2023 St. Louis Enshrinement Program

CLASS OF

2023 RANDY ALBRECHT KHALIA COLLIER JAY DELSING

LINDSAY KENNEDY EVERSMEYER BARRET JACKMAN DAVE LOOS TODD LYGHT BERNIE MIKLASZ MARK MULLIN DOUG SMITH

S t . Louis

DR. TOM SMITH KELLY MULVIHILL STAHLHUTH TONY VAN ZANT GREG VITELLO ADAM WAINWRIGHT KENNY WALLACE HARRY WEBER LINDA WELLS 1973 WASHINGTON HS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL TEAM 1959-1974 SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY MEN’S SOCCER ERA

G R E AT S SO O U T H E R N B ANK

1984-1989 CRYSTAL CITY HS GIRLS TRACK & FIELD ERA ST. JOSEPH’S ACADEMY GIRLS TENNIS PROGRAM

NO V E M B E R 19, 2 0 2 3

C H AS E PARK PL A ZA

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November 19, 2023 Dear St. Louis Enshrinement Participants & Guests,

Federal

®

PROTECTION,INC.

Est. 1969

On behalf of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and its Governing Board, please allow me to welcome you to today’s St. Louis Enshrinement Ceremonies presented by Great Southern Bank. We are very excited about honoring the extensive accomplishments of so many athletes, coaches, administrators, media members, teams, eras and programs who have impacted sports all across the state of Missouri and beyond. We are delighted to have you here today as our guests.

We come together today to honor the hall of fame accomplishments of 19 individuals, an undefeated state championship team, successful eras from two diœerent schools, and one dominating program. I hope that you truly enjoy being here today as we reśect back upon the sports accomplishments and highlights of some of the Show-Me State’s best, while inspiring future success in generations to come.

I would like to thank Great Southern Bank for its continued support of this event and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame as a whole. In addition, a special thank you to each table sponsor and to everyone who purchased a congratulatory program ad or ticket to this event. As an event-driven 501(c)(3) not-for-proŚt organization, the success and advancement of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is almost entirely dependent upon the success of our events, so thank you to everyone who is here today!

It is our goal to expand the footprint of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame all across the state of Missouri. We want the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame to truly be a statewide hall of fame and to showcase the outstanding accomplishments, achievements and careers of the Show-Me State’s best athletes, coaches, administrators, media personalities, teams and more. As such, we fully intend to host Enshrinement Ceremonies and other Hall of Fame events annually here in St. Louis.

In closing, I want to reiterate my appreciation for your presence at today’s St. Louis Enshrinement Ceremonies presented by Great Southern Bank. I hope you have a wonderful time as we recognize, honor and enshrine a group of very deserving individuals, teams and programs.

Sincerely,

Byron Shive CEO/Executive Director

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MISSOURI SPORTS HALL OF FAME

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Enshrinement in St. Louis 2023 Welcome ......................................................................................................................................Taylor Frederich | Director of Operations Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Invocation ..................................................................................................................................................................................Dr. Tom Smith MSHOF Class of 2023 Inductee Pledge of Allegiance ............................................................................................................................................................Rocky Sickmann Washington High School / USMC (ret.)

National Anthem .............................................................................................................................................................................Erin Casey 2009 MSHOF Intern Alumna Board Chairman Remarks ............................................................................................................ Dan R. Nelson | Chairman of the Board Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Welcome and Remarks .................................................................................................................Byron Shive | CEO & Executive Director Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

Induction Ceremony Randy Albrecht ............................................................................................................................................................................... Basketball Tony Vanzant .......................................................................................................................................................................................Football Greg Vitello......................................................................................................................................................................... Soccer & Baseball Linda Wells ...........................................................................................................................................................................................Softball Saint Louis Soccer ............................................................................................................................................accepted by Bill McDermott MSHOF Class of 2018 Mark Mullin............................................................................................................................................................................. Administration Khalia Collier ................................................................................................................................................................................... Basketball Dave Loos ........................................................................................................................................................................................ Basketball Washington High School Football (1973) .............................................................................................................accepted by Gary Vogel Dr. Tom Smith ......................................................................................................................................................................... Administration Lindsay Kennedy Eversmeyer .............................................................................................................................................................. Soccer Crystal City High School Girls Track & Field (1984-89) ..................................................... accepted by former head coach Dick Cook Dick Cook .............................................................................................................................................................................Track & Field Bernie Miklasz ........................................................................................................................................................................................Media Jay Delsing ..................................................................................................................................................................................................Golf Kelly Mulvihill Stahlhuth.......................................................................................................................................................................Tennis Harry Weber ........................................................................................................................................................................................Sculptor Kenny Wallace ........................................................................................................................................................................... Motor Sports St. Joseph’s Academy Girls Tennis Program ....................................................................accepted by former head coach Doug Smith Doug Smith ......................................................................................................................................................................................Tennis Barret Jackman ....................................................................................................................................................................................Hockey Todd Lyght ...........................................................................................................................................................................................Football Adam Wainwright ..............................................................................................................................................................................Baseball Closing Remarks ........................................................................................................................................................................... Byron Shive “WHERE THE GAME LIVES ON” St Louis Enshrinement Program.indd 3

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ST. LOUIS ENSHRINEMENT 2023 TABLE OF CONTENTS ALPHABETICAL 590 The Fan.................................................. 61 American Midwest Conference ................ 61 Jerald Andrews ........................................... 47 Archbishop Spalding ................................. 41 Austin Peay Athletics.................................10 Bank of Washington ..................................64 John Bardgett & Associates ..................... 23 Bayless School ............................................ 63 City of Crystal City...................................... 37 Dick Cook Family ........................................ 61 Crystal City High School ............................ 37 Dallas Mavericks ........................................ 27 De Smet High School .................................60 Aaron Eversmeyer ...................................... 35

Favazza’s on the Hill ................................... 63 First Tee .......................................................43 Gioia Family ................................................ 12 Great Lakes Valley Conference ................. 55 Great Southern Bank ......................OBC, IFC Hazelwood Central High School............... 17 Herculaneum High School ........................ 63 Hilyard............................................................ 2 Indiana University ...................................... 59 Jefferson County Jets ................................ 39 Arthur Kasey ............................................... 11 Los Angeles Rams ...................................... 13 Lyght Family ............................................... 57 Memphis Athletics ..................................... 29

Kristine Miedler .......................................... 51 Missouri Basketball Coaches Assoc. ....... 15 Missouri Baptist University ...................... 33 Missouri S&T............................................... 25 Mizzou Alumni Association ...................... 13 Northern State University ......................... 53 OG Hospitality ..............................................9 St. Louis Cardinals........................................8 Saint Louis University .................................. 7 Seliga Heating & Cooling .......................... 19 Southern Country Customs.......................49 Dick Vermeil ................................................ 21 Washington University ..............................45 Linda Wells .................................................. 62

NUMERICAL Great Southern Bank ...............................IFC Hilyard........................................................... 2 Saint Louis University ................................. 7 St. Louis Cardinals....................................... 8 OG Hospitality ............................................. 9 Austin Peay Athletics................................ 10 Arthur Kasey ...............................................11 Gioia Family ............................................... 12 Los Angeles Rams ..................................... 13 Mizzou Alumni Association ..................... 13 Randy Albrecht .....................................14-15 Missouri Basketball Coaches Assoc. ...... 15 Tony Vanzant ........................................ 16-17 Hazelwood Central High School...............17 Greg Vitello............................................18-19 Seliga Heating & Cooling ......................... 19 Linda Wells ............................................20-21 Dick Vermeil ............................................... 21 Saint Louis University Men’s Soccer ..22-23 John Bardgett & Associates .................... 23 Mark Mullin...........................................24-25 Missouri S&T.............................................. 25 4

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Khalia Collier .........................................26-27 Dallas Mavericks ....................................... 27 Dave Loos ..............................................28-29 Memphis Athletics .................................... 29 Washington High School Football ...........30-31 Dr. Tom Smith .......................................32-33 Missouri Baptist ........................................ 33 Lindsay Kennedy Eversmeyer .............34-35 Aaron Eversmeyer ..................................... 35 Crystal City High School Girls Track & Field ....36-37 City of Crystal City..................................... 37 Crystal City High School ........................... 37 Dick Cook ...............................................38-39 Jefferson County Jets ............................... 39 Bernie Miklasz ..................................... 40-41 Archbishop Spalding ................................ 41 Jay Delsing ............................................42-43 First Tee ...................................................... 43 Kelly Mulvihill Stahlhuth.................... 44-45 Washington University ............................. 45 Harry Weber ..........................................46-47 Jerald & Giana Andrews........................... 47

Kenny Wallace ..................................... 48-49 Southern Country Customs......................49 St. Joseph’s Academy Girls Tennis Program ...50-51 Kristine Miedler ......................................... 51 Doug Smith ...........................................52-53 Northern State University ........................ 53 Barret Jackman ....................................54-55 Great Lakes Valley Conference ................ 55 Todd Lyght ............................................56-55 Lyght Family .............................................. 57 Adam Wainwright ................................58-59 Indiana University ..................................... 59 De Smet High School ................................60 590 The Fan................................................. 61 American Midwest Conference ............... 61 Dick Cook Family ....................................... 61 Bayless School ........................................... 63 Bank of Washington .................................64 Linda Wells ................................................. 62 Favazza’s on the Hill .................................. 63 Herculaneum High School ....................... 63 Great Southern Bank ............................ OBC

MISSOURI SPORTS HALL OF FAME

11/11/2023 11:08:23 AM

MSHOF BOARD OF DIRECTORS The MISSOURI SPORTS HALL OF FAME is structured as a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation. The Board of Directors serves as the governing body. If you have a significant interest in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and would like to be considered for service on the Board, please contact one of the Board Officers or a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame staff.

Dan Nelson (Chairman).............................................................................................................................. Kutak Rock Bryan Magers (Vice Chairman)........................................................................................................ Bryan Properties Craig Curry (Treasurer) ....................................................................................................................Landau Pontoons Russell Hinds (Secretary) .............................................................................Mid-America Safety & Environmental Rick Beaman ................................................................................................................................... Hiland Dairy Foods Gary Goetz.................................................................................................................................................SRC Holdings Brian Jared .........................................................................................................................................Jared Enterprises Tara Jenkins ................................................................................................................Missouri Equipment & Leasing Christian Lewis ...................................................................................................................................... Simmons Bank Rob Marsh ...................................................................................................................................... Pyramid Foods, Inc. David McQueary .........................................................................................McQueary Family Drug Company (Ret.) Rick Meewes .................................................................................................................................. Reliable Superstore Laura Smith .................................................................................................................................Great Southern Bank Scott Smith .......................................................................................................................... Rooney McBride & Smith Alan Spencer .........................................................................................................High School Football Coach (Ret.) Mike Spruill ....................................................................................................................... KOLR 10 / KOZL 27 / Fox 49 Joel Thomas .......................................................................................................................... Jack Henry & Associates Steve Williams ......................................................................................... Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co. Darrel Wilson .......................................................................................................................................Wilson Logistics Dr. Brad Wyrsch ........................................................................................................................................Mercy Health

MSHOF STAFF Byron Shive ......................................CEO & Executive Director Kari Norris ...................................Vice President of Marketing Taylor Fredrich......................................Director of Operations Kary Booher .................................Director of Media Relations Cris Belvin ................................... Director of Communications

Cayleigh Berry......................... Business Operations Manager Jill Patterson .................................. Development Coordinator Jack Pitts .......................... Administrative Support Specialist Noah Tucker .................................. Social Media Coordinator Dale Witte................................................................ Accountant

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ENSHRINEMENT IN ST. LOUIS CEREMONY & BANQUET SPONSORS Presenting Sponsor Great Southern Bank Associate Sponsor Hillyard, Inc.

Table Sponsors

Gregory Balmer

Family & Friends of Harry Weber

John Bardgett & Associates, Inc. Family & Friends of Jay Delsing

Great Southern Bank Hillyard, Inc.

De Smet Jesuit High School

Family & Friends of Kelly Stahlhuth

Angie Lalumondier Mather

Doug’s Angels 2006-2009

Family & Friends of Kenny Wallace

Dallas Mavericks

Family & Friends of Barret Jackman Family & Friends of Kristen Miedler

Dan McLaughlin

Family & Friends of Bernie Miklasz Family & Friends of Linda Wells

Missouri Baptist University

Family & Friends of Dave Loos

Family & Friends of Mark Mullin

OG Hospitality

Family & Friends of Dick Cook

Family & Friends of Randy Albrecht

St. Joseph’s Academy

Family & Friends of Dr. Tom Smith

Family & Friends of Tim Calvin

Saint Louis University

Jim Gallagher

SPECIAL THANKS Thank you to the following individuals and businesses that have made the Enshrinement in St. Louis 2023 ceremonies possible!

Jane Barnes Vincent Bingham Erin Casey City of Crystal City Margie Edwards

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Dr. Nicholas Howard Independent Printing Indiana University Athletics Adam Samson Holly Schmidt

Brendan Schmidt Coleman Swierc Stephen Terrell Program Participants Video Participants

MISSOURI SPORTS HALL OF FAME

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OPEN

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MISSOURI SPORTS HALL OF FAME

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WE ARE EXCITED TOO...WELL...

MAYBE NOT THIS EXCITED.

MISSOURI SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2023

CONGRATULATIONS FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT ‘THE HUNT CLUB’ ERIC & LINDSEY NENNINGER

DANE & NATALIE MCGRAW

BRANT & HEATHER BALDANZA

PAUL & ADRIENNE TRIPI

ROSS & MEGAN BOYD

P.S. CAN THE NEXT INDUCTION NOT BE ON NFL SUNDAY (OUR COUCHES MISS US)

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MISSOURI SPORTS HALL OF FAME

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KENNY WALLACE My sincere congratulations for this distinct honor!

I’m sorry I cannot be there in person.

Check out your “FOX” photos.

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MISSOURI SPORTS HALL OF FAME

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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR TIGERS

RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO SPORTS IN MISSOURI! MIZZOU IS PROUD OF ITS INDUCTEES: Tony Van Zant, AFNR ’91 Dick Cook, BS Ed ’61

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Randy Albrecht Basketball He had grown up not far from St. Louis, just to the southwest of the metro area, and basically lived and breathed the game of basketball.

For Randy Albrecht, you could say that coaching the sport was his des ny. A er all, he lived right across the street from the local high school and o en a ended basketball games at its gym.

So fast forward to 1977. That’s when Meramec Community College came calling and seeking a coach.

“I inherited a well-run program from coach Jack Mimlitz,” Albrecht said. “We had no scholarships at that me. Our primary recruits were players qualifying for financial aid or who could afford community college tui on.”

Albrecht built a winning reputa on at Meramec, and it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct him with the Class of 2023.

Albrecht was one of the state’s most successful basketball coaches at the collegiate level. He worked the St. Louis Community College-Meramec sidelines for 36 years.

That covered 28 consecu ve winning seasons, including a 20-12 mark in his final year. With 736 career junior college victories, he finished the 2012-2013 season ranked eighth among ac ve Na onal Junior College Athle c Associa on coaches.

Along the way, he was an 11- me Region XVI Coach of the Year and earned induc on to the Halls of Fame for the NJCAA, the Missouri Basketball Coaches Associa on and STLCCC-Meramec.

His 1988-1989 team was ranked No. 1 for much of the season. “(His ini al recrui ng strategy) worked un l the late ‘70s when many rural colleges, offering scholarships, began recrui ng in St. Louis city,” Albrecht said. “Eventually, the NJCAA created a Division II basketball tournament, which allowed D-II schools to offer tui on/ books but no housing or meals.”

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Meramec then won five of the first six D-II tournaments and played in the NJCAA Tournament in Bay City, Michigan.

Albrecht’s formula for success was from iden fying recruits, develop their skills, adapt his coaching to the players’ talent and then help them go on to the next level.

“Philosophically, I was in sync with Meramec’s athle c mission.

Our goal was to offer our student-athletes from our service areas (St. Louis city and county), and the opportuni es to develop their skills for advancement in their individual sports. We were not in the business of providing entertainment or making money,” Albrecht said. “There was li le press or media coverage, no booster clubs, or full- me assistant coaches. Success was measured by helping our athletes a ain scholarships and opportuni es to con nue their educa ons.”

Coaching was his calling. Albrecht lived around the gym as a kid. You see, he grew up in Sparta, Illinois and began playing organized basketball at age 10.

Because he lived across the street from Sparta High School, he attended numerous basketball games and prac ces.

Once in high school, he became a standout, playing varsity all four seasons as a starting guard. As a senior,

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the team won its first conference championship, and Albrecht was named All-State. He later was inducted into the Sparta High School Athle cs Hall of Fame, having scored more than 1,000 points.

He later earned a four-year scholarship to Saint Louis University, led the freshman team in scoring and le ered three mes.

Albrecht then started his coaching career in 1966 as an SLU assistant and led the freshmen teams to a 44-16 record in four seasons. He then was named head coach at Saint Louis University in 1974.

That was at a great me for college basketball, and he counted UCLA’s John Wooden, North Carolina’s Dean Smith, Indiana’s Bob Knight and Marque e’s Al McGuire as notable influences – Wooden for his fundamental soundness, Smith for his organiza on and innova on, Knight for his communica on and toughness, and McGuire for his gamesmanship.

With those quali es, Albrecht’s Meramec teams soared. In 1988, his team lost the na onal championship to the host school. The next season, Meramec started 17-1 and earned a No. 1 ranking in NJCAA D-II. The team was led by All-American guard Marvin Moorhead.

The 2004 team finished third na onally, and the 2011 team finished fourth na onally – and set the school record for wins (29).

Overall, Albrecht had the support of his family, especially his wife.

“My wife, Linda, was the perfect basketball coach’s wife,” Albrecht said. “Our 58 years of marriage were blessed with the understanding of what was required to accommodate all the me for scou ng, recrui ng, prac ces and games. There were sophomore apprecia on nights when a player’s mom did not a end and Linda would graciously sub and greet the player.”

CONGRATULATIONS RANDY ALBRECHT, DICK COOK, DAVE LOOS, AND THE ENTIRE MISSOURI SPORTS HALL OF FAME ST. LOUIS ENSHRINEMENT CLASS OF 2023

MOBCA.ORG

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Tony Vanzant Football If you can do an online search for his name, it’ll yield some jaw-dropping stories.

Such as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch clip tou ng that he had been named to PARADE’s All-America High School Football Team. Or the UPI story in which his high school coach said, “The reason we’re 38-3 is having him in the program.”

Yes, Tony Vanzant was that good. Incredibly good as a blue-chip recruit running back at Hazelwood Central High School. And his success in those four prep seasons is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Vanzant with the Class of 2023.

A er his senior season at Hazelwood Central High School in 1985, Parade Magazine named him the Na onal Player of the Year. He also had scholarship offers from Michigan, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Miami, Arkansas, Southern Cal and numerous others before ul mately choosing the University of Missouri.

Vanzant rushed for 2,736 yards and 36 touchdowns that season as he led the Hawks to a state championship and 14-0 record. In the playoffs alone, which covered three games, he rushed for more than 900 yards and scored five touchdowns and threw for another.

That capped an incredible career in which he rushed for 6,128 yards and a na onal record of 91 touchdowns. The rushing total was the best in the country, breaking that of Herchel Walker’s career prep numbers.

For Vanzant, playing football in the back yard and in the driveway while growing up only fueled his love for the sport.

“I was like a kid in a candy store,” Van Zant said.

Vanzant grew up idolizing the Chicago Bears’ Gayle Sayers, the Rams’ Eric Dickerson and the Cowboys’ Tony Dorse .

However, for as great as he would be by the me he was a senior in high school, Vanzant will tell you that he didn’t sense he was among the best in St. Louis un l his sophomore year.

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“My freshman year, LSU sent me a le er thinking I was a senior,” Vanzant said.

In high school, Hazelwood Central football coach John Ho elder’s offense was an I forma on and wing T – the perfect set-up that let Vanzant become a star.

“He’s up there with Curt Warner and Eric Dickerson for high school sta s cs,” Ho elder told the UPI at the me, referring to two rushers who eventually enjoyed their own decades in the Naonal Football League.

“The reason we’re 38-3 is having him in the program,” Ho elder was quoted as saying. “That’s what he’s done for us. He makes me look like I know what I’m doing. He’s had a terrific high school career.”

Vanzant was a beast, with that rare combina on of size and speed.

But he also learned to show pa ence, wai ng of his blockers to carry out their assignments.

“My freshman team, we said when we become seniors, we are going to win it all, and we went 14-0 and were state champs,” Vanzant said.

Despite all of the naonal a en on, Vanzant narrowed his choices down to the University of Michigan, Oklahoma State University and the

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University of Missouri. Michigan at the me was one of the best rushing programs in the country. Oklahoma State’s 1980s teams had featured Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders – two stars now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Mizzou had not enjoyed much luck in the 1980s, however. But Vanzant could have been that one piece that turned everything around.

“Like Paul Christman before him, Tony Vanzant could make the highways seem shorter again to Columbia from St. Louis, Kansas City and other points on the state compass,” wrote Bob Broeg (MSHOF 1978), the sports editor of the Post-Dispatch. “A breakway back could do wonders at the gate.”

Unfortunately for Vanzant, he suffered a major knee injury in an exhibi on game before his freshman season. That led to two knee surgeries, and he managed to play only the 1990 and 1991 seasons for Mizzou. He credits Fred Wappel for ge ng him back on the field.

Fortunately, Vanzant turned it into a posi ve. He has given back the game as a high school and college football assistant coach for the past 30 years.

He credits his parents, Pauline and Thurman, brothers Todd and Vernon, sisters Teaneka and Cnythia, cousin Nole Cooper and Henry Polk for their support.

And now he’s in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

“It’s one of the highest honors an athlete can achieve,” Vanzant said. “I feel blessed that my name is s ll men oned among so many other greats that have played here.”

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Greg Vitello Soccer & Baseball For former De Smet soccer and baseball coach Greg Vitello, playing and coaching don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand.

That isn’t to say that good players can’t or won’t make good coaches, but success on the field doesn’t always equate to success in the dugout or on the bench. And Vitello, who enjoyed a hall of fame career in both sports as a student-athlete at Benedic ne College, would know.

“Playing soccer and baseball in college was great but I think playing and coaching is so different,” Vitello said.

“When you play you are in control of you. When you coach there is the whole group that is relying on you.”

And those coached by Vitello in his 46 years at De Smet knew nothing but success. Between soccer and baseball, Vitello and De Smet reached 14 state Final Fours, winning soccer tles in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, and 2011, and taking home a baseball state championship in 2000. For his excellence as a coach for nearly a half century, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to include Vitello in the Class of 2023.

Like many coaches, Vitello is a teacher at heart. He always wanted to teach, and his classroom at De Smet was the soccer pitch and the baseball field.

“Ever since I could, I worked kids camps for all kinds of sports, but mainly soccer and baseball,” he said. “There is no greater sa sfac on than to see a young child light up when they get a bit of instruc on in their sport and run with it.”

He arrived at De Smet in the fall of 1969, just two years a er the school opened its doors. He started off coaching freshman football, and eventually moved on to track & field as an assistant before becoming the soccer head coach.

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Eventually, Vitello became the head track coach, and later added baseball to his resume.

What did he learn by coaching so many sports?

“Each sport is obviously different but the thing that was so neat about each of those sports were the athletes themselves and their dedica on to their sport,” Vitello said. “I felt very fortunate that I was able to coach these various sports because I got to see first-hand the special talents that it takes to par cipate in each of those sports.”

His first soccer team was made up mostly of sophomores, as the school was s ll in its infancy. By 1972, Vitello had the Spartans in the Final Four for the first me, where they finished third. Another third place came in 1977, and runner-up finishes came in both 1984 and 1987. Vitello and De Smet finally broke through in the final, capturing their first state tle in 1991.

That started a run of five state championships in seven seasons. While Vitello had his share of stars in those days, the guys are the end of the bench were just as important.

“Great soccer teams are made up of great soccer players,” Vitello said. “But the

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real success of teams are the suppor ng players that give you all they have no ma er if it is in a game or prac ce. I was blessed to have plenty of both.”

Vitello became baseball head coach in 1980 and began applying a fundamental style of play. The results included five Final Four trips, the first coming in his first season. A er three trips to the last weekend of the season, Vitello and De Smet finally broke through in 2000, winning the Class 4 tle game with a 9-3 victory against Lafaye e Wildwood.

“There is a lot that can go wrong in a high school baseball game, so prepara on is the key,” Vitello said. “So, when you get to that championship game, and it goes your way it is so gra fying.”

Between baseball and soccer, Vitello saw 350 of his players earn opportuni es at the collegiate level, with 115 earning Division I opportuni es.

Ci ng several coaching mentors including Li le League coach Vic Sarcia, and his college soccer coach Tom Colwell and college baseball coach Terry Hanson, Vitello mostly gave credit for his success to his parents, and his wife, Kathy.

“My mom was a stay-at-home mom, but I probably played more catch with her than anyone,” Vitello said. “My dad worked six days a week, but we played ball together every chance we got.

“And as I got further in my coaching career, it was my wife, Kathy, that taught me that no ma er what, I could get it done. She was the ul mate supporter in everything I did.”

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Linda Wells Softball She grew up on a dirt road outside of Pacific, a rural community just west of St. Louis, and played just about every sport imaginable.

So when Linda Wells was about to enter high school, a neighbor walked over to the house and asked her dad if she might be interested in playing in the Women’s Major Division of the America So ball Associa on.

Li le did she realize that so ball – and sports for that ma er – would become her life.

“My early me in St. Louis with the Women’s Major so ball teams opened my eyes to all of the other sport opportuni es,” Wells said. “I also played AAU basketball, USVBA volleyball, USFHA field hockey and USTA tennis throughout my sport career.”

Wells went on to make her mark, par cularly in collegiate so ball coaching a er a notable amateur and professional so ball playing career. And it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Wells with the Class of 2023.

A graduate of Pacific High School, Wells played summer Khoury League and Women’s Major Fastpitch so ball, garnering All-Star and MVP honors while with the St. Louis Browns, Kirkwood Chargers and Ku s – and later the pro Hummers. She was a five-sport athlete at Southeast Missouri State University and later became one of the na on’s best collegiate so ball coaches – first at the University of Minnesota and then at Arizona State University. Her 914 career wins at one me ranked in the top 10 in NCAA history.

At Minnesota, she coached so ball from 1974 to 1989, and also led the women’s basketball and volleyball teams. As a so ball coach, she led the Gophers to a 351-264-1 record. The 1978 team finished third in the AIAW College World Series, and her teams won five conference tles.

At Arizona State, her teams were 563-415 over 16 seasons (19902005), making Wells the winningest coach in program history. She 20

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led the Sun Devils to two Women’s College World Series, in 1999 and 2002, and 12 NCAA Regionals, including seven consecu ve from 1997 to 2003. Seven players earned 12 All-American honors.

She later coached in the Olympics.

“Pacific High School provided limited compe on in volleyball and so ball,” Wells said. “So ball was added because we begged the phys ed teacher to coach the team, declaring to Ruth Gassner Jones that, if she would coach, we would win.”

There were forces working against women’s sports at the me.

Among them, Wells recalled, was a wrongful belief developed in the 1950s that rigorous sports ac vity would be detrimental to women’s bodies.

However, over the next decade, Wells eventually coached the St. Louis Hummers professional team.

She went on to Southeast Missouri State on an academic scholarship but played five sports, all coached by instructors.

Soon, she was off to the University of Minnesota for a graduate degree and took on coaching three sports, for all of $800.

That made her the first woman to coach sports at the university, and then the first to have an office in the athle c building. Eventually, she

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made $9,400 to coach three sports, although the salary paled in comparison to other coaches on campus.

“There were women all over the country interested in coming to the U to play so ball,” Wells said. “Many were coming from adjacent states and were a racted to the opportunity to compete at a high level. Some were encouraged by rela ves or friends at the U, who were aware of the giant strides the program was making.”

Over the years, Wells le behind coaching basketball and then volleyball to concentrate on so ball. The federal Title IX legisla on that required public schools to offer women athle c opportuni es passed in 1972.

In 1989, a er coaching two Minnesota teams to the na onal tournament, she turned to Arizona State. Hundreds of club and high school teams in the area were playing so ball, and nearby states supplied talent, too. Her best Sun Devils teams rode pitching to success.

In the 80s, the Olympics came into focus. She was on the coaching staffs for the gold medal-winning USA teams in the South Pacific Classic and Pan American Games in 1985 and 1987. Eventually in the 2000s, she coached in the Olympics with the Greek and Netherlands teams.

Fortunately, she counts numerous family, friends, teammates and coaches as mentors who helped her along her journey. Among them is her partner, Liz Kelly.

“Many thanks for the sports that have given me so much more than I could ever give back, but I have tried,” Wells said.

Todd, Congratulations on your Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Induction!

Your personal contribution to my career produced a Super Bowl Win and a Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction! I will always be grateful!

Love you, Coach Vermeil

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11/11/2023 11:10:06 AM

Saint Louis University 1959-74 Men’s Soccer Era Many college programs have had dominant championship runs.

UCLA men’s basketball program won seven straight NCAA championships from 1967-73 and captured 10 tles in 12 years altogether.

USC baseball won the College World Series five straight mes between 1970 and 1974, and North Carolina women’s soccer reeled in 16 na onal championships in 18 seasons from 1982 to 1997.

But long before any of those impressive accomplishments, there was Saint Louis University men’s soccer, winners of 10 na onal championships between 1959 and 1974, and owners of three runner-up finishes. The Billikens finished either first or second 13 mes in 16 years.

Talk about dominant.

“Those teams really set the tone in college soccer all across the country,” current Saint Louis Director of Athle cs Chris May said.

“The compe veness and the level by which they played set the tone for college soccer and where it is today.”

The numbers during those 16 seasons are simply mind-blowing: • 10 na onal championships (1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972 and 1973) • 3 runner-up finishes (1961, 1971, 1974) • 27 All-Americans • 5 Hermann Award winners • 2 perfect seasons (1965, 1969) • A record of 205-22-11, a .905 winning percentage It all started in 1959, when head coach Bob Guelker, who started the program the year before with a $200 budget, led the Billikens to an 11-1-0 record and a 5-2 victory over Bridgeport in the NCAA championship match. Guelker remained in charge at Saint Louis through the 1966 season. Guelker went on to become the athle c 22

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director and head coach at nearby SIU-Edwardsville, where he won two more na onal championships before his death in 1986.

Harry Keough took over for Guelker prior to the 1967 season kept the program moving forward. Keough guided the Billikens to a co-championship in ’67, playing to a scoreless draw with Michigan State. A er the Billikens bowed out of the NCAA tournament in the second round of his sophomore campaign, Keough won his first outright na onal championship in 1969, comple ng a perfect 13-00 season with a 4-0 drubbing of San Francisco in the tle game.

Keough and the Billikens capped their championship spree with three consecu ve tle game shutouts against UCLA (1970, 1972, 1973).

Keough remained as SLU head coach un l his re rement in 1982.

He later served as an assistant coach for Washington University’s women’s program.

“The success that those teams have had, and their con nued support of the program leaves a las ng legacy on our team and the program,” current SLU men’s soccer head coach Kevin Kalish said. “From our perspec ve we can’t thank them enough.

What those teams achieved is unique. It’s one of the most remarkable achievements in all of college athle cs. That

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legacy con nues to live on to this day.”

Several players from the era went on to have impressive post-collegiate soccer careers. Players like Al Trost, Pat McBride, Carl Genle, and Joe Clarke went on to have lengthy s nts in the North American Soccer League. Each also spent me playing with the U.S. na onal team.

Former Billiken Pat Leahy found his way professionally as kicker for the NFL’s New York Jets from 1974 to 1992, finishing his career as the franchise’s all- me leading scorer. And Mike Shanahan (MSHOF Class of 1997), who played on the na onal championship teams in 1959 and 1960, later went on to become part owner of the St. Louis Blues, helping rescue them from possible reloca on in 1986.

Keough (1992), Leahy (2007), McBride (1996), and Trost (2009) are all enshrined in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. Keough, McBride and Trost are also members of the Na onal Soccer Hall of Fame.

Saint Louis U is s ll a soccer powerhouse, some 50 years a er their last na onal championship. The Billikens are the NCAA’s allme leader in na onal tles and have made a record 50 NCAA Tournament appearances. Only Indiana (42) has reached the Round of 16 more regularly than the Billikens (36).

“We couldn’t be prouder of this era,” May said. “This era means a lot to Saint Louis U and we’re so thankful to have the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame honoring our former student-athletes.”

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11/11/2023 11:10:15 AM

Mark Mullin Sports Administration For some college graduates, pa ence – and a willingness to work your way up the ladder the old-fashioned way – isn’t all that scary.

Put in your work and you may find your way to a great career. A case in point is Mark Mullin.

In 1985, six years a er he had put his wife and newborn in a loaded-down car in Kentucky and headed to a northern Missouri college to assist in swimming and diving, his phone rang. It was the athle c director at what’s now Missouri Science & Technology in Rolla.

“He told me his head swimming and diving coach had accepted another posi on and had men oned me as a very strong candidate,” Mullin said. “He asked me if I would be interested in interviewing for the posi on. I talked with Joanie, said yes, and – to make a long story short – started the first of 35 years as a Miner.”

That’s correct. Mullin spent the next 35 years at S&T, including 28 as athle c director, and his success there is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Mullin with the Class of 2023.

During his tenure as athle c director, S&T captured 24 conference and divisional championships and had teams reach Division II championship compe on 74 mes. The Miners saw 193 individuals and 97 swim relay teams earn All-America honors.

In 1991, he was presented with the Cer ficate of Excellence Award and won mul ple Coach of the Year honors in swimming, the sport that brought him to Rolla. He coached swimming for 12 years there and led the Minors to a 96-27 dual meet record and seven regional championships. His final team finished third at the 1998 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships, the highest finish ever at the me for a minor athle c team at an NCAA championship event.

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He also raised funds that led to facility projects, including Gibson Arena, Allgood Bailey Stadium and the Student Recrea on and Fitness Centers. In his final two years, he secured $7 million in gi s and commitments for Miner Athle cs.

This from a Kentucky na ve who swam for Danville High School and later for Eastern Kentucky University before going into coaching, with what’s now Truman State University in Kirksville his first assistant’s job.

“I was fortunate to be under the direc on of Donovan Conley, who allowed me the opportunity to recruit, write workouts and run some of the prac ces,” Mullin said. “As I was finishing a successful year and preparing to graduate and find a job, Donovan informed me he was accep ng a posi on at the University of Georgia in Athens.”

Mullin coached Truman State the next four seasons, and the S&T athle c director called a er its outgoing coach recommended him.

He coached from 1985 to 1998, and held dual roles as AD from 1992 to 1998 a er Billy Key’s re rement.

“The ini al years would provide challenges both with personnel and finances,” Mullin said. “I felt confident leading, but there can

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be some adjustments when a peer becomes the individual in charge. I learned very quickly that if you hire good people, good things happen and the organiza on benefits. We tried to create a family atmosphere of working together, celebra ng each other’s successes, and helping others with their challenges.”

Fundraising became a labor of love, as he combated public funding that annually was a moving target and could be lowered.

With that in mind, he set out to develop scholarship and opera onal endowments. Two alums from Tulsa, Okla., John Gibson and Keith Bailey, threw their support behind his efforts, too.

“We were also able to create a corporate sponsorship club that grew into a successful en ty that aided our annual budget and helped create new opportuni es for our student-athletes and coaches,” Mullin said.

But he wasn’t solely focused on fundraising. Not by a long shot.

Mullin also centered the department around the whole development of the student-athlete and, in 2005, and moved S&T from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athle cs Associa on (MIAA) into the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

All in all, it was a terrific job by Mullin, who had the support of many. Among them were his wife, Joanie, and their daughters, Elizabeth, Ka e, Melissa and Nina.

“It was and con nues to be a rewarding journey as we were all able to in some way posi vely impact the lives and futures of our student-athletes,” Mullin said. “We have Miner student-athletes who were astronauts, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, doctors, a orneys, and engineers and scien sts who are constantly changing the world for the be er.”

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11/11/2023 11:10:26 AM

Khalia Collier Basketball Never underes mate the posi ve influence of an upbringing in the world of sports.

For Khalia Collier, the game of basketball not only fueled her compe ve fire as a player but also ignited a passion to challenge herself in another way, as a sports execu ve.

In college, while playing for Missouri Bap st University in St. Louis, she found herself thinking about the next few stages of life.

“I’ve always been a learner focused on building rela onships, surrounding myself with people that challenged me to become the best version of myself,” Collier said. “Along the journey, I explored different career paths, being in sales, business development, strategy, community engagement always working to play to my strengths.”

Collier is a self-described entrepreneur, pioneer and trailblazer, having risen to Vice President and Chief of Staff of Basketball Opera ons for the Dallas Mavericks – and owner of the St. Louis Surge.

That’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Collier with the Class of 2023.

At only 23 years old, she took on the challenge of building the first sustainable women’s basketball franchise in St. Louis. Over a decade and two na onal championships later, the Surge has changed the game by redefining winning on and off the court by playing in the Global Women’s Basketball Associa on (GWBA).

Along the way, Collier unified communi es through the power of sport with her previous role as Vice President of Community Rela ons for the St. Louis CITY SC, Major League Soccer franchise.

On behalf of both organiza ons, Collier consistently focused on strengthening the region and developing the next genera on.

Addi onally, Collier’s civic leadership is all about being connected through personal community service, serving on several boards, giving back to young people and growing the pla orm for women’s leadership. It was a natural transi on to accept the opportunity to 26

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con nue trailblazing once again with the Mavericks.

And it all started on a basketball court at a YMCA, at age 5 when her dad was her coach.

“I knew I fell in love with the game in elementary school,” Collier said. “It was my favorite sport, and I had a basketball everywhere I went.”

Collier played her final three seasons of high school at Fort Zumwalt South High School. She started on varsity as a sophomore, playing shoo ng guard, and was recruited across the country.

“I always knew I wanted to play college basketball, and I worked hard every day and every offseason to develop and get be er,” Collier said.

In college, she also threw her energy into becoming a sports execu ve, despite others doub ng her.

“It has been challenging nearly every step of the way and I’ve had doubters, haters, and naysayers my en re career,” Collier said. “All it did was mo vate me to con nue to defy odds at every level.”

The Surge has been a surprise hit.

“The Surge has been over a decade in the making of what feels like blood, sweat and tears,” Collier said. “From humble beginnings at a local

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middle school in East St. Louis, to Vashon High School, to Missouri-St. Louis, and then our now home at Washington University Fieldhouse, with a unique recrui ng strategy and team building.”

Eventually, an execu ve firm recruited her for the Mavericks.

She now plays a key role in the ongoing development and execuon of opera onal strategy and personnel. She is responsible for driving strategic ini a ves, organiza onal management, communica ons and culture and engagement. Collier also oversees day-today opera ons to posi on the GM to focus on strategic priori es.

She also leads the planning, prepara on and facilita on to management rou nes, staff mee ngs and process implementa on.

She has received numerous honors, including the St. Louis Business Journal’s 30 under 30 and 40 under 40 award, The YMCA’s MLK Human Dignity Award, Power 100 award, Glamour’s Missouri Woman of the Year award, the pres gious Jack Buck Award for community impact, and many others. In 2022, she was inducted into the Fort Zumwalt High School Athle cs Hall of Fame.

It’s probably no surprise, then, that Collier is frequently invited to deliver keynote addresses and share her success story.

She credits many for her journey: Maxine Clark, Judge Staci Yandle, Mary Elizabeth Grimes, Neosha Hayes, and family and friends have been her rock.

And what’s her advice to young people?

“Your dreams are never too big with hard work and dedica on,” Collier said. “Even when they feel impossible, trust and believe in yourself, you are always worth be ng on despite what others may think.”

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11/11/2023 11:10:31 AM

Dave Loos Basketball Dave Loos made his way in this world as a basketball coach, winning more than 500 games at the collegiate level and earning his way into numerous halls of fame.

But baseball was his first love.

“Baseball was my favorite sport,” Loos said. “I was more skilled in baseball. Good hands and a plus arm were my best a ributes. I played all the me.”

Though he loved baseball, the basketball bug bit him in high school. Eventually he was good enough on the hardwood to earn a scholarship to Memphis State, where he also played baseball.

For his success as an athlete and later a coach at Mehlville High School, to his excellence on the sidelines as a college coach at Memphis, Chris an Brothers University, and Aus n Peay, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud in to include Dave Loos as a member of the Class of 2023.

At Memphis, Loos played for and later coached alongside Moe Iba for one season. Four years as an assistant at crosstown Chris an Brothers followed before Loos returned to St. Louis as the boy’s head coach at Mehlville.

“I made a lot of mistakes at Mehlville as I was cu ng my teeth as a head coach,” Loos said. “I learned some hard lessons, which helped me grow as a coach.”

A er five winning seasons and a state tournament berth at Mehlville, the city of Memphis called once again as he was named head coach at Chris an Brothers.

“Recrui ng became the first order of business,” Loos said. “I used the contacts I had made in St. Louis a great deal.”

Loos le Chris an Brothers in 1986 following three straight 20-win seasons. He returned to his collegiate alma mater, working as an assistant to Larry Finch, and helping the Tigers 28

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to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and an NIT appearance in four seasons.

“It was at Memphis that I learned the up-tempo game,” Loos said. “We pressed on defense much of the me and ran at every opportunity.”

Aus n Peay came calling a er the 1990 season, and Loos headed east to Clarksville, Tenn., where he would remain for 27 years.

His first season couldn’t have gone much be er, as Loos led the Governors to a third-place finish in the Ohio Valley Conference, earning the first of his five OVC Coach of the Year honors.

But Loos struggled over the next three seasons, winning just 29 games.

The 1996 squad turned it around. A powerful and athle c lineup led the Governors to the OVC Tournament tle, sending Aus n Peay to its first NCAA Tournament in nearly a decade.

Three more NCAA Tournaments followed in 2003, 2008, and 2016. But as is o en the case for coaches, Loos can’t forget the ones that got away.

“We were in the championship game of the OVC tournament eleven mes,” he said.

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“I seem to dwell on the seven mes we lost rather than the four we won. For me, losing was catastrophic. I dwelled on it too long.”

Loos, who also spent 16 years as Aus n Peay’s athle c director, re red from coaching at the end of the 2016-17 season.

He’s since had me to reflect on his coaching legacy.

“I would like to be remembered as a coach who won a lot of games and did it with class, integrity and character,” Loos said.

His family was along for the ride.

“I have to say that my wife gave up her life for my career,” Loos said. “Any success I had was directly a ributable to her and the sacrifices she made.

“My children grew up in the gym. I was so blessed to have them involved in our program. They kept me grounded and helped me remember there were other things in life besides basketball.”

It’s all coming full circle now for Loos.

From Li le League games in South County, to a standout career as a baseball and basketball player at Mehlville High School, cu ng his teeth as a head coach at his high school alma mater, two separate detours through Memphis, and finally a career-defining stop in Clarksville, Tenn., Loos has done just about everything and pre y much seen it all.

“This is such a big deal for me having grown up in St Louis,” said Loos. “To be recognized in this way is the highest honor.

This es a big ribbon around my career. I am so apprecia ve.

Thanks to all of those who had a hand in making this happen.”

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Washington High School 1973 Football State Champions Mo va on from a disappoin ng ending the year before. Undersized guys willing to roll up their sleeves and put in the hard work, if not “run through brick walls,” as the old saying goes.

And a li le bit of luck.

All of those descrip ons seem suitable when talking about the 1973 Washington High School football team.

As Andy Hagedorn, a junior on the team that season, told the Missourian newspaper in 2001, “We didn’t know how to lose.

No one expected us to be any good a er we lost 8-0 to Union in 1972, but we went on a run. We didn’t have great speed or size, but we had guys like Dave Benz, who was a 150-pound guard but just a mean and aggressive player. That was the kind of team we had.”

Those words make the Blue Jays almost fic onal, maybe mythical. However, there was no denying that they were the real deal, and it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct the 1973 Washington High School Football State Championship Team with the Class of 2023.

In fact, this fall marks the 50th anniversary of the only state football championship team in the history of Washington High School.

Located just west of the St. Louis Metro area on the banks of the Missouri River, Washington had all the pieces to win the Class 3 state tle. In essence, the Blue Jays took on the personality of their coach, Jim Scanlan, and showed smartness and toughness to win games.

The team finished 11-0 a er a 14-7 victory against Jefferson City Helias at Rolla High School.

What a thrilling finish it was.

Ted Stahl, a junior then, returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown with 46 seconds le in the game. Stahl jumped in between four Helias players, grabbed the bouncing ball and 30

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raced down the sideline for the winning TD. Dennis Brune scored the two-point conversa on on a pass from quarterback Leroy Eggert.

Earlier, Eggert scored the team’s first TD on a 1-yard run.

In the end, the team featured six All-State players in Eggert, Mark Rothschild, Gary Vogel, Brune, Alan Elsenrath and Keith Maune.

“We had a bunch of guys who believed in the Scanlan way,” Brune said. “We made very few mistakes. We just ground it out and found ways to win.”

The 1972 season had been on players’ minds for months in the offseason. And why not? The Blue Jays had lost three games, including its first ever conference loss.

So when prac ces began in August 1973, there was almost workmanlike approach to the season. In essence, it was as if the guys put on their hardhats, threw a lunch pail in the truck and headed off to work.

“Coaching had a lot do with our success that season,” Eggert said. “Beyond that, it was a group of players that bought into the system.”

The season began with a forfeit victory, and then featured victories against Farming-

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ton (7-6), Sullivan (18-7), Union (15-7), Pacific (8-6), St. Clair (36-7), Hermann (46-0), St. James (36-0) and Owensville (310).

Gary Vogel, Carey Curran and Tim Calvin were the running backs, and Washington just kept feeding them the ball every Friday night. Fortunately, the success meant a postseason berth, in which only four teams advanced.

The Blue Jays then beat North County of Desloge-Bonne Terre 20-14 in the semifinals. Eggert scored twice, and Calvin added another. Vogel rushed for 151 yards on 38 carries.

In the championship game, the Blue Jays fell behind 7-0 with 5:28 to play in the first quarter on a 73-yard touchdown run.

However, Washington’s defense toughened up, and the team scored just before hal ime.

Washington’s next TD was the result of Stahl’s aggressiveness.

“Before the play, I asked Dennis Brune if I could try to block the punt and he said no. He wanted to set up the picket fence along the sideline and go for the big return,” Stahl said. “The punter shanked it to my le . Helias wanted to down the ball, but I grabbed it and took off. My friend Tim Calvin ran with me the whole me.”

Said Hagedorn, “I didn’t want to block anyone and take the chance of a penalty. Coach Scanlan would’ve killed me.”

There were only 43 seconds le a er the two-point conversaon, and then the Blue Jays intercepted a pass on the next play to seal the victory.

All in all, what a season it was.

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11/11/2023 11:10:56 AM

Dr. Tom Smith Sports Administration The conven onal path to becoming a collegiate director of athletics goes something like this: Graduate from college, join an athle c department in a low-level role, gradually work your way up, bounce from school to school and finally, if you’re lucky, you get an AD job.

And become wildly successful.

While former Missouri Bap st Athle c Director Dr. Tom Smith didn’t follow that exact path, he did move up the ranks and his success can’t be defined as anything but wild.

Though he took a circuitous route to get there, Smith’s impact as athle c director at Missouri Bap st was no less impressive than that of his Power Five counterparts. In his 22 years at MBU, Smith oversaw an athle c department which doubled in size, added 18 new athle c programs including football and wrestling, and captured four na onal championships.

For those efforts, and his dedica on to his student-athletes, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to include Dr. Tom Smith as a member of the Class of 2023.

Smith began his professional career in the IT field, serving in computer opera ons for several major companies. He later switched gears and became a pastor at his church. But all the while, sports were a major part of his life.

“I also coached wrestling for several local high schools,” he said, “and ul mately started the wrestling program at Kennedy Catholic.”

A er resigning as pastor, Smith went back to school at Missouri Bap st, working towards a teaching cer ficate. To make ends meet, he worked as a housekeeper at MBU, which eventually led to him becoming the department supervisor.

He moved from housekeeping to the development office, and eventually became the Director of Development and Alumni Relaons, chosen by current MBU President Dr. Keith Ross.

“It was Keith who took a chance on me, for which I will be forever grateful,” Smith said.

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He next moved to Admissions, where he first gained a en on as having a mind for athle cs by submi ng a proposal to start a wrestling program.

“Since Title IX had wiped out over 400 wrestling and baseball programs throughout the na on in 1974, the market of gradua ng high school wrestlers was high, and the number of collegiate programs in Missouri was low,” Smith said. “It made total sense.”

His first wrestling team brought 55 new faces to campus, beginning a trend of growth in the department.

Smith assumed head coach du es for the next four years, before being named Athle c Director in 2001. But he kept all his other jobs, at least for a while.

“For six months, I was the Director of Admissions, the Head Wrestling Coach, the Interim Athle c Director, and taught six to nine hours a semester,” Smith said. “It was crazy.”

Smith didn’t waste any me in moving MBU forward.

“As a new AD, my goal was to bring football to Missouri Bap st,” he said. “I knew how vital athle cs could be to enrollment.”

At the me he was named athle c director Missouri Bap st had just 225 student-athletes and 12 staff members. Today, Missouri Bap st is home to 28 varsity sports, six

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junior varsity programs, over 70 staff, and nearly 800 student-athletes.

Smith also oversaw the development and building of two new facili es: the Carl and Delores Pe y Sports and Recrea on Center, and Spartan Fieldhouse.

Smith learned a lot from star ng the wrestling program in 2000 and applied those lessons to Missouri Bap st’s rapid growth.

“I felt the key to success was hiring the right coach,” Smith said.

“I had the confidence of the President and my fellow administrators that if I said we could start a program and recruit a certain number of students, they knew we could get it done. And we did.”

Smith re red last summer, leaving behind a las ng legacy.

“First and foremost, I led by example, daily growing in my relaonship with the Lord,” Smith said. “Secondly, every student-athlete, every individual who worked in the athle c department grew not only in their talent or posi on but grew in character and faith in the Lord. My heart was they viewed their role as a calling and not just a voca on or job.

Smith credits his rela onship with the Lord, and the support of his wife and family as the biggest factors in his personal success.

And in an industry which all too o en defines success in terms of wins and championships, Smith had other ideas.

“I did not want wins and losses to be the determining factor for success,” he said, “but rather personal growth both in their calling and in their rela onship with the Lord, consequently, managing others with the same goal.”

Mission accomplished.

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Lindsay Kennedy Eversmeyer Soccer She started playing soccer at age 5 and, in the 1990s, her family transported her across the Mississippi River bridge into Missouri to play for a club team full of 12-year-olds, who were two years older.

Lindsay Kennedy Eversmeyer not only hung in there, but fell in love with the sport. And she never forgot those who fostered that passion inside.

In fact, when asked how she transformed herself into a college prospect, Eversmeyer said, “I don’t think I transformed myself. I think my coaches and teammates transformed me. I was blessed with coaches that taught me how to play the game and with teammates that helped elevate my compe veness.”

Eversmeyer became one of the state’s best in the sport, and that’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct her with the Class of 2023.

Put it this way, Eversmeyer played professionally for the St. Louis Steamers in Major League Indoor Soccer, becoming the first female in history to play men’s professional indoor soccer.

A 1998 graduate of Alton High School, she was a four-year varsity le er-winner and earned First Team All-State honors – along with All-Metro, all-conference, all-area and all-sec onal – in four years.

The Telegraph and Post-Dispatch named her the Player of the Year her junior season, when she set the school record for single-season goals (47).

A er a season at the University of Kansas, she spent three at Harris-Stowe State University through 2004. At KU, she recorded 19 points, was the Big 12 Player of the Week once and was named to two all-tournament teams. At Harris-Stowe, she set six school records in career goals (61), goals/season (24), assists/season (22), points (144), goals in a game (5) and average goals per game (1.06). She earned numerous postseason accolades, including NAIA All-American honors three mes. In 2000, she became the first Har34

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ris-Stowe player to earn the American Midwest Conference Player of the Year award.

From 2012-2022 she owned/coached a women’s semi-pro team called Fire & Ice Soccer. In 2017, her team won the WPSL na onal championship. And now she is the first and only female head coach of a men’s college soccer team in the NJCAA, Southwestern Illinois College.

“I’ve loved it since the moment I started playing,” Eversmeyer said.

A striker, Eversmeyer was a four-year starter in high school and then drew interest from North Carolina, Missouri, Clemson, Oklahoma State, Illinois State and Harris-Stowe.

Wan ng to be close to home, she chose Kansas and, a er feeling homesick, turned to Harris-Stowe, where coach Richard “Rock” Rone had recruited her while in high school.

“He cared about me as more than just a player,” Eversmeyer said. “So when I finally decided I was leaving, it wasn’t about transferring to a big school or program. I just wanted to go somewhere to play soccer, be close to my family, get my degree, and move on to my life.”

At age 24, coaching came calling. At the me, Eversmeyer led an

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18-and-younger and a 10-and-younger team at BFC Futbol Club.

And then came the Steamers.

“It was bi ersweet,” Eversmeyer said. “I reached a dream of playing professionally and was able to inspire the next genera on of female players, but it was mentally and physically tough on me.”

S ll, she hung in there and showed her me le. That all came from the support over the years of her family – dad Larry, mom Pam, stepfather Bill, husband Aaron and their children Kaleb and Gryfin.

In 2005, she started a WPSL team called River Ci es FC, which reached the league finals. A year later, she stepped back into a player-administra on role and handed the team over to a new owner.

But the team folded in 2007 upon the arrival of STL Athle ca.

Five years later, the WPSL’s owner, Jerry Zanelli, asked her to start another team, to coach and own it. With the help of sponsors, Fire & Ice was created and lasted un l 2022, having gone 70-23-9 with three conference tles, two Central Region championships and one WPSL na onal tle in 2017. Eversmeyer also earned Coach of the Year three mes.

Overall, it’s been a cool thing to be part of St. Louis soccer history. She is now a field analyst for St. Louis City SC of Major League Soccer.

“It really is a dream come true,” Eversmeyer said. “Ever since I was li le, I wanted St. Louis to have a professional team, and now that it is here and successful, I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

Lindsay Kennedy Eversmeyer Congratulations ns on your induction mom.

We're so proud of your accomplishments and the countless lives that you've touched.

Keep dreaming big!

Love you!

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11/11/2023 11:11:21 AM

Crystal City High School 1984-89 Girls Track & Field Era To say the Crystal City High School girls track & field teams from 1984-89 were pre y good is a vast understatement.

They were simply dominant, winning six consecu ve Class 2 state championships, the longest such streak for a girls track & field program in the state.

With legendary head coach and fellow Class of 2023 inductee Dick Cook leading the way, the Hornets wracked up not only team championships, but individual tles as well.

Relays, hurdles, sprints. It didn’t ma er for the Hornets as they simply blew away the compe on. For those reasons, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct the 1984-89 Crystal City Girls Track & Field Era as members of the Class of 2023.

It all started in 1984, when the Hornets ran away from the compe on. Crystal City captured its first tle with a 20-point win over second-place Maysville.

In 1985, Kathy Meyer won the first of her three career state championships, finishing first in the 100m hurdles.

The Hornets also earned top honors in the 4x100 meter relay to finish with 63 points, 23 points be er than Smithville, the runner-up.

The 1986 team reached the podium with 80 points, doubling the runner-up, Brentwood, as Angie Lalumondier won the first of her six career individual state championships.

In ’86, she was the champion in the high hurdles and the 200m. But she wasn’t alone as Kathy Meyer also won a pair of individual championships (100M & 300M hurdles), the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams each won gold.

Crystal City was at it again in 1987, winning another four 36

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individual and/or relay tles on its way to a runaway team victory. Lalumondier won her second 200m tle while Amy Jo Cook was the 300 hurdles state champion. For the second straight year, the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams finished first.

Lalumondier made it three-in-a-row in 1988 as she won again in the 200 meters, leading Crystal City to a nail-bi ng five-point team victory over Louisiana (41-36).

With Lalumondier graduated and onto Mizzou, the 1989 squad squeaked out another tle, edging Dixon by four points (40-36), Amy Jo Cook won her second individual tle, this me in the 100m hurdles as she stood out as Crystal City’s only champion.

When asked recently what his proudest coaching moment was, Cook gave a simple answer.

“The sixth straight state championship.”

Cook is quick deflect credit for the Hornets’ successes. Many of his athletes gained experience and training compe ng for the Crystal City Jets, a summer AAU team he co-founded.

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“The work the kids did during the summer with the Jets was the key,” he said. “They competed in highly compe ve meets during the summer.

When asked the same ques on, Lalumondier gave a similar answer but gave more credit to Cook.

“The people, the girls, Coach Cook,” said Lalumondier.

“We had a very special group. We had all been together since we were very young, running with the Jefferson County Jets. There was camaraderie amongst the girls and Coach Cook. It was our goal every year to get another state championship.”

Cook wasn’t your typical fiery coach. He was just the opposite.

“He was so encouraging and not the type of coach who was yelling,” Lalumondier said. “He was always very calm and collected. He had a plan and he let us know what that plan was.”

The impact of those teams is s ll felt in Crystal City today.

“When you think of Crystal City you think of Bill Bradley, Dick Cook and those girls that won six straight state championships,” said former assistant coach Vincent Bingham.

“That’s what we’re known for, and Dick Cook’s hands are in all of it.”

Congratulations to

Dick Cook & 1984-89 Crystal City Girls Track & Field

Congratulations ‘84-89 Crystal City Girls Track & Dick Cook on your induction into the

Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Crystal City Board of Education “WHERE THE GAME LIVES ON” St Louis Enshrinement Program.indd 37

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11/11/2023 11:11:31 AM

Dick Cook Track & Field In southern Illinois, just across the Ohio River from Paducah, Ky., lies the town of Metropolis, the self-proclaimed fic onal hometown of an adult Clark Kent, also known to comic book fans by his other name – Superman.

About 35 miles south of downtown St. Louis, on the banks of the Mississippi River, lies Crystal City, the actual hometown of a real-life superman, former Crystal City High School coach Dick Cook.

Cook doesn’t wear a cape or carry a red ‘S’ on his chest, although one could hardly blame him if he did. But Cook’s impact on not only Crystal City athle cs, but the town itself, is nothing short of superhuman.

As girls track & field coach at Crystal City, Cook led the Hornets to six consecu ve state championships between 1984 and 1989, the second-longest such streak in Missouri prep history. For that achievement alone, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to include Cook as a member of its Class of 2023.

But there is so much more to the Dick Cook story.

Born and raised in Crystal City, Cook made an impact on the town – and the school – long before his coaching days.

“I grew up across the alley from the Crystal City High School football field and across the street from the gymnasium,” Cook said. “I watched almost all of the football and basketball home games. My heroes were the high school players.”

In high school Cook was instrumental in helping integrate the football team a er Crystal City voted to integrate its schools in 1954. The next season, legendary football coach Arvel Popp (MSHOF 1990) gave uniforms to three African-Americans. Cook made sure the transi on was smooth.

“It was never an issue,” Cook said. “They were never excluded, due to their race, from anything we did as a team. If we hung out as a team at a certain place away from school, they hung with us. If 38

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you wore our uniform, you were our teammate. It was that simple.”

On the field and on the track, Cook was a star. He earned 10 varsity le ers, won state championships in the 220 and 800 relay. In 1956, his senior year, he ran the fastest recorded me in the state in 100 yards, clocking in at 9.8 seconds.

He chose Missouri over Arkansas for college, and par cipated in both football and track before knee injuries sidelined him. He turned his a en on to coaching.

A er stops in Poplar Bluff and Herculaneum, Cook returned home in 1964 to coach football, basketball, and track. He remained at the school for 30 years.

“Crystal City was a des na on stop for any teacher or coach,” Cook said. “This is where you wanted to be. Teachers and coaches at other schools envied us. I knew once I was here, I would never leave.”

He had quite a run with the Hornets, spending 25 years as a football coach, including 10 as head coach upon Popp’s re rement. His teams won conference and district championships in football, boys track and girls track.

While he was busy coaching, he also founded the Jefferson County Jets, an AAU track club which turned into one of top ou its of its kind.

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It became a feeder program for local high schools, and eventually helped send numerous area kids to college on track scholarships.

“Our teams were so successful because of the work the kids did during the summer with the Jets,” Cook said. “They competed in highly compe ve meets during the summer.”

In the mid-80s, all that extra work began to pay off. The 1984 team started a streak of six consecu ve state championships, the longest in state girl’s track & field history.

Cook won seven district tles and coached 20 individual and relay state champions at Crystal City. He also ran the city pool during the summer, and worked on weekends during the winter to keep the high school gym open all day so kids had a warm and safe place to play.

If that weren’t enough, he spent 13 years on the city council, and three years as Crystal City’s Mayor Pro Tem. He is so revered by the locals, that on October 23rd of this year he was summoned to the council chambers to be presented not one proclama on but FIVE in recogni on of his induc on into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. He was received not only the key to the city but proclama ons from Jefferson County, and the State of Missouri That same day, U.S. Representa ve Jason Smith officially entered Cook’s accomplishments into the Congressional Record, where they will live forever.

As the saying goes, real heroes don’t always wear capes. Somemes they carry a whistle instead.

CONGRATULATIONS Coach Dick Cook and Crystal City Girls Track & Field On Your Induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

From the Jefferson County Jets track Club Family

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11/11/2023 11:11:39 AM

Bernie Miklasz Media In the old days of newspapers, sportswriters who climbed the ladder the right way, by rolling up their sleeves and doing the grunt work, earned respect from the old guard.

Working in the trenches, they’d call it. And that’s exactly the way Bernie Miklasz began his career. At age 16, he wrote for a weekly newspaper outside Bal more, and two years later, successfully convinced the Bal more News American’s sports editor to hire him part- me.

“I did whatever they needed, including going across the street to fetch lunch for the sports editors,” Miklasz said. “I’d take high school sports scores and details on the phone and write roundups. I would take the horse-racing results from the cker to the composing room. I would accompany veteran writers on their beats to learn everything that I could – from baseball games to high-school games, to crime scenes late at night. I’d help them by taking notes and ge ng quotes. That was my higher educaon.”

Years later, Miklasz forged quite a career in the St. Louis sports media market, and his success is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct him with the Class of 2023.

Miklasz worked at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from 1985 to 2015 (except for one year in Dallas), primarily as the paper’s lead sports columnist. He provided extensive coverage of St. Louis’ baseball and football Cardinals, Blues and Rams, as well as local colleges, soccer, world-championship boxing and mul ple Olympics.

Addi onally, he has hosted his own radio show on 590 The Fan KNFS and has wri en columns for “Scoops,” The Athle c, the Dallas Morning News and Bal more News American.

He also has voted on pres gious awards such as the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Cy Young Award and 40

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Heisman Trophy.

A graduate of Archbishop Spalding in Severn, Md., Miklasz was voted as one of the Top 10 sports columnists in America in mulple years, won the na onal Eppy Award in 2014 for Best Sports Blog while at STLToday.com, and that was 12 years a er being named the St. Louis Media Person of the Year in 2002 by the St. Louis Press Club.

At 101 ESPN, he was selected as a Top 10 radio host, na onally, for four consecu ve years, including being named No. 1 in the U.S. for best morning-drive sports program for medium-size markets.

“As a kid I loved sports, and I loved to read, because I wanted to get as much informa on as possible about my favorite sports teams, general sports news, and world events,” Miklasz said.

“My father would stop on his way home from work to buy five newspapers for me each day from the Bal more and Washington D.C. markets. From an early age, I told my parents that I wanted to be a sportswriter.”

At the Bal more News American, Miklasz convinced the sports editor to let him write about the great Gordie Howe on the hockey great’s night in town

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against the Washington Capitals. That was his first byline.

Ul mately, his me there led to the Post-Dispatch. He ini ally covered the football Cardinals, spent a year in Dallas, and then in 1989 returned as the Post-Dispatch’s lead sports columnist. He was only 30.

His influence on local sports included hirings, firings and roster moves, as well as the Rams’ reloca on from Los Angeles to St. Louis in the 1990s.

“When I wrote from the heart, it never failed the readers,” Miklasz said. “My passion for our town and for St. Louis sports always came through in what I wrote. I frequently wrote with emo on, and I believe readers could relate to me because we understood each other and they knew I cared as much as they did. That established a las ng connec on.”

Sports-talk radio enhanced Miklasz’ reach, and he dove in on online chats before they became popular.

Looking back, he thanks many for their support: his wife, Kirsten, brother Brad, mother-in-law Linda Lo e, sister-in-law, Jen Chaffin and her husband, Steve, and their son Steven, and the legion of cousins in Bal more.

“I’m a very, very lucky man. I decided at age 7 that I wanted to grow up and become a sportswriter,” Miklasz said. “And I was able to a ain that dream, and live it to the fullest, for the last 45 years and coun ng. And I was able to develop a radio career as well, and that’s been meaningful to me. And I’m ge ng paid to do something I truly love? Are you kidding me?”

CONGRATULATIONS BERNIE MIKLASZ ‘77 From Archbishop Spalding High School 2023 Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

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11/11/2023 11:11:48 AM

Jay Delsing Golf If more neighborhood kids had been available when he was growing up, perhaps Jay Delsing might have carved out a career as a professional baseball player.

Delsing knew at an early age he would need a scholarship to a end college. So, he focused on baseball as his cket to bigger and be er things. But math got in the way.

“We had six church league baseball games and an addi onal prac ce one other day a week,” Delsing said. “I could not play more baseball without ge ng the en re neighborhood together, and when that did happen, it always seemed like one of the other players would get called home in the middle of the game and pre y much end the day. It always made me mad.”

He then turned to golf and got his scholarship. At UCLA he played on a collegiate all-star team, alongside some of the best golfers of the 80s and 90s. He found success on the professional tours, and turned to broadcas ng once his me on the course was over. With his overall contribu ons to the sport of golf, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Delsing as a member of the Class of 2023.

Delsing’s first memories of golf came when he was 12 or 13 years old.

“I started playing with my dad and older sisters,” Delsing said. “I can remember playing with them and I always had to help them find their ball. My oldest sister, Kim, would take me out and play nine with me. She was very encouraging.”

A er realizing that maybe baseball wasn’t in his future, Delsing realized golf was.

“Golf happened and I could finally play all day. Alone, with someone, it didn’t ma er to me,” he said. “I loved the solitude and learned even moreso how to rely on myself to make something happen.”

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Golf eventually led Delsing to UCLA, where he found himself teammates with the likes of Corey Pavin, Steve Pate, Tom Pernice, Jr., and Duffy Waldorf.

“Those guys all had super high compete levels and wanted to win very badly,” Delsing said. “Honestly, we all did. We also put winning and staying diligent and working hard on our games for ourselves and the team at the forefront.”

Delsing succeeded on an individual level in college, winning seven tournaments, a total which s ll ranks third in UCLA history.

He was twice named All-American.

Following his collegiate career, Delsing embarked on lengthy career as a professional golfer, securing seven total victories, and 30 Top 10 finishes.

His first career victory came at the Fort Smith Classic on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour.

And while that victory is high on his personal list of accomplishments, it doesn’t quite rank as his favorite. That one involves former United States President Gerald Ford.

In 1993, Delsing was co-champion of the Jerry Ford Invita onal in Vail, Colo.

“Winning the Gerald Ford event in Vail and ge ng to play with the former president was a

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huge thrill but that wasn’t a PGA Tour sanc oned event. The field was smaller and not quite as compe ve,” Delsing said. “It was also only 36 holes, but a win is a win!”

Over me the grind of being a professional golfer wore on Delsing. He managed to compete in 565 PGA Tour events, but travel, me away from family, and the rela vely small purses, combined with the pressure of being a one-man brand, made for a tougher life than many understand.

“Life as a professional golfer on the PGA Tour was not easy,” Delsing said. “We played in a me when the purses were good but nothing like were they were once Tiger Woods burst onto the scene, so consequently we didn’t earn that bigger money.”

Despite the trials, Delsing cherishes his pro career.

“I think I was one of the lucky ones to get to dream, then fulfill and live out that dream,” he said. “Who gets to do that?”

A er golf, Delsing made the natural transi on to the media world, joining Fox Sports in 2014. Today, he hosts the popular Golf with Jay Delsing on ESPN 101 in St. Louis.

Not surprisingly, Delsing gives credit to those who helped him throughout his life and career.

“My en re family was really important as a youngster,” he said.

“In college Corey Pavin and Steve Pate were extremely important to me. As a pro Andy North helped me early in my career and Bob Rotella was a huge factor. My brother, Bart, and my close friends Tim Twellman and John Perles have had the most posi ve impact overall in my career.”

Congratulations, Jay Delsing!

Thank you for all you’ve done for the sport and for your support of First Tee – Greater St. Louis.

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11/11/2023 11:11:59 AM

Kelly Mulvihill Stahlhuth Tennis The game of tennis found her when she was 5 years old, with her dad taking her to a nearby A on school to hit of the school walls in the evenings.

Not that success came overnight for Kelly Mulvihill Stahlhuth.

From the me she was 10 to 14, she rarely won. But li le did she realize the lessons she was learning.

“I was undefeated in my me (in high school),” Stahlhuth said.

“My freshman year, I had a stress fracture in my foot, so I could not compete at state. I never lost a singles match in high school.”

Stahlhuth certainly became one of the best tennis players in the Show-Me State, and then went on to collegiate success before enjoying a remarkable coaching career. All told, it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Stahlhuth with the Class of 2023.

At St. Joseph’s Academy, she was three- me state champion (1982, 1983, 1984).

Years later, she earned induc on into the Indiana Hoosiers Athle cs Hall of Fame, as she was a four-year le erwinner and served as team captain in 1988 and 1989. Stahlhuth helped the Hoosiers win the Big Ten Conference in 1987, 1988 and 1989, and was All-Big Ten all four years. She also was the Big Ten MVP in 1988 and 1989.

In four seasons, she was 138-44 in singles play and 111-29 in doubles.

She played in four NCAA Championships in singles and three in doubles, earning All-American honors in doubles in 1987 and 1989.

She and Stephanie Reece won doubles at the 1988 Rolex All-American Championships and was selected to the 1989 Rolex Collegiate All-Star Team.

Stahlhuth later was the Washington University women’s tennis coach from 2005 to 2021. There, her teams were 215-115 (.652) and earned 12 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including 11 con44

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secu ve from 2008 to 2018. The team also had four NCAA Tournament quarterfinal appearances (2013-2017). Eleven of her players earned 14 All-American honors. Stahlhuth was the 2015 NCAA Division III Coach of the Year by the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Associa on (ITA).

And it all began in St. Louis, with St. Joseph’s Academy serving as her launching pad.

Eventually, Northwestern, Indiana, Arizona, Arizona State and Syracuse were her five paid visits. Ul mately, Indiana won out, thanks to coach Lin Loring and the Kelley Business School.

“I learned to compete as a team member, which I loved and really honed my doubles skills,” Stahlhuth said. “I loved doubles with my partners, as it was like a chess game where I could be aggressive and find ways to win.”

Her senior season, when she and Reece won the Rolex Championships in Los Angeles, the duo had a surprise fan – basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain. A year later, Stahlhuth made the Rolex All-Star team in New York and met tennis great Arthur Ashe.

At age 38, tennis called her home. Stahlhuth took on coaching the women’s team at Washington University in St. Louis.

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“I realized then that I loved coaching WashU and found a calling that had not been possible un l that job,” said Stahlhuth, who took over for 36-year coach Lynn Imergot and built on her success.

For Stahlhuth, the value of readying players for life became a priority.

“As a coach, I believe in honesty, integrity, posi vity, support and determina on,” Stahlhuth said. “I hope that I ins lled all these quali es in my everyday life as a coach. I stressed how tennis can help prepare my scholar-champions for the ‘real world’ in the boardroom, in the court room, and in the opera ng room.

“Tennis can help us handle pressure, adversity, challenges, losses, goal se ng, failures and successes, on and off the court.”

Looking back, she credits many mentors for her success: Her mother Mary Pat, who taught her pa ence and strength. Her father/coach, Kevin, whose tenacity and grit Stahlhuth adopted. Her husband, Bruce, who became her rock, cheerleader, partner, teammate best friend. Loring, and her collegiate doubles partners, Janet and Stephanie.

Sister Ann and her wife, Tonya, as well as Stahlhuth’s children Ethan, Thomas, and Kallie have thrown their support to her, too.

Their uncondi onal love and support is endless.

These days, Stahlhuth is the District Ac vi es Director of the Bayless School.

“Tennis has given me a full life of ups, downs, successes and failures,” Stahlhuth said. “I have been on the tennis court for 51 years of my life in some capacity, and I hope I have another 51 years to go! I am blessed!”

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11/11/2023 11:12:11 AM

Harry Weber Sculptor Walk outside Busch Stadium in St. Louis or around Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, and you’ll see his work. Or, drive to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in Springfield, where you’ll find his largest collec on.

That is, a collec on of bronze busts and statues.

For Harry Weber, call it all a labor of love da ng back to the late 1970s, and it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct him with the Class of 2023.

“I like to think of these sculptures as actors that don’t move much,” Weber once told the Princeton Alumni Weekly, based on the campus where he was once a student. “I like to make sure that all of the sculptures that I do are expressive and have an immediate emo onal impact, just like theater – it’s three-dimensional sta c theater.”

Weber was born in St. Louis in 1942 and educated at Country Day School (1960) and Princeton University (1965), where he studied English and Art history.

Weber later served six years in the United States Navy. This included a year on river patrol boats in Vietnam, where he was decorated for his combat experience with a Bronze Star with V for valor and the Presiden al Unit Commenda on.

In Vietnam, he compiled a compelling series of drawings chronicling his experiences there. Those are on display at the Military Museum on the USS Alabama in Mobile.

As a sculptor, Weber has an interna onal reputa on. His body of work includes more than 150 large, commissioned sculptures in public view in 19 states, the Bahamas, China and Africa.

These include historical figures, notables in the arts, poli cs, and sports in 26 ci es across the country.

His sculptures of famous sports figures are prominent features at 15 different professional and amateur stadiums, including Busch 46

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Stadium and Kauffman Stadium, Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas and the TD Garden in Boston.

The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame has the largest collec on of his work with 37 busts of sports legends, as well as larger-than-life statues of golf’s Payne Stewart, basketball’s Jackie S les, baseball’s Stan Musial and Bill Virdon and basketball coach Norm Stewart.

In Missouri, Weber has installed work in 40 different sites, including the Baseball Cardinals Plaza of Champions, Harriet and Dred Sco , Chuck Berry and two groupings depic ng the Journey of Discovery, which have been named Na onal Lewis and Clark sites by the Na onal Park Service.

In 2011, he was named Sports Sculptor of the Year by the United States Sports Academy. In 2023, he was awarded a star on The St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Born into an ar s c family, Weber was drawing at an early age and carried his sketchbook through school, his service in the Navy and his career in adver sing and marke ng, according to the Princeton weekly.

As a Master of Foxhounds, he was asked to sculpt a fox hound. It was actually stolen along with some of his other works at a New York gallery, with the heist also including works from

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Remington, Mene and Bonheur.

“I was in great company,” Weber was quoted as saying. “The the was as good as a sale, and that’s what basically started my career.”

It was 20 years later when he earned a series of commissions for lager bronze sculptors.

His goal is to make the bronze sculptures look as if they are moving, with bronze being the key.

“It has a great warmth and vitality to it,” Weber said. “It moves, it flows, it carries light well.”

In 1997, the Cardinals hired him to create 10 life-size Hall of Fame players in bronze.

At the me, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame had opened a er the 1994 Enshrinement.

Weber was soon commissioned to create two bronze busts in 1999, first of Musial and then Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson.

“I met Harry Weber in 1998,” said Jerald Andrews, who ran the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame from 1995 to 2022. “He is without any ques on one of the most na onally recognized sports ar sts in America. We commissioned him to do the Payne Stewart life-size piece and the Payne Stewart Legend bust. He assisted me in putng the Missouri Sports Legend program together with the type of bronze bust we have used. He has done a total of 41 bronze pieces for us. I can’t imagine there being that many pieces of bronze sculptures anywhere else in the na on.”

Overall, Weber has been a great friend of the Hall of Fame.

Congratulations

Harry Weber on your induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Thank you for all you’ve done for Missouri Sports!

From: Jerald & GIana Andrews

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Kenny Wallace Motor Sports When you’re born into a racing family, your career path is pre y much already decided before you even have me to think.

Kenny Wallace knows that all too well. The son of Russ Wallace, a renowned short track racer throughout the Midwest, Kenny and his older brothers Mike and Rusty, grew up at the track.

“I grew up in a racing family, and absolutely loved racing from the beginning,” the youngest Wallace brother said. “I got caught up early on helping my brothers Rusty and Mike, and my dad, at the track.”

One of racing’s most visible and popular figures for more than 30 years, Kenny took a path less travelled to racing success and stardom, star ng out as a mechanic, earning nine NASACAR victories, and carving out a career as one of the sport’s top media voices. S ll a compe ve and successful dirt track racer to this day, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Kenny Wallace as a member of its Class of 2023.

Like most kids growing up in Arnold, Mo., Wallace was a St. Louis Cardinals fan.

“I grew up on KMOX Radio listening to Cardinal baseball,” he said.

But baseball, s ll a favorite for Wallace, took a backseat to the track. He began his career as a mechanic for Rusty and his dad, but eventually got behind the wheel in 1982. With the help of a local businessman, the youngest Wallace entered the Street Stock State Championship in Springfield, Ill., and won.

He was 19 years old.

“Going from a mechanic to a race car driver was pre y difficult,” Wallace said. “I ended up calling a man named John Childs, who owned some re stores in the O’Fallon area. John 48

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helped me financially and so did our motor man, Don Kirn.

Racing cars is super expensive, and I could have never done it by myself.”

His first big racing break came in 1988 when NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt gave him a shot at the Busch Series race in Mar nsville, Va., where he finished 11th. A year later, Wallace was the Busch Series Rookie of the Year. His mechanic days were over.

Though he was having on-track success, it took a while for Wallace to grab his first victory. In 1991 he earned his first checkered flag at the Spring 200 at Volusia Speedway in Florida.

“To this day, that’s my most gra fying on-track moment,” Wallace said. “Un l then I always had it in the back of my mind if I could win on the big stage.”

While Kenny was finding success on the Busch Series, Mike and Rusty were having success of their own.

With the trio all compe ng – and winning – one might think there would be an on-track brotherly compe on of sorts. But Wallace says differently.

“I never did have a sibling rivalry with my brothers,” the youngest

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Wallace brother said. “I just wanted to do what they were all doing and that was racing cars.”

Wallace con nued racing in NASCAR un l 2015, winning eight more mes on the Busch/Na onwide/Xfinity series.

While he never captured a win on the Cup Series side, he did have a pair of seconds including at the Winston 500 in Talladega in 2000, There, he helped Earnhardt, his teammate, to a victory in his last race before his death by refusing to allow compe tors to pass him in the final few laps.

“That was the biggest racing moment of my life,” Wallace said. “Senior was good to me. Gave me my first start. Changed my life forever.”

Soon a er his NASACAR career came to a close, Wallace transi oned to broadcas ng, gaining a new life as a commentator on FOX Sports. It was like pu ng a fish in water.

“My mom always said that I never met a stranger,” Wallace said. “I guess I was just made for TV. My boss at FOX Sports said they hired me because I had a lot to say.”

And he s ll has a lot to say. With more than one million followers across his social media pla orms, Wallace remains close to the sport. He’s so close, in fact, that he is s ll a compe ve – and winning – dirt track racer at the young age of 60.

“I am s ll racing because I am in really good shape,” Wallace said. “Watching my dad and my grandma and grandpa die of heart a acks really opened my eyes. I do my very best to stay ac ve and eat clean. Plus, I am s ll winning. Like Clint Eastwood says, I’m trying not to let the old man in.”

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St. Joseph’s Academy Girls Tennis Program Push through the double doors of a gymnasium lobby at St. Joseph’s Academy, and the scene can be breathtaking.

On the le wall, from floor to ceiling and encased behind glass, are all of the state trophies earned by the school’s girls tennis teams. In fact, the display case is out of real estate.

“My mom (Michaela Wichter) was the athle c director here and she said we were going to have tennis,” said Kathy Boles, a player from the 1970s who later became the program’s long me coach.

“We used to play tennis in the spring, and just played the Catholic schools. When that moved to the fall, she was all over it because she had good players. The first year, we won. The next year we did, too.”

Talk about a springboard that fueled tradi on. The Angels have since become the best in the Show-Me State, and that’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct the St. Joseph’s Academy Girls Tennis Program with the Class of 2023.

The Angels have 31 top four finishes in the state meet, including 18 championships. Both numbers are the most in state history.

The state tle years cover 1976, 1977, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2021 and 2022. The program finished as a state runner-up eight mes, third three mes and fourth twice.

The state runner-up years were 1983, 1984, 1987, 1993, 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2014.

Rosemary Wellington coached the 1976 and 1977 teams. Boles, her daughter, coached the state championship teams of 19941997, and Doug Smith (MSHOF 2023) coached all since 1998.

Five players combined for 13 individual state championships: Cindy Brigh ield (1976, 1977), Kelly Mulvihill (1982, 1983, 1984), Lauren Guijon (1991, 1993), Kiki Stastny (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001) and Michelle Kedzierski (2006, 2008).

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The program also has had 13 doubles state championships.

Those teams consisted of Lynn Fitzsimmons and Tracy Kaemmerlen (1986), Jill Aboussie and Tina Harrison (1993, 1994), Jessica Bickel and Sarah Wood (1995), Julie Bockermann and Katarina Stastny (1996), Carolyn Kramer and Katarina Stasny (1997), Margaret Junker and Julie Schwarz (2005), Erin Jamison and Margaret Junker (2006), Ka e Thome and Angie Tracy (2007), Grace Hyde and Taylor Reving (2011), Elizabeth Choate and Alexis Woodman (2018, 2019), Abigail Gaines and Elizabeth Choate (2020) and Emerey Gross and Abigail Gaines (2022).

Kers n Benya was a senior on the inaugural 1973 team.

“I didn’t fully understand that Title Ix was coming and colleges would have to offer equal sports scholarships for men and women but Michaela Wichter and Rosemary Wellington did,” Benya said, referring to the federal legisla on requiring public schools to offer sports to girls.

Winning state tles was much more difficult in those early years. At the me, the state tournaments allowed each team only a few players. But that changed over me, with the ability to play six singles and three doubles.

Strength in numbers, as Boles called it.

Along the way, the Angels were not afraid to

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challenge anybody.

“We needed to expand, and we did,” Boles said. “We had only four courts, so we traveled everywhere. Nobody wanted to come here when they’ve got 10 si ng at home. So we’d go everywhere.

But then it got to the point that schools didn’t want to play us anymore.”

Brigh ield was among the Angels’ best players in the mid- to late 1970s and now is an assistant coach.

“To me, to see the team go from a small varsity group of girls to now, a very compe ve team of 12 on varsity and 18 on JV, the program growth is just huge,” Brigh ield said. “I love the fact that girls can play tennis as individuals, yet can part of a team and have that support and community. To build faith with our daily prayer at the beginning of prac ce or matches. To learn how to support each other during conflicts and challenges. And to be part of our school mo o of ‘Not I But Me.’” For Sarah Wood Perez, a player from 1994-1997, the teamwork meant everything.

“We were compe ve but in a very posi ve way,” Perez said.

“We encouraged the best in each other and challenged each other to do and be our best on and off the court. We knew matches were important even against ourselves. We understood and respected posi ons of play and understood that decisions were made based upon what was best for the team.”

Yes, team. That’s the best way to describe the Angels since Day One.

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Doug Smith Tennis You look at the mile long list of successes – the state tle teams he coached in St. Louis, the others on the fron er plains and, before all that, his collegiate days – and assume the sport of tennis has been in his life since, well, birth.

However, that wasn’t the case for Doug Smith.

“My mother presented my twin brother and me each with a tennis racket for our 13th birthday, at which me I knew so li le about tennis that at first I honestly thought it was a snowshoe,” Smith said. “We knew nothing of the game, and I don’t think we had ever seen anyone play it in Aberdeen, South Dakota where we grew up.”

Turned out, Smith and tennis were a perfect fit, as he enjoyed 40 years helping lead Sunset Tennis Club in St. Louis and also had nearly three decades leading the St. Joseph’s Academy Girls Tennis Program (MSHOF 2023). That’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Smith with the Class of 2023.

Since taking over the program in 1998, the program has won 12 of its 18 state championships. The 12 represent the most in state history by one coach and cover the years 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2019, 2021 and 2022.

Smith is a 1962 graduate of Aberdeen High School in South Dakota and didn’t play tennis un l he was in high school. And then, while a ending Northern State University, he was the singles and doubles champion of the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference.

During his college years, he spent summers teaching and coaching tennis at USTA tournaments, and he also developed the boys who led Aberdeen Central High School to three consecu ve state tles. Those teams, along with Smith, have since 52

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been inducted into the school’s hall of fame.

Smith s ll serves on the Missouri Valley Tennis Hall of Fame selec on commi ee and has been recognized with the Missouri Valley Tennis Associa on Dis nguished Service Award.

And to think it all started with a tennis racket from his mother.

“We fumbled around at the game on our own un l we one day spied some accomplished players hi ng in a local park and essen ally learned technique by mere imita on but were otherwise essen ally self-taught,” Smith said. “By the me I was in high school I had become a compe ve player and won the city championship in the boys 18-and-under age division.”

His tennis career eventually led to coaching, with Smith finding a direct connec on to St. Louis while he was umpiring the U.S. Open in New York. There, a friend from South Dakota, Craig Sandvig, asked if he would be interested in teaching at Sunset Tennis Club in St. Louis, where his friend was working.

Smith taught at Sunset Tennis Club with Sandvig for the next 40 years.

“The goal was to build a junior program,” Smith said. “We had no ambi on of how big it

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would be. As the years went by, it grew by leaps and bounds.”

In its first year, it had 80 athletes. Two years later, it had 250 and hosted numerous tournaments.

Then, in the winter of 1997, St. Joseph’s Academy long me coach Kathy Boles re red a er her teams four consecu ve state tles. She asked Smith if he would take over.

Fortunately, he had all the support of administrators and families.

“They gave me what I would call free rein,” Smith said, noting he saw to it that the tennis schedule was packed full of challenging opponents. “But by and large, I don’t think anyone would think of me as a mar net.”

Coaching tennis must have been in his DNA. One of his early successes was taking a group of boys from Aberdeen’s YMCA and turning them into tennis players. They had been successful in flag football and basketball.

A er college, he taught English in Sioux Falls, S.D., and then returned to Aberdeen in the summers as he pursued his master’s degree at the University of Kansas.

In 1977, Smith was seeking a teaching posi on in Minneapolis when he was asked to umpire at the U.S. Open in New York.

That’s when Sandvig spo ed him while Smith was working a match on Center Court.

Soon, he was on his way to St. Louis, and the rest is history.

“Put it this way, when I re red at Sunset in 2014, I felt I had done everything I could there,” Smith said. “But I s ll had goals to pursue with St. Joseph’s.”

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Barret Jackman Hockey Barret Jackman won’t be remembered for being a flashy goal scorer.

But St. Louis Blues fans will remember Jackman for being the guy who did all the li le things during his 13 seasons with the Blues.

Block a shot with his body? No problem, Jackman did that more than 1,000 mes during his 14-year NHL career. He stopped 153 shots alone during the 2011-12 season. He never shied away from pu ng his body in front of the puck to take away a poten al goal.

Start a fight? He wasn’t afraid to do that, either. And he finished plenty, as well. Jackman racked up over 1,100 penalty minutes in his career.

Playing with a toughness and an edge not seen as much in today’s NHL, Jackman was a mainstay for the Blues’ for over 13 seasons. For his leadership, toughness and accomplishments on the ice, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to include Jackman as a member of its Class of 2023.

Born in Trail, Bri sh Columbia, Canada, Jackman rose quickly through the ranks of junior hockey, eventually becoming the 17th overall selec on by St. Louis in the 1999 NHL Entry Dra .

It wouldn’t be long before he was making an impact in the NHL. During his rookie season in St. Louis in 2002-03, Jackman recorded three goals, 16 assists, 190 penalty minutes, and a plus23 ra ng, helping lead the Blues to the playoffs. Playing on a line which included greats Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger, Jackman became the first – and s ll only – St. Louis Blue to be voted winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy, given annually to the NHL’s top rookie.

Jackman’s growth and development at the NHL level stalled a 54

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bit over the next two seasons. He was limited to just 15 games in 2003-04 due to a shoulder injury, and in 2004-05 Jackman played with the Missouri River O ers of the United Hockey during the NHL lockout.

He returned to form when the NHL returned to the ice in 2005-06, playing in 63 games and recording a career-high 24 assists.

Jackman showed his durability over the next three seasons, playing in no fewer than 70 games each year. In 2008-09, he appeared in all 82 regular-season games for the Blues and had 17 assists to go with four goals.

Over me, Jackman developed into one of the more reliable defensemen in the NHL, averaging 20-plus minutes per game for his career.

In the summer of 2012, Jackman signed a three-year contract extension with the Blues, his last mul -year deal with the club.

Jackman closed out his career in 2015-16 with the Nashville Predators. He played in 73 regular season games and appeared in all 14 playoffs games as the Preds reached the second round.

He officially re red from the ice when he

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signed a one-day contract with the Blues on October 4, 2016.

Jackman finished his career with 181 points, or 28 goals and 153 assists. He and Bernie Federko (MSHOF 2002) are the only Blues to play at least 13 seasons with the club.

“It’s a huge honor to be able to stand up there for the old swan song,” he said at his re rement press conference. “It’s just an unbelievable opportunity that the Blues and (team owner) Mr. (Tom) S llman and (general manager) Doug Armstrong gave me to re re in the same place where my whole career started.

This is overwhelming, to have so many alumni and all of the players behind me; I’m happy I didn’t have to stare them in the face. It probably would have been a lot harder if I had to look at those guys the en re me.”

MacInnis had high praise for Jackman upon his re rement.

“No one played the game with probably some of the toughest injuries you can play with, played hard each and every night,” MacInnis said. “That’s just Barret. That’s just the way he is.”

Pronger shared his thoughts.

“When you think of his name, you think of the passion and the toughness that he played with,” Pronger said. “Back then he was s ll very young. Everybody leads in their own way. I’ve played with a lot of guys that are the strong, silent type. [Jackman] was one of those guys that leads by example, played the game hard, and he wanted you to follow that lead.”

Since re rement, Jackman has remained in the St. Louis area and become a businessman, partnering with former Blues great Kelly Chase and Bre Hull on several ventures.

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Todd Lyght Football Todd Lyght was an All-American for Lou Holtz at Notre Dame, and a na onal champion.

In the NFL, Lyght was an All-Pro and Pro-Bowl selec on over his 12 seasons. He helped lead the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl XXXIV championship.

His football legacy is more than secure. But did we almost have Todd Lyght… the swimmer?!?

“The very first sport that I learned and competed in was swimming,” he said. “Both of my siblings were outstanding swimmers and were both All Americans in high school and college. They were my role models.”

But Lyght eventually found football, and he was hooked.

“Around 12 years old, I knew that my future was in football,” Lyght said. “My love for the game and the camaraderie which it brought really appealed to me, along with all of the physical aspects and intelligence it took to be successful.”

And successful he was. That success is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to include Lyght as a member of its Class of 2023.

Lyght was like most kids growing up in the 1970s. He played mul ple sports, most notably basketball, baseball, and soccer. But once he found football, it became his focus.

“Watching the Pi sburgh Steelers win four Super Bowls solidified my new true love and from then on all of my sports focus was on the football field,” he said.

At Powers Catholic in Flint, Mich., Lyght was a standout receiver.

He grew up idolizing former Steelers star Lynn Swann and wanted to follow in his footsteps. But Holtz had other ideas.

“I was recruited as an athlete, but I really wanted to play offense,” he said. “When I arrived on campus Coach Holtz had other plans. He told me if I moved to the defensive side of the ball I would 56

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play as a true freshman and long term it would greatly benefit me and my football career.”

Not surprisingly, Holtz was right. Lyght appeared in all 11 games as a freshman and began cemen ng himself as one of the top defensive backs in the country.

“The transi on was smooth and once I took the field as a defender I never looked back,” Lyght said.

Aside from the posi on change, Holtz made a tremendous impact on Lyght.

“His ability to make everyone understand that in order for us as a team to achieve greatness, we would all have to be selfless and put the team first,” Lyght said. “He had a special way of making sure all the best 11 players were on the field and ge ng us to think, act and move as an elite unit. His a en on to detail in prepara on always gave us the best chance to be successful on game day and he made us as tough as they come.”

The 1988 Na onal Championship game with West Virginia is s ll fresh in Lyght’s memory.

“As always we took pride in our bowl prepara on and by the me game me rolled around, we were firing on all cylinders,” Lyght said. “Defensively we punished West Virginia and by the end of the third quarter

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our physicality took a heavy toll on the Mountaineers.”

Notre Dame defeated West Virginia, 34-21, in the Fiesta Bowl, capping a perfect 12-0 season.

Two years later, Lyght was on his way to the NFL. The then-Los Angeles Rams selected Lyght fi h overall. Injuries hampered Lyght over the first three years of his career, as he appeared in just 33 games. But in 1994, Lyght broke out, star ng all 16 games for the Rams. It would be nine years before he missed another game.

Lyght and the Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995. Two years later Missouri Sports Legend Dick Vermeil (MSHOF 2001) was coaxed out of the broadcast booth and back to the sidelines, and two years a er that, the Rams and “The Greatest Show on Turf” were on top of the football world.

“Playing for the Rams and being a member of ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’ was an honor and a blessing,” Lyght said. “A lot of credit has to be given to Dick Vermeil and the en re Rams staff for leading us but also having the courage to let the players on the field make in-game adjustments on the fly to produce elite championship football.”

Despite all the achievements, and accolades and championships, Lyght was a bit surprised to get the call from the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

“The recogni on validates all of my dedica on, hard work and my contribu on to bringing home St. Louis’s first and only Super Bowl Championship,” Lyght said.

Congratulations Todd!!!

The Lyght, Webb and Ackert Families are so proud of your accomplishments and your induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame “WHERE THE GAME LIVES ON” St Louis Enshrinement Program.indd 57

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Adam Wainwright Baseball In spring training of 2003, just a few months a er being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, a prospect right-hander walked in to an empty clubhouse.

Adam Wainwright had his glove in hand but not much other baseball gear. Plus, he was wondering where his career was headed, as any young player would think.

“And the very first person I see is Lou Brock,” Wainwright said of the former Cardinals ou ielder and baseball Hall of Famer.

“He then asked for my autograph, and I said, ‘Mr. Brock,’ I think you have that backwards. He said, ‘No, no. I think you’re going to be a great one.’”

Brock was spot on. Wainwright reached the big leagues two years later and pitched 18 successful seasons for the Cardinals.

That’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Wainwright with the Class of 2023.

Overall, he finished with 200 career wins, becoming only the 38th pitcher in Na onal League history with that number of victories. Only two others in Cardinals history have accomplished the feat.

Twelve mes Wainwright earned double digits in wins, including 20-win seasons in 2010 and 2014. He led the Na onal League with 19 wins, starts (34) and innings pitched (233, 241.2) in both 2009 and 2013, and was a 17-game winner in 2021.

Wainwright has finished in the top seven of Cy Young Award vo ng five mes, won two Gold Gloves and was selected to three All-Star Games. He also has finished among the top 20 in MVP vo ng four mes. Overall, he has pitched more than 2,668 innings, striking out 2,202 ba ers.

In fact, during his tenure, the Cardinals won the 2006 and 2011 World Series, and won the Na onal League pennant in 2013. Wainwright appeared in 16 postseason series, including two World Series, five NLCS, seven NL Division Series and two 58

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NL Wild Cards.

“I cannot fully fathom how cool it’s been,” Wainwright said.

“The only thing I wanted to be in life was to be a big-league ballplayer. That’s what I told my teachers. There was no back-up plan for me, but I got to live that for 20 seasons.”

Looking back, the winter ahead of the 2006 season was a turning point in his career.

Six years earlier, he had been dra ed in the first round by the Atlanta Braves, his boyhood team. However, with the Braves needing ou ield help in 2003, they shipped the right-hander to the Cardinals that December.

He then made his big-league debut late in the 2005 season, at which point he came to realize what it took to be a constant in the big leagues.

“I realized I needed to make a commitment to get the job done,” Wainwright said. “(In the minor leagues), I was only saying I was going to get the job done. And in the big leagues it took a commitment to get the job done.”

Wainwright rejoined St. Louis late in the 2006 season and, having been a star ng pitcher in Triple-A, took over the Cardinals’ closer’s role a er Jason Isri-

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nghausen (MSHOF 2017) suffered an injury.

Everybody remembers what happened next. Wainwright closed out the NL Division Series and NLCS, as well as the World Series.

In the NLCS, he struck out the New York Mets’ Carlos Beltran to end Game 7, silencing the crowd at Shea Stadium.

“Being able to get to that moment was about the changes I had to make,” Wainwright said. “It was just a testament to the work I put in.”

Closing out that series and then the World Series against the Detroit Tigers rank among his favorite moments. Others include his NLDS performance against the Pi sburgh Pirates in 2013, breaking the big-league record of starts with catcher Yadier Molina in 2022, and then winning his 199th and 200th games in 2023.

For Wainwright, credit goes to so many for making his career a success, including teammates, coaches and trainers.

He will never forget the veterans taking him under his wing, Chris Carpenter (MSHOF 2015) for teaching how to pitch at the next level, Jim Edmonds (MSHOF 2012) talking about how not to p pitches and Albert Pujols explaining hi ers’ perspec ves.

Family also has long been important, including his brother, Trey, who taught him the game and would cut out newspaper clippings from the Atlanta Journal-ConsƟtuƟon about their favorite Braves.

“I was so glad I go to do this,” Wainwright said. “I think the best thing is that I was that I got to play for the St. Louis Cardinals that long.”

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DE SMET JESUIT CONGRATULATES COACH GREG VITELLO for his induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Thank you for dedicating 46 years to forming men for others in the classroom and on the field.

COACH VITELLO 45 YEARS COACHING SOCCER - 35 YEARS COACHING BASEBALL 5 State Soccer Championships - 758 Career Victories 8 Final Four Appearances- Ranked 6th on national all-time wins list 1 State Baseball Championship - 491-284-7 record 4 State Semifinal Appearances - 10 District Championships

AMDG 60

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590 THE FAN HP

AMERICAN MIDWEST CONFERENCE CONGRATULATES

DR. TOM SMITH

CONGRATULATIONS COOK FAMILY QPCOOK COACH

Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023

We are so proud of you!

MaryBeth, Richie, Jill & Amy Jo Travis, Kyle, Eric, Lucas & Alex

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congratulations

DICK COOK On Your Induction Into The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023 From your friends at Herculaneum High School

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