WEATHERFORD, Okla. – On behalf of the SWOSU Athletic Hall of Fame Committee, Athletic Director Todd Helton has announced that three former Bulldog standouts have been selected for induction into the Class of 2023. Those individuals selected to join this prestigious group are Gary Calip, Carla Duncan, and Gregory Tod Nix.

The 2023 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, August 18, inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center. The event is open to the public with tickets priced at $25 per person. The 17th Annual SWOSU Athletic Auction will commence one day later on Saturday, August 19, where the inductees will be recognized again. 

A limited number of tickets and tables for the Hall of Fame Banquet and Athletic Auction are still available for purchase and can be bought by contacting the SWOSU Office of Institutional Advancement at 580-774-3267 or e-mailing Ms. Allie Hoang, SWOSU Advancement Coordinator for Athletics, at allison.hoang@swosu.edu.

Gary Calip was a four-year letter winner in a pair of sports as a Bulldog from 1974-78, playing both football and baseball while in Weatherford. On the gridiron, Calip played defensive back and was a member of the famous 1977 Apple Bowl team that went undefeated in the regular season and earned a No. 1 national ranking despite being picked last in the preseason poll that year. Calip and the Dawgs went on to host, and defeat, Kearney State College in the playoffs which setup a showdown in Seattle against Abilene Christian for the NAIA National Championship. He was a senior that season and ranked third on the hard-nosed Bulldog defense in tackles while grabbing five interceptions which included a pick in the national championship game. Following the season, he was named an All-Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference (OIC) defensive back to cap off his successful football career. On the diamond, Calip was a starting outfielder known for his athleticism that allowed him to play multiple sports collegiately. He graduated in 1978 and eventually obtained a master’s degree in 1992. He has dedicated the past 43 years to a career in education, including the past 25 as a school administrator, and is currently in the process of retiring. Calip also stayed close to football after his playing days were over as a Division I official for Conference USA from 2004-20. To this day, Calip still remembers that plane ride to the Apple Bowl since it was his first time ever flying. Calip has been married to Carolyn (Gouthier) Calip for over 40 years and they are proud parents of Mark, Marcus, Kela, and Tregary and grandparents to 10 wonderful grandchildren. 

Carla Duncan spent two extremely successful seasons as a Lady Bulldog during SWOSU’s dominant reign in the NAIA women’s basketball ranks. She holds a prestigious title – ‘National Champion’ – and was a First Team All-American in both seasons she played in Weatherford (1988-90) as one of just two players in program history to earn first team honors in multiple seasons. She transferred from Northwest Mississippi Community College and was labeled the ‘tallest player ever to start for the Lady Bulldogs’ as a force on both ends of the court at her center position. In a conference and district that was known to be competitively stacked, Duncan was named OIC Player of the Week three times and District IX’s Player of the Week once in her first season at SWOSU. As a senior, she was named to the NAIA National Tournament Team and was awarded Most Valuable Player at a holiday tournament at Phillips University while also landing on the All-Tournament Team at Wayland Baptist University’s holiday tournament. Her 63% field goal percentage in the 1989-90 season ranked her seventh in the nation. The Lady Bulldogs went 52-9 while Duncan put on a jersey and went on to win the program’s fifth national championship in 1990 during Duncan’s senior year to cap off a decade of program excellence. In two seasons in Weatherford, she averaged 61% shooting from the field, 16.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, and over one block per game. Her best performance as a Lady Bulldog coincides with her favorite memory when she scored a school record 50 points and grabbed 27 rebounds in a 109-103 three-overtime victory against rival Northwestern Oklahoma State. Both of those single-game records have never been surpassed to this day. After SWOSU, Duncan played semi-professionally overseas in Europe before living in Houston for 20-plus years as an educator. She then relocated to her hometown of Memphis and currently works for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Duncan has two sons, DeVon and Devin. 

Gregory Tod Nix was a decorated offensive lineman and captain for the Bulldogs, collecting both All-Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference (OIC) and All-District IX honors from his sophomore season and on which culminated in earning All-American status from both the NAIA and Associated Press as a senior. He was a Second Team All-Conference and All-District player as a sophomore before clean sweeping First Team honors as both a junior and senior. While in Weatherford, Nix was a conference champion in back-to-back seasons in 1980 and ’81 and saw his teams combine to finish 30-11 from 1979-82 while consistently holding a national top-20 ranking. Upon graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from SWOSU, he signed a free agent deal with the Denver Broncos and played professionally until injuries forced retirement and kickstarted his career into coaching. Nix mentions signing his pro contract and the intense 1981 rivalry game against Northeastern State, a contest the Dawgs ended up winning 14-7, as two core memories he holds as a Bulldog. Following the end of his professional football career, he then dedicated 40 years to education as a teacher, coach, athletic director, and principal in numerous school districts – mainly throughout the state of Texas – and is now retired.