Hall of Fame
In the words of Athletic Director Carroll Land , “Across my many years I have seen very few, if any, athletes possessing the athleticism of Marty Honea. After four incredible years of track and field competition as a decathlete and javelin thrower, he came out of baseball for the first time. I was awed instantly and could only imagine what might have been had he been a baseball player his entire career instead of a decathlete. His desire to improve was exceeded only by his work ethic. He immediately rigged the pitching machine with some drainage pipes taped together and hanging by wire fasteners so he could hit without a human feeder. And he did just that hour after hour. He would then throw balls into the cage and retrieve them if there wasn’t anyone to play catch with.”
Honea became an immediate starting outfielder or designated hitter and challenged for our top pitching position on the team. While he was pitching at Cal Satte Northridge and hitting in the cleanup spot, Coach Land remembers wondering what was going on when he took call strikes for the first time two times at bat without swinging. The third time he swung the bat one time and hit the longest home run Coach Land has ever seen in college baseball.
When he decided to play baseball the first time after training all fall, he broke his ankle horsing around the basketball court during Christmas Break. He avoided Coach Land for several weeks hoping he wouldn’t find out. On the other end of his career as a senior he had hurt his arm trying to throw too hard. He had to drop down side arm and learn several new pitches to pitch in the NAIA District Three Playoffs.
As a track athlete, Honea excelled in the challenging and grueling 10 events of the decathlon. In 1983 he was the District Three Champion in the decathlon. Two times he earned All-American honors placing fifth in the decathlon at the national championships in 1982 and sixth in the javelin at the national championship in 1983. As a javelin thrower he held the school record for 11 years from 1983 to 1994. His mark in the javelin currently ranks second in our records while he has the third best decathlon mark of 7226 and is tied for fifth in the high jump at 6’6 3/4.
Following graduation, he and his wife Jackie, also a PLNU grad, moved to Tucson , AZ where Honea coached football and track and field at Morena High School . His coaching success has included two trips to the state playoffs and 17 All-Americans at the junior Olympic level as well as several state champions for track and field. He is the proud father of Joshua , Brittany , Lindsay and Ben.
The award for Outstanding Achievement by an Athlete was presented to Honea by Bob Brower.
