Induction Ceremony - March 24, 2012
Eric Alberter | Track and Field (2004-2006)
The four-time NJCAA National Champion and nine-time All-American had a knack for doing his best at the right time. He won (and finished second) both as an individual and as a relay team member, Indoors and Outdoors, as a Freshman and Sophomore, from ahead and behind.
⭐ But it took a third-place showing in the 2005 Indoor Finals 800M Run to convince him he could do it. (He also ran on runner-up 4 x 800M and Distance Medley Relay teams that weekend.)
⭐ The Belleville (West H.S.) Freshman improved two months later by placing second in the Outdoor 800M and anchoring the victorious 4 x 800M quartet in a school-record 7:37.64.
⭐ That was followed by a 2006 Indoor Finals to remember in Manhattan, KS . . . First while running the 800M third leg of the 4000M DMR (10:17.50) Friday . . . First Saturday as anchor on a winning 4 x 800M Relay squad (RLC record 7:52.74). First later that day as National Champ in the 800M (1:53.62).
⭐ Capped his Juco career in the 2006 Outdoor 4 x 800M Relay with a fourth second.
⭐ “He had God-given talent, but he worked very hard and did everything 100%,” said Coach Brent McLain. “We were a better team because of him; he was our rock.”
⭐ RLC was runner-up Indoors both seasons.
⭐ Alberter’s 800M best of 1:49.66 Outdoors was topped by Olympian Boaz Lalang in 2008. He also rated No. 1 Indoors in the 600M (1:20.59) and 800M (1:53.08).
⭐ Alberter was a 2x All-American at U. of Florida before returning as Warrior Head Coach in 2009.
Tommy Bryan III | Track and Field (2005-2007)
Timing is everything, and it was TB III Time at the 2006 NJCAA Men’s Indoor Track and Field National Championships. The Centralia Freshman made a shambles of the Pentathlon field – his five-event total of 3,723 beat his nearest rivals by 220 points and ranked No. 2 all-time.
⭐ Described by Coach Brent McLain as a “big kid, muscular, who worked super hard and was a tough competitor,” Bryan was the lone competitor of 16 to finish in the top five of each event. He won the Pentathlon High Jump at 2.04 meters (6 feet 8.25 inches), six inches higher than second-best and worth 840 points. He was third in the Shot Put (11.39M / 37-4.5), fourth in both the Long Jump (6.60M / 21-8) and 1000M Run (2:46.64) and fifth in the 60M Hurdles (:08.79).
⭐ Bryan’s sterling, opening day performance sparked RLC to a runner-up showing behind eight-time defending champ Barton County C.C. (KS) on the Kansas State U. campus. The Warriors boasted three other National Champs and two runners-up.
⭐ As a sophomore, Bryan placed fifth in the Indoor Pentathlon and seventh in the Outdoor High Jump.
⭐ PRs by the three-time All-America standout that still rank among RLC’s all-time finest – Indoor: High Jump, 6-9.75 (No. 3); 55M Hurdles, :08.01 (6th); 60M Hurdles, :08.85 (8th); Long Jump, 22-7.75 (8th); Triple Jump, 42-5.25 (10th); Shot Put, 37-4.5 (10th). Outdoor: High Jump, 2.05M, 6-8.75 (3rd); 400M Hurdles, :55.82 (7th); Triple Jump, 13.68M, 44-10.75 (8th); 110M High Hurdles, :16.0 (10th).
Jason Craig | Track and Field (2003-2005)
A two-time All-America performer Indoors as a freshman, the veteran from Huber Heights, OH, gave the Warriors their only Gold Medalist in the 2005 NJCAA Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championships at Eastern Illinois U.
⭐ He was declared winner of the 400-Meter Run in 47.90 seconds, the same time as the runner-up. He also placed eighth in the 200M Dash. But Barton County C.C. (KS) overcame his title and four runner-up efforts by RLC reps to escape with its eighth straight NJCAA Indoor crown, 108.5-107.
⭐ Craig set the 400M school record a month earlier in Arkansas at :47.78. His :21.48 in the 200M in the same event was another record.
⭐ In May 2005, Craig ran the second leg for the NJCAA Championship Outdoor 4 x 800M Relay squad and was second in the 400M in a school-record :46.33.
⭐ The six-time All-American was second in the 200M and sixth in the 400M Indoors in ’04 for the third-place team.
⭐ He departed with RLC Outdoor records in the 100M (:10.47), 200M (:20.93) and 400M, as well as the 4 x 100M, 200M, 400M and 800M Relays.
⭐ Between seasons at RLC, he ran the third leg (:45.6) for the USA 4 x 400M Relay Team that set a Jr. World Record of 3:01.09 at the 10th International Assn. of Athletics Federation World Jr. Championships in Grosetto, Italy in July 2004.
⭐ “One of the nicest guys you could ever meet,” insists Coach Brent McLain. Craig was a “stud” athletically, but not imposing physically . . . “until you saw him take off running, and then he was amazing.”
Corey Dowden | Track and Field (2002-2004)
Claimed Warriors’ first NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field crown in May 2004 when he went 15.51 meters (50 feet 10.75 inches) in the Triple Jump. The winning effort capped a Juco career in which the nine-time All-America honoree improved from third in the Outdoor Nationals as a freshman and runner-up Indoors a couple of months earlier; he was sixth Indoors in 2003.
⭐ At his induction, Dowden still held the school Outdoor record, by over a foot. He rates second all-time Indoors with his 49-6.75 showing at SIUC in December 2003.
⭐ A product of the Chicago suburbs of Matteson (Rich South H.S.), Dowden truly was a triple jump threat. He also competed at the highest level in the Long Jump and High Jump.
⭐ A Personal Record in the Long Jump of 23-6.75 Indoors came in the Region XXIV Meet as a sophomore and rated No. 1 for two years. His three All-America awards in the Long Jump were the result of a sixth Outdoors in 2003, eighth Indoors and fifth Outdoors the following seasons. An Outdoor best of 7.33M (24-0.75), No. 5 all-time, came at SEMO in ’03.
⭐ In the High Jump, where he recorded PRs of 6-6.25 Indoors (fourth) and 6-8.75 Outdoors (third), he was fifth in the NJCAA Indoor Finals and seventh Outdoors.
⭐ Dowden was “very coachable” and a technical jumper . . . “The best jumper ever to come through RLC,” said Coach Brent McLain, “because he did what the system was designed to do; he did everything the right way and graduated.” Signed with Texas Tech U.
Bob Kelley | Sports Professional (1979-Present)
The RLC Director of Marketing and Public Information for 27 years, from 1979-2006, served as Sports Information Director the first 24 years.
⭐ He was an Assistant Basketball Coach during Mitch Haskins’ first five seasons (1981-86) and assisted late-arriving Baseball Coach Kirk Champion in Fall 1981.
⭐ He volunteered as Official Scorer for Men’s Basketball the last nine seasons and for the Lady Warriors for seven before retirement.
⭐ The former Sports Writer / Editor produced media guides for Men and Women’s Basketball (21 / 18 seasons), Baseball (21), Softball (11), Men and Women’s Golf and Cross-Country / Track and Field.
⭐ Kelley was Treasurer of the Great Rivers Athletic Conference from its inception, 1984-85, until 2006, save for one year; he doubled as Secretary the first seven years and was Publicist three years.
⭐ A Steering Committee member, he has been responsible for RLC Sports Hall of Fame plaques, programs and publicity for all 13 Inductions to date and was M.C. through 2006.
⭐ He also emceed 11 All-Sports Banquets.
⭐ For 25 years, he provided publicity for S.I. Lions Club All-Star Games and programs for Jr. High State Tournaments.
⭐ The Mt. Vernon native and RLC grad (’69) received the 2005 “Outstanding Staff” Award. A history of the college he is compiling includes an in-depth look at RLC Athletics.
⭐ Bob and Kendi Kelley now live in the Lexington, KY area, near son Damon, a high school basketball coach, daughter-in-law Genia and grandson Chris.
Men's Outdoor Track 4x800M Relay Team (2004-2005)
Marcus Walton, Jason Craig, Tim Clark, and Eric Alberter
Running together for the first time in the NJCAA Finals, this Warrior quartet packed plenty of star power. And it showed.
⭐ Indoor 400M National Champ and USA World Jr. Relay record-holder Craig (So. / Huber Heights, OH) was added to a mix which already included So. Walton (Potosi, MO), who would become a 7x All-American; So. Clark (Indianapolis, IN), 13x All-America, and Fr. Alberter (Belleville / West H.S.), 4x NJCAA champ, 4x runner-up and 9x All-America overall.
⭐ Coach Brent McLain told Craig, “We need you in the 800,” and he said, “Yeah, I’ll do it.” “If not for him stepping up, we would not be talking National Championship.”
⭐ Walton put the team out front in the Finals-only event with a 1:51+ leg, followed by Craig, who nearly matched his only previous 800M run of 1:54.6. By the time Clark finished off a 1:55 leg with a final handoff, Alberter took over with a comfortable lead. “All I had to do was maintain the lead,” Alberter recalled his uneventful 1:54 two laps. “I didn’t see anybody my entire leg.”
⭐ Their 7:37.64 was a school record; it was third all-time at the time of induction. South Plains (TX) was second in 7:42.72.
⭐ Hall of Famers Craig (400M) and Alberter (800M) were runners-up in their specialties as RLC placed fifth in Levelland, TX.
⭐ Clark signed with Tennessee-Chattanooga, Walton with Missouri Southern.
⭐ PICTURED: From left, Walton, Craig, Clark, and Alberter.
Men's Indoor Track Distance Medley Relay Team (2005-2006)
Chris Rengifo, Anthony Flournoy, Eric Alberter, and Brad Middleton
Runner-up the year before in the 4000M Distance Medley Relay, RLC returned in 2006 to capture its second NJCAA Indoor DMR National Championship in five seasons by relying on the cerebral as much as its physical prowess.
⭐ Canadian Fr. Rengifo (Woodbridge, Ontario) was battling for second when he finished the 1200M first leg. So. Flournoy (Gary, IN) closed the gap in the next 400M, and the Warriors were in the lead after So. Alberter (Belleville / West H.S.) made up a 20-meter deficit in the 800M third leg.
⭐ That left the final 1600M to So. Middleton (Edwardsville), a cross-country/steeplechase specialist, who ran a strategic mile to bring home the victory. Middleton slowed the pace early and then outlasted the opposition.
⭐ Their 10:17.50 ranked behind the 2002 Hall of Fame quartet in 10:13.47 and the runner-up showing of 10:17.45 in 2005, when 9x All-America Alberter was a freshman member. This relay title was unexpected by Coach Brent McLain, who credits members for stepping up when needed most.
⭐ RLC was second Indoors as a team for the third time in four years.
⭐ Middleton was a 4x All-America, including a second on the Outdoor 4 x 800M Relay, plus Coaches Assn. All-America twice.
⭐ Rengifo was a 5x All-America (third, Indoor 1000M). He signed with Eastern Kentucky U., Flournoy with Indianapolis.
⭐ PICTURED: From left, Rengifo, Flournoy, Alberter, and Middleton.
Men's Indoor Track 4x800M Relay Team (2005-2006)
Shannon Sherrer, Kurt Heimann, Pat Clark, and Eric Alberter
Season-long competition among teammates had the Warrior 4 x 800M Relay Team well prepared for the 2006 NJCAA Indoor Nationals.
⭐ Each was trained to run the 800M – Alberter (Belleville / West H.S.) owned RLC’s best-ever time Indoors in the 800M at 1:53.08; lead-off Fr. Sherrer (Vineland, NJ) was No. 4 at 1:54.32, So. Heimann (Germantown / Breese Central H.S.) was No. 5 at 1:56.17 and Fr. Clark (Virginia Beach, VA) was No. 9 at 1:58.75. So. Alberter, Sherrer and Heimann ranked 1-2-6 in the Indoor 600M, and Clark was fourth in the 1000M.
⭐ In the Manhattan, KS, Finals, the top two teams kept trading leads, with Alberter taking the final baton exchange a stride or two behind the pacesetter, where he was satisfied to remain through 600M. When Alberter made his move with about 200M to go, video clips show Sherrer raising his fingers in the air as if victory were assured.
⭐ “That team was special,” noted Coach Brent McLain. “Everyone was solid. We expected great things and they delivered.” Their 7:52.74 record time was :03.5 ahead of the runner-up.
⭐ Heimann (4x All-America), Clark (3x All-America) and Alberter also were second in the Outdoor 4 x 800M.
⭐ Indiana State signee Heimann and Alberter were part of a 7:53.32 runner-up effort in ’05.
⭐ Sherrer (2x All-America) later competed at Augustana.
⭐ PICTURED: Clockwise, upper left, Sherrer, Heimann, Alberter and Clark.