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SPRINGFIELD -- The Missouri State University Athletics Hall of Fame enters its 44th year with its second year of a new award to honor long-time contributors to university athletics along with seven nominees who had participation in eight MSU sports.
 
The Don Payton Award for 2018 will go to retired Missouri State Faculty Athletics Representative and Professor of Agriculture Dr. Bruce Johnson.
 
The rest of this year's induction group includes basketball player Melody Campbell Stewart (1997-2001), field hockey player-golfer Cathy Clark (1975-78), track and cross country athlete (1962-65) and track and cross country coach Richard Clark (1979-2005; soccer player Brad Jordan (1994-97), volleyballer Rese McNatt (1999-2001), football player Matt Soraghan (1984-87); and track and cross country athlete Matt Wegenka (1983-87).
 
The Payton Award is named for and was first awarded last year in honor of one of the Bears' and Lady Bears' most ardent fans and supporters for more than a generation. Don Payton served at MSU from 1956 until 1985 in a variety of news and sports-related functions within the University administration, beginning with MSU athletics days in the MIAA and NAIA and into the growth and success of men's and women's programs on an NCAA Division I level. Payton died in 2014.
 
The 2018 MSU Athletics Hall of Fame observance will take place the weekend of February 9-10, and will include appearances by the Hall of Fame class at two MSU home basketball games as well as the induction brunch, set for 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, in the Plaster Student Union West Ballroom. The inductees will be recognized in halftime ceremonies of the Lady Bears game vs. Bradley Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. and the Bears' game vs. Evansville Feb. 10 at 2 p.m. in JQH Arena
 
The 2018 MSU Athletics Hall of Fame induction luncheon is open to the public and reservations may be made through Monday, Feb. 4, by calling Missouri State Athletics Development (417) 836-4143. Tickets are $20 per person.
 
The eight new inductees will bring the total membership in the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame to 380. The original Hall of Fame for men's sports was established in 1975 by Director of Athletics Aldo Sebben with 179 people enshrined in the first 22 induction classes.  Director of Women's Athletics Dr. Mary Jo Wynn established in 1981 a shrine to honor participants in women's sports, and the 18 subsequent induction classes into that Hall of Fame saw 76 people enshrined.  The two previous groups were combined into a single shrine in 1999 and this year's induction will be the 20th for the combined hall.
 
The new induction class into the shrine joins all previous honorees in the 10th year of permanent public recognition of the Athletics Hall of Fame. An interactive video listing of the entire membership of the Hall of Fame is a part of the Legacy of Competition which opened in 2008 in the east entry lobby of JQH Arena. Photos and writeups of all Hall of Fame members are now on permanent display and the 2018 shrine class will be added to the display for Hall of Fame weekend.
 
Capsules on the 2018 Missouri State University Athletics Hall of Fame inductees are below.
 
 
Dr. Bruce Johnson (Don Payton Award), MSU Associate Professor/Professor of Agriculture (1978-2009), Faculty Athletics Representative, 1996-2011; Dr. Johnson's role as Faculty Athletics Representative saw him chair meetings of the MSU Faculty Athletics Committee and he represented Missouri State at Missouri Valley Conference and NCAA meetings and conventions, including serving as chair of many committees and boards on both the league and national levels. Dr. Johnson earned his bachelor's and doctorate degrees from the University of Missouri and his master's degree from Iowa State University. A retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, he was part of the 2014 induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame of the 1999 MSU NCAA men's basketball Sweet 16 team; was selected for the MSU Wall of Fame in 2017; and in 2016 had an MSU outstanding scholar-athlete award established in his name.
 
Melody Campbell Stewart, basketball, 1997-01; Campbell was the point guard on Coach Cheryl Burnett's 2001 NCAA Final Four team and Campbell played on MSU NCAA tournament clubs all four seasons she was a member of the Lady Bears. MSU won two regular season Missouri Valley Conference titles and finished second twice with a four-year league record of 59-13 and an overall mark of 101-28 for those years. The Lady Bears got to the NCAA second round in 1999 and then defeated Toledo, Rutgers, Duke and Washington on the way to a Final Four setback to Purdue in 2001. Campbell finished in the Lady Bears' career top 10 in games played (120) and assists (352) and recorded 137 steals.
 
Cathy Clark, field hockey-golf, 1975-78; Clark was a four-year starting defender in field hockey, playing for teams which were 80-15-5 in those four seasons for coach Rhonda Ridinger. Clark helped MSU in winning a Missouri AIAW championship in 1977; getting regional runner-up finishes in 1977 and 1978 and playing in the 1977 national tournament. The 1978 MSU team posted a 28-2 record with 21 shutouts for the best season winning percentage (.933) in school history with Clark's defense a major contributor to the best defensive campaign in program history. Clark was a two-time field hockey co-captain and was also a four-year member of the Bears' golf team for coach Gayle Runke.
 
Richard Clark, track-cross country, 1962-65; track-cross country coach, 1979-2005; Distance running standout Richard Clark actually participated in four sports as an undergraduate for the Bears, running primarily the mile in track. The Thayer native returned to coach MSU to the 1979 and 1980 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships and guided the Bears to five Mid-Continent Conference cross country titles in the eight years MSU was in that league. He was selected coach of the year five times and his tenure produced three individual conference champions in cross country and 28 all-conference performers in the three leagues in which he coached while at MSU.
 
Brad Jordan, soccer, 1994-97; Brad Jordan was a two time NSCAA all-region, three-time Missouri Valley Conference all-league selection and he was on the MVC all-tournament team twice. He led MSU in goals scored and points two seasons in each category, and is second all-time for the Bears in career points (97), goals (34), assists (29), shots (198), and game-winning goals (12). The St. Louis native was also a two-time MVC scholar-athlete selection. In the years Jordan played for the Bears, coach Jon Leamy's teams posted a combined 51-21-4 record with a MVC title (1997) and a trip to the 1997 NCAA Tournament.
 
Rese McNatt, volleyball, 1999-01; Rese McNatt was a three-year volleyball standout and a two-year starter for the Bears and was named to the Missouri Valley Conference all-league first team both her junior and senior campaigns. She led MSU with 390 kills as a senior to rank among school's 20 best all-time seasons in that category. Coach Melissa Stokes's Bears were 74-26 in McNatt's three seasons and finished second once and third twice in MVC tournament play. McNatt played professional volleyball for 13 seasons in seven different countries after graduating from MSU and now works in high school athletics administration in Florida.
 
Matt Soraghan, football, 1984-87; Soraghan was a prolific tackler as a linebacker who lettered four years and played two seasons each for head coaches Rich Johanningmeier and Jesse Branch while at Missouri State. Soraghan collected all-America honors from both the Associated Press and the American Football Coaches Association as a senior in 1987 and was a Missouri Valley Football Conference all-league first team selection. He was picked as Missouri State's Most Valuable Player and the league's defensive MVP his senior campaign. Twenty years after the end of his career, he still ranks third in MSU single season tackles (183) and 11th in career tackles (350).

Matt Wegenka, cross country-track, 1983-87; Matt Wegenka was a four-year track and cross country letterman with numerous all-conference and academic all-conference awards in both sports for coach Richard Clark. Wegenka ran on MSU teams which won Mid-Continent Conference cross country titles all four years he was in the program, and he was the league's individual champion in both 1985 and 1987 and gained selection as the league's athlete of the year those years. He still owned three Missouri State outdoor track marks at the time MSU discontinued the sport, and previously held three other records indoors.
 
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