PEORIA, Ill. -- "Endurance" is the theme for the latest Bradley University Hall of Fame induction class, a trio that includes a distance runner and two men who have combined for 63 years of service to Bradley. Longtime men's basketball public address announcer Paul Herzog, former women's cross country and track star Mary Ellen Hill and retired baseball coach Dewey Kalmer will be inducted into the Hall of Fame during ceremonies Feb. 11-12.
The trio will be the special guests during the final Braves Club Gameday Luncheon of the year Feb. 11 at the Michel Student Center and the official Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place during halftime of the Feb. 12 men's basketball game versus Evansville. All three will have their names added to the glass display in the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame Room within the Renaissance Coliseum Burklund Family Heritage Hall. In recognition for her accomplishments on the national level, Hill's photograph will be displayed outside the Hall of Fame Room entrance.
Gameday Luncheon Tickets are $20 for Braves Club Members and $25 for non-members and may be purchased by contacting the Braves Club Office at (309) 677-2667. Single-game Bradley Basketball tickets at Carver Arena range from $8-20, based on location, and may be purchased in advance at the Renaissance Coliseum Box Office, the Carver Arena Box Office, any TicketMaster outlet or online at www.BradleyBraves.com.
Paul Herzog - Basketball Public Address Announcer, 1976-Present
Herzog earned his bachelor's degree in communications (speech) from Bradley University in 1974 and boasts 30 years of experience as a chartered financial consultant for MassMutual Financial Group. He has volunteered as the public address announcer for Bradley men's basketball games for 35 consecutive years and he has participated in the public address duties at every game (419) Bradley has played at Carver Arena since the Braves moved downtown in 1982 as part of his overall total of 505 games as Bradley's P.A. announcer. Not only has he served in his role longer than any announcer in Bradley Athletics history, he shares the distinction as the longest-serving P.A. announcer in the Missouri Valley Conference with Illinois State's Steve Adams.
In addition to his volunteer work for Bradley, Herzog has served as the P.A. announcer for every game of the IHSA Boys Basketball State Tournament since the event moved to Peoria in 1996. He also has emceed the IHSA State Cross Country Championship awards ceremony for the last 15 years.
A Braves Club Board of Directors member for 20 years and a past president (1992-94) of the organization, Herzog also has served as president of both the Central Illinois Bradley Alumni Chapter (1983-85) and the Bradley University National Alumni Association (1990-91).
Mary Ellen Hill - Women's Cross Country/Track, 1996-2000
Hill is the most-accomplished female student-athlete in Bradley Athletics history, as well as one of the most-accomplished female student-athletes in Missouri Valley Conference history. A 10-time MVC individual champion in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, Hill also was a two-time track All-American and seven-time Academic All-America honoree.
The 1998 and 1999 MVC Cross Country individual champion, Hill helped Bradley to the first conference championship in any women's sport in school history by leading the Braves to the co-title with Drake at the 1998 MVC Championship. She set four Valley records during her career, setting the bar in cross country (17:18), the outdoor 3,000 meters (9:34.81), indoor 3,000 meters (9:35.61) and outdoor 5,000 meters (16:08.72). A three-time pick for the MVC Track Athlete of the Meet (1998 and 1999 MVC Indoor Championships and 1998 MVC Outdoor Championships), she gained All-America status by finishing ninth in the 5,000 meters at the 1998 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and fourth in the 5,000 meters at the 1998 Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Hill also was the 2000 Illinois NCAA Woman of the Year and show won the inaugural MVC Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Award, as well as a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
Dewey Kalmer - Baseball Head Coach, 1980-2008
Kalmer is the winningest coach in Bradley Athletics history, accumulating 842 wins in his 29-year career as the Bradley Baseball team's head coach from 1980-2008. Including his 11 years as the head coach at Quincy College, Kalmer collected 1,032 wins in 40 years as a collegiate baseball coach and was 35th on the NCAA Division I list for all-time baseball coaching victories when he retired after the 2008 season. In addition to his coaching duties, Kalmer served as an assistant athletic director during his final 15 years at Bradley.
More than 60 of Kalmer's Bradley players signed professional baseball contracts, including seven players who reached the Major Leagues (Mike Dunne, Mike Grace, Jim Lindeman, Kirby Puckett, Bryan Rekar, Brian Shouse and Roger Smithberg). Kalmer became one of the first college coaches to have a player selected to play on the United States Olympic Team when Dunne earned a spot on the 1984 squad and two of his players faced each other in World Series in 1987 when Puckett's Minnesota Twins beat Lindeman's St. Louis Cardinals. Dunne (1983) and Lindeman (1984) were Major League Baseball first-round draft selections in back-to-back seasons and Kalmer added a third first-round pick in 1999 when Rob Purvis was selected by the Chicago White Sox.
Kalmer was inducted into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1993.
