News

Hall to honor Sundvold as Missouri Sports Legend, induct 15

jon sundvold - 80's

COLUMBIA – The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame will honor former Mizzou basketball standout Jon Sundvold as a Missouri Sports Legend and induct 15 individuals in its Enshrinement in Columbia presented by Great Southern Bank on Sunday, Nov. 15, President and Executive Director Jerald Andrews announced Tuesday.

The Enshrinement in Columbia also will induct former University of Missouri athletic director Joe Castiglione; former Mizzou/NFL defensive lineman Jerome Sally; Mizzou basketball great Al Eberhard; equestrian standout and instructor Gayle Lampe; former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Charlie James; longtime Show-Me State Games director Ken Ash; Mizzou team physician and sports medicine leader Dr. Pat Smith; Mizzou and Macon High School cheerleading coach Suzy Thompson; longtime Missouri State High School Activities Association director Jack Miles; Columbia high school tennis coach Ben Loeb; powerlifting champion Kate Walker; former Mizzou golf coach Richard Poe; Olympic race walker Larry Young; former Rock Bridge High School football coach and athletic director John Henage; and Mizzou super fan Alvin “Squeaky” Marquart.

The event begins with a noon reception, followed by the dinner at 1 p.m. on Nov. 15 at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Columbia. Tickets are $150 each, or $1,500 for tables of 10. Sponsorships, including in the program guide, also are available. Call the Hall of Fame at 417-889-3100. The event is part of the Hall of Fame’s continuing efforts to host an enshrinement in all parts of the state, allowing local sports fans to attend. The Hall hosts an annual January Enshrinement in Springfield.

“The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to honor Jon Sundvold and the Enshrinement Class in Columbia of 2015,” Missouri Sports Hall of Fame President and Executive Director Jerald Andrews said. “The Hall of Fame is the state’s highest sports honor, and these individuals are deserving of statewide recognition.”

Jon Sundvold

A specially commissioned bust of Sundvold, cast in bronze, will line the Legends Walkway at the Hall of Fame, meaning Sundvold’s bust will join those of a number of Missouri greats such as Whitey Herzog, Norm Stewart and Len Dawson. Sundvold was one of the best point guards ever produced in Missouri. He scored more than 2,100 points as a standout at Blue Springs High School and went on to star for coach Norm Stewart’s Missouri Tigers from 1980 to 1983. In his Mizzou years, the Tigers won four consecutive Big 8 Conference championships. Upon graduation, he was the third-leading scorer in program history (1,597 points) and was twice voted to the All-Big 8 team, plus was a first-team All-American as a senior. Sundvold, who also played for the 1982 USA Men’s World Championship team, was first-round draft pick of the Seattle Supersonics in 1983 and helped Seattle to the NBA playoffs that first season. He went on to help the San Antonio Spurs reach three NBA playoffs and played for the Miami Heat. In 1989, he led the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage, hitting 52 percent of his shots (48-of-92). His final season was 1991-1992. Sundvold, a college basketball TV analyst after the NBA, is an investment adviser.

Joe Castiglione

Castiglione spent 17 seasons in the Missouri Tigers athletic department, including 1993 to 1998 as athletic director. He was credited with rebuilding sports programs, hiring outstanding coaches, implementing an innovative master plan for facilities, inspiring record-setting increases in fund-raising and balancing the budget in each of his five years as AD. Castiglione, the AD at the University of Oklahoma since 1998, is married to the former Kristen Bartel, a 1990 graduate of Mizzou.

Jerome Sally

Jerome Sally is a former Mizzou Tiger and NFL nose tackle who played professionally for seven seasons for the New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs. He has worked for the Columbia Public School District since the early 1990s, serving as an assistant coach or strength coach for the Hickman football program, and is now assistant principal at Hickman High School. At Mizzou, Sally helped anchor perennially tough Tiger defenses that keyed Mizzou to four consecutive bowl games from 1978-1981. He lettered his final three seasons in Columbia, when Mizzou had a combined record of 23-13, including two bowl game victories. He finished with a career-high 78 tackles as a senior in 1981 and earned the Associated Press’ National Lineman of the Week award against 9th-ranked Mississippi State, as he registered a career-high 15 tackles (12 solo). In the NFL, he won a Super Bowl ring with the 1986 New York Giants.

Al Eberhard

Eberhard, said to be small for his position but strong as a horse, is one of only four Tigers ever to average a career double-double with 16.8 points and 10.1 rebounds a game. He is also part of Mizzou’s All-Century Team. Eberhard helped the Mizzou Tigers basketball team to its first two 20-win seasons in 1971 and 1972 and combined with John Brown to give Mizzou its best frontcourt tandem in decades. He earned three MVP Trophies at the Big Eight Holiday Tournament, scoring 33 points to beat Kansas State in one final, and finished second on the team in scoring and rebounding behind Brown. The 6-foot-5 forward averaged 17 points and 9.3 rebounds as a junior and, a year later, was a first team All-Big Eight while averaging 19.7 points and 12 rebounds a game.

Gayle Lampe

Lampe is a national and international leader in equestrian science. She is an instructor, coach, trainer, judge and rider. For 42 years, she has been an instrumental force in William Woods University’s nationally acclaimed equestrian studies division, where she participated in the development of the country’s first four-year academic degree program in equestrian science. She has judged horse shows in 43 states, as well as Canada, England, South Africa and Australia. She also has conducted clinics in 19 states and three foreign countries. She has conducted the USEF Judges clinics for Applicants, Saddle Seat Equitation, Saddlebred Horses and National Show Horses for the past four years. She also has trained several William Woods horses to world and national championships. In 1996, she coached the United States saddle seat equitation team to a gold medal in team and individual competition at the first ever Saddle Seat Equitation World Cup. She personally won a national championship at the Grand National Morgan Horse Show in 1983 on Zephyr’s King Moro. She has a string of other national victories.

Charlie James

A Webster Groves High School graduate who went on to attend the University of Missouri, Charlie James has a remarkable story that led to memorable big-league career. Ultimately, he played six seasons in the big leagues (1960-1965) and was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 1964 World Series-winning team. He signed in 1958 as an amateur free agent for a reported $15,000 with the Cardinals and made his big-league debut with St. Louis on Aug. 2, 1960 and ended his career with the Cincinnati Reds in 1965. In 510 games, James hit a career .255 with 172 RBI, 29 home runs, 56 doubles and nine triples. All this came after James attended Mizzou from 1955-1957, playing halfback for the football team for three seasons before being given permission to play outfield for the Tigers baseball team.

 Ken Ash

A former Mizzou baseball player and Moberly native who grew up in Columbia, Ash retired in July after a 26-year run with the Show-Me State Games, the largest state games in America. Ash, who began as a volunteer at the Games and has since risen up the ranks from full-time competition director (1990) to associate director (1995), became executive director in 2002 following Gary Filbert’s retirement. Ash has been a key in keeping the Show-Me State Games going strong while other state games struggle or folded, bringing great economic impact annually to Columbia. In Ash’s 13-year run as executive director, he eliminated the regional festival concept and brought all competitions to Columbia, stabilized the budget of about $1.4 million annually with long-term sponsorships and entry fees from at least 30,000 participants. A number of events were added under Ash’s tenure, too, including the MFA Oil Breaktime Shootout and the Show-Me Games Crappie Fishing Day.

Dr. Pat Smith

Dr. Pat Smith joined Columbia Orthopedic Group in 1986 and specializes in arthroscopic surgery and sports medicine. He has served as the head team physician for the University of Missouri athletic department since 1991; he has received the Sports Medicine Hall of Fame Award by the Missouri Athletic Trainers’ Association for outstanding service, dedication and contribution in the field of sports medicine. He also treats high school and college athletes from across the region. Smith is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Missouri and, in 2010, was appointed Director of the Division of Sports Medicine at the University of Missouri in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, as well as co-director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship Program. Dr. Smith is board certified in sports medicine. He is a member of numerous organizations such as the Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine.

Suzy Thompson

Suzy Thompson is a longtime cheerleading coach. She has served in that role for the University of Missouri from 1993 to present; and previously was the cheerleading coach at Macon High School from 1978 to 2007. At Mizzou, Thompson coached the Mizzou cheerleaders to a national championship in 1996 and “Truman the Tiger” has won national championships in 2004 and 2014. She also has been the mascot coordinator at Mizzou since 2003, the year she received the Recruiting Award from football coach Gary Pinkel. At Macon High School, Thompson led the cheerleading program to three high school national championships and 15 state championships. She is the winningest high school cheer coach in Missouri and was named the National Federation Interscholastic Spirit Association Coach of the Year in 1996. Thompson was the cheerleading squad captain of her high school, Kirksville, and was a cheerleader and team captain at Truman State University.

Jack Miles

Miles spent 30 years at the Missouri State High School Activities Association – 15 as assistant director and then 15 as executive director. He grew up in Shelbina, graduating in 1955, after he earned his football letter by holding the ball for placekicker Charlie Rush, a Mizzou Hall of Famer. He served two years in the Army after graduating from Mizzou in 1960 and soon began his career with MSHSAA. In his tenure, MSHSAA saw the expansion of girls sports. He later became state director for the Missouri Senior Games for 12 years.

Ben Loeb

A longtime tennis coach at both Hickman and Rock Bridge high schools in Columbia, Ben Loeb has earned more than 920 dual meet victories and 11 state championships in 26 years. He has coached Rock Bridge High School since 1994; his girls teams won six state championships (1999, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2014), while the Rock Bridge boys teams have won four state titles (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012). At Hickman High School (1989-1994) the boys team won state in 1994. Combined, his teams have reached the state semifinals 29 times. Loeb, a graduate of Clayton High School and the University of Missouri, also coached at the University of Missouri in 1986-1988.

Kate Walker

A Stephens College graduate who also earned a master’s at the University of Missouri, Kate Walker ended her career in dance after suffering from severe osteo-arthritis and yet has become a successful powerlifting champion. Introduced to the sport by Dr. Tom La Fontaine, Walker began power lifting at age 58. The Mizzou grad, who has worked at the university the past 19 years, was recently recognized in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” after a string of success. Those successes include setting state and national records in the American Drug Free Powerlifting Federation, and she was chosen for the USA Team for the World Drug Free Powerlifting Federation in 2010 and 2011. In 2010 at age 61, she won gold in her age and weight class and, a year later, set world records in the power squat, bench press and deadlift. Walker has been chosen to the Gladys Stankowski Sportswoman of the Year award in March 2011. She also has been named the Show-Me State Games Female Athlete of the Year in 2012.

Richard Poe

Poe is the longest tenured Missouri Tigers golf coach, having served from 1977 to 1998. In his 20-year stint at Mizzou, Poe overhauled the program and was a two-time Big Eight Coach of the Year, leading his team to the league title in 1984. He coached five PING All-America selections, 11 Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars and PGA Tour players Stan Utley and Jason Schultz. He reached the NCAA Regionals or Finals in 15 of the last 16 years he coached. Some of his best teams were made up of Missourians, and the 1984 Big Eight Championship team was comprised of two players from Columbia and one each from St. Louis, Kansas City and West Plains. He took five other teams to the NCAA Tournament before retiring in 1998. Poe is a Rolla native who graduated in 1963 from Mizzou. He competed for the Tigers from 1959 to 1963, and tied for fifth at the 1963 NCAA Championships – still a Mizzou record. He was set on becoming an attorney in the early 1970s but focused on golf after beginning work as a PGA professional at the Country Club of Missouri.

Larry Young

Young, a Columbia College graduate, is the only American race walker in the past century to medal in the Olympic Games. He won bronze in the 50-kilometer walk in 1968 in Mexico City and took bronze again four years later in the 50K in Munich. For almost two decades, he was the heart and soul of America race walking. Young dominated both the 20K and 50K. He won more than 30 national titles from 2 miles to 100 miles and added gold medals in the 50K race in the Pan-American Games – 1967 in Winnipeg, Manitoba; and in 1971 in Cali, Colombia. His time of 18 hours, 7.12 minutes remains the U.S. record for 100 miles set in 1971. He is a U.S. Track and Field Hall of Famer.

John Henage

Henage is being honored for his career as a high school football coach and athletic director. He was 149-70-2 in 20 seasons (1977 to 1997) at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, winning the Class 3 state title in 1977 and placing second in Class 4 in both 1992 and 1993. His .678 winning percentage was recently among the top 20. Henage, named the Missouri Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1977 and 1993, retired in 2001 after 24 years in Columbia Public Schools, having also spent years as athletic director of Rock Bridge High School.

Alvin “Squeaky” Marquart

Fan

Alvin “Squeaky” Marquart began doing basketball radio broadcasts for KLPW in 1968 and took over when the station almost ended sports coverage. He even worked for free for a time after the station was sold. In 1972, he and his wife, Opal, purchased their first Mizzou football season tickets. In 1973, Marquart became president of the Missouri Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association, which was the first to publish an all-state girls basketball team. Additionally, Marquart and Opal began attending every home and road Tigers football and basketball game in 1986. Squeaky has not missed a basketball home game since.