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Athletics Site of the Mount Union Purple Raiders
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2022 Hall of Fame Class Updated

Mount Union Announces 2022 M Club Hall of Fame Class & Special Award Winners

9/15/2022 10:58:00 AM

By: Nathan LaRiccia
ALLIANCE, Ohio - The University of Mount Union M Club Hall of Fame has announced its 2022 class and special award winners.

A 13-person hall of fame class includes Danny Anderson '03 (wrestling), Thomas Bauer '00 (football), Randy Cook '87 (wrestling), Lisa (South '94) Downey (swimming), Kevin Hopkins '92 (swimming), Kelvin Jackson '88 (track and field), Matthew Keller '96 (track and field), Sara Leffler '93 (track and field), Sean Moore '97 (football), Seth Peterson '00 (track and field), Justin Rodhe '07 (track and field), Neal Richards '97 (basketball), and Shaun Spisak '04 (football).

Three special awards will be given to four people this year as Jason Jones '95 is the recipient of the Duke Barret Award of Excellence, Paul Gulling '80 and Matthew Johnson '96 are the Hugh Jae Award recipients, while Lenny Reich will be given Honorary M Club membership.

To be inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame, a student-athlete must have earned a degree from Mount Union and received two letters in one sport, or one letter in two or more sports. Athletes are eligible for selection 15 years after graduation. Consideration will be based solely on Mount Union varsity participation, preceding graduation. Coaches and administrators had to serve at least five years prior to consideration or been at least five years since they left the institution.
  • Danny Anderson '03 (wrestling) was a two-time All-American and three-time OAC Champion. At NCAAs, Anderson placed fifth in 2001 and sixth in 2000. Anderson won an OAC title three-straight years (2000, 2001, 2002) at 165 pounds.
     
  • Thomas Bauer '00 (football) was an All-American First Team center for the Purple Raiders. A two-time All-OAC First Team honoree (1998, 1999), Bauer earned the Mike Gregory Award as the top offensive lineman in the OAC. He earned his All-American citation in 1999. Bauer also earned the distinguished honor as the OAC Clyde Lamb representative as Mount Union's top male student-athlete.
     
  • Randy Cook '87 (wrestling) was an All-American and a two-time OAC champion wrestler for Mount Union. Cook placed sixth at the 1985 NCAAs at 118 pounds. Cook won the OAC championship in 1985 and 1987, both titles at 118 pounds.
     
  • Lisa (South '94) Downey (swimming) earned an OAC championship three times, including back-to-back titles in the 100 freestyle. South won the 100 freestyle in 1991 and won the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle in 1990.
     
  • Kevin Hopkins '92 (swimming) won a total of six OAC championships during his hall of fame career. He was a two-time champion in both the 100 freestyle (1991, 1992) and 200 freestyle (1991, 1992). Hopkins also won the 200 breaststroke in 1991 and the 200 IM in 1992.
     
  • Kelvin Jackson '88 (track and field) was a two-time All-American and six-time OAC champion. In 1988, Jackson placed second in the 55m hurdles at the NCAA Indoors, followed by a fifth-place finish in the 110 hurdles at the NCAA Outdoors. Jackson earned three OAC Outdoor titles in 1988 - 4x400 relay, 110 hurdles, and 400 hurdles. Jackson was the 55m hurdles OAC Indoor champion in 1987 and was part of a two winning OAC Indoor relays in 1984 (800 and mile).
     
  • Matthew Keller '96 (track and field) was four-time All-American, including National Champion during his illustrious career at Mount Union in pole vault. Keller was a National Champion in the 1996 Outdoor pole vault. In addition, he was All-American in the 1996 NCAAs Indoor pole vault (3rd place), 1995 NCAAs Indoor pole vault (3rd place), and 1995 NCAAs Outdoor pole vault (4th place). Keller was also the 1995 OAC Indoor pole vault champion.
     
  • Sara Leffler '93 (track and field) was a three-time All-American in the shot put. Leffler placed third in all of her NCAA appearances (1993 Outdoors, 1992 Outdoors, and 1992 Indoors).
     
  • Sean Moore '97 (football) was an All-American and two-team All-OAC First Team defensive back. In 1996, Moore earned All-America Honorable Mention, All-OAC First Team, and the Lee Tressel Award as the OAC's top defensive back. He also earned All-OAC First Team in 1995. Additionally, he received the 2018 M Club Duke Barrett Award of Excellence.
     
  • Seth Peterson '00 (track and field) was a two-time All-American in the high jump, while achieving an impressive 12 OAC championships. Peterson placed second in the nation in high jump at the 1998 NCAA Outdoors and third in 1999. At the OACs, Peterson won the outdoor high jump three times (1996, 1997, 1998), indoor 400 three times (1997, 1998, 1999), indoor high jump (1998), indoor 300 (1999), outdoor 200 (1999), outdoor 400 (1998), and was part of two winning 4x400 outdoor meter relay teams (1997 and 1999).
     
  • Justin Rodhe '07 (track and field) was an NCAA champion in outdoor shot put at the 2007 NCAAs, part of his five All-American performances. Rodhe was runner-up at the 2007 NCAA Outdoors in the discus. Rounding out his nationals appearance, he was seventh in shot put at the 2006 Indoors, fifth in the discus at the 2006 Outdoors, and eighth in the discus at the 2004 Outdoors. He was also a four-time OAC Champion (2007 outdoor shot put and discus, 2004 outdoor discus, and 2006 indoor shot put).
     
  • Neal Richards '97 (basketball) was an All-OAC First Team honoree (1996-97) and was part of team that made the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance and advanced to Sweet 16. Richards holds a Mount Union record for career field goal percentage (.612). His 43 blocks in 1996-97 was a school single season record until it was broken just this past year. Richards is currently 9th on all-time scoring list with 1,358 career points.
     
  • Shaun Spisak '04 (football) was a two-time All-OAC First Team linebacker. Spisak earned All-OAC First Team nods in back-to-back years (2003, 2004). In 2004, Spisak was recognized as the Bill Edwards Award as the OAC's top linebacker.
The Duke Barret Award of Excellence is named for the 1951 graduate who was a long-time supporter of Purple Raider athletics. He was an avid M Club member, former chair of the Hall of Fame committee, and Mount Union football coach from 1956-61. The award honors a member of M Club for career experiences or activities that have brought honor and recognition to the individual and, in turn, Mount Union.
  • Jason Jones '95 was an All-American wrestler for Mount Union. A three-year starter, Jones finished fourth place at the NCAAs and was the conference champion in 1995 at 158 pounds. Colonel Jones served his country for 27 years as an ARMY Airborne leader and did two tours in Afghanistan and one tour in Iraq. He was the captain of the Mount Union wrestling team that won the conference in 1995.
The Hugh Jae Award is an award to recognize M Club members who have distinguished themselves in service to M Club or athletics at Mount Union.  The award is named for Hugh Jae, a 1954 Mount Union graduate, who was an M Club Hall of Famer, professor, and administrator at Mount Union.
  • Paul Gulling '80 was a three-time All-OAC first team pick and a 1979 AP All-American who ranks among the school receiving leaders with 130 receptions.  Gulling signed a professional contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League and was inducted into the Mount Union M-Club Hall of Fame in 1998. Gulling is in his 18th season on the Mount Union coaching staff, working with the wide receivers.
     
  • Matthew Johnson '96 was an All-American offensive lineman and a key member of Mount Union's first national championship in 1993. A four-year letterwinner, Johnson won the OAC Mike Gregory Award which is given to the conference's top offensive lineman.
Honorary M Club membership status is given to those individuals who by their actions and support have elevated the athletic department and/or the M Club over the years.
  • Lenny Reich completed his 25th year of service to the Sports Information profession, serving at Mount Union from 2008 through 2022 (he earned the Assistant Athletic Director title in 2012). Reich was an award-winning Sports Information Director with extensive national and regional committee service to collegiate athletics. He served as an at-large representative on the CoSIDA Executive Board of Directors, representing Mount Union - just the second College Division individual in CoSIDA history to serve as an at-large representative. He was also the past president of the Division III Sports Information Directors Association (D3SIDA). Among his many honors, Reich was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 2022. In 2019, he received the Warren Berg Award from CoSIDA, the organization's highest college division award which recognizes outstanding commitment and service to athletic communications.
The 2022 hall of fame class and award winners will be recognized Friday, November 4 at the Giese Center for Performing Arts and will be announced at halftime of the football game against John Carroll on Saturday, November 5 at Kehres Stadium.


*Updated on Sept. 19, 2022
 
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