Who is the first high school golfer, in boys or girls competition, to win three consecutive state championships? That would be former Lebanon High School golfer Kerry (Speaker) North.
Now her career is being remembered by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, which will recognize North with a Wynn Award during the Women’s Sports Luncheon presented by the Bee Payne-Stewart Foundation. The luncheon is at 11 a.m. March 23 at University Plaza Convention Center in Springfield. For tickets, call 417-889-3100.
“My parents, Ted and Edna Speaker, were my teachers and mentors. Dad’s motto was, ‘Rare back and bust it.’ Mom had more specific pointers,” North said, laughing. “Even to this day, when my mother and I play golf together, if I begin hitting the ball poorly, she can share a couple of tips and I’m back on track. It’s like you are playing with the pro who knows your swing the best.”
The Women’s Sports Luncheon features the induction of College of the Ozarks’ Dora Quinn Arney Meikle, Drury University’s Barbara Cowherd, University of Missouri volleyball coaches Wayne and Susan Kreklow and the Licking High School volleyball team that won the first volleyball state championship in 1975.
North is among seven recipients for the inaugural Wynn Awards, named in honor of Dr. Mary Jo Wynn, the pioneer of women’s athletics at Missouri State University. The awards are presented to former high school, college and pro athletes for their contributions in athletics.
North emerged as one of the state’s top amateur golfers in the late 1970s, turning mid-Missouri golf courses into her so-called stomping ground. She won three MSHSAA golf championships at Lebanon High School from 1976 to 1978 and was a four-time medalist, including a fifth-place finish in the 1975 season. North also won the Missouri Girls Golf Association state tournament and the Miss Mizzou Golf Tournament in 1977.
She went on to finish as the medalist (low score on qualifying day) at the 1979 Missouri Women’s State Amateur and played two seasons at Mizzou before finishing her degree at Missouri State University.
North, who won a Tri-State Golf Tournament at Twin Oaks Country Club in Springfield in 1993 by firing a two-day even par 148, is now in her 19th year as a teacher at Lebanon Junior High School.
She has since been inducted with the inaugural 1999 class of the Lebanon Area Sports Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Ozarks Golf Hall of Fame in 2008.
The Wynn Award recipients are Missouri State field hockey standout Marjorie (DeMarino) Bankovich; Camdenton High School soccer standout Monique (Willcut) Begley; Springfield Catholic High School hurdles champion Angie (Bullock) Homeyer; Monett High School basketball and track standout Angela (Beckett) Johnson; Springfield angler Julie Martin; Lebanon High School/Mizzou golfer Kerry (Speaker) North; and Jamie Vest, a cross country standout from Stoutland and Missouri State University.
An individual ticket is $40, and a head table ticket is $100. A table of eight is $400 and includes associate sponsor recognition in the printed program. Sponsorships also are available. Call the Hall of Fame at 417-889-3100.
