The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame will soon honor 14 individuals, including a former big-leaguer, Kansas City Chief and an angler, as well as two college sports eras, Mercy athletic trainers and three golf brothers as part of its Class of 2026.
President & CEO Rob Marsh on Wednesday announced the Enshrinement, set for 1 PM on Sunday, Feb. 1 at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds in Springfield. The Hall of Fame also will honor Thompson Sales with the John Q. Founder’s Award and bestow Rick Beaman of Hiland Dairy Foods with the President’s Award.
“We’re excited to be telling the stories of these honorees because they not only excelled in their fields, but inspired many others,” Marsh said. “We hope folks join us in celebrating their collective success.”
The Class of 2026 is as follows:
- Bill Mueller – Missouri State Baseball & Boston Red Sox
- Dustin Colquitt – Kansas City Chiefs
- Matt Gifford – Cardinals baseball executive
- Rob Bowers – Richmond High School football coach
- Darrell “Smitty” Smith – Boxing coach
- Borland Golf Brothers of Carthage – Glen, Joe & Gary
- Richard Hackett – Drury University diving coach
- Missouri State University 1989 & 1990 Football Playoff Teams
- Crowder College Softball Era of 1982-1992
- J.P. Sell — Fishing
- Tom Beck – Lexington High School track & field coach
- Kevin Kelly – Jefferson City sports radio
- Jeff Starkweather – Joplin High School coach & athletic director
- Tonya Peck – Fair Grove High School volleyball coach
- Bill Barton – State Fair CC basketball coach
- Mercy Sports Medicine Athletic Trainers & Support Staff
- Eric Johnson – Webb City basketball coach
- Stan Melton – Ice Bears founder
- Thompson Sales – John Q. Hammons Founder’s Award
- Rick Beaman – President’s Award
Sponsorship tables of 10 are $1,500 and include recognition at the table and in the printed program. An individual ticket is $150. All ads are half off with the purchase of a table. Numerous sponsorships are available, including associate sponsorships, congratulatory, digital and video ads, as well as for the 20-month calendar and individual Trading Cards.
Bill Mueller – Missouri State University & Big-League Baseball Player
A graduate of De Smet Jesuit Academy in St. Louis, Mueller starred at Missouri State University in the early 1990s and then played 14 seasons in professional baseball – including 11 seasons (1996 to 2006) in the big leagues. At Missouri State, Mueller played on the left side of the infield from 1990 to 1993, including shortstop his final two seasons. He was the conference MVP as a senior and Second Team All-American from the American Baseball Coaches Association. He graduated as the MSU all-time leader in runs (234), hits (289), singles (222), total bases (398), walks (154) and stolen bases (65), and was in the top five in games, at-bats, doubles, triples, on base percentage, extra-base hits, hit by pitch, sacrifice hits, assists, total chances and double plays. He is still in the top 20 of most of those categories. A co-captain as a junior and senior, Mueller was picked for the USA National Team and U.S. Olympic Trials in 1992. He eventually played for the San Francisco Giants (1996-2000, 2002), the Chicago Cubs (2001-2002), the Boston Red Sox (2003-2005) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2006). He helped the Red Sox win the 2004 World Series in a season when he was the American League batting champion (.326 average). He then gave back as a hitting coach for several big-league clubs.
Dustin Colquitt – Kansas City Chiefs
One of the best punters and holders in Chiefs history, Colquitt appeared in a franchise-record 238 games during his incredible career and signed a one-day contract in June 2025 in order to retire as a Kansas City Chief. It put a bow on a career that was defined by consistent brilliance despite immense adversity, pressure and expectations throughout his 15 years in Kansas City (2005-2019). A third-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft out of the University of Tennessee, Colquitt went on to record the seventh-most punts of any player in NFL history. He also served as the Chiefs’ holder for more than 400 field goal attempts and over 500 extra-point tries. In fact, when including the postseason, Colquitt appeared in 250 games for the Chiefs. His final game with Kansas City was Super Bowl LIV, in which he recorded two punts and five total holds as Kansas City won its first world championship in 50 years. Twice he earned Pro Bowl honors (2012, 2016). He played the 2020 and 2021 seasons for Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Atlanta and Cleveland, and all after a storied career at the University of Tennessee, where he earned All-America honors en route to becoming the Volunteers’ all-time leader in punts and games played.
Matt Gifford – Sports Executive
This past season marked the 30th in the St. Louis Cardinals organization for Gifford, who made a tremendous impact from 2004 to 2017 as the General Manager of the Double-A Springfield Cardinals and is now the Vice President of Stadium Operations at Busch Stadium. When St. Louis purchased a Minor League Baseball club and brought it to the Ozarks – MSHOF founder John Q. Hammons built the stadium – Gifford was the face of the Double-A club, leading its community outreach and sales department. The city last had a farm club in 1950. Gifford and his front-office team helped to pack Hammons Field, with the club drawing 526,630 fans in its inaugural season (7,532 a game) and stayed north of 400,000 in attendance over the next four seasons. Overall, roughly 5 million fans visited Hammons Field throughout his tenure and more than 100 players reached the big-leagues. In 2016, Gifford was unanimously voted as the Texas League representative for the Minor League Baseball Board of Trustees. He was the Texas League Executive of the Year in 2008 and 2016 and also served as the Chairman of the Greater Springfield Area Sports Commission and Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, along with serving on various charity and civic boards. A graduate of Parkway West High School, where he was the starting center on its 1991 state championship basketball team, Gifford later played baseball and graduated from Indiana University.
Rob Bowers – Richmond High School
Bowers enjoyed a football coaching career that began in 1981 and lasted through the 2017 season. He was 197-145 overall as a head coach, including 114-65 in two stints at Richmond High School. His 2010 team won the Class 3 state championship, and Bowers guided Spartans teams to seven conference championships and nine district titles. They also played in seven state quarterfinals. All this came after Bowers graduated from Hamilton High School in 1975 – he was all-conference as a two-way lineman, and All-State and All-District – before playing at William Jewell College. Before college graduation, he played linebacker and then two seasons at nose guard. His coaching career began as a graduate assistant there, and then took him to two years as an assistant at Plattsburg High School, then to Sam Houston State as a graduate assistant before becoming a head coach – first at Worth County, then Albany for six seasons, one year at McDonald County, six at Richmond, three at Cameron and then was at Richmond from 2001 to 2017. He has since been inducted into the Missouri Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Darrell “Smitty” Smith – Boxing Coach
Smitty opened Smitty’s Mid-West Boxing Gym & Youth Center in Springfield in 2012 and has since coached more than 1,500 kids in the sport of boxing. For the past decade, the gym has operated as a certified USA Boxing amateur gym, focused on getting disadvantaged youth involved in a structured boxing program. The gym’s mission statement concentrates on discipline, self-confidence, anger management, leadership, teamwork, and respect for the boxers themselves as well as parents, elders, peers, and society in general. The gym has developed 20 amateur Golden Gloves champions, as well as Junior Olympic champions and winning professional boxers. Four of its boxers have been selected for the U.S. Olympic Trials. Smitty has assisted many on completing their high school or GED programs, enlist in the military, enter vocational training, or prepare for college. Coach Smitty was the Kansas City Golden Gloves Outstanding Coach of the Year in 2017, Man of the Year by the Springfield Business Journal in 2021 and is a 2022 inductee of Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame. His “Always Ready to Rumble” events (the 13th scheduled for October 2-3, 2026) now draws boxers from 14 states. An accomplished fighter, Smitty was 218-14 in his pro career, and won 30 regional Golden Gloves championships, 18 Junior Olympic championships, and numerous All-Army Boxing Team awards. He was the Outstanding Fighter of the Kansas City Golden Gloves in 1982 and was the youngest member of the U.S. National Boxing Team that year. Coach Smitty won the North Carolina Regional Golden Gloves Championship in 1987, was the Springfield Fighter of the Year five times, was inducted into the Fort Bragg Boxing Hall of Fame in 2018, and currently serves as a Top Level official and Judge at the Olympic level, as well as being a National Level coach, referee, and official in charge of sanctioned USA Boxing tournaments. Smitty served 10 years in the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army, and retired due to military service injuries after serving in the Gulf War. He has degrees from Drury University in Basic Law Enforcement, and from Belltown University in Criminal Justice.
Richard Hackett – Drury University Diving Assistant Coach
Hackett is in his 35th year as the diving coach for the Drury Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving Program. He has helped the program to seven men’s NAIA national championships, 12 men’s NCAA Division II national championships, three NAIA women’s national titles and 10 NCAA Division II women’s national titles. In 2025, he guided men’s diver Israel Zavaleta to national titles on both 1-meter and 3-meter events. Hackett has been named the NCAA Division II Men’s Diving Coach of the Year four times and has coached multiple All-Americans. His divers have won two individual national championships at the NAIA level as well as seven in NCAA Division II. In addition to his focus with divers, Hackett also worked in the past as a strength and conditioning coach for several other of Drury’s athletic programs. He has also coached the SPS diving program for the past 30-plus years and has had three state champions. A native of River Ridge, La., he was an All-American diver in high school while attending Riverdale High School.
The Borland Golf Brothers of Carthage
Golf has long had a foothold in southwest Missouri, and enriching the tradition in the community of Carthage has been the Borland Brothers – Joe, Glen and Gary.
- Glen graduated from Carthage High School in 1959, meaning he was a junior on its state third-place golf team and three Big 9 conference championship teams. As a senior, he was the 1 player on the Big Nine Conference champion Tiger team. After High School, “Square” played for Joplin Junior College and was runner-up in the state junior college golf championship, shooting 62-67-129. Later he and his partner finished sixth in the Junior College National Championship. Years later, he won the senior division of the Missouri State Amateur Tournament when it was played at Twin Hills in Joplin, and tied for fifth in 1993. His best score at Carthage Golf Course was 62, before the new nine was built, and he held the course record for many years. The best score he remembers was 62.
- Joe, who passed away in 2018, was a member of Carthage’s Big 9 Conference championship teams (1957, 1958, 1959). After graduating in 1960, he went into the service, making the golf team at Forbes Air Force Base in Topeka and becoming base champion twice. In 1977, he was the Missouri Amateur low qualifier at 71. He won the Carthage Pro-Am Championship four times and placed an additional 13 times. Joe finished first in the Center Creek Open in 1979, 1980 and 1981, as well as first in the Lamar Open in 1987. He won the Dick Mansfield Championship a record five times in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013. He also was named Carthage Men’s Golf Association (CMGA) Player of the Year in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011 & 2012. Additionally, he finished first in CMGA stroke play in 2004, 2005 and 2008, as well as senior stroke play in 2011 and 2013. To this day, Joe holds the Carthage Golf Course Record of 59, set in 1998. In his career, Joe has 39 individual first-place finishes and 50 team first-place finishes, as well as 32 second place finishes in individual and team play.
- Gary was a member of the Carthage Tiger Big 9 Conference champions of 1964 and a member of Carthage’s 1964 & 1965 state qualifiers. He was a member of Missouri Southern Junior College national qualifiers in 1968. He was a multiple Carthage Pro-Am champion (1968, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1983); won the 22nd annual Joplin Globe City Championship, 2003 Nevada Senior Championships; the CMGA titles of 2006, 2007,2010; and the Dick Mansfield Championships (2003, 2010, 2011). He also held first places in CMGA Stroke Play (2010) and CMGA Senior Stroke Play (2012).
Missouri State Football 1989 & 1990 Playoff Teams
The Missouri State University football teams of 1989 and 1990 showed that the campus wasn’t just a basketball school. Both teams advanced to the playoffs in NCAA I-AA, or what’s now the Football Championship Subdivision, becoming almost mythical and standing the test of time. Both teams were coached by Jesse Branch (MSHOF 2017). The 1989 team finished 10-3, beating No. 8-ranked Maine 38-35 in the opening round before suffering a 55-25 loss at No. 3 Stephen F. Austin. That was the first time a Bears football team had won 10 games in a season since 1940, and the program last had a nine-win season in 1963. The 10-win season included victories against three Top 20-ranked teams – No. 8 Northeastern State, No. 14 Indiana State and No. 20 Alcorn State – in what was Branch’s fourth season on campus. The next year, they had wins against Nevada-Las Vegas and, after a Week 2 loss at Tulsa, won eight of its next nine – including seven consecutive – to advance to the playoffs, where they fell short, 41-35, against No. 13 Idaho. Offensive guard Mark Christensen (1989), quarterback DeAndre Smith (1990, and offensive guard Chris Reed (1990) were Associated Press All-Americans, with Christensen and Smith earning that distinction from the American Football Coaches Association. Smith also was recognized by the Walter Camp Football Foundation. They were among 11 all-conference honorees in 1989, with Smith among 14 all-conference honorees in 1990.
Crowder College Softball Era 1982-1992
The most successful college softball program in the state can be found in the southwest Missouri town of Neosho, where the Crowder College softball teams enjoyed great success over 10 seasons, from 1982 to 1992. The Roughriders advanced to six NJCAA Tournaments in that time (1983, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1992), with the 1986 team capturing the program’s only national championship to date. They were national runner-up in 1984, 1991 and 1992 and placed fourth in 1983. Additionally, they won four district titles and seven regional championships in that time. The era began with a 53-win season in 1982, when Crowder won the Region just two years after the program was founded. Annie Westfall coached the team from 1983 to 1987 (222-32 record). Millie Gillion coached from 1988 to 2000 (496-141). The 1986 team earned 63 wins, with 40 shutouts, and both figures are school records. That team lost in the opening round in Benton Harbor, Mich., but rallied with six victories – including four in the consolation round. The Riders beat Arizona Western twice to win it all, first by a 1-0 victory and then 2-1 in 19 innings. Michelle Chia, their main pitcher, was the tournament Most Valuable Player. Chia that season finished with a 0.29 earned run average and 39 wins in a whopping 313 innings. The 1985 and 1989 teams suffered only four losses.
J.P. Sell – Fishing
A longtime Rogersville resident and a 1989 Conway High School graduate, Sell is an angler who has spent the past decade-plus helping young anglers and veterans with or without disabilities have an opportunity to experience the outdoors through the sport of bass fishing. Primarily working through Bass Pro Shops and numerous non-profit organizations – including his own, Fish Tales and Diversified Freedom for Disabilities – Sell has developed fishing and hunting equipment for use for special people with severe disabilities. Additionally, he has been a marketing and sales specialist for developing new programs to get more children and veterans involved with fishing and outdoor events. Along the way, he has taught hundreds of children and adults how to be better anglers, as well as ways to deliver presentations and seminars on fishing and everyday events. Sell has helped the following organizations: National Youth Fishing Association, Anglers for Life, Teen Anglers, Missouri Conservation, Corps of Engineers, Camp Barnabas, B.A.S.S., Firefighters Burn Camp, Down Syndrome Group of the Ozarks, Operation Wet Vet, Southwest Center for Independent Living, Wounded Warriors, Conservation/Heritage Foundation, Bass Pro Conservation, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Catch A Dream Organization, Empowers Abilities, MDA, Boy Scouts of America, Special Olympics, Camp Valor Veterans Events, Fishing Dreams for Veterans, The Arc of the Ozarks and Fishing Dreams for Special Children. He has won numerous awards, including the Jefferson Award/Jackie Kennedy Award in Washington, D.C., and has appeared on numerous TV and radio segments promoting the sport. Sell also has held leadership roles in a dozen organizations.
Tom Beck – Lexington High School Track & Field, Football & Wrestling Coach
Beck coached at Lexington for more than 30 years and was either a head coach or assistant coach on nine state championship teams and four state runner-up finishers. Primarily, he was the head coach of the track & field program from 1973 to 2000, with his boys teams winning three state championships in Class 2. The 1979 team edged Mount Vernon 51.5 points to 49.5 points, while the 1989 team outscored Springfield Catholic 60-49. The 1993 team shared the title with Sarcoxie. The 1972 and 1977 teams were state runners-up. Beck also coached girls track for 15 seasons and was an assistant football coach from 1970 to 2000, and then the head coach from 2008 to 2011. The football team won state titles in 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1995. In wrestling, he was an assistant from 1970 to 1986, and head coach from 1986 to 2000. The wrestling team won state in 1976, and were runners-up in 1990 and 1991, placed third in 1981, and placed fourth in 1984 and 1985. Beck is a 1965 graduate of Higginsville High School – it’s now Lafayette County High School – and a 1970 graduate of the University of Central Missouri.
Kevin Kelly – Sports Broadcasting
Kelly is now in his 48th year of broadcasting sports in Jefferson City, covering the Jefferson City Jays, Helias Catholic Crusaders, Blair Oaks Falcons and Capital City Cavaliers. He has been at the mic for 23 MSHSAA state championship football games and has handled play-by-play from 25 Show-Me Showdowns. Along the way, he won numerous awards from the Missouri Broadcasters Association, including first place in sports reporting and play-by-play. He also received the Distinguished Service Award from MSHSAA and was inducted into the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2009. Kelly is a graduate of Bayless High School in St. Louis, where he played baseball before going on to graduate from the Missouri School of Journalism. Overall, he has broadcast more than 2,200 sporting events in the Jefferson City area, interviewing big names but also capturing the essence of sports – high school coaches and athletes.
Jeff Starkweather – Coach & Athletic Administrator
A Joplin native, Starkweather spent 31 years in public education, including 22 years at Joplin High School. That covered six seasons as Joplin boys basketball coach, five as the boys and girls golf coach and then 11 as the athletic director (2006-2017). Notably, he oversaw 50 sports and 85 coaches for Joplin high school and middle school and led Joplin Athletics through one of the most challenging times following the May 2011 tornado that killed 158 and destroyed numerous buildings, including Joplin High School. Athletic facilities either were rebuilt or updated. He earned several awards: 2014 AD of the Year and District AD of the Year by the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Directors Association, 2014 State of Merit Award from the National Association; and 2025 Gerald Linneman Lifetime Achievement Award from the MIAAA. During his AD tenure, two teams brough home state trophies (2014 girls golf, third & 2015 softball, fourth), and two tennis individuals won state championships. In 2017-2018, he was the interim AD for Springfield Public Schools. Starkweather is a 1982 graduate of Joplin’s Parkwood High School and played basketball there. After a season at Midwestern State, he played his final three seasons at Missouri Southern in Joplin and was a senior on the 1987 team that won at Oklahoma State before qualifying for the NAIA Tournament. Starkweather then was a two-year graduate assistant at Alabama-Birmingham and then spent five seasons at Missouri Southern.
Tonya Peck – Volleyball Coach
Peck coached Fair Grove High School’s volleyball program for 24 seasons before stepping down in 2025. The Lady Eagles surged to become one of the most successful programs in the state. Her teams were 618-177-53, averaging nearly 26 wins a season. They reached four Final Fours (2001, 2013, 2023, 2024), winning state championships in 2023 and 2024. Additionally, Fair Grove won 10 Class 2 district titles and 14 Mid-Lakes Conference championships. Her individual accolades are just as impressive, including 15 Mid-Lakes Conference Coach of the Year honors, and in 2023, she was named both the Missouri Class 2 Coach of the Year and Missouri All-Class Coach of the Year. She earned Class 2 Coach of the Year again in 2024, affirming her legacy as one of the top coaches in the state. She also was selected in 2024 as the National Federation of High Schools’ Section V Volleyball Coach of the Year. Peck is a 1996 graduate of Ash Grove High School, where she earned all-conference and All-District in volleyball, basketball, softball and ran track. She played volleyball at Missouri State-West Plains and at Southwest Baptist University and was an assistant at Ash Grove before taking over at Fair Grove.
Bill Barton – College Basketball Coach
A 1955 graduate of Crane High School in southwest Missouri who was drafted into the Army while in college, Barton made his name as a basketball coach State Fair Community College in Sedalia. He coached there from 1970 to 2005, guiding the Roadrunners to a record of 625-497 over that span. His teams captured multiple Region 16 championships and earned appearances in the NJCAA Tournament in 1972 and 1976, seasons in which Barton was also named Region 16 Coach of the Year. Four of his players signed with Jack Hartman’s Kansas State Wildcats, including Carthage’s Joe Wright. Two others signed with Norm Stewart’s Mizzou Tigers. In 1991, he was elected to the Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame and, in 2010, was inducted into the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Las Vegas. His journey to coaching wasn’t smooth. After high school, Barton played two years at Southwest Baptist University and was attending Northeast Oklahoma State University when drafted into the Army, where he spent seven years. He then coached at Crane for six years, and Skyline for two years, taking the 1969 and 1970 teams to the Class S Final Four, with the 1969 team earning a state runner-up. At State Fair, his teams mostly played in an agriculture building that seated maybe 700 fans.
Mercy Sports Medicine Athletic Trainers & Support Staff
When the Mercy Sports Medicine Athletic Training program began more than 30 years ago, it was based on a vision of maximizing the profession while improving the overall care and well-being of athletes and active people across our state. From that dream, it has grown into a care team that covers the I-44 corridor, from Joplin to St. Louis, and the St. Louis Metropolitan area to Cape Girardeau. Mercy’s athletic trainers work in the high school and collegiate settings, in Mercy clinics, in sports therapy, and in educational roles. From the foundation built in Springfield, this group now works with the St. Louis Cardinals, Missouri State University, Southeast Missouri State University, Lindenwood University, Missouri-St. Louis, Missouri Southern State University and Evangel University. Its Athletic Trainers cover more than 40 high schools and multiple club teams, and work with the Missouri State High School Athletic Association. Without their work and expertise in our communities, Mercy Sports Medicine could not accomplish its goal of great patient care.
Eric Johnson – High School Basketball Coach
Johnson coached Webb City High School boys basketball from 1984 to 2008 and, combined with his nine seasons in southeast Kansas, earned a 681-537 record. He took three teams to the Final Four, with the 1997 Webb City boys winning Class 3 in beating Chillicothe 46-41 and finishing 26-4. The next season’s team returned and placed third in the state, and then his 2008 team sent him out on a great note, winning the third-place game at the state tournament. His squads also captured 10 conference titles and 11 district championships. Johnson was named District Coach of the Year in 1986, 1992, and 1997, and the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association honored him as Coach of the Year in 1997. He has spent the past 13 years coaching basketball and golf for New Heights Christian Academy in Joplin. He previously coached in Kansas, at Horton and then Columbus high schools. Johnson graduated from Pittsburg High School in Kansas, earning Honorable Mention All-State in basketball, and then played at Highland Junior College and Pittsburg State, where he was all-conference. His father, Bob Johnson, also had a distinguished 30-year coaching career at the high school and collegiate levels, including 14 years at Pittsburg State.
Stan Melton – Ice Bears Founder
The Missouri State Hockey Ice Bears are now in their 25th season in Springfield, thanks largely to Melton. He was the founder of the Springfield Citizens Committee that successfully pitched a recreational ice facility that ultimately became the Jordan Valley Ice Park, which opened in 2000. Melton retired as the general manager of the Missouri State Hockey Club in 2015 and still assists in an advisory role and provides financial support. The Ice Bears have been a success, not only drawing in large crowds but also helping develop talent for college and pro levels. Additionally, the ice park is home now to several youth teams and available for free skating for the general public, allowing southwest Missouri residents to participate in a sport not offered at most high schools in the state or region. A graduate of Cassville High School and the University of Missouri, where he earned a bachelor’s in Journalism and Mass Communications, Melton was the assistant GM of Mediacom of Springfield for 24 years. He previously served as a radio news director in Springfield and as administrative assistant to Missouri Lt. Gov. Bill Phelps. Melton has served on the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau Board, Jordan Valley Park Advisory Commission, Lakes Country Rehabilitation Center Board and as chairman of Greater Ozarks Blues Festival Annual Event Steering Committee. Melton currently serves on the Preferred Family Health Care Company Board of Directors and is a campaign consultant to Jasper County Associate Commissioner Tom Flanigan, who previously served eight years as a Missouri State Representative from the Carthage area.
John Q. Hammons Founder’s Award – Thompson Sales
Thompson Sales has been a Springfield staple since 1919, and now operates an automotive dealership on a 14-acre campus in southeast Springfield highlighted by GMC, Cadillac and Buick vehicles along with service, body shop and parts departments. The company is being honored with the prestigious John Q. Hammons Founder’s Award, bestowed on companies who throw tremendous support behind the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame’s efforts – especially its charitable fundraising initiative, Price Cutter Cares presented by Hiland Dairy Foods. Thompson Sales had been a longtime sponsor of the Hall of Fame and the Price Cutter tournament and then stepped forward again in 2025. It became the official car dealership of the tournament, with the tournament’s truck giveaway being a GMC Canyon from Thompson Sales. The dealership also sponsored several pro-am teams and participated in numerous other events that enabled the tournament ultimately to gift north of $525,000 to 32 Ozarks children’s charities. It also has become a corporate sponsor of the Hall of Fame, participating in induction ceremonies and golf events. Overall, Thompson Sales was founded by George Thompson Sr., and then has been in good hands over the years by George III, Lynn, Miles, Tyler, Alex, Troy, Drew Givens and Derek Lowrance.
Rick Beaman – President’s Award
The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame will bestow the President’s Award – and a Hall of Fame letter jacket, complete with the shield logo – on Beaman, the president of Springfield-based Hiland Dairy Foods. The award recognizes those who champion the mission of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, as well as its signature charity fundraising event, Price Cutter Cares presented by Hiland Dairy Foods. Beaman joined Hiland Dairy in 2012 and was promoted to president in 2023 following the retirement of Gary Aggus (MSHOF President’s Award 2025). Beaman saw to it that Hiland Dairy continued its corporate sponsorship with the Hall of Fame and Price Cutter Cares – both of which operate as 501(c)(3) not-for-profits. He also serves on the board of both organizations and, in 2025, Beaman threw even more support behind both organizations after they experienced financial challenges. That included Hiland Dairy sponsoring golf teams and tables in induction ceremonies for the Hall of Fame, and loaning a semi-truck, refrigerator truck and display rig and more for the Price Cutter tournament. All this for an executive with proven leadership experience at several top private and public dairy companies. Upon graduation from Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., he began his career with Borden Dairy in 1975. Beaman then joined Southern Foods as executive vice president before accepting the position of chief operating officer of the western region of Dean Foods. Before joining Hiland, he was president of LaLa USA in Dalla. Beaman also serves on the MilkPEP board. He had previous board positions with IDFA, Milk Industry Foundation, McDonald’s Dairy Council, American Red Cross, and various retail food organizations.
