Athletes to be Inducted into Hall of Fame

After a one year hiatus of inducting student-athletes, the Truman Hall of Fame committee has selected two individuals and two teams as part of the 2006 induction Class. The induction will take place as part of Homecoming Activities on Oct. 20-21.

This year, the first teams will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The concept, adopted from other universities, will allow the Hall to recognize accomplishments of athletic teams rather than selected individuals on those squads. The committee selected one team prior to the University joining the NCAA and another team during the current NCAA-era.

The 1934 Bulldog football team under coach Don Faurot, one of the greatest teams in school history, and the 1964 Men’s Cross Country team will be the first teams inducted into the Hall.

Don Faurot’s last team before heading south to the University of Missouri-Columbia was one of the most heralded teams in the nation at that time. The Bulldogs were a perfect 8-0 on the season, scoring 180 points while allowing just 13 on their way to their third straight MIAA championship and eighth in 11 years as a conference sport.

All-American honors went to co-captains Jack Robinson and Arnold Embree while all-state performers were Robert Doyle, Walter Roth, Drexel Moody, William Scholle, Delbert Maddox, Lynn McHarg, Carl Noble and Martin Rhode. Five other Bulldogs, Orville Towers, Jay Lyle Faurot, Payne Muir, Frank Hanna and Ralph Alexander, were named to the all-conference team.

The 1964 Men’s Cross Country team was the first team in school history to bring home NCAA hardware. The Bulldogs had an impressive regular season, winning six of seven dual meets. The team finished second in the Southwest Missouri State Invitational meet and were conference champions with five Bulldogs placing in the top eight, including MIAA overall champion, senior Ed Schneider (’65).

At the national meet, held in Wheaton, Ill., Schneider won the individual national championship in the college division race with a time of 19:43.9. The Bulldogs finished with 105 points and claimed second place in the meet, trailing champion, Kentucky State College by just 10 points. Truman was 59 points ahead of third place State College of Iowa (Iowa State University). Schneider was the lone senior letterwinner on the squad and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986, he retired from coaching the Bulldogs this past December.

The other letterwinners of the squad were freshman Ronald Werling (’68), sophomores Robert Frost (’67), Craig Guinn (’67) and Gerald Kusek (’68) and junior Terry McDonald (’66).

Werling was also inducted in the Hall as an individual in 1996. Along with Schneider, Werling is the only other Bulldog cross country runner to earn all-America honors three times.

The squad was directed by George Hermann and assisted by Tom Songster.

Two individuals will also be inducted, all-American golfer J.P. Velasco (’90) and former head athletics trainer Clint Thompson.

Juan P. Velasco (’90) came to then-Northeast from Santiago, Chile and became one of the best golfers in school history. He is the first men’s golfer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Velasco was a four-time all-American, being named to the second-team his first two seasons, and then earning first-team honors in both his junior and senior campaigns.

The Bulldogs competed in the Division II national tournament in every season Velasco was a member of the squad. He was the team’s medalist in each championship with his best finish of fifth in 1986, his freshman season.

Velasco finished tied for 13th in 1987 and 11th in 1988, with the event hosted by Truman at Tan-Tar-A Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks. In his senior season, Velasco finished 22nd.

While Velasco was a member of the team, the Bulldogs continued a string of eight straight conference titles dating from 1984-1991.

Clint Thompson was the head athletics trainer for the Bulldogs from 1985-2001 and was instrumental in shaping the lives of athletic training students, student-athletes and coaches.

Thompson served as editor of the Journal of Athletic Training published by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) for 15 years and spent 31 years teaching beginning and advanced athletic training classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Thompson is already a member of three other halls of fame. In 2004, he was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame, while in 1999, he was inducted into the Mid-America Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame and he has been a member of the Michigan Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame since 1991.

The NATA has presented the Clint Thompson Award since 1997 to an individual with an outstanding non-research manuscript which is published by the Journal of Athletic Training.

Since his retirement, Thompson has been living in Seattle, Wash., with his wife Kathy and is serving as vice president of the Research and Education Foundation for the NATA. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas and master’s degree from Michigan State University.

The Truman Athletics Hall of Fame includes 195 student-athletes, coaches and staff members that have played a significant roll for the University. Inductees can be nominated by submitting a nomination form to the Hall of Fame Committee. The committee is composed of former Bulldog letterwinners and meets throughout the year.

The induction will take place on Oct. 20 as part of the Alumni Banquet at 6:30 p.m. in the Student Union Building. There will also be a brief ceremony at halftime of the Bulldog football game on Oct. 21 against Washburn.
Previous Next