THE RECORD
Online
Summer/Fall 2003 Newsbriefs
2004 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductants Announced
The Greenville College athletic department has revealed the names
of the 2004 inductees into its Athletic Hall of Fame. The honorees
include Jack Trager ’55, Rich Weinhandl ’74, Rachelle
(Minott ’92) Klopfenstein, Marilyn Starr, and the 1969 baseball
team. The induction ceremonies and banquet are scheduled for Saturday,
April 17, 2004 at the Armington Center. Further information will
be announced in the fall.
Meritorious Achievement Category
Jack Trager ’55 was a 22-year faculty member at Greenville
College, returning to the college in 1976 until retiring in 1998.
He served as athletic director; head men’s basketball coach;
head golf coach; chairman of the health, physical education, and
recreation department; and chairman of the educational arts and
sciences division. He was also instrumental in the construction
of the Crum Recreation Center, the football and track and field
facilities at Francis Field, and the Fitness Training Center. He
introduced football, women’s cross country, women’s
track and field, and women’s soccer during his tenure.
 Athletic
Category
Rich Weinhandl ’74 etched his place in Greenville College
history as one of its most prolific distance runners. He excelled
in track and cross country, gaining all-conference and all-district
accolades in each. His greatest successes were in track where he
left Greenville College with the all-time record in the outdoor
880-yard run with a time of 1.54.9. The record was not broken until
2002. He also held the school record in the indoor 880-yard run
and the mile relay when graduating. The eight-time letter winner
was awarded the H.J. Long Award as Greenville College’s outstanding
male athlete in 1974.
 Rachelle
(Minott) Klopfenstein ’92, one of Greenville College’s
top women’s track and field athletes, was an NAIA All-American.
She qualified for the NAIA national championships on three occasions.
Her most notable performances came in the high jump where she placed
fourth in the nation during her junior year. She also set the current
school record when she cleared 5-8 in 1991. In 1992, Klopfenstein
garnered the June Strahl Award as the top female athlete and the
John Strahl Award as the top physical education major. She also
competed for the Lady Panthers in volleyball and basketball.
 Coaching
Category
Marilyn Starr, a former field hockey, women’s basketball,
and women’s tennis coach at Greenville College, led teams
into competition from 1962 to 1968 and then again from 1969 to 1971.
She instituted field hockey as an intercollegiate sport in 1963
and served as the program’s first coach. Starr was a former
associate professor of physical education and director of women’s
physical education. She returned to Greenville College in 1997 to
serve as a reference librarian and has stayed in Greenville in recent
years as the college archivist.
Team Category
The 1969 baseball team was one of the best baseball squads in school
history. Their record of 21-5-1 and winning percentage of .777 has
not been matched. Led by head coach Robert “Ish” Smith
’57 who was the NAIA National Coach of the Year, the team
finished first in the Prairie College Conference, participated in
the NAIA District 20 playoffs for the first time, and ranked 19th
nationally in the final season poll by Collegiate Baseball for all
NAIA and NCAA Division II and III institutions. The team broke 19
Greenville College baseball records, led the NAIA in batting average
(.338), and outscored their opponents 227-95.
Last updated: September
24, 2003
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