The Colorado Springs Sports Corporation has selected two of the city's longtime, accomplished sports contributors to receive the organization's special awards during the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2007 banquet and induction ceremonies on October 24 at the World Arena.

Manitou Springs High School football coaching legend George Rykovich will receive the coveted Col. F.Don Miller Award, presented annually by The Sports Corp to an individual who best represents the commitment to sport and youth in the city which was a standard of the late former U.S. Olympic Committee Executive Director (1969-85) who helped relocate the USOC to Colorado Springs in 1978 after a distinguished military career as a decorated World War II combat officer in Europe and as a boxing official and athlete at the University of Wisconsin. Col. Miller retired from the USOC in 1985 and became the first President of the United States Olympic Foundation.

Longtime banking executive, military community supporter and Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo leader Hal Littrell will receive the William Thayer Tutt Sportsman Award, which honors an individual for exceptional philanthropic and community sports support, which is a part of the legend of the late community sports giant and iconic figure. He is the fourth winner of the award named for the legendary, visionary sportsman and civic giant who helped to transform the city into a world-class center for national and international events.

Thayer Tutt developed The Broadmoor into a sports mecca over four decades, making it the host for World Championships in figure skating and ice hockey, the first ten NCAA ice hockey championships and numerous U.S. Golf Association amateur championships. He was also a driving force in the city's efforts to bring the United States Olympic Committee to the city in 1978, along with its flagship training center and more than 25 National Governing Bodies of Olympic and Pan Am Games sports.

Rykovich coached at Manitou Springs for 36 years, using the nearly-extinct single wing offense on the way to two state titles (1987, 1990), and he led the Mustangs to a 222-129-1 mark. He came to the city in 1971 from his hometown, Gary, Indiana, where he had coached at his alma mater, Lew Wallace High School. Rykovich coached one of the state's greatest gridiron stars, Justin Armour, who became a Stanford All-American and NFL receiver for Buffalo, Denver and Baltimore, and who was inducted into the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

Littrell moved to Colorado Springs in 1948 from Lubbock, Texas, finished high school at Colorado Springs High School, and enlisted in the Air Force in 1950, serving in Korea on rescue planes searching for and recovering downed pilots and crew. In 1954, he came back to the city and entered the banking business with the Exchange National Bank, which he later purchased. He has consistently supported efforts to care for military personnel and their families stationed in the city, particularly at Fort Carson. Along the way, he became a major contributor to the growth and success of the Pikes Park Or Bust Rodeo, volunteering since 1955 and becoming chairman and a trustee of the event's foundation. In 2003, he was honored with the Pikes Peak Community Foundation's Spirit of Philanthropy Award.

The awards will be presented during the Hall of Fame Class of 2007 banquet and induction ceremonies on Wednesday, October 24, at 7:00 at the Colorado Springs World Arena.