CMU Names Hall of Fame Class

Filed under CMU News on Friday, August 03, 2012.

Zach Towe, William Hollmann, Pat Reardon and Jeff Sherman will be enshrined into the Hairston Hall of Fame at Central Methodist University on September 1.

"The 2012 Hairston Hall of Fame Class will be one of the most decorated classes in recent years," Ken Oliver, Vice President for Institutional Growth and Student Engagement, commented.

The festivities will take place on the fourth floor of the CMU Student and Community Center with the Hall of Fame Induction Luncheon beginning at 1:30 p.m. CT. The induction ceremony for the Class of 2012 will commence at 2:00 p.m.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $7 for children age 10 and under. To RSVP, please contact Sherry Wells by August 28 at 660-248-6346 or swells@centralmethodist.edu.

Towe was a standout of the men's basketball team from 1999-2003. The Nixa, Mo. native was named Heart of America Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in 2000 and earned All-HAAC honors for four seasons. In 2003, he was voted the HAAC Player of the Year and named to the NAIA All-America third team.

Towe owns the school's single-season assists record with 261 (2002-03) and ranks second in career assists with 837. He ranks second on CMU's career made 3-pointers list with 314 as the 1999-2000 squad hit a school-record 297 three-pointers. Towe ranks fourth on the all-time scoring list with 1,859 points.

Towe played and started all 137 games of his career, which are also school records, and the team posted 83 wins during that stretch. Towe completed his undergraduate degree from CMU in 2003.

Hollmann, who comes from Fredericktown, Mo. and also played rugby at CMU, starred on the football field as an offensive and defensive lineman for the Eagles in 1968 and again from 1971-73. Hollmann was an All-HAAC selection at defensive tackle in 1968.

He led all defensive lineman with 57 tackles. Hollmann was an All-HAAC pick at right tackle from 1971-73 and received honorable mention and first team NAIA All-America honors in 1972 and 1973, respectively.

The 1972 team scored 62 points against Baker, setting the school record for most points in a game. During his senior season in 1973, Hollmann helped paved the way for former running back Bill Lankford, who scored a school-record 107 points. Hollmann finished his collegiate playing career with an overall record of 22-13-2.

Even after graduating from CMU in 1974, the Hollmann family has continued its tradition in Fayette. His daughter, Kelly Hollmann Langhoff, graduated from CMU in 2005. His son-in-law, Kyle Langhoff, is a former CMU assistant football coach.

Reardon, while entering the Hall of Fame for his excellence as a player on the soccer field and coach of the softball team, also was a three-year letter winner in baseball. He was a four-year letter winner on the pitch from 1986-89 and has coached softball in Fayette since 1993.

Reardon, who hails from Topeka, Kan. was named All-HAAC in 1986 and all-district from 1987-89 when the team was a member of the Independent Collegiate Athletic Association. He scored 39 career goals, including 22 in 1989, which are both CMU records.

After earning his undergraduate degree from CMU in 1990, Reardon began coaching women's soccer and softball for the Eagles three years later. The five-time HAAC Coach of the Year (1995, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012) and two-time NFCA NAIA Midwest Region Coach of the Year (2008, 2012) has won four HAAC regular-season championships (1992, 2008, 2011, 2012), two HAAC tournament titles (2008, 2012) and established the Eagles as a consistent conference title contender and continues to produce outstanding graduates.

During the past two seasons, Reardon has guided the squad to a school-record 41 wins in each season, including a birth in the 2012 NAIA Softball National Championship. Since 2008, his teams have posted 34 or more wins in every season.

Reardon is one of only two coaches in HAAC history to surpass the 500-win milestone. His 525 career wins in 20 seasons rank 15th in the history of the NAIA. In the last two seasons, Reardon has seen two of his players named to four All-America teams. In 2011, the softball team posted a cumulative team GPA of 3.627, which ranked first in the NAIA.

Since 1999, Reardon has coached 39 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes and two Capital One Academic All-Americans.

The 2012-13 season will mark Jeff Sherman's 28th at the helm of the men's basketball program. A product of De Beque, Colo. he has been named HAAC Coach of the Year four times (1994, 2008, 2009, 2010) and ICAA Coach of the Year twice (1988, 1989).

Under Sherman's watch, the Eagles have won two HAAC regular-season championships (1993-94, 2009-10), two ICAA regular-season titles (1987-88, 1988-89) and the 2004 HAAC tournament championship. During that time, CMU has made two appearances in the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship (1994, 1998) and two appearances in the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship (2009, 2010), including reaching the Sweet 16 in 1994 and 2009. Sherman has posted 10 seasons of 20 or more wins, and his 1993-94 squad won a school-record 30 games.

Sherman's 490 career wins rank third in conference history and 18th in the history of the NAIA. His teams have been ranked in the NAIA Top 25 during 11 seasons. Since the fall of 1985, Sherman has coached 13 NAIA All-Americans and seven Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes.

In 1998, Sherman was given the Young Alumni Award, presented by the CMU alumni association. He was inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa Society in 2001. Sherman was inducted into the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2009. He is the eighth all-time winningest coach of any four-year college in the state of Missouri.

Sherman played basketball for CMU for two seasons (1980-81, 1981-82). The Eagles compiled 44 wins during that stretch, with the 1980-81 squad winning 24 games and a HAAC regular-season Championship. Sherman earned his undergraduate degree from CMU in 1982.

Sherman's two sons, Matthew and Ryan, have added to their father's legacy in Fayette. Matthew was a standout guard on the basketball court for his father from 2006-10. Ryan is a senior on the track and field team and has become one of the nation's best in the 200 Meter Sprint.

Jeff Sherman is married to Julee Sherman, Vice President of Finance & Administration at CMU.

The Hairston Hall of Fame currently includes 63 former athletes and coaches as well as 14 teams.

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