Six Individuals to be Inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame During Homecoming

Six outstanding individuals will be inducted into the Westminster College Athletic Hall of Fame during halftime at the Oct. 19 Blue Jays football game on campus. The event, which takes place during a showdown at noon against Martin Luther College of New Ulm, MN, is part of a homecoming weekend packed with festivities.

“I want to congratulate these athletes, who represent the best not only of Westminster Athletics but of the College itself and what it stands for,” says Director of Athletics and Men’s Basketball Coach Matt Mitchell. “Each of these individuals stand out as examples of what our athletes can accomplish.”

Those being honored include the following:

Andrew Jett, ’12, of Manchester, MO, for Baseball
Math Teacher and Head Baseball Coach, Parkway West High School

• Career Leader in Average, OBP and Slugging
• 2011: First Team All-Conference
• 2011: Second Team All-Region
• 2009: Second Team All-Conference

“My time at Westminster was spent preparing myself for my profession while creating lifelong friendships. My favorite Westminster memory is going to Florida to play baseball over Spring Break. Even though we were not allowed to go on our own, personal vacation, this is where we wanted to be.”

Valentin (Val) Leppert, ’05, of Atlanta, GA, for Football
Partner, King & Spalding, LLC

• 2004 UMAC Champion
• 2003 UMAC Champion
• 2004 MVP Offence UMAC South
• 2003 First Team All-Conference
• 2004 First Team All-Conference

“My favorite memory is walking off the Metrodome field with my teammates after our second championship in 2004. There were about 25 of us who arrived at Westminster four years earlier as freshmen. We came in together, we grew together as a team, we overcame adversity together, we won together and we rode off into the sunset together. And I think that was also the biggest lesson I learned — a team is simply greater than the sum of its parts.”

Chris Marshall, ’03, of Versailles, MO, for Football and Baseball
Assistant Superintendent, Morgan County R-II School District

• Played for two years on the nationally ranked Blue Jays football and baseball teams
• Pitched in two NCAA regional tournament game
• Only Westminster player voted First Team All-Conference on both sides of the ball, as linebacker and quarterback
• Only Westminster player to receive votes on both sides of the ball for offensive and defensive MPF of the conference.
• 2002 Blue Jays football UMAC Conference MVP
• Four-year starter in football
• Three-year starter in baseball on pitching rotation
• Westminster Athlete of the Year

“I enjoyed being a student-athlete who was there to earn a degree that would set me up for success in live while also being able to play two sports for the Blue Jays. I will always remember playing on both the football and baseball teams while we were nationally ranked, two years in a row, during my time playing and contributing to the success. Westminster was the best fit for the true student-athlete.”

Kent Mueller, ’62 ΣΑΕ, of Paradise Valley, AZ, Special Contributor
Retired, Entrepreneur and Company Founder, Mastersoft, Inc., and Kent Mueller Ventures

• Member, Blue Jays Varsity Baseball Team
• Member, Blue Jays Varsity Basketball Team
• Alumni Achievement Award Honoree, 1993
• Board of Trustees Member
• Student Government Alumni Service Award, 2013
• Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, 2016
• Order of the Lion, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 2018

“I was fortunate to make the varsity basketball team as a freshman, and one day after practice, I hung around the gym shooting free throws, when this man, dressed in a suit, walked across the baseline, stopping under the basket. He asked me if I would mind if he shagged balls for me for a while, to which I answered, ‘Sure.’ After about 10 minutes, he asked me if I knew who he was, and I replied, ‘Sir, I am sorry, but I don’t know who you are.’ He said, ‘Kent Mueller, I know who you are. You are from Affton High School in St. Louis. You are here on a baseball scholarship. You are a physics major, and you are a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.’ He then said, ‘I am Dr. R.L.D. Davidson, and I am the president of Westminster College, and I am pleased to meet you.’ Of course, I felt embarrassed and very small at the time, as I should have at least introduced myself to him before he started shagging balls. He taught me a huge lesson, early in my tenure at Westminster: Always know what and who you are dealing with, and be aggressive in acknowledging the presence of another person, and learn who they are, and take leadership in introducing yourself first if needed. From that day forward, Dr. Davidson and I were friends and remained so for a lifetime. He was the very first Westminster person to thank Judy and me for our donation to build the Mueller Student Center and did recall the day we first met in the gym.”

Gary Schmidt, ’69 ΚΑ, of Jefferson City, MO, for Cross Country and Track & Field
Retired, Trial Judge

• MCAU Conference Cross Country Champion, 1965-1968
• MCAU Conference Champion 880-yard dash, mile and two-mile run, 1966-1969
• Repeat NAIA All-American
• Won the Graceland Mile, 1966-1969
• Outstanding athlete at various Midwestern invitationals
• Won the conference mile, two-mile and 880-yard dash and finished second in the 440-yard dash, 1967
• Scored a conference leading 40 total points, two more than Olympic decathlon champion Bruce Jenner
• Ran 4:07 mile in college and a 3:42 1500-meters post college, which translates to a 3:59 mile

“When Coach Ault was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, I got him a card with a picture of a pick-up truck in a tree. The caption was, ‘I can explain.’ There always seemed to be a lot to explain. But my favorite memory of Westminster is the new memory of the Athletic Hall of Fame — a long way for the smallest kid in grade school … the last one picked for any team.”

Jaime Vargas, of Columbia, MO, Former Tennis and Soccer Coach
Sports Director and Tennis Pro at the Jefferson City Country Club in Jefferson City, MO

• Combined Men’s and Women’s Tennis Record of 102-67
• Coach of the Year five different times in four sports coached
• Coached several SLIAC conference players to place as first, second, third or honorable mention
• Coached student-athletes who were recognized as Academic All-District and Academic All-American Players

“At Westminster, as an administrator and coach of several teams each season, I learned I had to be organized and develop time-management skills. During that time, I also established lifetime relationships with many of the students, players and their families. I am honored that I still keep in contact with many of them. As a coach, it is a pleasure to watch them grow from nervous freshmen to successful professionals.”

Originally established in 1998 as the Intercollegiate Athletic Who’s Who, the Westminster College Athletics Hall of Fame was designed to recognize individuals who have excelled in athletics and/or made significant contributions to their sport. Those selected have not only made a mark in the Blue Jay record book but have gone on to achieve success in life while making contributions to the success and reputation of Westminster College.

The Hall of Fame committee members voting on inductees into the Hall of Fame include the athletic director, sports information director, an alumni staff member and selected Hall of Fame members.

For more information on the Blue Jays Hall of Fame, go here.