 1960 he played quarterback and line-backer on Cotton Barlow’s only undefeated football team 8-0-1 after going 8-1-0 in 1959. He then played basketball at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, and was selected Outstanding Athlete his final season.

Jim Wilund spent 33 years as a teacher, coach and principal in northern Idaho before he retired from Lewiston High in 2005. He grew up in Coeur d’Alene where he played football, basketball and track. He then went on to Idaho and played football where as a tight end during the 1971 season, he caught 26 passes for 343 yards and a touchdown.

After graduating from UI, Jim started his teaching and coaching career at Timberline High in the Piece-Weippe area in 1972. After two years there, he moved on to Post Falls High where he was head track coach along with being an assistant football and basketball coach. In 1976, he was named head football and baseball coach at St. Maries High School where he also served as athletic director for a year.

Emily Sann (nee Faurholt) played three seasons for the Vandals in 2003-06 after playing her first year at Seattle Pacific. In her first year as a Vandal, she took the Big West and country by storm.

She led the NCAA in scoring at 25.4 points per game in her first season when she was named the Big West Conference’s Player of the Year. She also earned honorable mention nods on the Associated Press and WBCA All-America teams.

Joel Thomas is one of the best running backs to ever come out of the University of Idaho. He arrived at UI in the fall of 1993 from Port Angeles, Wash., and played as a true freshman. He broke his foot during the following season and was redshirted. He returned but suffered what was thought a career-ending knee injury in 1997 against Air Force, but came back the following year and led Idaho to the Big West title and a victory over Southern Mississippi in the Humanitarian Bowl.

Don Newman helped spark Idaho basketball’s turnaround in the late 1970s. After attending Louisiana State as a freshman, he transferred to Idaho in the fall of 1977. He sat out a year because of the transfer rules and then made his impact known under former UI coach Don Monson.

After finishing in the cellar the two previous seasons, Idaho rose to second place in the Big Sky Conference standings during his senior year and qualified for the four-team conference tournament for the first time. He was named the conference’s Player of the Year and a unanimous first-team all-conference selection.