PROVO – Brigham Young University will induct five former All-Americans into the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame at a banquet hosted by the Cougar Club on Friday, September 13. Austin Collie (football), Elisabeth Crandall-Holmes (gymnastics), Carlos Moreno (volleyball), Craig Poole (track and field) and Arunas Savickas (swimming).
The five inductees will also be honored during a special halftime presentation against USC on Saturday, September 14.
Since its inception in 1975, more than 200 student-athletes, coaches, administrators, teams and broadcasters have been inducted into the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame. Among the criteria to be considered for induction are All-America status, university graduation, professional accomplishments and community service.
Austin Collie
Austin Collie came to BYU as the Northern California MVP from Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills. In three seasons as a Cougar (2004, 2007 and 2008), Collie played in 37 games while shattering school, conference and national records.
Collie began his BYU career in 2004 by being the freshman national statistical leader in receptions per game (4.8). He also broke the BYU freshman record for touchdown receptions (8) and receiving yards (771). He was named to the Sporting News Freshman All-America Second Team and the Mountain West Freshman of the Year.
Following a two-year LDS Church mission to Buenos Aires, Argentina, Collie returned to BYU in 2007 to earn second-team All-Mountain West Conference honors. He led the Cougars with 56 receptions for 946 yards, averaging nearly 73 yards per game. He also broke Pete Van Valkenburg’s 35-year-old BYU record with 366 all-purpose yards against Tulsa and was named the MVP of the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl as he led BYU to a 17-16 win over UCLA.
As a junior in 2008, Collie had arguably the best season of any receiver in BYU football history. He set BYU single-season records for receptions (106), receiving yards (1,538), receiving touchdowns (15) and all-purpose yards (2,112). Collie also led the nation in receiving yards (1,538) and yards per game (118.3) and tied the NCAA single-season record with 11 consecutive 100-yard receiving games.
For his efforts, Collie was named to the 2008 CBSSports.com All-America First Team and received All-American Second Team honors from the Associated Press, Rivals.com, SI.com and Sporting News. He was also a finalist for the 2008 Biletnikoff Award.
In just three seasons at BYU, Collie compiled a total of 3,255 receiving yards, 30 touchdowns and 17 career 100-yard receiving games—all new BYU records.
Following the conclusion of his junior season, Collie opted to leave BYU early and enter the 2009 NFL Draft, where the Indianapolis Colts took him in the fourth round.
Collie totaled 179 receptions, 1,908 yards and 16 touchdowns in a 49-game NFL career from 2009-13 that was cut short due to injury. As an NFL rookie in 2009, he played in all 16 games totaling 60 receptions for 676 yards and seven touchdowns, including seven receptions for 123 yards in the AFC Championship game and 66 yards on six receptions in Super Bowl XLIV.
Elisabeth Crandall-Howell
Elisabeth Crandall-Howell began making a name for herself prior to becoming a BYU Cougar. Competing in international competitions, including the Olympic Trials and World Championships, she held a spot on the USA National Team for six years from 1987 to 1992.
Among her many accolades, Crandall-Howell was the uneven bars and floor champion at the 1988 USA Championships, where she also finished as the runner-up in the all-around. She was the all-round champion at the American Classic back to back in 1989 and 1990 and also earned the American Classic bars and vault titles as well in 1990. She placed third on the bars at the US Olympic Festival that same year before being the gold medalist on bars at the USA Championships and a member of the silver medal winning team at the World Championships in 1991. She placed 11th in the all-around at the 1992 Olympic Trials.
In 1992, Crandall-Howell started her collegiate career at BYU, pursuing a degree in physical education and health promotion. On a full athletic scholarship, she qualified for the NCAA Championships four times, first as an individual in her freshman season in 1993 before helping her team advance to the NCAA Championships the next three seasons from 1994-96.
Crandall-Howell received two All-American awards, securing NACGC first-team recognition on uneven bars with a fifth-place finish in 1993 and a sixth-place performance in 1995. She stood as a three-time NCAA Regional uneven bars champion, winning the event in 1993, 1995 and 1996 and placing third overall in the all-around at the 1994 NCAA Midwest Regionals. By the end of her college career, the 1993 All-WAC First Team honoree tied or set BYU records on uneven bars (9.95), balance beam (9.95) and all-around (38.4).
Following her days at BYU, Crandall-Howell continued to pursue her passion, serving in several coaching capacities. She also became one of only 16 active international judges in the United States as an international brevet-level judge and a three-time Olympic Trials judge.
One of her most notable positions started in 2012 when Crandall-Howell signed on as an assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley. Naturally, the experienced gymnast quickly advanced, becoming the NACGC West Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015 and earning the same honor in 2016 on her way to being named the National Assistant Coach of the Year. In 2018, she earned a spot as the co-head coach for the Bears after helping the program rapidly improved in all events since her arrival. Specifically, the program jumped 33 spots in the rankings from 2012 to 2015 and then advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1992 with outstanding seasons in 2016 (7th place), 2018 (9th place) and 2019 (11th place).
Crandall-Howell has excelled in all facets of her career and continues to serve as the co-head coach at California. She is married to Justin Howell and is a mother to three children: Jacob, Noah and Greyson.
Carlos Moreno
Carlos Moreno became a starter at the setter position for the BYU men’s volleyball team the day he stepped foot on campus in 2002. He quickly became the centerpiece of the Cougars’ potent offense and in his three years at BYU recorded an impressive 4,628 assists to become the school’s all-time leader for career assists in the rally scoring era.
The setter from Sao Paulo, Brazil, helped lead the Cougars to back-to-back NCAA Championship game appearances in 2003 and 2004. BYU finished as the national runner-up in 2003 and Moreno was named to the AVCA All-America Second Team and All-MPSF Second Team. In 2004, Moreno became the first BYU volleyball player to be named the AVCA National Player of the Year after leading BYU to an MPSF Championship and its third NCAA Championship. That same year he received almost every award possible for a collegiate volleyball player, being named MVP of the NCAA Tournament, MPSF Player of the Year, MPSF Tournament MVP and receiving AVCA All-America First Team and All-MPSF First Team honors.
Moreno broke his first school record in 2002 with 84 assists against No. 6 Stanford for the most assists in a single match in the rally scoring era. He later posted matches with 79 assists, 77 assists and 76 assists to claim the top four spots for most assists in a single match. The setter set his second school record with 1,567 assists in 2003, marking the most assists in a single season in the rally scoring era. He broke his own record the very next year with an incredible 1,689 assists. Since the start of the rally scoring era at BYU, Moreno also ranks No. 4 in sets played in a single season (121), No. 7 at BYU in career service aces (73), No. 10 in career solo blocks (25) and No. 10 in career sets played (328).
Following his outstanding collegiate career, Moreno embarked on a successful 11-year professional volleyball career where he helped lead his teams to league championships in Brazil, France and Slovenia. The setter was recognized as one of the top setters in the CEV Champions League after leading his team to the 2013 European Championship.
Moreno received his bachelor’s degree in communications from BYU in 2008 and was named the associate head women’s volleyball coach at Arizona State University in 2018. He currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, with his wife, Maria Eduarda dos Santos Moreno, and their 2-year-old son, Lucas dos Santos Moreno.
Craig Poole
R. Craig Poole began his career at BYU in 1980 as the head women’s track and field coach and a full-time professor of sports psychology. Poole received his Ed.D in physical education and educational administration from the University of Utah after attending Utah State University for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. As both a coach and professor, Poole established a standard of athletic and academic excellence for the Cougars in his 30 years at BYU.
During his tenure at BYU, Poole led a notable number of athletes to NCAA championships, conference titles and All-America honors. Poole coached the women’s track and field team in 1998 and 2009 to third-place finishes at the NCAA Indoor Championships – the best finishes in program history. For his career, Poole coached 81 student athletes to 169 All-America honors.
Overall, Poole led BYU to 43 team indoor and outdoor conference titles, including 20-straight outdoor conference titles from 1983 to 2002. Poole was named the 1998 USTFCCCA National Women’s Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year. In honor of his accomplishments, Poole was named MWC Coach of the Year 12 times and WAC Coach of the Year 13 times. Poole was influential in BYU’s academia as the creator of the master’s program in sports psychology and developer of several undergraduate courses in sports psychology.
In addition to his success in Provo, Poole shared his coaching talents around the world. He was named the USA women’s head coach at the 1993 World Championships and at the U.S. at the 2002 University Games in Beijing, China. Poole coached Team USA athletes in the heptathlon, long jump and triple jump at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Poole retired from his decorated career at BYU in 2010 and became the director and head coach of the USATF Residency program at the Olympic Training Center from 2010 to 2014. He was a member of the 2012 Para Olympic Games coaching staff, with athletes earning silver medals in the long jump and high jump. In honor of his lasting impact on the world of track and field, Poole was inducted into the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011.
From 2017 to 2019, Poole has served as a volunteer coach at San Diego State University. Along with his lifetime dedication to track and field, Poole is devoted to his family and service as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Poole resides in Chula Vista, California, with his wife, Sharon Woodland. Together they have four children — Robert, Andrea, Elizabeth and Catherine.
Arunas Savickas
Arunas Savickas started his swimming career at BYU in 1997 and by the time he finished his time as a Cougar in 2001, he had been named an All-American six times, the most in BYU men’s swimming history.
Savickas was an impressive competitor from the beginning. He was named the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and set multiple program records. At the 1998 NCAA Championships, he placed seventh in the 200-yard backstroke to earn his first All-America recognition in that event.
As a sophomore, he went undefeated in regular season competition, winning every individual race and earning WAC Swimmer of the Year. He also placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke at the 1999 European Championships and 11th in the 200-yard backstroke at the 1999 World Short Course Championships.
During his junior year, Savickas was named All-MWC in three events and claimed a league-high four MWC Swimmer of the Week recognitions to help the Cougars win the MWC title. He kept his three-year All-American streak and participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympics as a member of the Lithuanian National Team, doing so for the second time after also competing in the 1996 Summer Games.
In his final season at BYU, Savickas set a Mountain West Conference meet record and was a member of the 400-yard medley relay team that helped BYU win the Mountain West Conference championship. His finish in the 200 free at the NCAA Championships gave him six citations in four seasons.
Throughout Savickas’ career, he broke a total of nine BYU program records, six conference records and five Lithuanian national records on his way to becoming a 12-time conference champion.
Following his time as a Cougar, Savickas coached swimmers in Northern Ireland, many of which became champion swimmers and one a Commonwealth Youth Silver Medalist. Savickas has been active in teaching disabled children to swim and has run weekly swim classes for underprivileged children. He now serves as a community nurse.
In 2002, Savickas completed his bachelor’s degree in business management. He and his wife, Lara, reside in Brighton, United Kingdom. Arunas has three children: Alexander, Denzel and Sophie.