Kurt Kraemer turned the "hop, skip and a jump" into an art form.
 
The high-flying former Eastern Washington University All-America triple jumper will be among the 18th class of inductees into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame on Sept. 22, 2018.
 
Kraemer was a four-time Big Sky Conference Champion while competing from 1999-2003 for the Eagles. His career culminated in All-America honors in the triple jump in 2003 to become just the second EWU track and field athlete to accomplish that feat in the school's NCAA Division I history. Just prior to that, he was the "'Field" Athlete of the Meet at the Big Sky Conference Championships when he recorded titles in the triple jump and long jump, and was fourth in the high jump.
 
His top career mark in the triple jump was 53-5 1/2 indoors, which still ranks third all-time in league history and is a school record. His career best indoors in the long jump (24-7 1/4) also still stands as a school record, and his best high jump mark of 6-9 3/4 was seventh at the time and is still seventh through the 2018 season. Outdoors, he finished his career ranked second in EWU history in the triple jump (52-4) and remains in that position.
 
Eastern men's head coach Stan Kerr, a veteran of 23 seasons at the helm, remembers fondly the accomplishments of Kraemer. They came at a time in which the league had two other outstanding jumpers in Charles Clinger (Weber State) and Clinte Motley (Cal State Northridge), who combined for 19 Big Sky indoor and outdoor titles and still hold three of the top triple jumps in league history indoors. Clinger won nine league championships and won a national title in the high jump, with bests of 7-8 1/2 in the high jump, 53-3 1/2 in the triple jump and 25-0 in the long jump. Motley won eight titles and had bests of 7-1, 52-9 1/2 and 24-4 1/4.
 
"Kurt's athletic and academic performances remain unmatched to this day," said Kerr. "We've had numerous Big Sky champions since Kurt graduated and moved on to start his career, but none that have reached the NCAA All-America status. Kurt, along with Charles and Clinte, formed what is arguably the best trio of jumpers competing at the same time in the history of the Big Sky."
 
In all, Kraemer had 19 top-six finishes at Big Sky competitions, including 11 times in the top three to earn All-Big Sky honors (seven indoors, four outdoors). He was just the 10th athlete in league history to be honored four-straight seasons (now 14 through 2018). He scored 71 points indoors, which is still a school record and at the time ranked third in conference history. He was also honored seven times on Big Sky Conference All-Academic teams.
 
Previously, football players Rick Worman and Jeff Ogden, men's basketball player Alvin Snow and volleyball player Kim Maxwell-Dempsey were announced as individual members of this year's class of inductees,. The 1998 and 1999 volleyball teams Maxwell-Dempsey played on will also be inducted, and former Eastern basketball player Richard Hannan will receive the Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award.
 
The induction breakfast and ceremony will start at 8 a.m. on Sept. 22 at Reese Court in Cheney, and the public is invited to attend at a cost of $20 per person. Guests may register via a link that is available at http://goeags.com/HOF. Inductees will also be honored at halftime of EWU's football game against Cal Poly later that day (kickoff is 1:05 p.m.).
 
Established in 1996, the Hall of Fame will consist of 88 individuals and 17 teams after the addition of the 2018 class. In addition, there 20 individuals and one organization will have also been honored as recipients of the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award. All of the inductees and induction classes may be viewed at: http://goeags.com/HOF.
 
 
 

Kurt Kraemer (Athlete/Track & Field)

Kurt Kraemer became just the second Eastern men's student-athlete to earn NCAA Division I All-America honors in track and field when he finished ninth in the triple jump with an effort of 52-1 3/4 at the 2001 NCAA Indoor Championships. He was also 13th in the long jump (24-7 1/4) following a record-breaking performance in winning Big Sky Conference "Field" Athlete of the Meet at the Indoor Championships. He won the triple jump (53-5 1/2) and long jump (25-3 1/4) with school-record marks, and also was fourth in the high jump to score a school-record 25 points. His mark in the triple jump was third all-time in the league (still third through 2018) and his long jump mark was eighth at the time (now ninth). He remains the all-time leading scorer for Eastern at Big Sky Championships (indoors and outdoors combined) with 120 points. In his career from 1999-2003, he had 19 top six finishes in Big Sky competitions with three triple jump titles and one long jump championship. He earned All-Big Sky honors by finishing in the top three on 11 occasions (seven indoors, four outdoors), and was just the 10th athlete in league history to be honored four-straight seasons (now 14 through 2018). He scored 71 points indoors, which at the time ranked third in conference history. His career bests indoors still stand as school records (through 2018), and his best high jump mark of 6-9 3/4 was seventh (still seventh through 2018). Outdoors, he finished his career ranked second in EWU history in the triple jump (52-4), seventh in the long jump (24-3 1/2) and eighth in the high jump (6-9 3/4). His current rankings (through the 2018 season) are second, ninth and 12th, respectively. Besides his 11 all-conference accolades for his jumping, he was also honored seven times on Big Sky Conference All-Academic teams. He was EWU's recipient of the Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete Award following the completion of his collegiate eligibility in 2003. He was a 1998 graduate of Hanford High School in Richland, Wash., where he won five WIAA State 3A championships. As a junior he won the high jump and triple jump titles, then won the high jump, triple jump and long jump as a senior. He also played basketball for Hanford and was inducted into the Falcon Boosters Hall of Fame. He resides in his hometown of Richland with his wife, Angela, and their sons Jacob, Lucas, Kolton and Kaydon.