Oct. 22, 2003

Cape Girardeau, Mo. - The Southeast Missouri State Athletic Hall of Fame will induct its second class on Saturday at the Show Me Center, 1 p.m.

Twelve individuals and three teams will make up the 2003 class for the Hall of Fame which is housed in the Show Me Center. The group includes football, basketball, track, volleyball and gymnastics athletes. The three teams to be inducted include the 1937 and 1955 football teams that were both unbeaten with 9-0 records and the 1991 gymnastics team that won the USGF Division II national championship.

The 1937 football team went through the first seven games without being scored on and ranked as the only college football team in the United States to be unscored on at that point in the season. The 1937 team was one of only 12 unbeaten teams in the nation and claimed a third straight MIAA championship. The team was coached by Abe Stuber who was one of the inaugural members of the Southeast Athletic Hall of Fame.

There are only three squad members still living and none will be able to attend, but several former players will be represented by family members at Saturday's induction ceremony.

The 1955 team was also unbeaten and untied and claimed the MIAA championship. The Indians opened the season with a 7-0 win over Southern Illinois and ended the season with a 24-7 win over Delta State. The closest game was a 13-12 road win at Central Missouri State. The team was coached by Kenneth Knox who was one of the inaugural members of the Hall of Fame.

Twenty members of the 1955 team will be on hand for the induction ceremony including All-American tight end John Schneider who was inducted into the Hall of Fame as an individual last season, former Southeast football coach Jim Lohr and John Wittenborn who will be inducted as an individual on Saturday.

The 1991 gymnastics team won the USGF Division II national championship and became the first Division II school to ever qualify for the NCAA Division I Central Regional where Southeast finished fourth. Six team members won All-America honors including Cheri Peterson who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as an individual.

Two individuals, Wayne Goddard and Donald "Diz" Anderson will be inducted posthumously. Anderson's wife and two grandsons who currently attend Southeast will accept on his behalf.

Goddard was the first Southeast football player to be named first team Little All-American in 1937. He won eight letters including four in football and four in track and was a four-time all-MIAA selection. He later served as football coach at Southeast from 1947-1951.

Anderson (1942-1947) was named to the second-team Associated Press Little All-America team in 1946 as a center and linebacker. He earned four letters in both football and track and was the founder and chairman of Abe's Boys.

Tom Upton (1944-1949) is still living in California and will be unable to attend the induction ceremony. He led the Southeast basketball team in scoring for three seasons and led the University of Pennsylvania in scoring while in the service. He was a hurdler on the track team. After graduation, he played major league baseball with the Saint Louis Browns (1950 and 1951) and Washington Senators (1952).

Herb Mulkey (1939-1942) was a star in both basketball and track. He was a two-time all-MIAA selection and team captain in basketball and held school records in the low hurdles, high hurdles and high jump. At one time, Mulkey held 11 high jump records at tracks throughout the Midwest.

Kermit "Moose" Meystedt (1964-1967) was named honorable mention on the Converse Basketball All-American team (all divisions) his junior and senior seasons. He still holds the single game scoring record with 52 points and is the single season rebounding record holder with 362. Meystedt is the first Southeast student-athlete to score over 1,000 points and capture over 800 rebounds.

John Wittenborn (1954-1957) was an all-MIAA linebacker, offensive lineman and kicker who played 11 seasons professional football with the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Oilers.

Curtis Williams (1964-1967) was the first African-American student-athlete at Southeast. He lettered four years in track and three years in basketball. He was the basketball MVP in 1967 and was MIAA champion in the high jump, triple jump and long jump.

Walter Smallwood (1965-1968) was a two-time all-MIAA football selection who still holds Southeast records for touchdowns in a game (5), season (16) and career (38) and held the career rushing record until 1994. Smallwood was the MIAA 60-meter champion.

Clark Wille (1967-1971) was a five-time MIAA champion in the high hurdles. He claimed All-American honors in the hurdles in 1971. After graduation he coached Herculaneum High School to ten state championships in cross country and track. Wille coached over 160 collegiate All-Americans at Lindenwood and Missouri Baptist. He guided Lindenwood women to the NAIA cross country championship and the Lindenwood men to the NAIA men's indoor track title.

Rick Attig (1970-1973) was a football and track standout who was honorable mention All-American and team captain football and All-American in the javelin for the track team. He is the Southeast and MIAA record holder in the javelin. He is currently assistant track coach at Nebraska after having served as an assistant at Kansas.

Cheri Peterson (1988-1991) is an eleven-time gymnastics All-American and two-time USGF Division II national champion. She won the all-around and vault national title in 1991 to lead Southeast to the USGF national championship.

Pam Kirsch (1990-1993) was the first Southeast student-athlete to be named the Ohio Valley Conference Female Athlete of the Year. She was a GTE Academic All-American in 1993 and was first team all-OVC in 1992 and 1993.

The Hall of Fame induction begins at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Show Me Center. All recipients will be recognized at half-time of Saturday night's game with Murray State.