CONWAY, Ark. – Seven new members will be inducted into the Hendrix College Sports Hall of Honor during the annual Sports Hall of Honor Banquet on Friday, April 21.
The banquet, part of Hendrix Alumni Weekend 2006, begins at 6:30 p.m. in Hulen Hall Ballroom. Reservations, which are $25 per person, can be made by calling the Hendrix Athletic Department at (501) 450-1391 or by mailing a check to the Warrior Booster Club, Hendrix College, 1600 Washington Ave., Conway, AR 72032. Checks should be made payable to the Warrior Booster Club.
The Sports Hall of Honor lists those recognized for their contributions to athletics at Hendrix. This year’s inductees will include the following:
The late Lewis C. Hawley (Class of 1926) of Grady, Ark., was a four-year letterman in basketball and baseball and lettered one year in football. He served as captain of the basketball team and played on two state championship teams, earning All-State honors. He was listed by legendary Coach Ivan Grove among his basketball greats. Hawley was one of the outstanding shortstops in college baseball and one of the team’s leading hitters. He played semi-pro baseball in the Southwest Arkansas Baseball League where he was the manager and catcher for Dumas. Following coaching stints at Grady, Gould and Dermott, he became principal at Forrest City High School where he served for 33 years.
Bill Yates (Class of 1950) of Dyess, Ark., was a multi-sport standout in football, basketball and track for the Warriors. He was a four-year letterman at end in football, a four-year letterman in basketball and a three-year letterman in track. In football, he was named honorable mention All-AIC, second team All-AIC and leading pass receiver and was chosen by Ouachita Baptist College for its first team all-opponent team.
In basketball, he led the team in scoring and was the third highest scorer in the AIC. He was an all-around participant in track highlighted by second place in the high and low hurdles for two years in the AIC. Yates was named Who’s Who Best Athlete by the Hendrix Troubadour in 1950 and was also awarded the Ivan Grove Free Throw Award and the Hugh Robertson Award for the Best All-Around Athlete his senior year. Following graduation, Yates had a highly successful coaching career in many sports in Arkansas and Florida.
Charles Tadlock(Class of 1961) of Warren, Ark., lettered four years in football and threw the discus and shot in track. In football he was named second team All-AIC as a sophomore, honorable mention on the Williamson Little All-American team as a junior and served as co-captain for the Warriors his senior year. After graduation, he coached at Charleston where career highlights include a junior high state track championship, three senior high cross country state championships, assistant AHSCA All-Star football coach honors, and six-times outstanding district football coach. As a track official, he has served as the referee for the AAA state cross country meet since 1986 and a state track referee since 1992. He was inducted into the Arkansas Track Hall of Fame in June of 2005 for his accomplishments as a coach and meet official.
Jim Rasco (Class of 1963) of Little Rock entered Hendrix after an athletic career at DeWitt High School where he was quarterback of the football team; set the single-season scoring record in basketball; pitched two no-hitters in baseball; won medals in the first two Arkansas “Meet of Champions” track meets; and set the school record in the 880, which stood for 29 years. As a freshman, Rasco lettered in basketball and track, setting the meet record for the 880 while picking up the gold medal in the Harding Invitational track meet and finishing second in the 880 in the AIC meet. His promising collegiate career in basketball and track was cut short due to injuries during his sophomore year, but his love of sports only intensified.
Widely known among sports enthusiasts (both locally and nationally) as “the ultimate sports fan,” he has had a keen interest in the history of basketball, football and baseball and in the collection of sports memorabilia. Rasco is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), has established a SABR Arkansas chapter, currently serves on the SABR Statistical Analysis Committee, and has received a special commendation for his sports research from Allan H. “Bud” Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball.
He has served the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame as a board member, president and historian. As a founding board member of the Hendrix College Warrior Booster Club, he assisted in the formation of the Hendrix Sports Hall of Honor and has served as a researcher and presenter at each banquet since its inception, for which he will receive a Meritorious Service Award. He is a member and published author in several national athletic research associations.
Shannon Maddie Earnest (Class of 1991), a native of Little Rock, came to Hendrix from Westbrook High School in Beaumont, Texas, where she was the doubles tennis district champion in 1986 and the singles tennis district champion in 1987. At Hendrix, she was a four-year letter winner in tennis, earning four All-AIC awards playing at number one. She was a two-time All-NAIA District 17 player at number one and led the Warriors to AIC Championships in 1990 and 1991. She was undefeated for two straight years in the AIC and received the Carl Babcock Award in 1991 for the female athlete who best exemplified the traits of clean and vigorous competition, team above self and honor above victory.
Jason Rhodes (Class of 1996) of Cherokee Village was a four-year basketball letterman who led the Warriors to two NCAA Division III national tournament appearances. He was named first team All-SCAC for two years, first team All-South Region and Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Player of the Year his senior year. He led the SCAC in scoring (20.6) and was one of the SCAC leaders in rebounding, field goal and free throw percentage. He was the Male Athlete of the Year in Faulkner County in 1996 and was named a second team NCAA Division III All-American, becoming only the second Hendrix player to be so honored.
After graduation, he returned to Hendrix for a seven-year tenure in the athletic department serving as assistant men’s basketball coach, sports information director, assistant to the athletic director, and head men’s and women’s golf coach, highlighted by an AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award in basketball. He also served as interim head men’s basketball coach for one year and was recently named to the SCAC 15th Anniversary Men’s Basketball Team.
Tom Welch of Conway will receive a Meritorious Service Award for serving the Hendrix athletic program for more than 30 years in swimming and basketball. He was the starter for more than 250 swim meets including every AIC championship, four national NAIA championships and a senior men’s national meet. He served as the referee and starter for many Aquakids swim meets held at Hendrix and also for the Little Rock Boys Club Swim Championship for six years. He was the starter and stroke judge for the UALR Invitational Swim Meet and one of three officials for the annual YMCA National Swimming and Division championships.
He also served for many years as a football official and organized and officiated at several Foothills District Boys Scout Swimorees. He served as a bench official at Hendrix in basketball, keeping the clock or scorebook for many years. Welch has received distinguished awards from the AAA and AOA and was inducted into the Arkansas Swimming Hall of Fame in 1991.
The Hendrix Sports Hall of Honor was created by the Hendrix College Booster Club in 1994 to preserve the history of the college’s great athletes, coaches, fans, friends and supporters. For more information about the Sports Hall of Honor, contact the Hendrix College Athletics Department, 501-450-1391.
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. Hendrix, selected this year by the Princeton Review as the nation's No. 4 "best value" college, has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information about the Hendrix College Athletic Department and the Warrior Booster Club, visit www.hendrix.edu.
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Media contact: Laurie Smith, 501-450-4573