This is the seventh of 12 articles highlighting the CSU Pueblo Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024 Inductees and today's seventh article features former Pack football player Cameron McDondle (2012-15)

When reviewing Cameron McDondle's career at Colorado State University Pueblo, you find that he accomplished the following:

His school-record 5,956 career yards rushing are:

• It is the most ever by a collegiate running back in Colorado.
• The second most ever in the history of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
• It is the 15th-best mark by a running back in NCAA Division II history.

That is just for his career.  As for his school-record 2,235 yards rushing in the 2015 season are:

• They are the best-ever single-season rushing mark for a running back in Colorado.
• The 11th-best total for a single season in NCAA Division II.

With the ThunderWolves advancing to the NCAA Division II playoffs each season during McDondle's stay in Pueblo (2012-2015), he played in 10 playoff games and rushed for over 100 yards in eight contests.

He had 1,002 yards and seven scores in the Division II playoffs. During the 2014 national championship season, McDondle had three 100-plus rushing games in four starts with 466 yards (5.2 average per carry) and three touchdowns.

McDondle finished his 47-game career with 126.7 rushing yards per game, 56 touchdowns, and 6.6 yards per rush (897 carries). He rushed for more than 100 yards in 31 career games, which included ten straight games in 2015 and 23 of the last 25 games.

And for good measure, McDondle (2,235 yards) teamed with his brother (Bernard, 1,439) to rush for a combined 3,674 yards in 2015 to set a NCAA Division II record.

As one would imagine, McDondle's career was filled with All-American and All-Rocky Mountain Conference honors.  As a 5-foot-7, 200-pound running back from Columbine High School finished third in the voting for the prestigious Harlon Hill Trophy in 2015.

His Hall of Fame career also featured recognition six times as the state's Player of the Week by the Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. Only Colorado Mines' quarterback John Matocha has received the honor more times (eight).

"it was fun being part of building something special at CSU Pueblo," said McDondle.  "I had a lot of great teammates that made me better.  I could not have done it without them."

After his career in Pueblo, McDondle tried out for the Denver Broncos, but his height was the only difference in making it professionally.

"Just hold up a thumb and an index finger just slightly apart," then CSU Pueblo coach John Wristen in a Denver Post article in April 2016. "If he were just a couple of inches taller, everybody would be all over him."

McDondle said in the article, "They say 5-7? Uh, I don't know about that. It helps you at the running back position because you have a low center of gravity."

Wristen knew he had a "special" player during McDondle's freshman year in 2012. As a third-string back, McDondle entered a game against Chadron State when starter J. D. Mathews was forced to leave with a foot injury midway through the third quarter.

Fortunately for the Pack, McDondle stepped in and picked up where Mathews left off. Matthews had rushed for 176 yards before the injury, and McDondle produced 98 yards on the ground and two touchdowns in the final half of the Pack's 35-28 win over Chadron State.

"When recruiting Cameron, it helped that he ties with Pueblo and his grandmother lived here," said Wristen.  "I remember meeting with the coaches during the freshman season, and they felt that we had several good backs ahead of him.  For me, he had what it took to be successful.  I played him, and he took advantage of the opportunity."

Two weeks later, at Colorado Mines, McDondle rushed for 240 yards and scored a touchdown as the ThunderWolves rallied from a 21-10 half-time deficit to defeat the Orediggers 35-21.

Wristen called McDonde "the durable workhouse. When we needed four yards ("the dirty 4"), he was there when we needed them. He was our spark plug, a player who can give a team a big play at the crucial moment. He showed that ability at CSU-Pueblo."

To prove that "big play" point, it was written in the 2014 championship recap, McDondle had four big plays in the 13-0 win over Minnesota State in Kansas City.

• During the Pack's first scoring drive at the end of the first half, he had a 34-yard run.
• In the final scoring drive at the start of the third quarter, McDondle has a 19-yard run and a 30-yard pass reception.
• In the fourth quarter, with CSU Pueblo protecting a 13-0 lead, McDondle has a 15-yard run for a first down to keep a game-ending drive alive.

During McDondle's final season with the Pack, Wristen remembers a 2015 home game versus Colorado Mines at the ThunderBowl, where both schools ranked in the top 10 nationally.

"We got the ball back less than 80 seconds left in the half and was just trying to run out the clock," said Wristen of the 49-21 victory over the Orediggers.  "He breaks a 70-yard run for a touchdown, and that score proves to be the winning point."