Five of the top student-athletes in the rich history of five different Ashland University sports make up the 2025 AU Hall of Fame class.
Ashland's 49
th Hall of Fame class officially will be inducted during the 2025 Ashland University Hall of Fame Induction and Student-Athlete of the Year recognition, Oct. 11 at 9:30 a.m. at the John C. Myers Convocation Center – prior to the Eagle football team's 101
st Homecoming game at 1 p.m. vs. Thomas More at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field.
Information on the newest Hall of Famers and Eagle Forever Award honorees follows.
DAIVA GERBEC MITCHELL, WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, 2009-13
Mitchell was a starting forward on Ashland women's basketball's first NCAA Division II championship team in 2012-13, earning first-team Academic All-American, first-team Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-Midwest Region and Midwest Regional all-tournament team honors along the way. She was a two-time first-team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection, two-time All-GLIAC Defensive Team, two-time GLIAC All-Tournament Team and two-time GLIAC All-Academic Excellence.
In just three collegiate seasons (having missed 2011-12 due to injury), Mitchell scored 1,258 career points – which puts her 18
th on the program's all-time list. Her 557 points during the championship season are ninth-most in AU women's basketball annals, and her 120 offensive rebounds that season continue to be the most for any Eagle women's basketball player in one campaign.
ERIN MISHEFF ROBERTS, WOMEN'S GOLF, 2008-12
Roberts set the standard for all future Ashland women's golfers during her time as an Eagle. She became the program's first conference medalist by winning the GLIAC championship in 2011, and tied for sixth individually during the team's first trip to the NCAA Division II Championships later that year. Competing as an individual at D-II nationals in 2012, Roberts finished in a tie for 14
th.
Winning a program-record seven tournaments during her time at Ashland, Roberts also was a 2012 National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-American, finished as runner-up at the GLIAC Championships as both a freshman and senior, was the 2009 GLIAC Freshman of the Year, four-time first-team All-GLIAC and three-time All-GLIAC Academic, and has the program mark for lowest 72-hole total at a tournament (296).
ANTHONY TAYLOR, FOOTBALL, 2011-14
Ashland football has been played since 1920, and no Eagle has rushed for more yards (4,456) and touchdowns (43) in a career than Taylor. A starter on the 2012 team which went undefeated in the regular season and hosted a D-II playoff game, he also scored the most overall touchdowns (45) and gained the most all-purpose yards (5,082) in program history, and is third in Ashland football annals in points scored (270).
Taylor's 311 rushing yards in 2013 vs. Lake Erie are a program standard, as are his 1,691 rushing yards in 2013 – one of his three 1,000-yard rushing campaigns. He was a three-time first-team All-GLIAC selection, and in 2014, earned second-team Daktronics All-Super Region 4 and third-team BSN All-Super Region 4 recognition.
DREW WINDLE, TRACK AND FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY, 2011-15
One of the most decorated track and field athletes in Eagle history, Windle won eight D-II national championships from 2013-15 (five indoors, three outdoors), and was a 15-time D-II All-American (nine indoors, six outdoors) overall. Those efforts helped the Ashland men to finish second in the nation indoors and outdoors in 2013, third in the nation indoors and outdoors in 2014, and fourth (indoors) and third (outdoors) in the country in 2015.
Windle also earned two U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) men's indoor track Athlete of the Year, two USTFCCCA men's Midwest Region indoor track Athlete of the Year and 2014 USTFCCCA men's Midwest Region outdoor track Athlete of the Year citations. Within the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, he was the 2012 men's track Freshman of the Meet indoors and outdoors, six-time GLIAC All-Academic in track and field (three indoors, three outdoors), and three-time GLIAC All-Academic in cross country.
He continues to stand as the program record holder in the 800-meter run, both indoors and outdoors. His top indoor 800 time of 1:48.41 is eighth-best in D-II history, and his best outdoor 800 mark of 1:46.91 makes him the No. 10 runner in D-II history.
EVAN YATES, MEN'S BASKETBALL, 2009-13
Yates is the most recent Ashland men's basketball D-II All-American, having earned the distinction following the 2011-12 season (Daktronics second team). Among his other honors as an Eagle are two Daktronics first-team all-region and three All-GLIAC (two first team, one second team) citations.
In the more than 100 seasons of Ashland men's basketball, no one has grabbed more rebounds (295) and more boards per game (11.3) in one year than Yates during his All-American season, and his 542 points during that campaign are 10
th-best in program history. Yates is third in Ashland men's basketball annals with 820 career rebounds, and seventh with 1,566 career points. He made more than 60 percent of his shots from the field three seasons in a row (2009-10 to 2011-12).
The 2025 class brings the total number of AU Hall of Famers to 236.
Bob and Jan Archer are the 2025 Eagle Forever Award honorees. They said they love to support everyone in Eagle athletics, and the complex which houses Tomassi Stadium and Donges Field (baseball) and Deb Miller Field (softball) is the Archer Ballpark Complex. They also have funded improvements at Ferguson Field, and given scholarship monies for men and women's basketball, baseball, softball, soccer and wrestling.
In 2024, the Archers were the Trustee Achievement Award recipients during the Ashland County Sports Hall of Fame induction. Bob Archer also is on the AU Board of Trustees.
The Archers are the 29
th and 30
th Eagle Forever Award recipients all-time. The award is presented annually at the Hall of Fame Induction to a person or persons who have demonstrated extraordinary loyalty and support in a non-athletic capacity to the AU athletic department in ways not usually recognized.
Information on tickets for the 2025 Hall of Fame Induction and Student-Athlete of the Year recognition will be released at a later date.
