Andre Gurode and Nate Solder headlined a group of nine former standout athletes who will be inducted into the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame, the school announced Thursday.

The class also includes Robert Doll (men’s basketball, 1939-42), Brittany Spears (women’s basketball, 2007-11), Bill Harris (football/administration, 1961-63, 2001-10), Emma Coburn (cross country & track, 2009-13), Karol Damon (track & field, 1989-92), Clark Matis (skating, 1967-69) and Laura Munnelly (women’s soccer, 2003-06).

Additionally, two former athletes – Kate Fagan (women’s basketball) and Heidi Burgett (women’s soccer) – became the first females inducted into the Athletic Hall of Honor while three others – chancellor Phil DiStefano, John Parker and his wife, Shaaron – will join the Hall’s year-old Legacy Wing.

“It’s like a level of appreciation from a place where you played and made sure that you adhered to the established standards on and off the field,” Gurode said in a statement provided by the school. “It feels like a great appreciation and a thank you for what you represented to the university. And I need to thank the university for the opportunity to play and for the education I received, and I am very grateful. It also tells me somebody somewhere new what they were doing, to be a part of something special for the Buffaloes and also to be part of the top 60 Cowboys – it all started in Boulder.”

Here’s a little more historical and biographical background on the nine Hall of Fame inductees.

Gurode

A consensus first-team all-American as a senior, Gurode was one of the most critical pieces for the Buffs’ 2001 Big 12 championship team, helping pave the way for a rushing attack that averaged over 200 yards per game. He was a two-time first-team all-Big 12 honoree, earning the distinction as a junior and senior. He becomes the fifth player from that 2001 team to be enshrined in hall, joining coach Gary Barnett, running back Chris Brown, tight end Daniel Graham and assistant coach Brian Cabral.

He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, launching a professional career in which he was a five-time Pro Bowler.

Solder

After arriving in Boulder as a tight end, Solder changed positions the spring prior to his sophomore season and never looked back. As an offensive tackle, he became the first Colorado player at the position to earn all-American recognition since 1979. As a senior, he was one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy, awarded annually to the top interior offensive lineman in college football, and was a unanimous all-Big 12 selection.

A first-round draft pick by the New England Patriots in 2011, Solder won two Super Bowl rings while starting in 143 of his 146 career games before retiring after the 2021 season.

“I don’t know if I deserve it, I wish I could have had a bigger impact to win more games, somehow contribute in more ways to allow our teams to have more success,” Solder said in a statement provided by the school “As one player, you can only do so much. My first year as a tight end, I really didn’t know what I was doing. Coach [Jeff] Grimes had a big influence on me moving to tackle, the coaches pushed me hard and wound up building myself into something.”

Doll

As a sophomore, Doll helped lead Colorado to the 1940 NIT title, back when the NIT was the nation’s preeminent postseason tournament. With a combined 31 points in wins against DePaul and Duquesne, he was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. The Buffs went 43-12 in his three seasons there and as a senior, he became Colorado’s second all-American in men’s basketball.

He served in World War II before returning home and playing for the St. Louis Bombers and Boston Celtics of the Basketball Association of America (what is now the NBA), as well as the original iteration of the Denver Nuggets. He died in Sept. 1959 at the age of 40.

Spears

Spears’ time in Boulder was anything but toxic. She made an immediate impact for the Buffs, making the Big 12 all-rookie team as a freshman in 2007-08, and didn’t stop there. As a senior in 2010-11, she was a first-team all-Big 12 honoree. She’s still the program’s all-time leading career scorer, with 2,185 points.

She was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury with the 19th overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft and would later play seven seasons overseas.

Harris

A star running back at the school in the early 1960s, Harris was a second-team all-Big Eight selection as a senior. Perhaps most notably, he stayed at Colorado after the program was hammered with sanctions by the NCAA for a number of violations after the Buffs’ 1961 Big Eight championship when he could have easily transferred.

He later returned to his alma mater in 2000 to work in its alumni association office. Within two years, he took over as director for the school’s Alumni C Club and served in the role for nine years.

“When Rick George called to tell me that Bill had been selected for the Hall of Fame, I was rendered speechless,” Harris’ widow Sue said in a statement provided by the university. “Bill is on my mind all day, every day, but this day was special.”

Coburn

Coburn was a six-time all-American at Colorado and won three national championships, making her one of 10 Buffs athletes to have captured at least three national titles in their time at the school. Her championships came in the indoor mile run in 2013 and the outdoor steeplechase in 2011 and 2013.

In 2016, she became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in the steeplechase, finishing with a bronze in the 2016 summer games in Rio de Janeiro.

Damon

Damon was a four-time all-American in the high jump, with two of them coming outdoors and the other two indoors. She is the current Colorado record-holder in the high jump, both indoors six feet and two inches, set at the 1991 NCAA championships) and outdoors (six feet and three inches). Her jump at the 1991 NCAA championships earned her a third-place finish.

She went on to compete with the U.S. in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. That year, she was the fourth-ranked female high jumper in the country.

Matis

Matis was a two-time first-team all-American. He won NCAA championships in cross country skiing in 1968 and 1969, making him the first Colorado athlete in any sport at the time to defend an individual NCAA title.

He was a two-time Olympic ski team member – competing in Grenoble, France in 1968 and Sapporo, Japan in 1972 – and later served as an assistant coach for the Buffs in 1972, when they captured their first of eight straight men’s skiing titles.

Munnelly

A defensive ace for the Buffs, Munnelly was a four-time all-Big 12 selection, making the all-conference first team as a sophomore and the second team the other three seasons. She started all 91 games of her college career and led the team in minutes played each season. Her individual contributions led to team success, as Colorado went 56-24-11, made its first-ever NCAA Tournament and, once there, advanced to the Sweet 16 over the course of her time in Boulder.

She joins her sister Fran, a 2016 honoree, in the hall, making them the third set of siblings to earn the distinction.