Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2008 Announced

John and Melissa Ware, Alec Meinke and Steve Schieppe will be the 2008 inductees of the Truman State Athletics Hall of Fame. The induction will take place during Homecoming weekend Oct. 3-4.

John and Melissa Ware will be honored posthumously for dedicating almost 39 years of service to Truman between the two of them. John passed
away in September 2005. Melissa passed away two years later in November 2007.

John was an assistant football coach from 1985-1994, and head coach from 1995-2004. With 54 career wins, John holds the record for third all-time wins at Truman.

Melissa graduated from Truman in 1987 and began working the following year for the University as a full-time Publications Coordinator and Office Manager under Sports Information Director Bill Cable.

Cable retired in 1995, leaving Ware to be named only the second SID in school history. She served in the position until May 2004. Under her direction, the Sports Information Office was the recipient of over 40 national awards for media guides from the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Alec Meinke was a Truman athlete in two sports, football and track, from 1979-1983. As a member of the football team, Meinke was a four-year letter winner and named second team all-MIAA in 1981 and 1982. He was also a member of back-to-back conference championship squads in those years.

In track, Meinke won seven MIAA titles for shot put from 1980-1983. He was a three-year Division II shot put finalist and also qualified for the national meet in the discus in 1983. Meinke currently holds shot put records for indoor at 17.88m and outdoor at 17.69m.

As a member of the Truman men’s basketball team, Steve Schieppe holds the records for 300 three-pointers made and is the career leader in field goals made with 652. He finished the 1991 season as the all-time leading scorer in Truman history with 1,796 points, only to be eclipsed by Cory Parker’s 1,835 in 2000. Schieppe was named all-conference second team twice in his career and once to the National Basketball Coaches Association all-district second team.

Gerald Burditt was also voted into the Hall, but is unable to attend. He will be inducted at Homecoming 2009.
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