SPRINGFIELD -- Six individual inductees, a national championship softball team and the longest-running radio play-by-play sportscaster in school history will comprise the induction class for the 2022 Missouri State University Athletics Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame induction returns to the Missouri State athletics calendar after a year off in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's event will take place the weekend of Feb. 11-12, with the induction ceremony and brunch in the Plaster Student Union Ballroom on Saturday, Feb. 12, at 11 a.m.

Art Hains, long-time radio announcer for Bears football, men's basketball and baseball will go into the Hall of Fame as the fifth recipient of the Don Payton Award. Hains originally did Bears' games from 1977 to 1981 and has worked continually since 1985 on MSU sports broadcasts. He formally retired from the university staff last summer but continues to his role as "Voice of the Bears" while serving as the director of broadcasting for Missouri State Sports Properties.

The Payton Award was established in 2017 in conjunction with the Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame to honor those individuals whose accomplishments related to MSU athletics are noteworthy but fall outside the Hall of Fame candidacy of coaches or student-athletes. The late Don Payton was MSU Director of Information from 1956 to 1985 and was given the inaugural award, while long-time faculty athletics representative Dr. Bruce Johnson (2018), former director of bands Jerry Hoover (2019) and Greenwood High School coaches Larry Atwood and Paul Mullins (2020) have been subsequently honored.

The 1974 MSU softball team captured the AIAW Division I national championship and becomes the second team entry into the hall after the team category was added to the shrine in 2020 with the induction of the Bears' 1952, 1953 and 1954 NAIA powerhouse men's basketball teams. Coach Kay Hunter's 1974 softballers hung the national title onto a long run of World Series appearances over five previous seasons.

The rest of the Hall of Fame class includes men's soccer player Jarod Bertrand (1998-2001); volleyball player Kelley Michnowicz Reid (2008-11); baseball player Nick Petree (2011-13); footballer Rich Walker (1976-79); basketballer Kenzie Williams Kostas (2012-16); and swimmer Allison Zeller Wallace (2003-07).

In addition to the induction brunch on Feb. 12, this year's class will also be recognized in JQH Arena at halftime of the Lady Bears basketball game vs. Drake on Friday, Feb. 11 (7 p.m.), and the Bears game vs. Valparaiso on Saturday, Feb. 12 (3 p.m.).

Profiles on the 2022 MSU Athletics Hall of Fame induction class are as follows:


Jarod Bertrand, soccer, 1998-2001; Jarod Bertrand (St. Louis, Mo.) is one of 19 players around the league to be selected a four-time All-Missouri Valley Conference pick since 1991. Bertrand was also a three-time all-region selection and the 1999 MVC Most Valuable Player. He was a two-time pick for the all-league tourney team. Bertrand started all but one match in his four years for Bears teams that rolled up a 49-24-8 record for Coach Jon Leamy. Bertrand finished with 14 goals and 20 assists over his career and he was a MISL draft pick in 2002.

Kelley Michnowicz Reid, volleyball, 2008-11; Kelley Michnowicz (Belleville, Ill.) received All-America honorable mention and American Volleyball Coaches Association all-region selection in 2010. She was on the Missouri Valley Conference all-Freshman team in 2008; earned spots on the All-MVC first team in 2009 and 2010 and ranked in the top five in two MVC categories in 2009. Playing for coach Melissa Stokes, Michnowicz ranked second in MSU history with a .367 attack efficiency in 2010.

Nick Petree, baseball, 2011-13, Righthanded pitcher Nick Petree (Clinton, Mo.) was the baseball Bears' mound ace for three seasons for coach Keith Guttin. Petree's career was highlighted with his selection as the Louisville Slugger Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year in 2012 and three All-America selections, the most such honors ever for a baseball Bear. Petree posted a 9-2 record his sophomore year, went 10-4 with a 1.01 earned run average as a junior, and finished 8-1 with a 1.61 ERA his senior season. That gave him a 27-7 mound mark and career ERA of 1.76 with 306 strikeouts in 311.2 innings and he is second in wins and third in strikeouts on the Bears' career record list.

Rich Walker, football, 1976-79; Rich Walker (St. Louis, Mo.) was a four-year letterman and starting center for the grid Bears of head coach Rich Johanningmeier in Johanningmeier's first four seasons with the Bears and Walker was regarded by Johannngmeier as the top lineman on those teams, including the 1978 MIAA championship club. Walker helped lead the Bears to a 6-3-1 mark as a sophomore in 1977 and was then on the Bears' perfect 6-0 league title team the next year as Missouri State was 8-3 overall. The Bears tied for third in the league when Walker was a senior. Walker was a two-time All-MIAA first team selection and earned Associated Press All-America honorable mention as a senior.

Kenzie Williams Kostas, basketball, 2012-16; Kenzie Williams (Mt. Vernon, Mo.) was a high-scoring component on four MSU Lady Bear clubs, playing for coaches Nyla Milleson and Kellie Harper. Williams led MSU in scoring as a junior with a 15.4 average and collected 1,645 points in 121 MSU games over her four years for a 13.6 career point average. She was a two-time Missouri Valley Conference first team selection, a three-time MVC scholar-athlete first team pick and the MVC Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2015. She was also a co-recipient for 2015 of the MSU Outstanding Female Student Athlete award. She helped lead MSU to an MVC Tourney title and an NCAA Tournament appearance as a senior in 2016.

Allison Zeller Wallace, swimming, 2003-07; Allison Zeller (Manchester, Mo.) was on three Missouri Valley Conference team champions as she earned 11 league titles in individual or relay events for coach Dave Collins' squads. She was a four-time All-MVC pick and received MVC Scholar-Athlete honors twice. She was in on a fourth straight MVC title in meet record time in the 200-yard medley relay team as a senior and won three straight league titles in two other events.

TEAM INDUCTION: Softball, 1974; Intercollegate softball was first played at MSU in 1969 and Coach Reba Sims guided the team its initial three seasons, collecting a third place, a second place and a third place in three trips to the AIAW Division I World Series in Omaha, Neb. Coach Kay Hunter took over the program in 1972 for her 11-year run with the high point of that tenure being winning the AIAW Division I national championship in 1974. The Bears had finished ninth in the national meet in 1972 and third in 1973 under Hunter before breaking through to the title with a 19-4 ball club in 1974. MSU's sweep to the World Series championship included wins over Massachusetts (11-1), Luther College (1-0), Eastern Illinois (9-8), Wayne State (8-5) and Northern Colorado (14-7). Team members included Janet Cutbirth, Susan Allen, Diane Gaehle, Dee Bratcher, Janis Morgan, Debbie Dace, Cindy Henderson, Pam Mangrum, Irene Barnes, Robbie Johnson, Becky Goad, Karen Bethurem, Mary Doyen, Glenda Bond and Brenda Guinier.

DON PAYTON AWARD: Art Hains; A 1977 graduate of Southern Methodist University, Art Hains is the Bears' longest-running sports play-by-play announcer ever. His 42 seasons with Bears football and 41 seasons with men's basketball eclipse the noted tenures of legendary MSU Hall of Fame broadcasters Dick Bradley and Vern Hawkins. Hains' early years at MSU saw him broadcast alongside both Bradley and Hawkins. Originally from Marshall, Mo., he began broadcasting MSU games in football and men's basketball in 1977, and later added baseball. He left Springfield in 1981 for a job with radio station KRLD in Dallas and returned to MSU in 1985. Hains has been the Bears' primary play-by-play voice for four of the Missouri State's NCAA FCS football playoff appearances, nine NIT basketball appearances, six men's basketball NCAA Tournament trips, and 11 NCAA Baseball Tournament appearances, including three Super Regionals and the 2003 College World Series. He has brought fans the play-by-play for more than 450 football games, 1,200 basketball games and 800 baseball games. Hains has also hosted sports talk shows on a variety of local radio stations for his years in the Springfield community.