John Brown University and the Department of Athletics unveiled the Golden Eagle Hall of Fame's Class of 2019, comprised of five former student-athletes and one coach, Director of Athletics Robyn Daugherty announced last month.
The class includes former all-time leading women's basketball scorer Holly (Robason) Beitel '91; men's soccer all-time leading scorer Terry Brown '94; 29-year men's soccer head coach Bob Gustavson; first women's basketball NAIA All-American and former leading scorer Kendra (McCormick) Knoner '06; legendary cross country runner Rodger Low '73; and NAIA All-American marathoner Roger Vann '76.
Including the Class of 2019, the Golden Eagles Hall of Fame now boasts 40 inductees and four teams, dating back to the first induction class in 1973. Established on Dec. 8, 1973, the Hall of Fame serves to recognize players, coaches, friends or teams which have made exceptional contributions to the achievements and prestige of the John Brown University intercollegiate athletics program. Categories in which individuals or groups can be inducted include Athletes, Coaches, Meritorious Achievement, Pioneer and Team. Inductions will take place every two to three years under the direction of the John Brown University Department of Athletics.
The 12th-ever class will be officially inducted at 10 a.m. Feb. 16, 2019, inside the Simmons Great Hall on the JBU campus.
Holly Robason Beitel
Athlete -- 1987-91
A vaunted left-handed shooter, Holly (Robason) Beitel '91 turned in the most prolific career that JBU women's basketball had seen to date. Averaging double-figure scoring in each of her four seasons, Beitel was also named a three-time NCCAA All-American, including a first-team selection in her junior and senior seasons.
Beitel's career as a Golden Eagle culminated in the 1990-91 season that saw her average 17.3 points and 4.1 assists per game, seizing the program's all-time scoring record from Holly Wilson '84. Finishing her career with 1,673 points, Beitel's scoring mark wouldn't be eclipsed for 15 seasons and her 670 career field goals for another 28 seasons. To this day, she still owns the program record with 441 assists.
As a sophomore, Beitel helped the Golden Eagles eclipse foe Oklahoma Wesleyan in the NCCAA District VI title game and led JBU to a win over Trinity Christian (Ill.) at the 1989 NCCAA National Tournament.
Over her career, Beitel earned a pair of NCCAA Scholar-Athlete honors, and was named ICAA All-Conference three times. In addition to points and field goals, she held the program record in triples (98), three-point accuracy (35.3 percent) and steals (211) at the time of her graduation. Longtime coach Jack Augustine had Beitel's jersey No. 10 retired to commemorate her achievements -- still the program's only uniform number to be honored in that fashion.
Terry Brown
Athlete -- 1990-93
Still standing as the only three-time NAIA All-American in men's soccer program history, Terry Brown '94 pieced together a prolific offensive career that still tops the JBU record books today.
Named to the NAIA All-America first team in his junior and senior seasons, the Antiguan striker was also a two-time NCCAA All-America honoree and was selected to a pair of NCCAA All-Tournament teams. During his four seasons, Brown helped JBU post a 64-19-2 record (.765), including three NCCAA national tournament appearances, highlighted by a national runner-up finish in the 1990 NCCAA National Tournament.
To this day, Brown holds program records in points (196), goals (79), game-winning goals (31), assists (38), shots attempted (411) and penalty kicks converted (7).
In his senior season, Brown co-captained the Golden Eagles to its highest ranking, still, in program history at No. 7 and an appearance in the 1993 NAIA National Championships.
Brown now holds the distinguished honor of being the first men's soccer student-athlete to make his way into the Golden Eagle Hall of Fame.
Bob Gustavson
Coach -- 1980-08
Taking over the fledgling men's soccer program in 1980, Bob Gustavson began a journey at JBU that would include more than 300 wins over a span of nearly three decades.
The all-time winningest coach in program history made his way from Barrington College (R.I.) in the summer of 1980 and quickly turned the state of Arkansas' first intercollegiate soccer program into an annual contender. The Golden Eagles quickly captured back-to-back NCCAA national titles (1983, 1984) and would appear at the NCCAA National Tournament a total of five times in the 1980's (1981, 1987, 1989). As the program pursued different postseason opportunities each season, Gustavson guided the program to its first-ever NAIA National Championships appearance in 1988.
In 1993, the Golden Eagles would pick up its first-ever win at the NAIA National Championships, a 5-0 drubbing of Walsh University (Ohio), but fell in controversial fashion to eventual champion Sangamon State University (now the University of Illinois at Springfield). Gustavson would later guide JBU to back-to-back NAIA National Championships appearances in 2002 and 2003.
Stepping away from collegiate coaching at the end of the 2008 season, Gustavson had compiled a 308-194-44 (.604) overall record. Averaging more than 10 wins per season, Gustavson enjoyed 21 winning seasons and posted a program record 17 wins in a single season, twice, in 1991 and 1993. Both of those 17-win seasons had Terry Brown listed on the roster.
Gustavson's career was littered with coaching awards. He was a 12-time District Coach of the Year, four-time NAIA Regional Coach of the Year and a two-time Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honoree (2000, 2002). In 1993, he was voted the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Umbro Midwest Coach of the Year, and in 1994, he served as 1994 West squad head coach in the Umbro Senior Classic.
With Gustavson at the helm, JBU men's soccer enjoyed 15 NCCAA All-Americans, 12 NAIA All-Americans, seven SAC All-Stars, 17 All-Conference selections and 11 NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
Kendra McCormick Knoner
Athlete -- 2002-06
A native of Siloam Springs, Kendra McCormick Knoner '06 stayed home for her collegiate basketball career -- one that would eventually yield a new program scoring leader, for the first time in 15 years.
Knoner kicked off her stint with JBU scoring 12.5 points per game and appeared in all 32 contests, earning her the first Sooner Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors in program history. As a sophomore, Knoner avoided the legendary slump and instead posted a team-best 14.5 points per game and led the Golden Eagles to its first-ever appearance in the NAIA National Championships. There, Knoner and JBU pushed No. 4 seed Georgetown (Ky.) to the brink. For her efforts, the post presence landed her first-career NAIA All-America second team selection to accompany her first of two All-Sooner Athletic first team honors.
After notching another season in double-digit scoring and another All-SAC selection, Knoner capped off her Golden Eagle career with her strongest season. Leading JBU to a 20-12 record, she earned a career-best 16.1 points per game and shot over 80 percent from the free throw line for the first time in her career. Against second-seeded Union in the 2006 NAIA National Championships, Knoner and John Brown nearly edged out the Bulldogs with Knoner posting a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds.
Again, with the program's second appearance ever at the NAIA National Championships, Knoner was honored with an NAIA All-America third team and a WBCA-Kodak All-America honorable mention selection. The first-ever NAIA All-American in women's basketball program history also collected her fourth-consecutive All-SAC accolade, another first-team honor.
At the time of graduation, Knoner and the Golden Eagles had enjoyed a 71-56 record over the past four seasons in the toughest conference in the NAIA, highlighted by two trips to the NAIA big dance. Knoner rewrote numerous portions of the program record book, including setting career records in points (1,793), free throws made (384) and offensive rebounds (241).
Rodger Low
Athlete -- 1969-73
Described by legendary former head men's cross country and track and field coach Don Cleek as the nucleus and a difference maker for the program, Rodger Low '73 earned varsity letters in both cross country and track and field over his four-year career as a Golden Eagle.
Big things happened for Low in the summer of 1970 as the returning sophomore turned in a strong second season in both sports. In cross country, the team captain was the harrier's leading scorer and earned the Most Outstanding Runner award before taking home the track program's Most Improved accolades later in the spring.
In his junior season, Low again was the team's "Top Points Man" and posted another record-breaking race on the track at John Brown. While breaking the program's 3-mile record, Low qualified for the national meet in both the 3-mile and the marathon.
Low capped off an impressive senior campaign by leading the state of Arkansas in the 2-mile, and again was honored as the cross country team's Most Outstanding Runner. At the annual awards convocation, he was selected as the "Top Points Man" for the track and field program.
During his four years, Low voluntarily put in extra miles, which influenced others to do the same as JBU students and Siloam Springs residents alike became accustomed to hearing dogs barking at JBU runners in the early morning hours on area roads. Whether it was in intercollegiate cross country races or track meets at local, conference, and national levels, Rodger could always be expected to win or place high.
Roger Vann
Athlete -- 1972-76
In Rodger Low's senior season, the JBU cross country and track and field programs would see the beginning of another record-setting career with the emergence of Roger Vann '76, who would carry the program's torch for the next four seasons.
Easily one of the top marathoners in program history, Vann would become the program's first-ever NAIA All-American in his junior and senior seasons.
As a sophomore, Vann held the team's fastest 2-mile time at 9:22.4 and owned a 2-hour, 27-minute marathon time, also a team-best. That season, Vann would set a new Arkansas marathon record at the Kansas Relays, shaving off over five minutes from the previous record. He would also set a new program record in the 6-mile.
Then in 1975, Vann did something no other JBU track and field player had done to date, or since - score at the NAIA National Meet. Not only is Vann responsible for the lone JBU team point in program history, he would end Lucian Rosa's two-year championship reign in the marathon. In Arkadelphia, Vann secured All-America status and earned an individual National Championship by winning the marathon in a time of 2:29:14.0.
Vann would go on to again land NAIA All-America accolades as a senior, compiling eight varsity letters between cross country and track and field, finishing his career as the only Golden Eagle to stand atop the podium as National Champion.
Sports on 02/13/2019