The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame will soon celebrate the successes of the landmark federal Title IX legislation that paved the way for girls to compete in sports, with its Women’s Sports Luncheon presented by the Bee Payne-Stewart Foundation.
CEO & President Rob Marsh on Friday announced the luncheon, set for 11 AM on Thursday, April 16 at the Wilson Logistics Arena on the campus of the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds in Springfield. The event marks the Hall of Fame’s 11th Women’s Sports Luncheon since 2014 and comes 54 years since passage of Title IX, which required public schools to offer sports to women student-athletes.
The Class of 2026 features:
- Sharman Paine Bennett – Springfield Tennis Instructor
- Erica Calhoun – Southeast High School & Missouri State Track & Field Standout
- Brenda Campbell – Versailles High Schools Volleyball Coach & AD
- Janet Edge – Skyline High School Scorekeeper
- El Dorado Springs Volleyball 1996-2005 Era
- Evangel University Women’s Basketball 2001-2011 Era
- Marla Kannady Foreman – Cottey College Volleyball Coach
- Cathy Lairmore – SPS Junior High School Coach
- Debbie Hickey – Missouri S&T Athletic Administrator
- Stockton High School 1983 Girls Track & Field State Championship Team
- Tammy Thomas – Joplin Area Golf
Additionally, the Hall of Fame will recognize the Wynn Awards, which are named in honor of the late Dr. Mary Jo Wynn, the pioneer of women’s athletics at Missouri State University who was named a Missouri Sports Legend in 2014. They are: track standout Gail Peak Brown (Marshfield High School), soccer player Kelly Brueggemann Clift (Ozark High School), cross country & track state champion Janell Hackman Duncan (Licking High School), volleyball and basketball’s Karen Gordon (Bronaugh High School/Missouri Southern State University), three-sport standout Kelly May (Kickapoo High School/Tulsa University), volleyball and basketball’s Lauren Standlee Peterson (Thomas Jefferson School/Hendrix College), and volleyball & basketball standout Molly Creach Terry (Logan-Rogersville High School/Drury University).
Sponsorship tables of eight are $600 and include recognition in the printed program and at the table. A head table ticket is $100 and includes the same perks. An individual ticket in advance is $75. Numerous sponsorships are available, including associate sponsorships and congratulatory and digital ads. Call the Hall of Fame at 417-889-3100.
Sharman Paine Bennett – Missouri State University tennis
The southwest Missouri tennis community has benefitted from several positive influences with a passion for the sport. There’s no overlooking Bennett, a former Missouri State player and coach who later spent 27 years as the Director of Tennis at Highland Springs Country Club. In essence, she played a key role in the development of the sport’s participation numbers in the Springfield area. A 1970 graduate of Parkview High School, she played for the school and on several Missouri Valley Junior tournaments and in the Springfield-Greene County Park Board. At Missouri State, she played from 1971 to 1974, helping the team win the MIAA and qualifying for nationals her junior and senior seasons. She later worked at Sunshine Indoor Tennis Center in 1976 and earned certification from the USPTR two years later. Bennett became the MSU women’s tennis coach herself from 1991 to 1996, guiding the team to third-place and fourth-place finishes in conference play. At Highland Springs from 1989 to 2017, she created a strong women’s and juniors program. Along the way, she joined Bruce Holbrook to coach the Missouri Valley Advanced Training Program for the top juniors and, in 1998, earned the USPTR Community Service Award. Numerous other awards followed, including USTA Missouri Valley Distinguished Service Award in 2017.
Erica Calhoun – Missouri State/WNBA & World Cup
Calhoun is a former Kansas City high school track & field standout who surged to more success at Missouri State University and has since made her mark in sports entertainment – with a key role with the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City. A graduate of Southeast High School, she won the Class 4 long jump state title in 1987. By summer 1991, she had proven to be among the best at Missouri State, earning Most Valuable Athlete at the Gateway Conference Outdoor Championships, after winning the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes and placing sixth in the long jump. She also was a member of the 4×400-meter relay team, which took third place at the conference meet and set an MSU women’s outdoor record (3:50.45). That came a year after she was conference runner-up in both events and, as a sophomore, helped the sprint medley relay team set an MSU record at the Kansas Relays. For her career efforts, Calhoun was named to the MSU All-Decade Team in both indoor and outdoor track in 1991-92 in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the Gateway Conference. These days, the 2000 inductee of Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame is the Director of Host City FIFA World Cup 2026 and a board member of WISE NYC Metro (Women in Sports & Events). In her career, she was one of the original eight architects (community relations) who helped the Phoenix Mercury’s launch into the WNBA. She also has produced large-scale activations for the Super Bowl, NBA All-Star Game, NCAA, MLS, and the Olympics.
Brenda Campbell – Versailles High School Volleyball Coach & AD
Campbell coached Versailles High School volleyball from 1973 to 2005 and again in 2015. A 1969 Tipton High School graduate, she participated in choir, volleyball, softball and track. She then furthered her education at the University of Central Missouri, earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1972, after she played college volleyball, softball and field hockey. She later completed her master’s there as well. Campbell was 502-303-43 in volleyball, with three top four finishes at the state tournament (fourth in 1986 & 1990, state runner-up in 1992). Her teams also won three sectionals, 11 district titles and five conference championships. Additionally, she was the athletic director at Versailles from 1984 to 2005. In 1984, she was at that time only one of three female athletic directors of all public schools in the state of Missouri. In 2003, she became one of the first women to earn Central District Athletic Director of the Year. In 2004, she was awarded the “Peggy Johnson Award for Excellence” in volleyball from the MHSVCA. In her time at Versailles, six other Tiger teams earned top four finishes: 2005 boys basketball (third), 1992-1994 boys golf (fourth, second, state title), 1987 boys track & field (fourth) and 1993 girls track & field (fourth). Campbell also was an assistant coach on the first girls basketball team at Versailles High School in the mid-1970s. After retiring in 2005, she was asked back in 2015, to be the head volleyball coach once again. During that season, she earned her 500th career victory. Coach Campbell was then honored by the Missouri House of Representatives in November 2015, commending her well-deserved distinction and service to the school and the community.
Janet Edge – Skyline High School Scorekeeper
The longtime athletic director of Skyline High School puts it this way about Edge: “For the past five decades,” Jim Brown wrote, “Edge has been one of the most constant and influential figures in Skyline High School athletics.” That’s certainly high praise and – well-deserved – for Edge, a 1971 graduate of Skyline. After graduating from Missouri State University, she served as a full-time educator from 1976 to 2008 but continues to work for the district. She has worked more than 5,000 games – from varsity down to fifth- and sixth-grade games. Along the way, she worked with more than a dozen head basketball coaches and has been a part of 22 Skyline Final Four basketball teams – eight that won state titles. Even better, she has gone above and beyond to support teams, running last-minute errands for coaches, helping coaches prepare for games, creating scrapbooks and being a second mom to many. Additionally, Edge not only was a classroom teacher but also a cheerleading coach, Special Olympics coach, organizational sponsor, concessions manager, mentor and trusted colleague. She was recognized six times in Who’s Who Among American Educators.
El Dorado Springs High School Volleyball Era 1996-2005
In the rural southwest Missouri community of El Dorado Springs, a town of about 3,400 in Cedar County, a group of high school volleyball players proved that they could hang on the big stage. Coached by Becky Lipasek (MSHOF 2018), El Dorado Springs High School’s volleyball teams from 1996 to 2005 became a tough opponent. The 1999 and 2005 teams captured Class 2 state championships, while the 1998 and 2000 teams earned state runner-up finishes. Additionally, El Dorado Springs reached the state sectionals in 2003 and 2004. And that was all after the 1996 team kick-started the era, as the Lady Bulldogs won the district championship. The 1998 Final Four team advanced thanks, in part, to a sectional upset of Pembroke Hill, a private Kansas City school. El Dorado Springs finished as the state runner-up, barely losing to East Newton 15-13 in the third set. The 1999 state title team beat tradition-rich Hermann and finished 35-1-3, winning the program’s first state title. El Dorado Springs earned a state runner-up in 2000, despite having graduated four core players the prior May. The 2005 team captured the state title in a 33-3-1 season.
Evangel University Women’s Basketball Era 2001-2011
One of the top NAIA women’s basketball programs could be found in the Ozarks in the early to mid-2000s, as the Evangel Lady Crusaders enjoyed quite a run over 11 seasons. Coached by Leon Neal (MSHOF 2016), Evangel enjoyed eight NAIA Tournament berths, reaching the national semifinals in 2005 after earning berths into the national quarterfinals in 2003 and 2004. With rosters built from talent culled from southwest Missouri and beyond, Evangel churned out a 240-121 record during the era. That included a 30-6 season in 2004, followed a a 31-8 finish. Along the way, Evangel won five conference regular-season titles and five tournament championships. Six of the program’s top 12 career scorers played in all or part of the era: Natasha Neal Moore (2,654 points), Staci Jones (2,008), Heather Collier (1,831), Kara Blankenship (1,574), Shaletha Page (1,477) and Ashlee Luko (1,340). Additionally, Evangel filled 39 slots for all-conference honors in those years, as the team put Evangel firmly on the NAIA basketball map.
Marla Kannaday Foreman – Cottey College Volleyball Coach
Kannady Foreman is retiring in May 2026 as Cottey College’s first and only head volleyball coach – and made quite an impact throughout the athletic department of the Nevada campus. She joined the college in 2000, and also served as assistant basketball coach for 12 years and assisted the softball program from 2006 to 2012. Throughout her tenure, Kannady Foreman contributed extensively beyond coaching as Cottey competed from 2000 to 2017 in NJCAA before moving up to NAIA. She served on numerous fundraising and hiring committees and played a key role in overseeing internal operations. On the court, in 2019, she earned her 200th career win and finished with more than 280 wins. Her 2003 and 2005 teams were NJCAA Regional runner-up finishers. One of her most successful seasons came during the 2020-2021 academic year, when the Comets captured the Association of Independent Institutions Conference postseason championship during an adjusted schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was named Coach of the Year. In the NAIA, she was recognized by the NAIA for its prestigious Champions of Character Award for the American Midwest Conference. While competing in the NJCAA, Cottey volleyball earned national recognition for team grade-point average, including 12 NJCAA All-Academic selections during her tenure. Kannady Foreman played every sport offered at Lamar High School. She was recruited for basketball, where she played for four years at Missouri Southern, helping the team win back-to-back conference championships in the mid-1980s. She then served as a student assistant for the basketball team at MSSU and continued coaching at Bronaugh and Sheldon high schools.
Cathy Lairmore – Junior High School Coach & Athletic Director
A 1984 graduate of Kickapoo High School and a 1988 graduate of Drury University, Lairmore dedicated 20 years to middle school athletics, where she truly made her mark from 1993 through 2013. Much of her time was spent at Carver Middle School, where she coached volleyball, basketball, and track & field. She worked with Dr. Edsel Matthews (MSHOF 2005) to expand the girls’ volleyball and track seasons during the transition from junior high to middle school. In total, she coached her teams to 20 All-City championship titles. This total comprised five in volleyball (1997, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2010), three in basketball (1995, 1998, 1999) and 12 in track (1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013). She then spent her final years in education as the first on-site athletic director for Carver Middle School. All of this from a Springfield native, who was a three-sport athlete at Kickapoo playing for two state volleyball and track teams. She attended Drury University, playing volleyball for four years. She then assisted Drury coach Barb Cowherd (MSHOF 2016) from 1988 to 1990. In the next two years, she was the head volleyball and basketball coach at Forsyth High School, earning Greene County Coach of the Year in 1992 and Tri-Lakes Coach of the Year in 1993. Lairmore then moved to SPS, serving as Pershing Middle School’s seventh-grade basketball coach, Jarrett Middle School’s eighth-grade volleyball coach and Pipkin Middle School’s assistant track coach. She also was an assistant basketball coach at Parkview High School before accepting the job at Carver.
Debbie Hickey – Athletic Administration
A Steelville High School graduate, Hickey began working at Missouri Science & Technology in Rolla in November 1986 and retired in July 2025. She started in the accounting and fiscal services office and then moved over to the athletic department during the 1993-94 school year as secretary. While in the athletic department, she served in a variety of roles, including as secretary, senior secretary, budget compliance, NCAA compliance, budget facility operations; senior woman’s administrator and assistant director of athletics. Hickey retired with the title of S&T Assistant Director of Athletics – Business and Senior Woman’s Administrator. She has been in charge of handling all budget matters for the university’s athletic department and also assisted in NCAA eligibility matters for the more than 400 student-athletes in the school’s athletic department. Hickey also stepped in when coaches were not available for softball, and helped men’s golf prepare for its season when searching for a coach. She also assisted with tryouts when the school added volleyball, and served as MSHSAA sectional and quarterfinal manager for basketball for 20-plus years. Hickey is also a certified high school volleyball official, and still serves in that capacity. Along the way, Hickey graduated from S&T in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
Stockton High School Girls Track & Field 1983 State Championship Team
Coached by Marsha Chism, the Stockton Lady Tigers’ track & field team made history by winning the school’s first state championship, doing so in Class 2 and on the final event. The 4×200-meter relay team captured the state title, finishing in 1 minute, 47 seconds, and finished undefeated for the season – despite dropping the baton on the first handoff of state preliminaries. The overall team included Kelly Cowan Hendrix, Kim Lollar Sloter, Ruth Wilkins Walker, Tessa Evans Mall, Jonna Smith, Teri Whiteside Jones, Michelle Meeks Wheeler, Peggy Pierson Kenney, Jacque Reynolds Bills, Deidre Cunnyham Berberich, Kim Masten Thomas, Kellie Bough McWhorter, Becky Lean Sawyer, Laurie Todd, Tisa Davolt Eighmy and Jolene Davisson. Cowan won the 300-meter low hurdles in 30.47 seconds, and everybody contributed points in some way. And it all came a year after the team finished fifth in the state. Overall, Stockton’s athletic department has won nine state titles, four in girls basketball. But the first belonged to the girls track & field team.
Tammy Thomas – Golf
The Joplin area has long had a rich tradition in golf, and Thomas is among those who have further enhanced the sport’s growth since arriving in Missouri in the late 1970s. An Iowa transplant, she graduated from Missouri Southern State University in 1981 and started playing golf her mid-20s. That started what would be an impactful career on the Joplin scene, as Thomas has been associated with the Joplin Women’s Horton Smith team since 1991, when she was in a five-way playoff for the last spot on the team. She was captain several years in the 1990s and 2000s, and has played a key role in helping the team reach its 92nd anniversary this year. Additionally, she joined the Briarbrook Women’s Golf Association in 1988 and has been an active member since, serving on its Board of Directors from 1988 to 1994 and, since 2015, has been President of the Briarbrook Community Improvement District for Briarbrook Golf Course. In 1994, she was one of the founding members of the Greater Joplin Women’s Golf Association until it dissolved in 2015. Her organizations have organized several tournaments, including several for charities, and has helped support girls golf at Carl Junction High School and Missouri Southern. Thomas has been a longtime administrator for Webb City Public Schools dating back to 1981.
WYNN AWARDS
Gail Peak Brown – Marshfield High School
Brown owns a little known historical fact, in that she was the first ever state champion and All-American from Marshfield High School. In track & Field, she missed securing Marshfield’s first-ever state medal by merely an inch. But, after that competition, she remained undefeated in discus in 1985 and 1986, winning the Class 3 state championship both years. Her winning state title throw as a junior traveled 128.6 feet, and she did even better a year later, with a heave of 135.3 feet for a Class 3 record. She competed in AAU Nationals, winning the region, and then placing sixth overall in the U.S. That led to an opportunity to join the AAU Olympic training team and travel to Germany in the summer. She also received scholarship offers from NCAA Division I schools such as Stanford, Illinois and Wisconsin. Brown also played guard for the Marshfield Lady Jays Basketball Program (MSHOF 2019), with the 1984 team winning the program’s first Central Ozark Conference title. She later became a registered nurse through the Burge School of Nursing and established Spirit 522 INC, a local, faith-based not-for-profit that has played a significant role in the Marshfield community, helping with the Foster Care Program, School Backpack Program, food insecurities, Christmas giving, along with many other anonymous donations. She currently serves as a board member of Spirit 522 INC, and the Marshfield Community Foundation.
Kelly Brueggemann Clift – Ozark High School
When sports fans of southwest Missouri talk about the rise of high school girls soccer over the past 25 to 30 years, one of the athletes who helped further it along was Clift. She was a standout midfielder at Ozark High School, earning All-State from the Missouri Soccer Coaches Association in 2001 and 2002. In 2001, she helped Ozark to the Final Four, where the Lady Tigers placed fourth. She also earned All-District and All-Region those seasons, and was the Southwest Region Player of the Year in 2001. She played her first season for Cheryl Hurst, and then Chris Miller her final three seasons – all after starting out in soccer in the second grade. The daughter of Mark and Debbie Brueggemann, she went on to play one season at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar and then earned a degree from Missouri State University. Since graduating, she has been a longtime investment adviser for Trend Management in Springfield.
Janell Hackman Duncan – Licking High School
In Texas County in south central Missouri, in the town of Licking, the mid-1980s saw the surgence of an interesting athlete. Duncan’s sophomore season saw her win the Class 1-3 state cross country championship in 1984, finishing in 20 minutes, 5 seconds. But she wasn’t done. The following spring, she won the Class 3 state championship in the 3200 meters, crossing the line in 11 minutes, 30 seconds. Her time has been better than 71 other state champions regardless of class in that event, which MSHSAA began offering in 1981. Her running began with her military dad, Wayne, on his weekend runs. In the fourth grade, she joined the high school cross country team on a U.S. base in Vicenza, Italy, competing as an exhibition runner. In the mid-1980s, her family moved to Licking when her dad was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood. Duncan joined the high school boys cross country team because there was no girls team at the time. As a freshman, she placed fifth in Class 1-3 state cross country meet. The family returned to Germany after her sophomore year, but she later returned to Missouri, teaching high school business classes in Plato, Salem, Rolla and Licking school districts. She later became a high school guidance counselor and worked in that capacity at Licking High School and Rolla Technical Institute/Center. Duncan and her husband, Matt, are parents to Brandi (James) Huff, Sidney and Lane (Hannah), and grandchildren Axel and Sloan Huff.
Karen Gordon – Bronaugh High School/Missouri Southern State University
Three years after passage of federal Title IX legislation, Gordon earned All-State honors in 1975 at Bronaugh High School, just southwest of Nevada in rural Vernon County. She also competed in softball and track. She went on to be a three-sport athlete for Missouri Southern, competing in basketball and softball from 1975-1979 and in volleyball in 1975. She was one of two original women’s athletics scholarship recipients, and did not disappoint, as she earned First Team All-CSIC honors in basketball. Gordon was voted the basketball team’s MVP and was named to the MAIAW All-Tournament Team. She later was inducted into the Missouri Southern Athletics Hall of Fame. Gordon then went into public education and teaching. She was a Verona (1979-1982), Purdy (1982-1985) and Pleasant Hope (1985-1989) high schools before working for Springfield Public Schools. Gordon was as the head basketball coach of Reed Middle School (1989 to 2000) and as a varsity assistant for Hillcrest High School girls basketball and track. These days, she serves on the Ozarks Pickleball Club Board, participating in and helping organize tournaments in the Springfield area.
Kelly May – Kickapoo High School/University of Tulsa
A mid-1970s athlete at Kickapoo High School, Stevens made her mark in basketball, volleyball and track & field. Playing for Sue Schuble (MSHOF 1998) in basketball, she became a go-to scorer as a center, ultimately finishing with 1,011 career points. She also played volleyball there as a middle blocker and was part of the Junior Miss Softball and Queen City kids softball team. She also was a three-year letterwinner in track. May’s athleticism caught the attention of several colleges, including the University of Tulsa, where she signed with a full scholarship to play volleyball. There, she was a solid middle blocker on the volleyball team and letterwinner as a center/forward on the basketball team. She earned all-tournament honors throughout her career, playing on volleyball teams that were a combined 88-64. As a junior and senior, she was voted the team’s MVP and Best All-Around Player. In 1995, May was named to the University of Tulsa’s Athletics Hall of Fame – the first volleyball player to earn such distinction. She ultimately turned her attention to fitness, owning several Jazzercise studios for 40-plus years in Springfield and Kansas City and was the Vice President and Chief Sales Officer for more than 20 years
Lauren Standlee Peterson – Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School/Hendrix College
Peterson was a standout athlete in volleyball and basketball for Thomas Jefferson, a private school in Joplin. Before graduating in 2001, she had earned All-State twice in volleyball, three times in basketball and was voted the Ozark 8 Conference Player of the Year once in volleyball and twice in basketball. Additionally, she was four-time all-conference selection in each sport. In volleyball, Peterson finished her career with 1,115 kills, as well as 2,563 attacks, 204 aces, 647 digs and 290 blocks. The gym became her second home, as her winters saw Peterson score a career 2,087 points, or a 19.7 scoring average. She made 142 3-pointers and 539 free throws (she was a 78.2 percent free-throw shooter). After one season at Trinity College in San Antonio, she transferred to Hendrix College in Arkansas, playing one season in basketball and three in volleyball. These days, Peterson lives in Joplin, working for an attorney and will coach volleyball next season at Thomas Jefferson.
Molly Creach Terry – Logan-Rogersville High School/Drury University
Terry was a two-time All-State selection in volleyball for Rogersville in the early 2000s. She was a member on the 2000 state runner-up team as a sophomore, and then made an impact on the varsity for the Lady Wildcats, helping fuel their run back to the Final Four – this time placing third in 2001. She also was a 1,000-point scorer in basketball as a four-year starter, earning all-conference honors. At Drury, she was the Heartland Conference Player of the Year and was a four-year letterwinner, finishing with 1,000 career kills. Terry has been in coaching every since. She started as the freshman volleyball and junior varsity basketball coach at Rogersville, then spent a year at Hollister before eventually returning to Rogersville from 2012 to 2019. As an assistant coach there, Terry helped the Lady Wildcats reach three Final Fours, including a state championship in 2018 while working for coach Tammy Miller. She has been back in Hollister the past five years, taking over as head volleyball coach five years ago. Her first team was 5-21 but this past season finished 29-5.
