Longtime Price Cutter Supermarkets Vice President Rob Marsh was bestowed the President’s Award, and eight individuals were inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday during the second annual Outdoor Sports Luncheon presented by the Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Company.
President & Executive Director Jerald Andrews presided over the ceremony at the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center in Springfield. The Hall of Fame followed the pandemic guidelines of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department and City of Springfield.
The newest inductees are: The Roper Racing Family of Fair Grove, amateur golfer Wayne Fredrick, angler Rick Emmitt, tennis player and coach Jim Klousia, fishing media’s Don Berry, horse trainer Geno Middleton, water skiing national champion Erin Kalkbrenner and Lincoln University track and field coach Victor Thomas.
Marsh was bestowed the President’s Award for 17 years as the primary link between Price Cutter Supermarkets and the PGA Korn Ferry Tour’s Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper. The tournament is managed by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
“We are delighted to be honoring these individuals. They made a lot of great memories in their sports, and continue to make positive contributions in their communities,” Andrews said. “We also want to thank the many sponsors and individuals who threw their support behind this ceremony.”
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Rob Marsh – President’s Award
Marsh, the Vice President of Operations and Perishables for Price Cutter Supermarkets. The award is presented to individuals who champion the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and sports across the state. Marsh certainly has. The 1991 Kickapoo High School graduate is in his 24th year with Price Cutter Supermarkets, a corporate sponsor of the Hall of Fame. Since 2004, he has been the company’s primary link for the PGA Korn Ferry Tour’s Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper, which has gifted nearly $17.4 million to Ozarks children’s charities since 1990. That’s significant. Over that time, Marsh has strengthened the relationship between the company and the tournament, which is managed by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. In fact, 92.5 percent of the PCCC’s total – or $16,078,141 – has been gifted since Price Cutter Supermarkets became a presenting or title sponsor 22 years ago. Marsh, who previously worked for Smitty’s and Albertson’s, has risen from Assistant Manager within Price Cutter to a number of roles: Manager of the Price Cutter at Kansas Expressway and Grand Avenue, District Manager, Director of Planning & Development, Director of Operations and Vice President of Sales & Merchandising. He has been named by Supermarket News as a Supermarket Rising Leader and a 40 Under 40 by the Springfield Business Journal.
The Roper Family – Auto Racing
The Roper Family of Fair Grove has been one of the most recognized on the car racing scene of southwest Missouri going back to the 1960s.They consist of Dale Roper, Sr., his brother, the late Dean Roper, as well as Dale Roper, Jr. (“Pee Wee”) and the late Tony Roper. Dale began racing in 1965 and won roughly 200 races, including seven track championships at three different tracks – Bolivar Speedway, I-44 Speedway in Lebanon and Fort Wood Speedway near Waynesville. Dean, who passed away in 2001, was a professional driver and finished 15th in the 1983 Daytona 500 and raced at the 1983 Daytona 500. He also won three ARCA (Automobile Racing Club of America) championships in the 1980s. He also won at Valley Park Speedway and the Ozark Speedway in Joplin, plus drove for John Childs in St. Louis as well as the Mueller Brothers in Wisconsin. Dale Jr. began racing in 1979, won a championship at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds in 1980 and won six more championships between 2001 and 2011. Tony, Dean’s son, began racing in 1986 and eventually competed in the American Speed Association short-track series and was the runner-up in 1992 as ASA Rookie of the Year. From 1995 to 2000, he drove in 60 races in the NASCAR Truck Series, two steps below the Sprint Cup level, and had one second-place and eight top-10 finishes, earning nearly $488,000. Tony scored three Top 10 finishes in 16 races in the Xfinity Series, NASCAR’s second-highest tier. Sadly, he passed away while racing at the Texas Motor Speedway in 2000.
Wayne Fredrick – Golf
A 1980 Glendale High School graduate, Fredrick is the only player to have won all six men’s state championships in the Missouri Golf Association: the Missouri Amateur (1996), Missouri Stroke Play (2001), Missouri Mid-Amateur (2007), Missouri 4-Ball with Kory Bowman (2014), Missouri Senior Amateur (2018, 2019), and Missouri Senior 4-Ball with Brian Haskell (2020). He also was medalist at the 2015 Missouri Amateur. Fredrick was the MGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020. Additionally, he has won 10 Springfield City Championships (Regular and Senior) and eight invitational titles in the Midwest. Nationally, Fredrick has competed in three USGA national championships, most recently qualifying for Match Play in the 2019 USGA Senior Championship. A former Missouri State University golfer, he runs See the Field Consulting, a real estate consulting company, and has long served on the Executive Committee of the Missouri Golf Association, which voted Fredrick to be its next president.
Rick Emmitt – Bass Fishing
Emmitt has more than 35 years of experience in the fishing industry, including 13 years as manager of the Bass Pro/Nitro Pro Fishing Team as well as marketing manager for angler programs and pro staff for Bass Pro Shops/White River Marine Group. He also appears on countless radio shows and podcasts, plus is a co-host of a weekly fishing tips segment that airs 13 weeks each spring on KY3 TV. Additionally, he is in his sixth year as the head coach of Drury University’s bass fishing program, which has become one of the top programs in the country. In 2019-2020, the Panthers cracked the top 10 nationally, finishing eighth in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year rankings. Drury also was 30th among more than 300 programs in the country in the points race for the previous two seasons. They are now ranked ninth nationally.
Jim Klousia — Tennis
Klousia coached the Missouri State University men’s tennis program for 27 years (1977-2005), which made him the second-longest tenured coach in MSU history at the time, and is in his 34th year as the Director of Tennis at Hickory Hills Country Club. He guided MSU to 10 conference championships and was one of only two MSU coaches to win championships in three difference leagues: 1979 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Association, 1982 & 1984-1990 Mid-Continent Conference and 2005 Missouri Valley Conference. The 1979 team finished seventh in NCAA Division II, and the 1981 team was 13th nationally. Klousia was a six-time Coach of the Year (five in the MCCC and 1993 in the Valley), and his teams had a 324-271 dual meet record. A Monett native and 1975 graduate of Southwest Baptist University, he was a four-time NAIA District 16 selection for SBU, played in nationals all four years and ranks second all-time in singles wins (105).
Don Berry – Fishing Media
This year marks Year 21 since Berry founded Don Berry Pro Fishing LCC Productions. A graduate of Advance High School, he hosts “Don Berry’s Fishin’ Radio Show” on 96.9 FM in Springfield. He also enhanced the company with ReSpoolin’ Magazine, started Berry’s Outdoor Web TV and, in 2007, established Ozark Mountain Team Trail, which has paid back more than $1.5 million in earnings to fishing tournament anglers. Berry played basketball for Carroll Cookson (MSHOF 1997) at the University of the Ozarks and later earned a master’s degree and specialist in education degree at Southeast Missouri State University. He also served as a coach, counselor and administrator in the Van Buren and Willard school districts. He was inducted into the Willard High School Hall of Fame as the “Voice of the Willard Tigers,” and for starting the Willard Four State Tournament and promoting fishing. Berry also has competed in local, regional and national fishing tournaments.
Geno Middleton – Professional Horse Trainer
Middleton is a nine-time World Grand Champion horse trainer in the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association (MFTHBA), headquartered in Ava. With a Howell County farm in Pomona, just north of West Plains, he is currently in his 40th year and continues to train professionally. Middleton was the youngest trainer to win a World Grand Championship, doing so at age 18 in 1986 with Madam Sensation. His other World Grand Championships were Missouri’s Bobbie Sue (1989), Missouri’s Charming Princess M.(1994), Travelers Red Alert (1995), Pancho Villa A. (1996), Prince Jester (2003), Cardinal’s Gunslinger A. (2004), Gunslinger’s Guns & Roses A. (2008) and Oh Yeah (2020). It’s quite a career, considering the MFTHBA features open and amateur qualifying classes for 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-year-old horses – meaning hundreds enter competitions, with a possibility of 20 entries advancing to each championship division for a Gelding, Mare and Stud faceoff. Middleton is also a 2015 inductee to the MFTHBA Hall of Fame.
Erin Kalkbrenner – Water Skier
Kalkbrenner has won 14 national championships in the U.S. Water Ski National Championships, plus holds two Missouri state water ski records. The Kansas City native won national titles in the Women 2 Division in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. She holds the Women 1 Division record (ages 18-24 inclusive) jump of 119 feet, set in 2009. In fact, her 2015 national title was historic, as she and her husband, Cole, became the first husband and wife team to win a national title. She also established the Women 2 trick record in the 25-34 inclusive age category with 3,890 points, set in 2012. In 2019, Kalkbrenner was the Volunteer Coach of the Year by USA Water Ski & Wake Sports. In recent years, she and her husband are members at Mystic Lakes Ski Club near Wichita, Kan., with the site hosting several major events. Kalkbrenner is currently the coach of the U.S. U21 World Waterski Team and the U.S. Pan-American Waterski Team and will be competing in the 2021 Senior World Waterski Championships.
Victor Thomas – Lincoln University Track & Field Coach
Thomas is in his 19th season coaching the Lincoln University Track and Field Program (MSHOF 2013). He has guided 14 women’s teams to NCAA Division II national titles: nine D-II Outdoor titles and five D-II Indoor championships in addition to five MIAA Indoor titles and four MIAA Outdoor championships. On the men’s side, the Blue Tigers finished No. 2 nationally in 2012 in the D-II Outdoor and, in 2016, won their first MIAA Indoor title since 1981. The 2017 Lincoln men won the MIAA Outdoor, and the 2020 indoor team was ranked No. 1 before the pandemic led to the season’s cancellation. Thomas has coached Lincoln athletes to 897 All-American performances (top eight finishes at national meets). That includes 92 individual national championships and 38 relay titles. A multiple conference and national Coach of the Year and native of Jamaica, Thomas also has led the Jamaican Junior Pan American Games National Team.
