HOUSTON – HCU women's soccer's Allison Abendschein, volleyball's Kayla Armer, men's basketball's Andrew Gonzalez, women's basketball's Anna Strickland, the 1986 4x800-meter relay team of Charlie Foreman, Magness Fyhr, Sam Shimfessel and Alfredo Lahuerta, and men's basketball assistant coach Steven Key have been selected as the 2022 Class of the HCU Sports Hall of Honor. Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University (HBU), underwent a name change in September 2022.
 
Abendschein was a four-year letterwinner at midfielder from 2013-2016. The Magnolia, Texas, native helped lead the Huskies to conference tournament titles and the program's first two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2014 and 2016. Abendschein was the 2016 Southland Conference Tournament MVP, scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Stephen F. Austin in the championship match and the game-winner in a 2-1 victory over Southeastern in the quarterfinals. She earned All-Southland Conference honorable mention, was selected to the academic all-conference team and made the Commissioner's Honor Roll all four seasons. Abendschein finished her career ranked among the top five in games played, tied for 10^th with 32 points, tied for 10^th in goals, tied for fifth with five game-winning goals and fourth in shots and shots on goal. She is tied for 10^th in single-season scoring, tied for eighth with eight goals in 2016 and tied for sixth with three game-winners in 2016.
 
Armer was a four-year letterwinner at setter from 2013-16 and is currently the assistant volleyball coach at HCU. The Bradenton, Florida, product is the Huskies' all-time assists leader with 5,070, which ranks among the top 10 all-time in Southland Conference history. Armer was a first-team All-Southland Conference pick in 2016 and earned all-conference honorable mention in 2014 and 2015. She was a three-time Academic All-Southland Conference selection and was named CoSIDA Academic All-District in 2014. All four of her single-season assist total rank among the top 15, including a career-high 1,331 in 2013. Armer had a career-high 62 assists twice and holds the 25-point rally scoring record with 48 assists in a three-set match. She recorded the Huskies' first triple-double in the NCAA Division era with 62 assists, 11 kills and 11 digs against Lamar on November 11, 2016. Armer was also part of the beach volleyball program's inaugural team in 2016, earning three letters on the sand. She is tied for fourth in career wins (46), third in winning percentage (.667) and she and Tori Hinojosa rank second in wins as a pair (40). She and Hinojosa also qualified for the 2018 USA Beach Volleyball Championships.
 
Gonzalez played his final two seasons as a guard/forward with the Huskies from 2009-11. The Pasadena, Texas, native ranks 14^th all-time with 1,292 points and ranks third with 20.9 points per game. Gonzalez is tied for 14^th with 94 3-pointers made, nine with an 81.2 free-throw percentage and is the school's all-time leader in free throws made (402) and attempted (495). He scored 686 points in 2010-11, which ranks second and 606 in 2009-10, which ranks seventh. He averaged 22.9 points per game in 2010-11, which ranked sixth nationally. Gonzalez was a First-Team All-Great West Conference selection in 2009-10 and 2010-11 and was named the GWC Newcomer of the Year for the 2009-10 campaign. He scored a career-high 36 points twice and hit 15-of-15 free throws and 14-of-14 free throws in a single-game, which rank as the second- and third-most, respectively, without a miss in program history.
 
Strickland was a three-year letterwinner at forward/center for HCU from 2013-16. The Woodlands, Texas, native led the nation in rebounding with 14.2 per game in 2015-16 and earned All-Southland Conference Second Team honors. Strickland was a two-time SLC All-Defensive Team pick, a two-time Academic All-Conference selection and was named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll all three seasons. For her career, she averaged 8.8 points per game, ranks sixth all-time in rebounds (861), second in rebounds per game (9.5), 13^th in assists (189) and third in blocked shots (127). Strickland had one of the top individual all-around performances in college basketball over the last 35 years with 21 points, 31 rebounds, eight assists and seven blocks in her final game against Lamar on March 10, 2016. Her 31 rebounds set the all-time Southland Conference record and were the most rebounds in a single game in NCAA Division I during the 2015-16 season.
 
The 1986 4x800-meter relay of Foreman, Fyhr, Shimfessel and Lahuerta ran a world-leading mark of 7:22.19 on February 16, 1986, at the Florida Open. Their average legs of 1:50.5 are what current HCU head track and field coach Theresa Fuqua described as "lightning in a bottle." The mark qualified them for the NCAA Indoor Championships, where they finished fifth, but were disqualified for incidental contact during the race. The mark of 7:22.19 stood up as the world-leading mark through the end of the 1986 season and was second-fastest 4x800-meter relay ever run by a collegiate squad (Arkansas in 1983). The NCAA replaced the 4x800 with the distance medley relay, so the even is no longer contested at championship meets. With the mark run on Florida's 200-meter flat track, the mark would be adjusted down by 4.35 seconds – or 7:17.84 – if it were run on today's banked and larger ovals. Foreman and Lahuerta were inducted into the Hall of Honor as members of the 1985 4x800-meter relay team in 2009, Foreman was inducted individually in 2011 and Fhyr was inducted individually in 2012.
 
Key, an HCU alum, is the longest-tenured assistant coach in NCAA Division I basketball, entering his 29^th season coaching and his 32^nd overall at the school. The Savannah, Georgia, native helped lead the Huskies to 10 NAIA National Tournament appearances, nine conference titles and the nation's No. 1 ranking in 2003. Off the court, Key has overseen the program's academics, which has turned out numerous Academic All-American, academic all-conference and National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court selections and has sported an 85 percent graduation rate. In addition to his basketball duties, he served as the sports information director until 2008. He joins his wife, the former Sherry Blakley, who was inducted into the Hall of Honor in 2006 after playing softball from 1992-95, and is the only Husky to have their number retired in any sport. Together, the Keys built the department's first official website, which would go on to win several awards.
 
Each HCU Sports Hall of Honor annual class is selected by the nine-member Athletics Executive Committee, which must include two HCU Athletic alumni. Nominations are submitted by athletic department staff and head coaches, while outside nominations are also accepted online, as long as the nominees meet the prerequisite criteria.
 
The 2022 HCU Hall of Honor class will be recognized in a Homecoming ceremony on October 15 prior to the HCU football game against Northwestern State.