Three UMR athletes who finished their careers at the top of the charts in their respective sports and the only UMR track and field team to win a conference championship were inducted into the MSM-UMR Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 27.
This year’s class of inductees includes:
- Kristy (Weber) Meyers, EMgt’91: Meyers was one of the top pitchers in the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association during a period when the Lady Miners were among the top teams in the conference. She helped lead the team to the top record in the conference in 1988 and to finishes of third and second in the MIAA Tournaments in back-to-back seasons. The 1987 “Freshman of the Year”and all-league MIAA performer, Meyers won 47 games in her four seasons, recorded 65 complete games and had a 1.72 earned run average for her career, all of which were the school’s top all-time marks when she finished her career. As a senior she was 16-3 in the circle and batted .381 for the MIAA runner-up.
- Kurt O’Brien, EMgt’91: O’Brien was a record-setting performer in two sports during his career as a standout on both the Miner soccer and track and field teams. In soccer, he established school records for goals with 35, assists with 18 and points with 88. An all-conference and all-region player during his Miner career, he also set single-game marks with four goals and eight points in a 1987 victory over Bellarmine, while leading the MIAA in scoring that season. As a member of the track and field team, he competed in sprints and relays and was part of the record-setting mile relay team.
- Mary (Pudlowski) Simon, Psyc’89: A four-year starter at point guard for the Lady Miners, Simon played a key role at that position on one of the top teams in the MIAA in the late 1980s. She finished her career with 304 assists to establish the school’s all-time record in that category and also set the single-game record with 12 assists in a 1986 game against Northwest Missouri State – UMR’s firsteverwin over Northwest – to help the Lady Miners achieve a No. 3 national ranking. During that 1986-87 season, she also set the single-season assist mark.
- 1948 men’s track & field team: The Miners won the MIAA indoor title and came in second at the MIAA Outdoor Championships, finishing just one-half point behind Southeast Missouri State. MSM had four winning performances at the league’s indoor meet. George Bock, NDD’52, won the indoor shot put, Donald Smith, MinE’51, doubled as the two-mile champion in both meets, while Harold Corbin, NDD’50, won the high hurdles during the outdoor championships. William Kirk, NDD’59, was the high-point, winning the broad jump and second place in both the 100- and 220-yard runs.