ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University Sports Hall of Fame will welcome four new members this fall, the Hall of Fame committee announced Wednesday.

The class of 2019 comprises Michael Ashe (competed 1978-82) of the Raiders' bygone aquatics programs, pioneering football coach and athletic director Chuck Mills (1980-88), star volleyball setter Lindsey Stone Wilkens (2007-10) and national champion wrestler Ken Wharry (1986-88).

An induction ceremony will be held the morning of Nov. 2 on the SOU campus. Later that afternoon, the class will be recognized at halftime of SOU's 1 p.m. football game against Montana Tech at Raider Stadium. More information about the events will be available soon.

Ashe, whose specialty was in distance swimming, left a six-time All-American and 10-time NAIA District 12 champion, breaking school records in the 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyles. As a water polo player, he was part of a run in which Southern Oregon captured 12 consecutive titles at the Northwest Water Polo Championships, and the streaks continued while he served as an assistant coach before earning a degree in health and physical education, anatomy and physiology in 1984. Ashe went on to build an exceptional coaching résumé, which includes stints as the head water polo coach for China's women's and New Zealand's men's national teams. In 2001, as the head men's and women's water polo coach at Claremont McKenna College, he was named the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year.

Mills is known as a key figure who raised the profile of the Southern Oregon football program in nine seasons as its head coach. He arrived in Ashland on the heels of four consecutive losing seasons for the Raiders before turning in some of the most memorable campaigns in team history. Mills spearheaded a fundraising drive that turned Raider Stadium into one of the most vaunted small-college venues in the country, and in 1983, the first year the Raiders played in front of the new grandstand, he led them to their first nine-win season, first top-10 national ranking and an NAIA District II championship, earning district coach of the year plaudits for his efforts. The Raiders became charter members of the Columbia Football Association in 1985, and that same year traveled to Kobe, Japan to play an international collegiate game against Kwansei Gakuin University; a year later, KGU became the first Japanese college team to compete on American soil. Mills' Raiders delivered the school's first NAIA Championship Series victory in 1987 – earning their first berth by virtue of a No. 15 ranking and upsetting No. 8 Central Washington in front of a capacity crowd in Ashland. His final season was his sixth of the winning variety, and he departed with a record of 48-40-1.

The catalyst of some of SOU's best volleyball teams, Wilkens stands as the only three-time Cascade Conference Player of the Year in circuit history. The Ashland High product was a second-team NAIA All-American in 2007 and 2008, a first-team honoree following her final season in 2010 and a three-time regional all-star. The Raiders went 53-5 in CCC matches while she was on the court, capturing two regular-season titles, and made two appearances in the national tournament. Before graduating with a degree in language and culture, she recorded 3,217 career assists – the fourth-highest total in team history in just three seasons – and averaged 12.45 per set in 2007, a record for any Raider playing 25-point rally sets.

Wharry, who graduated with a degree in education, became the 11th individual national champion in SOU wrestling history when he topped the NAIA's 134-pound field as a senior in 1988. He spent two seasons with the Raiders, during which they combined to go 28-1 in dual meets, and captained the undefeated 1987-88 squad along with current head coach Mike Ritchey. After transferring from Sacramento City College, he won an NAIA District II championship in 1987 and went on to place fourth nationally. His outstanding senior season was marked by a 32-5 individual record and the team's second consecutive third-place showing at the NAIA Championships. His long head-coaching career was highlighted by five conference, four regional and three state dual championships at Sierra College, where he is a member of the Hall of Fame.