GLVC Announces 2008 Hall of Fame Class
INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) has selected six individuals for induction into the GLVC Hall of Fame. The 2008 GLVC Hall of Fame Class will be honored at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car GLVC Spring Banquet at the Drury Plaza Hotel in St. Louis on May 20.
Entering the GLVC Hall of Fame in 2008 is Ashland University’s Bobbi Pugh Weaver, Northern Kentucky University’s Melissa Wood-Fleming, Saint Joseph’s College’s Laura Witek-Jones, SIU Edwardsville’s Misi Clark Jones and the University of Southern Indiana’s Amber Huse Tooley and Bruce Pearl.
Bobbi Pugh Weaver is a 1993 graduate of former GLVC-member Ashland University and excelled as a four-year middle blocker on the Eagles’ volleyball team. Pugh set numerous records while a member of the program and led the Eagles to their lone GLVC Volleyball Championship in 1991. She was named GLVC Player of the Year in both 1990 and 1991 and was a three-time All-GLVC selection. Pugh led the nation in hitting percentage with a .513 mark in 1991 and was named an AVCA All-American. She was a two-time All-Region selection and was named the Ashland University Female Athlete of the Year in both 1991 and 1992. While at Ashland, the Eagles posted a 31-11 mark in league play. Pugh set and continues to hold numerous single-season and career records at Ashland. She is the Ashland career record holder for kills, hitting percentage, service aces and block assists. Pugh holds single-season marks in hitting percentage and solo blocks. She is currently a counselor at Lexington High School in Lexington, Ohio and she and husband Brian have two children and live in Mansfield, Ohio.
Melissa Wood-Fleming graduated from Northern Kentucky in 1987. While a member of the Norse, her teams accumulated an overall record of 83-30 and posted a conference mark of 27-5 in their first two seasons in the league. The Norse claimed the GLVC Championships for the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons and advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1987. Wood-Fleming, the first player recruited by legendary head coach Nancy Winstel, helped build the Norse into an elite program on a national level. She was a two-time All-GLVC First Team selection and a second team All-American in 1985-86. At 5-foot-3, the quick, tenacious guard averaged 13.7 points per game while at NKU. She ranks ninth on the NKU career list in scoring and ninth on the all-time assists list. The consummate team player, Wood-Fleming returned from a knee injury prior to her senior season and led the team to their first appearance in the NCAA Final Four. Wood-Fleming is an elementary school teacher and lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Laura Witek-Jones completed her career at Saint Joseph’s as one of the most successful cross country and track and field runners in GLVC history. The 1997 graduate was a four-time member of the All-GLVC Cross Country Team and claimed the honors of GLVC Runner of the Year and GLVC Freshman of the Year in 1993 after winning the GLVC Cross Country Championship individual crown. She won the event in the fifth fastest time (18:17) in the GLVC 5K. Witek-Jones is one of nine cross country runners in league history to finish in the top ten of the championship meet four times. She earned All-American honors six times while running for the Pumas, once in cross country, once in the indoor track 5,000 meters, twice in the outdoor track 3,000 meters and twice in the outdoor track 5,000 meters. She is the Saint Joseph’s record holder in the 1,500 meters, mile, 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. In addition, Witek-Jones was a nine-time Academic All-American and graduated cum laude. She and husband Ray have three children and live in Marengo, Illinois. Witek-Jones works at American Family Insurance and is a licensed real estate appraiser. She volunteers time on her church’s Religious Education Commission, at her children’s school on several committees and is a volunteer coach in the Marengo Park District.
Misi Clark Jones is a graduate of SIU Edwardsville and finished her four-year career as one of the most accomplished women’s basketball players in school and league history. She was a four-time All-GLVC selection, the GLVC Freshman of the Year, GLVC Co-Player of the Year in 1999-2000 and a three-time All-American honoree. Clark is the all-time leading scorer for the Cougars and led SIUE to three appearances in the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars posted a 79-35 conference record with Clark in the fold, finishing as high as second in the league in 1997-98. In addition to holding the school’s all-time scoring mark (2,164 points), Clark is also ranked in the top three on ten other SIUE career statistical lists and holds several GLVC records including most career free throws made and attempted. In her senior season, Clark was named the co-recipient of the Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award, the highest honor given to a student-athlete by the GLVC and she had her No. 3 jersey retired by SIUE in December. She played semi-professionally for the Chicago Blaze following her career at SIUE and is now a teacher in Bethany, Illinois.
Amber Huse Tooley excelled on the softball diamond for Southern Indiana. The 1996 graduate and inaugural member of the USI Athletic Hall of Fame guided the Eagles to two GLVC Championships while at USI. The Eagles posted a 107-80-1 overall record behind her efforts and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1995. She was a first team Academic All-American in 1994 and 1995 and first team All-American in 1994 as well as second team All-American in 1995. She was a three-time All-GLVC and Academic All-GLVC performer and was the recipient of the Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award in 1996. Huse set five career records during her stint and remains the school’s all-time leader in doubles and triples. She currently ranks third in career home runs and RBIs, fourth in hits and fifth in batting average and runs scored. Huse also holds the record for the longest hitting streak in school history putting together a 27-game run. Huse lives and works in Noblesville, Indiana where she is a preschool teacher at Talking Time Learning Center.
Bruce Pearl served as head coach of the men’s basketball program at Southern Indiana from 1992-2001 and developed the Eagles into one of the top basketball programs in the country. Considered one of the finest coaches in GLVC history, Pearl guided his teams to four GLVC Championships and to the NCAA Division II Tournament in each of his nine seasons at the institution. He posted a 231-46 (.834) overall record while at USI and a 146-28 (.839) record in league play. Pearl became the fastest coach in NCAA history to reach 200 career wins, accomplishing the feat in 240 games. The Eagles reached the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Final six times, advanced to the NCAA Division II championship game in 1994 and won the school’s first national championship in 1995. He was twice named GLVC Coach of the Year (1993, 1994), earned National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Coach of the Year honors in 1995 and was named the NABC Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year in 2000. Pearl, since leaving USI, has gone on to have tremendous success at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and currently at the University of Tennessee. While at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Pearl led the Panthers to a pair of NCAA Tournament runs and a trip to the Sweet 16. In two seasons with Tennessee, his teams have made back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a run to the Sweet 16 in 2006-07. Pearl has accumulated a career record of 363-103 in 15 seasons as a head coach.