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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The inaugural class of the Samford University Athletics Hall of Fame was officially inducted in ceremonies held on the Samford campus Saturday afternoon and evening.
 
The inaugural class consists of Walter Barnes (basketball), Lauren Blankenship (track/cross country), Bobby Bowden (football), Wally Burnham (football), Cortland Finnegan (football) and Charlie Owens (tennis).
 
The festivities started with a reception at the Hall of Fame, which is located on the third floor of the Pete Hanna Center. All six inductees, along with invited guests attended the reception.
 
Following the reception the group moved to Cooney Hall at the Brock School of Business for the induction banquet. Samford Athletics Director Martin Newton welcomed everyone to open the event. Following dinner, an induction video for each member was shown, followed by a speech from each inductee.
 
"This feels very good," Bowden said of being in the Hall of Fame in media interviews prior to the festivities. "The old expression, there's no place like home, is true. There's no place I'd rather be than Birmingham."
 
Following each inductee's speech, Newton presented the member with a plaque with their photo and accomplishments, identical to the one hanging in the Hall of Fame.
 
"I'm extremely honored to be here among this group," Owens said. "This is a great group, and it's fun to be back at Samford."
 
Samford President Dr. Andrew Westmoreland wrapped up the night with his remarks.
 
"This was a real thrill," Barnes said. "They have a lot of folks to choose from. Why they chose me, I don't know, but I'm glad they did."
 
The new Hall of Fame honors the 139-year history of Samford Athletics, which began in 1878 with the school's first baseball team. Samford added men's basketball in 1901 and football in 1902. Samford Athletics now consists of 17 varsity teams and over 350 student-athletes.
 
Below is a bio and link to the induction video for each inductee.
 
WALTER BARNES
Walter Barnes was a student-athlete in basketball and track from 1953-56, and coached in various roles for the men's basketball, football and track and field programs. He was the head coach of the basketball team from 1959-60 to 1962-63. As the basketball head coach, Barnes compiled a record of 61-40 over four seasons. His 1960-61 team had the best regular season in program history, posting an impressive record of 23-1. The high-powered team averaged 91.4 points per game that season, and the Bulldogs scored over 100 points six times. The team scored a season-high 122 points in a 122-65 win over Millsaps late in the season. Barnes has earned multiple honors, including the Samford ODK "Leader with Impact" Award (2001), Philanthropist of the Year (2002), Samford Alumni of the Year (2007) and Samford Life Service Award-Howard College Bulldog Athletics (2012), and he was inducted into the Central Alabama Softball Association Hall of the Fame in 1994.
 
LAUREN BLANKENSHIP
During her impressive collegiate career at Samford, Lauren Blankenship won three Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championships and three OVC Runner of the Year awards. A three-time qualifier for the NCAA Cross Country National Championships, she earned All-America honors as a senior in 2007 after finishing 24th. In track and field, she was a three-time OVC indoor champion in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs, a four-time OVC outdoor champion in the 5,000 and a two-time OVC Outdoor Champion in the 10,000-meter run. Blankenship qualified for the NCAA Outdoor National Championships for 5,000-meters and won All-America honors as a sophomore in 2006 and again as a senior in 2008. Blankenship left Samford owning several Bulldog records in three sports including the 5K in cross country, the 3,000, 5,000 and distance medley relay in indoor track & field and in the mile, 3,000, 5,000, 10,000, 4x800, 4x1,500 and distance medley relays in outdoor track & field.
 
BOBBY BOWDEN
The name Bobby Bowden is synonymous with college football. The Birmingham native won 377 games over his long career as a head coach at Samford, West Virginia and Florida State. Bowden played on the freshman team at Alabama in 1948 before transferring to Samford (then Howard College), where he played from 1949 to 1952, and earned All-America honors in 1952 as a quarterback. While serving as head coach at his alma mater from 1959 to 1962, Bowden amassed a record of 31-6, posting the highest winning percentage of any coach in school history. He was hired as the head coach at West Virginia in 1970, and served in that role until 1975. In 1976, Bowden began his legendary run at Florida State. During his time with the Seminoles, Bowden won 304 games, and he led the program to the 1993 and 1999 national titles. Bowden was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
 
WALLY BURNHAM
Wally Burnham began playing collegiately for Bear Bryant at Alabama during the 1960 and 1961 seasons. He then transferred to Samford for the 1962 and 1963 seasons, earning Little All-America honors as a linebacker in 1963.  Since finishing at Samford, Burnham has had an impressive and distinguished career in coaching. Burnham coached at a number of schools, including a nine-year stint under Bobby Bowden at Florida State, where he helped lead the Seminoles to the 1993 national title.  He began his coaching career at the high school level in 1967, before joining the college ranks at North Alabama in 1971. He has also coached at East Tennessee State (1977-78), Richmond (1979), Memphis (1980), Lamar (1981-82), the Arizona Wranglers of the USFL (1983-84), Florida State (1984-93), South Carolina (1994-98), South Florida (1999-2008) and Iowa State (2009-15), and he has also spent time as a defensive analyst at Arkansas.
 
CORTLAND FINNEGAN
Cortland Finnegan was a three-time All-American during his four years in a Samford uniform. He was named the Ohio Valley Conference's Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2003, and he led the team in tackles from his safety position in each of his final three seasons. Finnegan was drafted in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans. During his 10-year NFL career, he played for the Titans, St. Louis Rams, Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers. He was named All-Pro and was selected for the Pro Bowl with the Titans in 2009. In his final NFL season in 2015, Finnegan helped the Panthers to an appearance in the Super Bowl.  He finished his NFL career with 663 tackles, 7.0 sacks and 21 interceptions, returned for 426 yards and four touchdowns.
 
CHARLIE OWENS
Charlie Owens won the 1972 NCAA Division II national championship as a member of the Samford men's tennis team. Prior to attending Samford, Owens won the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship in 1966 at the age of 16. He also competed in the 1970 Summer Universiade in Turin, Italy, where we won bronze medals in both the men's doubles and mixed doubles. After his time at Samford, he made the third round of the U.S. Open in both 1973 and 1974 in singles and doubles. He also reached the third round of Wimbledon in 1975 in both singles and doubles. In doubles, he and partner Mike Estep defeated third seeds Arthur Ashe and Roscoe Tanner on the way to the third round at the 1974 U.S. Open. For his professional career, Owens won 56 singles matches and 51 doubles matches.