Guilford College's Jack Jensen and Marion Kirby Elected to Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame
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GUILFORD COLLEGE'S JACK JENSEN AND MARION KIRBY ELECTED TO GUILFORD COUNTY SPORTS HALL OF FAME
Greensboro, NC (8/8/06) -- Guilford College men's golf coach Jack Jensen and athletic director Marion Kirby are among 11 individuals to be inducted into the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame Sept. 18. The Hall's second class was announced Tuesday at a press conference at First Horizon Park. Jensen and Kirby join 2005 inductees Rick Ferrell '28, Wes Ferrell '28, Bob Jamieson '32 and former men's basketball coach Jerry Steele as hall of fame members with Guilford College ties.
Jensen enters his school-record 31st season as Guilford’s golf coach and
spent 29 years as the Quakers' men's basketball mentor. He has guided 25 golf
teams into national tournaments, including the 2005 and 2002 units that won the
NCAA Division III title and the 1989 team that won the NAIA crown. Jensen earned national coach of the year recognition after all three championship
seasons. Under Jensen’s direction, 26 Guilford College students have
received 39 performance and 11 academic All-America honors. Guilford’s Lee
Porter '89, a two-time All-American, spent six years on the Professional
Golfers Association (PGA) Tour. Bill Brooks '83, Colin Clark '07 and Rob Odom '87 were national medalists in 1983, 2005 and 1986,
respectively.
A 1961 Wake Forest graduate, Jensen joined Guilford’s athletics staff as an assistant basketball coach in 1965 and compiled a 386-392 overall record as the Quakers’ men’s basketball coach from 1970-99. His 1973 club won the NAIA national championship, the college's first national title. He coached future National Basketball Association (NBA) players Bob Kauffman '68, M.L. Carr '73, World B. Free '76 and Greg Jackson '74. A member of the NAIA and Guilford College Sports Halls of Fame, the Bloomfield, N.J. native was the second person to coach two different teams to NAIA national titles.
Kirby starts his fifth year as the head of Guilford College's 16-sport athletics
program. He became the school's athletic director in July, 2002 after coaching
Greensboro College's football team in its first five years from 1998-02. Under Kirby's direction, Guilford College has won a national golf championship
in golf and increased athletic participation to an all-time high. The college's
athletics facilities have received extensive renovations, highlighted by the
$1.15-million press box and seating addition to the Armfield Athletic Center,
the Quakers' football and lacrosse stadium, in 2006.
Kirby coached football at Page High School in Greensboro where he compiled a 219-51-3 record in 23 seasons. The Pirates won four state 4-A titles between 1980-85 and set a state record with a 46-game unbeaten streak in that time. Kirby also coached at Holmes H.S. in Edenton, N.C. and his career scholastic coaching record is 276-65-8 with four state titles, 18 state playoff berths and 14 conference crowns. The Greensboro News & Record named him one of the Triad’s most important sports figures of the 20th century.
A native of Hickory, NC, Kirby graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne in 1964 and played four years as an offensive lineman and place-kicker for the Bears’ football team. He was named the team’s top freshman in 1960 and helped the team to an 11-0-1 record and the 1960 NAIA national championship.
Kirby and Jensen will be honored at the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame Banquet September 18 at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro. For ticket information, contact the Greensboro Sports Commission at 336-378-4499 or Richard Wood at 336-727-4219.