Men's Golf 9/10/2024 12:27:00 PM

Millikin Announces 2024 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees

DECATUR, Ill. – Millikin University is pleased to announce the newest members to the Millikin Athletic Hall of Fame. The 2024 class will be honored during the Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Sunday, September 29, during Millikin University's 2024 Homecoming Celebration.

The 2024 Induction Class includes men's golfer Jim Butts '51, women's golfer Diane (Imburgia) Scearce '04, track and field athletes Steve Schmidt '82, Brittany Sherron '12 and swimmer Kaley (Wittrock) Refenes '13. Former swimming coach Carl Johansson.
Two of Millikin's all-time great teams will be inducted including the 1950-51 men's basketball team and the 1985 men's golf team.

Men's golfer Jim Butts of Centerville, Ohio, has the distinction of being a major contributor to the early success of Big Blue golf. Butts was the first Millikin golfer to win two College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) championships. Millikin's first CCIW golf championship came when Butts and fellow underclassmen Ed Leach '56 led Millikin to a whopping 37-stroke victory over Elmhurst and Illinois Wesleyan in 1949. From that championship team, Butts was elected team captain for both his junior and senior years. Butts led the Big Blue to a stirring comeback win 1951 – which happened to be his final round of college golf. On the final round of that day, Millikin was in third place, 11 strokes behind Lake Forest and Carthage. However, Butt's final collegiate shots – a tee-shot that landed 12 inches from the cup, followed by a tap-in-birdie, gave Millikin an undisputed conference title. In his honor, the Big Blue men's golf invitational is named The Jim Butts Classic.

Butts graduated from Millikin with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. After graduating, he served four years in the U.S. Navy then worked nearly 40 years for NCR Corp, where he retired as Assistant Vice President for NCR's Dayton Pacific region in 1993. Jim and his wife, Peg, have one son, one daughter, five grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Women's golfer Diane Imburgia Scearce of Indianapolis, Ind., was a record-setting member of the Big Blue's Women's Golf team. During her four years of golf, Diane helped lead her team to win two conference championships (2001, 2002) and was named CCIW individual conference champion in 2001. She was named All-Conference Golfer four times, and qualified three times for the NCAA Div. III tournament, where she was recognized with All-American Honorable Mention (2002-03) and All-American Second Team (2002-03). In addition, she ranked in the top five in Millikin history for completing the among the lowest 18-hole score (73), lowest 36-hole score (151), and lowest career average (83.55).

Scearce graduated from Millikin with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry, and graduated from the Indiana School of Dentistry in 2008. She formed, owned and operated a private dental practice for 13 years and now works part-time as a general dentist. She and her husband, Zach Scearce, have two sons and one daughter.

Steve Schmidt of Clarkston, Mich., was an exemplary runner in both Track & Field and Cross Country, where he lettered in both sports all four years and was named Cross Country Most Valuable Player (1980, 1981) and captain (1981). In 1980, he set a school record for the five-mile run in Cross Country, and he still holds second place all-time at Millikin for the best time running the steeplechase. He also still holds fourth place for all-time at Millikin in the 10,000M (1982).

Schmidt graduated from Millikin with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. Since graduating, he has stayed active as a standout runner and is one of only four runners worldwide to complete six decades of completing a sub-three hour marathon time. In addition, he was a national champion in his age group for the 2021 USATF Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championship in the 5000M and the 10,000M, won first place in the 2021 Chicago Marathon, and competed in the 2022 London Marathon after being the top point scorer for his age group at the 2021 Abbott World Majors Championship. Steve is married to his wife, Janice, and he retired as a DEA special agent/pilot for the Department of Justice in 2017. He has eight family members who are Millikin alumni, including his grandfather, Duane Garver '38, a 1972 AHOF inductee.

Brittany Sherron of West Lafayette, Ind., excelled as a student athlete in Women's Track & Field, where she was named Millikin MVP in Outdoor Track & Field events (2010,2011) and CCIW Indoor Champion in Weight Throw (2012). She also was a three-time CCIW conference champion, named CCIW All-Conference 14 times and named Academic All-Conference four times. In the discus, she was named a 2010 All-American in the sport and qualified three times for the national championships, plus was twice named CCIW Outdoor Champion in discus (2010, 2012). A 2012 recipient of the Lindsay Medallion, she also reached the Millikin top five in record-scoring, including setting an All-Time Best for Outdoor discus that still stands today (152'5").

Sherron graduated from Millikin with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. Since graduating, she graduated from the Indiana University School of Medicine and completed her residence in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital; in Indianapolis in 2020. She currently works as an OB-GYN in Indianapolis. She is married to James Rickmon.

Kaley (Wittrock) Refenes of Lansing, Kan., a four-year MVP of the Big Blue swim team, set three school records – two of which still stand today, the 500-yard freestyle (5:08.58) and the 200-yard butterfly (2.07.77). Wittrock Refenes also was a four-time CCIW Academic All-Conference and three-time CCIW Swimmer of the Week. Among her notable CCIW championship performances, Kaley excelled in the Freestyle and Butterfly, and set five school records at the meets. A 2013 Lindsay Medallion recipient, she would also help coach local Special Olympic swimmers and the Decatur Swim Club while a student.

Since graduating from Millikin with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in Mathematics, Refenes earned her master's degree in Educational Leadership from Emporia State and has worked at USD District 453 in Kansas for 11 years, taught math at Richard Warren Middle School, where she was named 2018 Building Teacher of the Year, and coached club and high school swimming for six years. She was also a 2015 Horizon Award nominee for her first year as a Kansas teacher. Kaley is married to James Refenes and has one step-daughter, Maclee.

Carl Johansson, Millikin's first swim coach, coached the Big Blue Swim Team from 1969 to 1975. During that time, he coached at least seven CCIW individual champions, his team won two CCIW championships (1972, 1973), and reached one Top 15 NAIA finish. Included among his student athletes was Marcia Morey '78, who won seven national championships, was captain of several USA national teams, including the 1976 Olympic team, and was named to the Millikin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992. She was the first woman to swim for Millikin. Johansson developed the Decatur Swim Club into an outstanding group, which helped encourage many individuals to join Millikin and the swim team. After coaching at the Big Blue, Johansson coached women's swimming at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1977 to 1992.

Between them, Carl and his wife, Georgia DeFever, have two daughters, two grandsons and one granddaughter.

1950-51 Men's Basketball Team
Team Award
From 1947 to 1955, the Millikin Men's Basketball Team won six conference championships but the 1950-51 team remains the most notable and memorable. The team finished second in the nation at the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB, now NAIA) national tournament in Kansas City in 1951. Star player and Captain Scott Steagall '51 especially received national attention for his prowess on the court, including scoring 888 points over the course of the season. Steagall and four other starters for the team – Bob Kowa '53, John Luttrell '53, Alex Sarran '51 and Gerald "Jeep" Althoff '52 – were said to have "won the crowd in Kansas City but lost the game, 69-61." More than 4,000 fans cheered on the team and its coaches, Ralph Allan and Jack Allen, when they returned to Decatur, and H. Ray Myers '26, head of the Millikin Alumni Foundation, established a scholarship named for seniors, Steagall and Sarran. Other team members included Harry Dubinick '53, George Fyke '51, Richard Lewis '52, Manager Douglas Lukey '53, Arthur Murray '52, Charles Mueller '54, Kermit Radloff '52 and Leo Rozycke '54. The team was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986.

1985 Men's Golf Team
Team Award
Nineteen Big Blue Men's Golf Teams have won CCIW championships, the most championships won by any Millikin sport team. Thirteen of those teams played in the NCAA Div. III national golf tournament but one team – the 1985 Men's Golf Team led by Coach Doug Neibuhr – was the most successful. At the national tournament, the 1985 team finished in third place, with two California teams taking first and second place. In addition, Bob Jan placed third and Steve Halvachs fourth individually in a field of players from 18 college teams.

The team's journey to the national tournament was also memorable, as the Big Blue defeated second-place Augustana for the CCIW Championship by 39 strokes. It was then the largest margin of victory in the 76-year history of CCIW tournaments. All five Millikin golfers finished in the top seven at the CCIW tournament, with Brad Kay winning medalist honors for the third year in a row as the team won its third straight CCIW championship.
Members of the 1985 team included Paul Bridgman Jr. '88, Frank Bruno '88, Doug Evak '86, Steve Halvachs '88, Bruce Hartrich '85, Bob Jan '86, Brad Kay '85, William Scott Kellogg Jr. '87, Hank Mazurek '86, Brian Peoples '87, Linc Schneider '85, Michael Voeller '88 and Gary Yuenger '86.

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