Belmont Announces Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2025

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University Athletics announced Thursday its Class of 2025 for induction in the Belmont Athletic Hall of Fame.
 
Former student-athletes Mauricio Antun ('15), Kat Hollingsworth ('15), Wilson Tucker, Jr. ('07), and Hannah Wittman Preston ('16) were unanimously selected by the Athletic Hall of Fame Committee.
 
Tommy Sidwell was unanimously selected as recipient of the Chaney Memorial Award, while the 2007 Belmont women's basketball team was chosen as Belmont's latest Legendary Team.
 
The Hall of Fame and Chaney Award inductees will be honored at a dinner presented by Truist Saturday, Dec. 13. Time and location of the event on campus are still being finalized.

 

Antun elevated the Belmont men's tennis program to national relevance as both a player and head coach. The Brazil native was named 2014 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year in leading the Bruins to the league title. Antun posted 79 combined victories between singles and doubles and held a .888 career conference winning percentage. He was also a standout junior player, being ranked in the top 300 of the ITF World Junior Rankings, as well as holding a ATP Tour Professional Ranking of 1430 at the age of 18. Antun became one of the youngest NCAA Division I head coaches in 2016, quickly building Belmont into a force. The four-time conference coach of the year led the Bruins to NCAA Championship appearances in 2021 and 2023, six combined conference titles and over 100 dual match victories. Notably, the doubles pair of Hendrik Inno and Marko Ilic ascended to No. 8 nationally and defeated Florida en route to the Round of 16 at the 2019 NCAA Doubles Championship.


 
Hollingsworth becomes the first softball player of Belmont's NCAA Division I era to earn induction. The Carrollton, Texas native was a three-time All-OVC selection and became the program's first National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region honoree in 2015, alongside players from Texas, Texas Tech, and Baylor. The outfielder ranks among all-time leaders in career batting average, runs batted in, hits, extra base hits, runs scored, and stolen bases. Hollingsworth hit .390 in 2013 among the best single-season batting averages by an underclassman in OVC history. Over her final three seasons, Hollingsworth posted an astounding on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 1.029. With multi-hit games against the likes of Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Memphis, and St. Mary's (CA), the five-tool player set the stage for Belmont's recent NCAA Tournament success.

 

Tucker, Jr. gave Belmont Baseball instant credibility and offensive production in the early years of membership in the Atlantic Sun Conference. At a time when ASUN powers UCF and Florida Atlantic were reaching NCAA Baseball regional finals, Tucker was a part of 117 victories including the 2007 ASUN Championship series. The versatile outfielder was a two-time All-Atlantic Sun selection and was named to the 2004 ASUN All-Freshman Team. Tucker ranks among program all-time leaders in batting average, on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS), doubles, runs batted in, and total bases. The Hendersonville, Tennessee native posted a .360 career batting average, including .388 as a junior. Additionally, Tucker helped raise Belmont's national profile with numerous signature victories, including two wins over Tennessee, and victories over Purdue, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Butler, Dayton, and nationally-ranked Stetson. He follows the footsteps of his father, Wilson Sr., to become the first father-son pair inducted into the Belmont Athletic Hall of Fame.

 

Wittman Preston ranks among the most decorated distance runners in Belmont and Ohio Valley Conference history. Among select company in Bruin history to reach the NCAA National Championship meet in both cross country and track & field, Wittman Preston became the third Belmont female athlete ever nominated for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award. In 2016, the Lindenhurst, Illinois native gained NCAA All-America status in the outdoor 10,000m to cap a storied track career. She was named 2014 OVC Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, 2015 OVC Cross Country Runner of the Year, and 2016 OVC Women's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. Wittman was named All-OVC in cross country four consecutive years, won four OVC individual track championships, and established five Belmont program records. Moreover, she broke the OVC record in the 1500m which had stood since 1983. Wittman Preston was named College Sports Communications (CSC) Academic All-American and Belmont University Presidential Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

 

2007 Belmont women's basketball in many ways laid the foundation to the unparalleled success currently enjoyed under head coach Bart Brooks. After winning at Mississippi State during non-conference play, Belmont proceeded to lead the Atlantic Sun in scoring margin, rebound margin and scoring defense en route to a 16-2 conference record and an ASUN regular season championship. Following a 10-game win streak that carried into February, Belmont defeated Mercer, Gardner-Webb, and East Tennessee State in succession in Dothan, Alabama to win the ASUN Tournament Championship and earn the program's first-ever automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. WNBA Champion and two-time ASUN Player of the Year Alysha Clark, Shaunda Strayhorn, Jessica Bobbitt, Amber Rockwell, and Tereva Moore each earned conference honors. The Bruins played No. 3 seed Georgia in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
 
Sidwell has been a faithful supporter of Belmont Athletics for decades. A Belmont men's basketball alumnus and prominent attorney in the middle Tennessee area, Sidwell has supported numerous men's basketball initiatives that has helped position the Bruins among the nation's best. His longtime support of the Bruins at home games in the Curb Event Center and on the road has helped expand the Bruin Club. Sidwell is the son of Belmont Hall of Fame coach and administrator, Kenny Sidwell.

 
Admission for the event is $30 per person. Interested parties can RSVP to emma.adams@belmont.edu.