ALUMNI RETURN FOR ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME DINNER

ANNIKA WALL, MANAGING EDITOR

Wartburg College will host an Athletic Hall of Fame Dinner on-campus during the Homecoming festivities on Saturday, Oct. 12. The dinner will honor eight former student-athletes from eight sports.

The 2019 Hall of Fame class will also be honored prior to the football game against Nebraska Wesleyan. Three of the honorees were two-sport athletes while at Wartburg.

“We’re excited to honor another great group of people into the Hall of Fame,” Rick Willis, Wartburg College athletic director and head football coach, said. “We think it’s a tremendous honor. Our hall of fame committee works hard to research the accomplishments and make it a very meaningful honor to be in the Wartburg Hall of Fame.”

Inductees include Akeem Carter ’09, Angela Hartwig Elmshaeuser ’09, Joel Reynolds ’05, Anthony Souhrada ’00, Leon Webrand ’62, Aaron Wernimont ’09, Heidi Porter Wiley ’07 and Ashley Rogers Winter ’08. Wernimont’s honor is awarded posthumously. This year’s class earned 15 All-American honors while at Wartburg.

“It’s always fun to honor people. People appreciate that,” Willis said. “I know a lot of our coaches enjoy when one of the student-athletes they coached comes back as an inductee into the Hall of Fame. It’s special, not just to the inductee, but for the program.

This year’s Hall of Fame class holds program records in Wartburg’s softball, baseball, football and volleyball programs. Inductees have also been inducted into the National Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame and received Wartburg’s Young Alumni Award.

To be nominated for the Wartburg Hall of Fame, athletes must have graduated from Wartburg more than 10 years prior to nomination, have outstanding athletic success, demonstrated evidence of professional or personal achievement after graduation and made contributions to their communities.

Individuals must be nominated by Dec. 31 of the year prior and will stay on the nomination ballot for 10 years. Inductees are selected by an on-campus committee.

For more information about Wartburg’s homecoming, go to wartburg.edu/homecoming/.