BUTLER TWP — Mike Franko, Beckie Jo Higgins-Arey and Bryant Lewandowski were history-making figures at Butler County Community College.

Saturday, they were recognized as such.

The three represented the fourth class to be inducted into the Charles W. Dunaway Pioneer Hall of Fame at the BC3 Field House.

Franko ran cross country — and helped form the team that was coached by Dunaway — in 1969 and 1972. He served in the Vietnam War during the interim years.

Dunaway could not attend Saturday, but BC3 golf coach Bill Miller presented Franko.

“Mike and I met at this college and I'm proud to call him my friend,” Miller said. “He told Chuck that if you put the team together, I'll teach you how to coach it.”

Franko even assisted in the formation of the cross country course on campus.

“That thing turned out so beautiful that other schools wanted to use it as their home course,” Franko said.

Franko was an all-state and all-region runner for the Pioneers. He became a two-time national qualifier before moving on to Slippery Rock University, where he became team captain.

He ran the mile in four minutes and 18 seconds, the 800 meters in 1:55 and a marathon in 2 hours, 42 kinutes.

“He was a true Pioneer at BC3,”Miller said.

Franko ran for coach Bill Lennox in high school and at SRU. Dunaway, of course, was his coach at BC3.

“To enter a Hall of Fame donning the name of one of my mentors is truly one of the most exciting things in my life,” Franko said. “I am very humbled and very appreciative.”

Higgins was a left-handed hitting catcher at BC3 who led the Pioneers to their first state softball title in 1990. She helped them win the conference championship the following year.

Higgins hit .402 and .366 during those seasons. Kathy Wood, her coach at BC3, presented her Saturday.

“My first year of coaching softball here, we were 0-14,” Wood said. “I hit the recruiting hard after that and I hear from a girl named Beckie Jo from James Buchanan High School.

“I didn't even know where that was. And when I found out she was a left-handed catcher, I wondered what we were getting here. But we got plenty.”

Higgins was one of 12 freshmen on the 14-player roster in her first season with the Pioneers.

“I was hoping for a .500 season at best,” Wood recalled. “Then Beckie comes in, pulls everybody together, and we were no longer a team. We were a family. She had everything to do with that.

“She became a co-captain, a .400 hitter and the best catcher I ever coached.”

Now a school teacher herself at North Hagerstown High School, Higgins was grateful to return to campus.

“When you're young, you don't see the big picture,” she said. “BC3 was my root, my seed. The coaches and players had a reciprocal relationship.

“I'm grateful for my time here. grateful for the memories.”

Lewandowski played basketball at BC3 from 1997 through 1999 and is the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,303 points. He shattered the previous record of 981 set by Terrance Pankey from 1989-91.

Lewandowski's father, Joe, presented him to the Hall of Fame.

“His last game here, Feb. 10, 1999, I'll always remember,” Joe Lewandowski said, detailing it to the crowd.

Bryant sank a jumper at the buzzer to upset top-10 ranked Potomac State and polish off a rally that saw the Pioneers wipe out a 30-point deficit.

“One of the more improbale comebacks in college basketball history,” his father said, proudly.

Bryant thanked his parents, teammates and coach Dick Hartung for his success.

“Hard work and gratiutude, those attributes never get old,” Lewandowski said. “And Coach Hartung was and is very passionate and caring, a true developer of men.”

Along with the Hall of Fame inductions. BC3 honored its All-American award winners Saturday: golfers Thomas Dimun and Stefan Carlsson, basketball player Julia Baxter, softball player Nicole Houk and volleyball standout Brittney Bianco.

The Pioneers have had 25 All-Americans in their 52-year athletic history. There are now 10 members in the Dunaway Pioneer Hall of Fame.