'Walk of Champions': Colorado State unveils new way to honor former star athletes

A new way to honor many former Colorado State sports stars has been unveiled by the school.

CSU athletic director John Weber announced the "Walk of Champions" on Tuesday. It will be a way for the school to honor those who starred as Rams (or Aggies in the earlier days).

Currently CSU's main methods of honoring were the rare jersey retirement and the CSU Hall of Fame. That left hundreds of former stars who may not rise to Hall of Fame level, but nonetheless excelled at CSU without any tangible form of recognition.

"The Walk of Champions is to honor and remember the incredible individuals who have competed and brought so much pride and recognition to our great university," John Weber said in a news release. "While being inducted into the Colorado State Athletics Hall of Fame remains the ultimate recognition for those who craft extraordinary careers at Colorado State, there are many whose hard work, determination, talent and accomplishments led them to attain a special level of success and should be celebrated for their achievements."

CSU used a series of criteria to determine athletes (and former CSU teams) who should be part of the "Walk of Champions."

The inaugural list retroactively honors athletes and teams dating back to the early 1900s up to present day. There are more than 600 combined individuals and teams on the first list, including from sports such as baseball, gymnastics and wrestling that are no longer sponsored Division I sports at CSU.

The inaugural class will be recognized during "Ram Good Time Weekend" at the football game on October 12 when the Rams host San Jose State at 1:30 p.m.

Here are all the members and teams honored in the inaugural class .

"Walk of Champions" criteria

Here is the criteria CSU followed:

The Walk of Champions was based on the following criteria, according to CSU:

• Must be at least a two-time letterman

AND

• Departmental annual award winner or
• Conference individual award winner or individual event champion at conference meet (excluding relays) or
• Career record holder in a major category or
• First- or Second-Team All-American or
• Two-Time All-American which may include tiers beyond first or second team or
• Two-Time First-Team all-conference in team sports or
• Three-Time all-conference (can be a combination of first- and second-team) in team sports or
• Four-Time First-Team all-conference in individual sports or
• Six-Time all-conference (can be a combination of first and second team) in individual sports or
• At the discretion of the Director of Athletics

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle .

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: 'Walk of Champions': Colorado State unveils new way to honor former star athletes